The traditional school is that pedagogical model that focuses on forming the child's intelligence, his ability to solve problems, his possibilities of attention and effort, as the best way to prepare him for life.

This type of teaching is based on the idea that the student must integrate into the world as quickly as possible, which is why it provides abstract, schematic and verbal knowledge.

The traditional school is considered an obsolete model Source: Pixabay

Its main theorists argued that educating is choosing and proposing models to students with clarity and perfection. For this reason, the teacher is considered as the guide and mediator between the models and the child, who must imitate and adapt to these guidelines.

The traditional conception is considered externalist and passive-imitator, since the student's function is to assimilate and reproduce the influences he receives from the teacher, the family, the social environment or a group, among others.

Other currents of thought tend to distance themselves from the traditional school and consider them a rigid, not very dynamic system that distances teachers from their students. In addition, they consider it as an educational practice that does not allow spontaneity, nor does it promote innovation.

History

The first vestiges of the traditional school can be detected in the ancient academies of the Middle Ages, when knowledge was restricted to the religious class. Medieval schools were not only made up of formal instruction, but also of the transmission of Christian precepts.

In it, education began to be differentiated by age groups, beginning with the teaching of writing and reading to the youngest. At all levels, people were severely punished for lack of discipline or morals.

During the Renaissance and the rise of the bourgeoisie, education became a commercial good, so education is no longer monopolized by the Church or controlled by the State. Anyone who could afford a private teacher could receive an education.

Emergence of the traditional school

Traditional pedagogy as such began in France in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. At this time the school institution was consolidated by the Jesuits, under the leadership of San Ignacio de Loyola.

With them, two of its key foundations were outlined: separation from the world by teaching classes in a private room and constant monitoring of the student in order to transfer knowledge to him.

During the Enlightenment phase, other characteristics of the traditional trend were integrated, especially by the contributions of John Amos Comenius (1592-1670). These include dedicating a different amount of time to each subject according to its importance, giving a key role to the teacher during the teaching process, and conducting weekly evaluations.

Impact of industrialization

With the arrival of the Industrial Revolution an educational one was also generated. Governments saw in the traditional pedagogical method a way of making education massive, that is, reaching many at the same time and with few resources. Education then expands to women and proletarians, as well as children.

During these years the gradation of education is regulated, the study of science is added in addition to language and mathematics. The technical school also arises between the secondary and university levels, in order to better prepare the new generations for the needs of the industry.

The educational ideals of universality, statism, gratuity and secularism are then consolidated. Traditional education becomes established as a reference system, standardizing and applying it in most schools.

characteristics

The teacher plays a key role in this pedagogical model for other educational currents. Source: Pixabay

- Magistrocentrism, the central figure being the teacher.

- Encyclopedism, that is, greater importance to the contents than to the learning procedures.

- Separation between theory and practice.

- Verbalism and passivity.

- Tendency to verticalism.

- It is based on tax authoritarianism, but paternalistic.

- The main type of reasoning is deduction

- Predominance of logical and imitative methods.

- Intellectualism given the importance given to reason over emotion.

- Postponement of affective development.

- It can be a brake on social development.

- Theory always precedes action or experience.

- Encourage self-discipline.

- Emphasis on memory and repetition of knowledge.

- Lacks experiential experiences.

- Memory and quantitative evaluation.

- Machine learning, by reception (from outside).

Methodology

They start from an idealistic philosophical base, for which the methods of medieval scholasticism are assumed. They also have influences of behaviorism and pragmatism, since they focus on training the student according to the teacher's desire. The desired result is for the student to reproduce the knowledge imparted.

It is considered a transmission pedagogy where there is total dependence on the teacher, who transmits and feeds the student. Classes are usually expository, oral in nature and convey large amounts of information.

The selection, standardization and organization of the contents is also required, without giving the student the opportunity to discriminate what they consider useful or beneficial in their training.

Traditional learning lies in the ability of the teacher to teach. The review has a key role, understood as an exact and detailed repetition of what the teacher said.

The only instrument to measure learning is the exam, which is summative. It is intended to check if the knowledge imparted was accumulated and memorized, which will depend on the student's ability to retain the information.

Representatives

Wolfgangus Ratichius

This German pedagogue raised key ideas to shape the traditional pedagogical model. Among them, the need to go from the concrete to the abstract, from the simple to the complex, stands out, so knowledge must be imparted in parts.

Considers that repetition is the learning method par excellence, in order to be able to memorize the information.

He also considered that all knowledge should be learned in the native language and that only after proper learning of it can foreign languages ​​be learned.

Finally, he was the first to propose teacher training, that is, the need to teach the art of teaching.

John Amos Comenius

His work Didactica Magna contains the bases of the teaching process of the traditional school. The thinker of Czech origin was the one who first raised education as universal and systematized, in addition to highlighting the need for it to have regulations.

From his thought, he highlights as an essential principle not to teach more than one thing at a time and to do it gradually, that is, to master one well before moving on to the next.

He was the first to raise the need to link theory and practice as a procedure that facilitates learning.

For Comenius, the teacher must provoke the desire to know and learn, not force the student or force his teaching. His method of teaching reading also stands out, in which the word must be put together with an image.

Advantage

Despite the fact that the traditional school is a pedagogical model that has received harsh criticism from other currents of thought, it continues to be one of the most common in educational institutions.

In addition, it must be recognized that it has some positive and valuable aspects for educational development, as well as its weaknesses or disadvantages. Among the advantages of this pedagogical model are:

- Contributes to the development of personal effort, will and self-discipline among students.

- It is the most effective for transmitting pure data such as historical dates or laws of physics, mathematics or chemistry.

- The teacher requires great academic preparation and mastery of the subject.

- It puts at the service of the students the knowledge and experiences of a connoisseur of the subject, who can also answer questions immediately.

- It enables the creativity and dynamism of the teacher in the development of the subjects.

- Allows the training of several students at the same time, saving on the amount of educational resources.

- Some consider that by establishing a direct relationship between teacher and student, the needs, abilities and skills of each can be better detected.

- Promotes memory processes.

Disadvantages

The traditional school is a model that has been considered obsolete for several years now, which has been reinforced by the advent of new technologies. But in addition to not responding to the demands of today's society, other disadvantages have been detected, such as the following:

- The pedagogical relationship unit is teacher-student, so the structure of the work team is not usually managed.

- It does not stimulate participation, creativity, curiosity or initiative.

- It can mean the inappropriate adoption of information or a high absorption of data.

- It does not favor collaboration or cooperation, but rather seeks to promote comparison and competition among students.

- Large amounts of information are assimilated without taking affectivity into account.

- There is usually no coexistence between theory and practice.

- Promotes the passivity of the student and the lack of critical attitude.

- It has been shown that a large part of the knowledge acquired and memorized ends up being forgotten over time.

References

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