Inspiration from abroad

AUSTRIAN INSPIRATION

Sociální pedagogika | Social Education 127

volume 7, issue 2, pp. 127–133, November 2019

ISSN 1805-8825

Inspiration from abroad

Czech version/Česká verze

Czech-Austrian inspiration

Lenka Gulová

In 2010, the Department of Social Pedagogy of the PdF MU was joined by Eva Muroňová and Cyril

Tomáš Havel, both post-graduates under the guidance of prof. Martin Jäggle, then dean of the

Theological Faculty of Vienna University. In the environment of the Pedagogic Faculty, they searched

for potential partners for cooperation with a broad Austrian initiative “LEBENSWERTESCHULE“ that

had existed in Austria since 2008, founded by the very same professor Martin Jäggle. We accepted the

offer and it was one our best professional decisions, because the cooperation and friendship between

the Czech and Austrian colleagues enabled us to penetrate deeply into all that inclusion of the school

and society involves. We had the opportunity to attend many meetings, stormy discussions, friendly

experience sharing, and joint organizing of professional seminars, conferences, and taking part in a

very interesting work on several Action projects named The School Where I am a Human Being. This

example demonstrates how important it is not to miss a chance that is available for the taking. This

cooperation which was thematically focused on inclusion led us to further initiatives related

to inclusion, some in the form of new research projects, e.g., GAČR and TAČR, or projects in the Ukraine

or own pedagogic activities in the area of teaching, accreditation of study programs and general

understanding of the fact that inclusion brings benefits both to individuals and the society. Another

Austrian partner that was with us from the beginning of our meetings is the Kirchliche Pädagogische

Hochschule in Vienna/Krems, which became a strategic partner of the Pedagogic Faculty of the

Masaryk University in 2019.

In order to complement the description of the context as a whole, let us briefly recall some of the

milestones of this unique Czech-Austrian partnership. At the initial meeting in 2010, we organized the

first professional seminar which was thematically focused on dealing with otherness in the school

environment. Already in 2011, the meeting had the form of a conference attended by a large number

of speakers and listeners. The Austrian guests presented there, inter alia, a project of school

development that concentrated on values and perception (WWSE), as a model of school self-

evaluation. Thereupon, the Czech team attended an international congress entitled “The Culture of

Recognition: Participation –Dignity – Justice “, held May 3 – 4, 2012 at the Viennese university; in 2013,

both teams, Czech and Austrian, began to prepare a joint project named The School Where I am a

Human Being, which continued until 2017.

Regular workshops of both teams were organized since 2014 in Brno and Vienna, alternately. In the

course of the year, we met at least four times and visited together various school of the inclusion type

in Brno, around Brno and in Vienna. The team consisted of pedagogues, post-graduates, and academic

workers from several institutions. On the Austrian side, there were colleagues from the Vienna

University and the Kirchliche Pädagogische Hochschule Vienna/Krems. On the Czech side, the team

consisted of colleagues from the Theological Faculty of the South-Bohemian University in České

Budějovice and the VOŠP Svatojánská Kolej, Svatý Jan pod Skalou. Let me also mention a few other

names, e.g., Thomas Krobath, the vice-chancellor of the KPH Vienna/Krems; Lída Muchová of the

South-Bohemian University, Radim Šíp, Denisa Denglerová, Martina Kurowski, Markéta Sedláková,

Markéta Rácova, and František Trapl of the Pedagogic Faculty; and Kataryna Buchko, Doris Lindner,

Helen Stockinger of the Viennese University; and the already mentioned Eva Muroňová, Tomáš Cyril

Havel, and many other post-graduates and pedagogues who took turns in the project.

Through joint observations in schools and sharing of experiences we collected our reflections of the

current situation in the area of inclusion in both countries which opened up various additional themes

arising from the roles and professions in the school environment. The cogent themes that we have

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been working with to this day include the culture of recognition in the school environment, handling

of otherness, spirituality in the school environment, approach to human dignity, and many other

themes. A number of questions emerged, such as what a school should look like in the 21st century

and, in this context, what kind of education should teachers and the new professional specialists have

to qualify for teaching at inclusive schools. The research themes began to emerge gradually, followed

by the idea of a joint publication. In November 2015, a very successful three-day conference was

organized in the environment of the Pedagogic Faculty of the Masaryk University, which was built on

the project’s outputs. Since 2017, the cooperation continues in the form of a bilingual publication

under the title The School on Its Way to the 21st Century, to be published at the beginning of 2020.

