RELATIONAL
PEDAGOGY
“Everyone is a genius. But if you
judge a fish on its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life
believing that it is stupid” says the greatest scientist ever the world has
witnessed, Albert Einstein. Einstein was well aware that Pedagogy should help
the individual to find out what one has and is.
Don
Bosco, though not an expert on educational methodology, nor a philosopher not
even a professional Educationist, yet he developed a holistic and all round
developmental pedagogy which has been accepted all over the world and embraced
by many governments and educational institutions too. We could call his
methodology as the Pedagogy of relationship.
“Preventive
system, Reason, religion, loving kindness” all these can become jargons for few
of us if not understood the pedagogy in its essence. To be realistic in
understanding Don Bosco’s methodology, let us call this pedagogy as Relational pedagogy.
The
effectiveness and the credibility of Don Bosco’s pedagogy lies in the ability
to relate with each other. Not just co-existence but with a positive and
influential relationship. That’s the cream of his pedagogy. Don Bosco’s
leadership itself is one of influence which is nothing but relationship with
his boys.
Irrespective
of any leader good or bad, effective or ineffective, they relate and influence
their followers. Hence Don Bosco’s methodology used this influence of positive
relationship among the boys and thus made an everlasting impact on them.
In
terms of competitive leadership, very often, we tend to compare leadership as a
position, title or a name. In addition to that, it is always considered
leadership and relationship are incompatible and irreconcilable with each
other. Out of this understanding it is evolved that the leaders should distance
themselves from their subjects. On contrary to this understanding and practice,
Don Bosco as a leader influenced his boys by relating with them and not
distancing from them. During Don Bosco’s time, it was highly impossible and at
times considered insane to see a priest with his cassock on, running behind the
street urchins. Don Bosco broke the “comfort zones” of a priest and extended
his circle of influence to the realms of the society.
Where
does Don Bosco get the inspiration from? It was a combination of his own
experience with his mother Mamma Margaret and the prime source of inspiration
from the “Dream at the age of nine.”
At
the age of nine, he had a dream where crowd of children were playing and
swearing. Little Johnny tried to stop using his words and fists but then Jesus
advised: Not by blows but by gentleness and love, you will have to win them.
Later
in his life, he was unable to cast that dream out of his mind. That dream gave
his MISSION and the PEDAGOGY to achieve it. Don Bosco took Jesus the shepherd
as the role model for his Pedagogy, a pedagogy of relationship.
The
gospel of John gives us a biblical understanding of relational pedagogy: Jesus
describing the good shepherd says:
“The sheep hear his voice, and he calls his
own
Sheep by name and leads them
out… He goes
Ahead of them, and the sheep
follow him
Because they know his voice” John
10: 3-5
There are three important pedagogical
aspects involved in the scriptural passage above:
Firstly, the shepherd knows his sheep.
This knowledge is not at head level. He is not speaking about the number of
sheep or what kind of breed they are, male or female, etc. The knowledge of the
shepherd is at the heart level, knowing them personally and intimately. His
relationship with his sheep is not peripheral but instant and deep. The sheep
also knows his voice and he knows their names. He is personally relates with
each one.
Don
Bosco drew inspiration from the shepherd of hearts. Don Bosco knew every boy in
his oratory by name, by their family background, by their physical, emotional
and spiritual need. There was no boy in the oratory who felt that he was a
stranger. Everyone believed Don Bosco loved them personally.
Secondly, the relational pedagogy is
built on trust. The shepherd knows the sheep by their names, but is that enough
for relationship? The sheep hears his voice and follows him. There is an
element of trust. Sheep trust the shepherd, because shepherd was worthy of his
sheep.
Don
Bosco loved his boys so much that he was ready to even lay down his life for
them. Boys of the oratory experienced a great sort of credibility in what he
said and did. The boys knew he lived for them and was ready to give his own
life for them. He built a tremendous amount of trust among the boys. Divine
Providence is the height of trust he developed among them and it spread like
the wild fire.
Thirdly, the Relational pedagogy is
modeled on the Leader. The shepherd walks ahead of his sheep and they follow
him. The shepherd doesn’t control the sheep and but his presence does make a
difference to them. Just the sound of his voice is enough for the sheep to
follow. They look up to the shepherd as a constant and consoling presence. They
trust him because he leads them to green pastures.
Don
Bosco modeled his pedagogy on the idealogy of holiness. He kept the purpose
clear for the boys and he lived the purpose. He was a living rule. Leadership
is not about power but about purpose. The only criteria he had to admit the
boys into the oratory is the desire to become holy. Holiness was made simple in
his oratory. The purpose of the oratory is to make faithful Christians and honest
citizens. Don Bosco had a dream and he made that dream come into reality
through his boys. He gave them the slice of ownership in sanctity and through
their fidelity we have number of saints from the salesian oratory. Saints like
Dominic Savio, Mickey Magone, Michael Rua, John Cagliero, Mamma Margaret, Louis
comollo, Bartholomew Garelli and the whole fleet of saints who were around Don
Bosco and those who experienced the pedagogy of relationship were the outstanding
proof of his Pedagogical success.
Don
Bosco’s pedagogy was not purely his invention and he never claimed it so. It
was his contemporary philosophers who also were indirectly influential in
framing this pedagogy. Jean Jacques
Rousseau’s Emile, John Dewey’s Democracy and Education, Maria
Montessori’s Play way method influenced Don Bosco’s idea of developing this
relational pedagogy. The above mentioned schools of thought emphasizes
following norms in relationship which were always in Don Bosco’s oratory:
1. Non-judgmental
attitude towards the subjects but seeks to encourage them because it sees every
subject as self actualisers.
2. Discover
and facilitate talents. Here I would like to quote the very famous quotation
about Don Bosco’s oratories: Salesian Oratory without music is like a body
without soul. Talent search has been part of our oratories as it was in the
beginning, is now and ever shall be.
3. Create
atmosphere for growth in freedom, creativity and responsibility.
4. Trains
people in self determination and self actualization.
5. In
this pedagogy, every boy or student is considered as a friend, a fellow seeker,
a future citizen and a positive contributor to the society.
