Pestalozzi - Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi

Swiss educator and educational thinker. Born on January 12th in Zurich to a doctor, he lost his father at the age of six and was raised by his mother and a faithful housemaid. After attending a German school and a Latin school, he studied at the Collegium Humanitatis and the Collegium Carolinum. He initially aimed to study theology, but under the guidance of Professor Bodmer and the influence of Rousseau's writings, he became engrossed in the patriotic and revolutionary movement with fellow students Laverter and Fuseli. He considered becoming a lawyer, but eventually decided to live as an agricultural reformer. He opened a farm in the village of Birr on the outskirts of Zurich (1769) and started a new life with Anna Schulthess (1738-1815), whom he called "Neuhof" and who would become his lifelong companion. Although the farm business failed, he ran an activity (a poor people's school) that combined labor and education for the children of poor farmers. This business also failed, but his interest gradually turned to education (1774-1780). His representative works, "The Hermit's Evening" (1780) and "Lienhard and Gertrud" (1781-1787), were written around this time. The former is a collection of proverbs that asserts that "man is essentially the same whether on the throne or in the hut," and that the purpose of education is to satisfy this essence in accordance with the order of "nature," that is, the expansion of the sphere of life from the trusting relationship at home to faith in God. The latter is an expansion of the former idea in the form of a novel, with the intention of "expressing it for the people... in a way that can imprint it on their minds and feelings." Almost at the same time as these two works, Legislation and Infanticide (written in 1780, published in 1783) appeared. It was a call to lawmakers to recognize and respect the humanity of girls who had killed infants, criticizing the practice of imposing capital punishment on girls who had committed infanticide. As it happened, his ideological confrontation with the French Revolution marked a turning point. Whether or not (1793) was an essay that warned against despotism and advocated the respect and protection of freedom, while Investigations (1797) emphasized the "moral personality" of people who willingly create their own environment. Thus was formed the core of his educational philosophy that valued the development of self-activity from within, and the way of life that he faced as a teacher in that task.

In 1798 (at the age of 53), he was given the opportunity to start a new life as a teacher when he was entrusted with the care of orphans in Stans who had been thrown out on the streets by the civil war. He wrote about his activities at that time in the form of letters to a friend in the book "Notices from Stans" (1799). He then moved to a school in Burgdorf, and eventually opened his own school in the town's old castle (1800). During this time, he wrote two important books on educational "techniques", "Methode" (1800) and "How Gertrude teaches children" (1801). The school was then moved to Munichbuchsee and then to Yverdon, where his educational ideas and methods quickly attracted attention throughout Europe, and his influence eventually spread to the educational world of Germany and other countries. However, the school soon fell into decline due to ideological differences and discord among the teachers, and he eventually closed the school and returned to Neuhof, the place where his life had begun, where he devoted himself to writing and social activities, and died there on February 17, 1827, at the age of 81.

The distinctive feature of his thought and activities was that he advocated the harmonious development of various abilities through the spontaneous activities of children as the universal principle of human education, and he lived by this idea. This acted as the spiritual pillar for teachers in the subsequent development of modern national education. His ideas were mediated by Fichte, Herbart, and Froebel in Germany, Maine de Biran in France, and Hermann Krüsi (1817-1903) and Edward A. Sheldon (1823-1897) in England and the United States. In Japan, his ideas were first introduced in the 1870s by Hideo Takamine and Shuji Izawa, who studied in the United States, but later, through the efforts of Masataro Sawayanagi and others, they had a strong influence on promoting the development of elementary education, especially during the Taisho New Education Period.

[Minoru Murai]

"The Complete Works of Pestalozzi, supervised by Nagata Shin, 13 volumes in total (1959-1960, 1974, Heibonsha)" ▽ "The Hermit's Twilight, News from Stants, translated by Nagata Shin (Iwanami Bunko)" ▽ "Pestalozzi's Pedagogy, written by Nagata Shin (1934, Iwanami Shoten)"