Our partnership now lives its own life. We have become part of something extraordinary that is

beneficial for our professional career. We have realized what it means to be united in otherness and

what potential transformations of the society offer in the area of inclusion itself.

Professor Martin Jäggle

Vienna University, Austria

Martin Jäggle is a man who is not afraid of diversity, because he knows where he is at home and he

would not feel at home in a place where diversity is missing.

Cyril Tomáš Havel

The cooperation on the Action Project, in which the Catholic Theological Faculty is represented by

Prof. M. Jäggle, was for me an inspiration in the sense of broader concept of inclusive thinking in

the upbringing and education of students, not merely in terms of the attitude to people with a

physical, mental or social handicap, but also in terms of the diversity of cultures and worldviews.

Ludmila Muchová

Questions are more precious than answers, but even more valuable are questions that instigate

more questions and provoke encounters with the diversity of questions.

Eva Muroňová

To me, Prof. Martin Jäggle is the new era’s Foucault, because he has made me perceptive to the

theme of power and the exclusion/inclusion in the school environment. I am grateful to him for his

human and professional dimensions that he has opened up for me, so that I can view inclusive

education with a more respectful and spiritual comprehension.

Markéta Sedláková

During the cooperation with the professor, I realized how much time we spend at the school as

children and, consequently, how much the school environment impacts on our life, not only during

our childhood, but also later in life on the formation of our self-awareness, identity, and career in

the future. I began to understand social pedagogy like essentially associate with the school

environment (so that it is, in fact, a pity that we only address this issue “after school” to correct the

mistakes incurred while we were still school children. Moreover, I realized that it is necessary to go

directly to the point of action and to draw the school into the overall social dialogue, etc.). Perhaps,

it was not the cooperation with the professor alone, but it did come at the right time to emphasize

the theme as such and its effect on man. Besides, in addition to being enthusiastic about the

professor for what he is, I also admire him for his patience and endeavor to devote everybody as

much time as it takes.

Denisa Denglerová

Martin Jäggle was born in 1948 in Vienna. He studies and philosophy, physics, mathematics, and

Catholic theology at the universities in Vienna and Innsbruck. In 1992, he received his PhD in theology.

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In the years of 1971-1975, he taught religion at several elementary and secondary schools. Since 1996,

he gives lectures in religious pedagogy to future teachers of religion. In the years of 2003-2013, he was

professor of religious education and Catechism at the Catholic Theological Faculty of the Vienna

University, where he was the dean from 2008 until 2012. He is a recognized author of scientific

publications, study books, and children books published in 12 languages. He lectures and holds

seminars at colleges and universities in 11 European countries. He is inter alia president of the

Coordination Committee for Christian-Jewish Cooperation and member of the HIKMA Scientific

Council, a periodical for Islamic theology and religious pedagogy. He is involved in various projects,

inter alia, in the broad platform of “LEBENSWERTESCHULE“. Furthermore, he represents the publisher

of Südwind-Magazin for international politics, culture, and development.

Recorded fragments of a conversation with Martin Jäggle (June 2019)

Ad project

MJ: I grew up in the shade of the (Stephans) Dome and in the light of the synagogue. Those who had

begun to build the Stephans Dome, knew that they would not lie to see its completion. It is like with

our Czech-Austrian School Project, where I am the man who is not going to live long enough to see it

finished. Just like them, many generations too are going to work on this project.

Ad Kirchliche Pädagogische Hochschule Wien/Krems

MJ: KPH is an extraordinary institution that had joined our project from the beginning – a project like

no other in the whole world. I see the extraordinary nature of the project in the fact that the basis of

this school is religious and cultural diversity. Diverse religions meet under this roof, as this religious

school has been from its very beginning designated to furthering the professionalism of the teachers

of all denominations in Austria, be it the Catholics, Protestants, Orthodox, Old-Catholics, etc. Thus, the

KPH has become a center for the education of teachers of all denominations, including Islam, Judaism,

and other religions. For many societies today, it is unimaginable that a school would exist in the world

where religious diversity is a potential for common education, rather than a problem. By dealing with

diversity face-to-face, we get to know one another.

