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A PIONEER OF MODERN PEDAGOGY IN HUNGARY: SÁNDOR KARÁCSONY (1891—1952)
THE PROBLEM OF ÍNTERVENTION
1Ihe psychological problem of education, as identified by Karácsony, was the
problem of intervention. Every person is an autonomous being, resisting and re¬
senting intervention. Teachers (according to contemporary educational theory)
were supposed to provide emotional, intellectual and volitional education to
pupils. Karacsony raised the question: is that possible without intervention into
the pupils’ psyche? And if so, is there any excuse for intervening in someone
else’s life, even under the pretext of education?
Karäcsony found that education presents teachers with a paradox. Educa¬
tion, even if we take great pains to make it palatable to those being educated,
is impossible, since it represents a sort of intervention into someone else’s life
that will be resented and resisted. It is a mission impossible. Yet it is a neces¬
sary, an indispensable intervention, as shown by the massive failure of so-called
permissive education. Failing to undertake this intervention is tantamount to
abdicating the responsibility of education. So education must be possible."
A SOLUTION TO THE PROBLEM OF EDUCATION
Thus, the question that Karacsony undertook to answer was this: if educa¬
tion is in principle impossible, yet it must be possible and it does take place
all the time in various situations, pedagogical and non-pedagogical, then the
right question to ask is this: under what conditions is it possible? What sort of
psychological relations make it possible for two partners (teacher and pupil) to
cooperate freely, contributing voluntarily to a joint venture, without sustaining
damage to their autonomy?
From investigations of folk psychology conducted in his native village and
through the study of the works of Wilhelm Wundt (1832-1920),” Karacsony
found that certain types of psychological relations between sovereign person¬
alities make it possible for one person to exert an influence on another without
trespassing on the autonomy of the other, and it is these types of relations that
make education possible. He came to realize that education is only possible
through interaction in a social relationship, that is, educational theory and prac¬
tice must be based on a psychology that considers psychological functions as
they manifest themselves in the interaction of at least two personalities. This
1° For the possibility of education see KARÁCSONY, Sándor, Ocsúdó magyarság — Szokásrendszer és
pedagógia, Budapest, Írók Alapítványa, 1942/2002.
2 WuNnNpr, Wilhelm, Völkerpsychologie, 2. vols., Die Sprache, Leipzig, Engelmann, 1904.
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