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

スイスの教育者、教育思想家。1月12日チューリヒで医者の子に生まれたが、6歳で父を失い、母と誠実な家婢(かひ)の手で育てられた。ドイツ語学校、ラテン語学校を経て人文大学Collegium Humanitatis、カロリナ大学Collegium Carolinumで学び、当初神学を志したが、ボードマー教授の指導やルソーの著作の影響下に、ラバーター、フューズリらの学友とともに愛国的、革新的な運動に熱中し、法律家となることを考えたりしたが、結局、農業改革家として生きる決意に到達した。チューリヒ郊外のビル村に農場を開き（1769）、「ノイホーフ」Neuhofとよんで、やがて一生の好伴侶(はんりょ)となったアンナ・シュルテスAnna Schulthess（1738―1815）とともに新生活をスタートした。農場の経営は失敗したが、この間、貧しい農民の子供たちを相手に労働と教育とを一体とする活動（貧民学校）を営んだ。これも経営的には挫折(ざせつ)したが、彼の関心はこうしてしだいに教育に向けられていった（1774～1780）。代表的な著作『隠者の夕暮』（1780）と『リーンハルトとゲルトルート』（1781～1787）がこのころ書かれた。前者は、「人間は玉座にあっても伏せ屋にあっても本質において同じ」であり、その本質を「自然」の秩序、つまり家庭での信頼関係から神への信仰に至る生活圏の広がりに即して満足させることが、教育の目的であるという主張にたつ箴言(しんげん)集ともいうべきものである。後者は、ほぼ前者の考え方を「民衆のために……その精神や心情に刻印できるような仕方で述べる」意図をもって、小説の形式で展開したものである。この2著とほぼ同時に『立法と嬰児(えいじ)殺し』（1780年執筆、1783年刊行）が現れた。これは、嬰児殺しの少女に極刑を科する習慣を批判して、少女たちの人間性の認識と尊重を立法者に訴えた呼びかけである。たまたまフランス革命との思想的対決が一つの転機を生じた。『然(しか)りか否か』（1793）は専制主義を戒めて自由の尊重と擁護を主張する論説であるが、『探究』（1797）では進んで環境をつくりあげる人間の「道徳的人格」が強調された。こうして内部からの自己活動の発展を重んずる教育思想と、その仕事に教師として立ち向かう生き方の核心ができあがった。

　1798年（53歳）、教師としての新生活への機会が、内戦によって路頭に投げ出されたシュタンツの孤児たちの世話をゆだねられたことによって彼に訪れた。このときの活動を友人への手紙の形で書いたものが『シュタンツ便り』（1799）である。さらに彼の活動はブルクドルフの学校に移り、やがて町の古城に自分の主宰する学校を開いた（1800）。この間に『メトーデ』（1800）と『ゲルトルートはいかにその子を教えるか』（1801）と、二つの重要な教育「技術」の書物が書かれた。ついで学校は、ミュンヘンブークゼーを経てイベルドンに移されたが、彼の教育理念と方法とは急速にヨーロッパ中の注目するところとなり、その影響はついにドイツをはじめ諸国の教育界に及んだ。しかし、やがて教師間の思想的対立と不和によって学園は衰微に向かい、ついに彼は学園を閉じて生涯のスタートの地ノイホーフに帰り、著作と社会的活動に没頭したが、1827年2月17日、81歳をもってこの地に没した。

　彼の思想と活動の特色は、子供の自発活動を通しての諸能力の調和的発展を普遍的な人間教育の原理として掲げ、かつその思想を身をもって貫いたところにあった。これが、その後の近代国民教育の発展にあたって、教師たちの精神的支柱として作用した。ドイツでは、フィヒテ、ヘルバルト、フレーベルらが、フランスではメーヌ・ド・ビラン、イギリス、アメリカではクリュージーHermann Krüsi（1817―1903）、シェルドンEdward A. Sheldon（1823―1897）らがその思想を媒介した。日本では当初、アメリカに留学した高嶺秀夫(たかみねひでお)、伊沢修二らによって明治10年代に紹介されたが、やがて沢柳政太郎(さわやなぎまさたろう)らの努力によって、とくに大正新教育の時代を中心に、初等教育の展開を促進するうえに強い影響を及ぼした。

［村井　実］

『長田新監修『ペスタロッチー全集』全13巻（1959～1960・1974・平凡社）』▽『長田新訳『隠者の夕暮・シュタンツだより』（岩波文庫）』▽『長田新著『ペスタロッチー教育学』（1934・岩波書店）』

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