Ad role of the school

MJ: If we want to create or support something new, we have to get rid of the old. In the school

environment, we are often encouraged to work on new tasks, but simultaneously the new tasks are

burdened with what the school has been doing for years. The notion “I have to do more and more“

only leads to trouble and does not allow new things to happen. It is important to straighten out the

priorities. Even in pedagogy, less can be more. Today, people want to educate themselves on their

own. The school is merely a space where education can take place. Institutions as such provoke

resentment. However, if an institution provides a living space, room for development, sense of

effectiveness, and encouragement, man has other options. At the time of authoritative society, schools

are conceived as compulsory. In a democratic society, however, no school should be authoritative. In

a democratic society, a school can only be legitimate to the extent where it functions as a democratic

establishment. A democratic school “feeds on dignity“, common decision-making, where the law and

the right of education are important elements. And one more note – schools and polities are mutually

intertwined, hence in all school project we always have to consider the current political situation and

support.

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Ad removal of the old

MJ: Quite simply, experience shows that things cannot go on like this anymore, as it is not beneficial

to all the parties involved. Hence, I have to abandon what I see is not moving us ahead and does not

help the situation. Such are only my priorities based on a constants struggle with others, so that I

eventually have to stop and ask: “Well, and what actually do children and adolescents need right now?

How do we bring into motion? Children now?“ And then the “new” comes step-by-step. Every school

has a story and history to tell and changing it will take time. Just like the Dome (Stephanusdom). We

ought to acknowledge that ”schools change slower than churches“. If a man has a vision, he need

persistence to realize it. Halting at the beginning is the first step to something new. The idea that one

has to do constantly more and more is a great preparation got a burnout. I ask myself questions: What

is it about now; what are the priorities; what has preference and what do students prefer and what do

they need and what options do they have, etc. It does not help to look back and say that past

generations used to do it this and that way, so it must be good enough for today’s generation.

Another issue is that teachers often complain about children and lose their relationship with the

children. They view children as something troublesome, not like living human beings. It is like in the

Bible: your rhetoric will tell on you. It is essential to abandon the notion of an ideal teacher knows

everything perfectly, as everybody has certain limits in his competences. Schools require diverse

competences that are not available to a single man, but we all can have them together. This leads to

concept of a school that we all create together. Schools are under the influence of the society and

family, but also the influence of reactions, because school structurally “violate” students. Due to its

own deficits, schools “torture and denigrate students”, see nothing but their deficits, not their

potential, chances and needs. The fiction of homogeneity and routine that are associated with this

concept claims that all children are identical, all children know only this much, all children have the

same way of thinking and I, the teacher, have to conceive the class in a certain wat, because all children

are identical, etc. This fiction has to end, because it is nothing but a fiction.

I experienced one of the strongest moments in the school environment in a village school near Brno,

where the children who had finished their assignment looked around the classroom which of their

classmates need help. Community or nation is a common phenomenon, not the principle of

competition. Something like this cannot be staged for visitors of the school who occasionally come to

the school – it has to be present at the school every day. As to the overall context, That school got its

impulse to change because of a newly enrolled autistic child. It was a gifted child, but it had a mental

handicap. The school approached the situation in a forthcoming manner. The school had a chance to

do it and used the opportunity for a change, they learned to handle otherness. The fascinating aspect

of that school was when I walked up to the first floor where the school had an arts workshop – not the

awards that the school had earned in the past, as they were stored in the basement next to the

changing room. This village school had rather ordinary teacher (and a great principal), yet thanks to its

approach it became a fair school, literally, as it won the Fair School Certificate from the League of

Human Rights for its achievements. To me, this is the strength of the Czech Republic, where non-profit

organizations can make a dynamic difference.

Ad Vienna

MJ: First of all, Vienna is a young city. For 20 years, Vienna had been the oldest federal state, in terms

of its population. Today, it is the youngest federal state. Nowadays, the city is brighter, compared to

the post-war smoky Vienna, where I grew up. I could never imagine how bright Vienna would become.

