Klaus Mollenhauer
Encyclopedia
Klaus Mollenhauer is one of the most important German
pedagogical
theorists of the post-war era. His work focused on questions of critical pedagogy and the cultural and historical nature of education and upbringing, and his final monograph, Forgotten Connections: On Culture and Upbringing, is forthcoming in English translation.
Mollenhauer then worked as a postdoctoral assistant to Erich Weniger and Henry Roth before 1962 as a Lecturer at the Free University of Berlin went and was appointed in 1965 as an associate professor at the Berlin Pedagogical Institute. In 1966 he was appointed full professor of Education at the University of Kiel, where he was also the director of the Pedagogical Seminary (or Department). From 1969 to 1972 Mollenhauer was Professor of Education at the University of Frankfurt am Main, and in Göttingen from 1972 until his retirement in 1996.
Norm Friesen
and Tone Saevi explain that these questions are not meant to be "answered" in some simple or direct sense; instead, they are to challenge students to discussion and personal reflection:
Mollenhauer supports his readers in grappling and reflection through reference to cultural and historical examples and illustrations. These range from medieval woodcuts to contemporary works of fiction.
Specifically in exploring questions of representation and Bildsamkeit, Mollenhauer focuses on the significant notion of the pedagogical relation
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Germans
The Germans are a Germanic ethnic group native to Central Europe. The English term Germans has referred to the German-speaking population of the Holy Roman Empire since the Late Middle Ages....
pedagogical
Pedagogy
Pedagogy is the study of being a teacher or the process of teaching. The term generally refers to strategies of instruction, or a style of instruction....
theorists of the post-war era. His work focused on questions of critical pedagogy and the cultural and historical nature of education and upbringing, and his final monograph, Forgotten Connections: On Culture and Upbringing, is forthcoming in English translation.
Biography
Klaus Mollenhauer graduated from school in 1948, subsequently attending the College of Education in Göttingen, and working from 1950 to 1952 as an elementary school teacher in Bremen. He then studied education, history, psychology, literature and sociology in Hamburg and Göttingen. In 1958 he completed his PhD under the supervision of Erich Weniger, with his doctoral dissertation on "The Social Origins of the industrial society.”Mollenhauer then worked as a postdoctoral assistant to Erich Weniger and Henry Roth before 1962 as a Lecturer at the Free University of Berlin went and was appointed in 1965 as an associate professor at the Berlin Pedagogical Institute. In 1966 he was appointed full professor of Education at the University of Kiel, where he was also the director of the Pedagogical Seminary (or Department). From 1969 to 1972 Mollenhauer was Professor of Education at the University of Frankfurt am Main, and in Göttingen from 1972 until his retirement in 1996.
Forgotten Connections
Klaus Mollenhauer’s Forgotten Connections: On Culture and Upbringing (1983) is internationally regarded as one of the most important German contributions to educational and curriculum theory in the 20th century. It has been translated into Norwegian, Swedish, Japanese, Spanish and Dutch. The text focuses on five principle questions, with each corresponding to one or more key terms from the text (some of which elude direct translation):- Why do we want to have children? (Upbringing and Bildung)
- What way of life do I present to children by living with them? (Presentation)
- What way of life ought to be systematically represented to children? (Representation)
- How can I help children/young people to become self-starters and support their growth? (Bildsamkeit; Self-Activity)
- Who am I? Who do I want to be, and how do I help others with their identity problems? (Identity)
Norm Friesen
Norm Friesen
Norm Friesen is Canada Research Chair in E-Learning Practices at Thompson Rivers University in Kamloops, British Columbia, Canada....
and Tone Saevi explain that these questions are not meant to be "answered" in some simple or direct sense; instead, they are to challenge students to discussion and personal reflection:
- These questions are intended to address the students both personally and collectively, and to prompt reflection, contemplation, and dialogue about their pre-understandings and orientations. In this sense, these questions are attempts to challenge students to grapple with educational issues in existential terms, in which experience and existence are prior to theory and to essence, and in which how one 'is' (ontology) is primary to what one knows (epistemology).
Mollenhauer supports his readers in grappling and reflection through reference to cultural and historical examples and illustrations. These range from medieval woodcuts to contemporary works of fiction.
Specifically in exploring questions of representation and Bildsamkeit, Mollenhauer focuses on the significant notion of the pedagogical relation
Pedagogical relation
The pedagogical relation refers to special kind of personal relationship between adult and child or adult or student that is different from other personal relationships. The pedagogical relation is described by Hermann Nohl, Klaus Mollenhauer, and others in the humanistic European pedagogical...
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