Vienna is a city where public transportation plays an important role. The city has a huge number of

social housing and many facilities of assistance and support for the needy. Vienna’s great advantage is

cultural diversity ranging from music t museums. It is diversified and dynamic city – from classical

music to traditional Viennese songs. But I also know Vienna’s dark sides. One of them is the FPÖ

political party.

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Vienna has always been Jewish town, but also an anti-Semitic one. It has a dark history of expulsion

and liquidation of Jews. Since 1420, when 300 Jews were burned at stake, there was no Jewish

community in Vienna for 200 years. When I was working at the theological faculty, I founded a

coordination committee for cooperation of Christians and Jews. On June 9, 1419, i.e., exactly 600 years

ago, the faculty was consulted whether Jews would form an association with Christians. There exists a

record of it and I was wondering why the faculty has to deal with it even after 600 years.

Back to Vienna itself – the city rejuvenated thanks to immigration, because immigrants have children,

so that the population of Vienna grows by 20 thousand annually.

Ad theological faculty

MJ: The theological faculty has a department Catholic theology and Protestant theology. It also has

the institute of Islamic studies, because the university is conceived as an institution of religious studies.

Furthermore, it has a research center for religion and its transformation in European societies.

Recently, students may enroll in master programs as well as Orthodox religious pedagogy/theology.

One could say that the university and faculty aim to see a potential in diversity. This was the inspiration

for our project, launched in 2004, jointly with Thomas Korbath. We organized a number of seminars

named “The Theory and Practice in the Development of Schools and Religion“ for students of teaching

all subjects. The seminar is being taught to this day and led to our initiative Lebens.werte.schule.

Cardinal Schönbron had to agree that a Protestant theologian teach at a Catholic faculty. In 2006,

Islamic religious pedagogy was added. Today, the faculty is a house of religions from the library in the

basement up to the attic, excepting one part that belongs to the law department. I think it is no

coincidence that the Catholic theological faculty has students from 45 countries and half the students

in the graduate program are from abroad. It may well be the Catholic faculty with the largest diversity.

This was not primarily determined by the faculty’s decision, it is the consequence of the fact that the

faculty is located in Vienna. Similarly, many other schools did not make such a decision – it simply is

the result of natural development and they merely used the opportunity to make the relevant change.

Ad the office as dean of the theological faculty

MJ: From 1966, with a one-year pause, I have been a member of the university. Initially as a student,

then a teacher, then a professor, and then quite unexpectedly a dean for 5 years. Even today in my

retirement, I still am a member of the university. Not just me, the university is aging, too. In the

beginning, the university was tiny. Today, it has an enrollment of 90 thousand students, not counting

the medical faculty. At the beginning, it was a rather provincial institution. Today, it is international,

partly thanks to the Catholic Theological Faculty. In the past, there used to be the so-called

Siegriedskopf (a monument to Siegfried who symbolizes German nationalism), but the university

managed to get rid of the monument. Today, the foyer features an inscription with a slogan stating

that science is not possible without respect for human rights. The university organizes 250 academic

events a year, it is a living mechanism.

The best prerequisite for the office of a dean were my nine semesters as representative of the students

and member of the relevant committees, and then 4 years as member of the appellate commission.

What is important? As a dean, one must not be afraid of conflicts, as they are quite productive. It is

important to bring out conflicts into the daylight, not keep them secret, even if it should mean that I

could no longer be a dean. Does the dean represent the interests of his profession or those of the

faculty? Without a doubt, as a dean I represented the faculty. The challenge was how to create a faculty

with 65 scientists. There exists merely one theology, but the faculty focuses on individual

specializations, whereas theology is only one specialization. Similarly, the same applies to pedagogy

and other faculties. There can exists but one pedagogy as a science, yet all who participate in it have

concrete specializations. The summary of the specializations does not equal pedagogy as such.

Moreover, there are highly appreciated specializations, but also less respected specializations, e.g.,

social pedagogy that does not have a long tradition, yet a considerable potential for the future, which

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however is often overlooked. The situation is similar in the field of religious pedagogy at the theological

faculty.

Conflicts is another aspect of the matter, but one has to watch out not to see just problems alone, as

that begins to affect one psychologically. I had noticed what it was ding to me, because I was dealing

with conflicts constantly. Eventually, I decided to keep record of the solutions that were good and

successful during the given day, including solutions of certain conflicts. Unless we do this, we might

lose the positive in the quantity of the negative.

Is it me and my students or we and our school? Me and my department or we and our faculty? I

launched the process of the faculty’s development and started many projects that were indispensable

for what we were trying to achieve. Alone, we would not have been able to cross the swamp. I, as a

single person, am unable to change the faculty and people’s way of thinking. I cannot implement any

measures, as it takes changes in the process as a whole to change one’s way of thinking and to find

other cooperation options. However, this does not concern the faculty innerly, it concerns the faculty

as a part of the university. In the beginning of my office as a dean, there only existed one research

platform in which the faculty was participating. At the end of my term in office there were 5

interdisciplinary research platforms, in which the faculty was participating, and one of them even in a

managing position. If applied to schools, in general, we can say that schools need a certain inner

structure and culture for cooperation, but also a network that function beyond the school’s premises.

Such a network can be formed by a university or other institutions whose approach to the school

varies. It may also include other schools that can participate in the form of mutual visits and exchange

of experiences. for instance: I am going to visit your school and I am inviting you to visit mu school,

etc. The reason is that the view from outside is simply different and irreplaceable. It enables me to

view things from outside, through the perspective of somebody else’s eyes. This way I can see my own

potential and realize what I have to learn. In other words, the things that had brought into motion as

a dean opened up certain options around us. Finally, what the faculty or the school needs is a vision

about its objectives and its stance to social, political, and especially clerical-political issues. Its position

must be discernable, because has to assume a position to something, not against something, as an

antagonist position merely defers the possibility to achieve the objective, whereas a positive approach

facilitates progress and helps us to move forwards and take others along with us.

Ad orientation on schools

MJ: I don’t know how to put it, but when began to teach, I had no experience at all. I was seeking

someone who would explain to me how a school functions. I made some attempts. For instance, I

started to attend classes in mathematics where students worked in small groups. Four of the best math

students worked in groups together, whereas the teacher took the weakest students to form a group

that he worked with himself. Thus, we were forced to work in our respective groups, which brought

certain dynamics into the learning process. To learn means to study together. I was not afraid of math

as a subject. I even used to tutor math when in secondary school. I did not tell “my students” how to

solve the problem – instead, I asked them to explain the problem to me. Through this they realized

what the problem was about and found a way to resolving it.

Then, in 1971, I started to teach and decided to apply the method of working in teams to my religion

classes. I wanted to form capable teams. So I prepared a sociogram of the class. I asked the students:

Whom would you elect to be the speaker of the class? Whom would you like to work on your

homework? Whom would you invite t your birthday party? The questions in the sociogram were

supposed to reveal the potential for leading, cooperation and furthering of relations. Thanks to this

differentiation of the students I was able to balance out the three key aspects of teamwork. After that

the student received their assignments and had to work on them and learn together.

The question of participation has always interested me. Not what I can teach others, whereas what

people themselves are able to learn. There is a difference between working with 30 students or 5

groups of students. Dividing students into groups is something entirely different than changing the

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seating order. Sometimes, it happened that children wanted to be in the former group, but that was

not possible, because I always insisted on separating them according to the sociogram to ensure that

they work effectively. In order to convince the children, I had to explain why they have to be in this or

that group, e.g., because the place in a certain group is important for each particular student.

I dream

of a school as a place where students live and learn, where respect to others has priority over

performance, where it is possible to be and become a human being.

I dream

of a school that helps children bear their fears and awakens their unanticipated abilities, a

school that supports cooperation and does not need competitiveness, a school that encourages

inquisitiveness and is not afraid of questions and provides a room for discovery.

I dream

of a school where there is a balance between work and play, activity and resting, the everyday

and festive activities, where there is a room for conflicts, a school that is open-minded to

mistakes and no ambition for perfection, a school that is aware of its limitations and recognize

its limits, a school one does not live for, but is able to live with for a certain part of the day,

because a school is life itself and cannot be “the only” aim in life, nor does it have the right to

control anyone’s life.

Lenka Gulová

Faculty of Education, Masaryk University in Brno

For areas of research and overview of events at the Masaryk University in Brno Department of

Social Pedagogy, go to https://ksop.ped.muni.cz/projects.