AN INVESTIGATION OF ACTING AWAY (DISTORTING)
FUNDAMENTAL PEDAGOGIC ESSENCES
W.
A. Landman, S. H. van Wyk,
M.
C. H. Sonnekus
University
of Pretoria
1. INTRODUCTION
Among other things, to educate is to
actualize pedagogic essences. Of
particular importance is the quality of actualization that can support a child
adequately in the direction of adulthood.
In contrast, this quality can be so weak that it can be said that the
pedagogic essences are not actualized.
This latter means the "educator" acts as if pedagogic essences
did not exist and they are distorted.
When an essence is acted away, a vacuum is not formed in its place. On the contrary, something other than the pedagogic is
actualized. In extreme cases, contradictions of the essences appear
that are in conflict with the pedagogic essences. Then two antithetical forces are active. The positive (the pedagogic) is in
opposition to the negative (what is acted away) and the latter can lead to
tragedy.
The pedagogic meaninglessness of the contradictions
is that they can not only obscure, alter and conceal but even can nullify
genuine educating.
Essence-actualization is pedagogic work while
contradiction-actualization is pedagogic neglect. Just as different degrees of pedagogic neglect can be noticed, so
different levels of the actualization of contradictions can be
distinguished. For example, such levels
can range from an authentic relationship of fellow-humanness through a
restrained relationship to a rejection of human relationships. Hence, when contradictions are mentioned in
the present study, what is really meant is "in the direction of
actualizing contradictions."
2. THE VALUE OF INVESTIGATING CONTRADICTIONS
The following are possibilities based on
the investigation of the life worlds of children referred to the Child Guidance
Institute for detection of what gave rise to their problems and for appropriate
assistance (pedotherapy).
2.1 The interpretation of results obtained with different exploratory
media in terms of contradictions can lead to a more effective conversation with the parents. For example, it is not as effective to talk
with the parents about aggression and dissatisfaction as it is to clarify for
them that a mood or atmosphere of working together does not exist in their
house. Thus, there is disagreement
between them and their children over how they are living together (Instead of
feeling close to each other, a feeling of opposing each other prevails).
The pedagogue who conducts the
investigation has to be able to interpret the results of the exploratory media
in terms of contradictions because this will allow for a profound understanding
of a child-in-distress.
2.2 If pedotherapy is viewed
as a restoration of pedagogic essences in the life world of a child-in-distress,
the following is possible: the pedotherapist who interprets the results in
terms of contradictions knows that his assistance has to be directed at their
removal. For example, if a child experiences a failure in human
relationships, pedotherapeutic work has to restore them. In this way, a more focused pedotherapy
becomes possible.
2.3 When the historicity image and
the exploratory media are interpreted in terms of acted away pedagogic
essences, i.e., in terms of appearing contradictions, it is easier to establish
if and how the pedagogic investigation confirms the historicity image. Such confirmation (or not) is a meaningful
part of the investigation. The
connections among the historicity image and the interpretations of the
exploratory media further facilitate the conversation with the parents and
emphasize for the pedotherapist the direction his assistance should take.
2.4 The pedagogue sticks with the problem so that he can use certain
exploratory media in his pedagogic investigation of the life world of a
child-in-distress. Although these media
often are referred to as "psychological tests," the pedagogue knows
that pedagogic work is not and
cannot be applied psychology; even so here he puts psychology into
practice! These so-called psychological
media are obviously of value for the pedagogic investigation. However, this is so only because the
investigating pedagogue implements and interprets them as pedagogic media. One way to
accentuate this pedagogic implementation and interpretation is to interpret
their results in terms of pedagogical essences or their contradictions.
3. THE INVESTIGATION
The person-images of 25 children whose ages
range from 5 years 4 months to 15 years and whose IQs range from 70 to 147 were
analyzed.
From the historicity images there are signs
that all of these children come from homes displaying a poor pedagogic
quality. In order of frequency, the
following problems were observed:
(i) Rejection by the parents was mentioned
27 times in the historicity images (in the form of direct rejection,
"education" turned over to servants, children irritate their mother,
no communication with the children was sought or maintained, tension between
the children leading to tension between them and their parents and also between
the parents themselves, the parents tell their child that only the worst is
expected of him)
(ii) Tension between the parents (12)
(iii) Divorce (11)
(iv) Neglect of the relationship of
authority (in the form of a father without authority, lack of authoritativeness
by both parents, exercise of authority in the form of shouting, threats and
name-calling (9)
(v) Overprotection (3); favoritism among the children by the
parents (2).
4. RESULTS FROM THE EXPLORATORY MEDIA
4.1
Rorschach contents
When the contents of the Rorschach
responses of these children were viewed, the following contradictions were
observed (in order of frequency):
(i) Rejection of human relationships (12)
(ii) Experience of not belonging and a lack
of "our" space (11)
(iii) Mistrust (especially in the form of
deficient being together and absence-in-mistrust) (8)
(iv) Being solitary and yearning to escape
(4).
4.2
Columbus contents
In order of frequency, the following
contradictions were found:
(i) Alienation (in the form of a lack of
feeling at home, a lack of turning to, an absence of closeness, rejection or
human relationships, yearning to escape) (17)
(ii) Rejection (10)
(iii) Mistrust (especially in the form of a
deficient being together,
rebellion against the authority of norms, being solitary) (9)
(iv) Experience of not belonging and lack
of "our" space (7).
4.3
T.A.T./S.A.P.A.T.
In order of frequency, the following
contradictions appeared:
(i) Alienation (in the form of yearning to
escape, absence of closeness, rejection of human relationships, experience of a
neglectful space, lack of bonding) (17)
(ii) Rejection (7)
(iii) Mistrust (especially in the form of
turning away-in-mistrust, rejection of being together, being solitary,
rebellious against the authority of norms) (7)
(iv) Experience of not belonging (3).
4.4
Graphic representations (Drawing person, house,
etc.)
In order of frequency, the following
contradictions appeared:
(i) Alienation (in the form of absence of
closeness, deficient sharing, creation of distance, rejection of human
relationships, no attraction, yearning to escape) (12)
(ii) Experience of not belonging and lack
of "our" space (10)
(iii) Rejection (7)
(iv) Mistrust (in the form of
absence-in-mistrust, being solitary, rebellion against the authority of norms)
(6).
4.5
Play diagnosis
The following contradictions appeared
during the diagnosis of play:
(i) Rejection of home (5)
(ii) Rejection of "our" space (4)
(iii) Experience of not belonging (4)
(iv) Absence-in-mistrust (3)
(v) Rejection of human relationships (3)
(vi) Experience of inaccessibility (2)
(vii) Experience of a neglectful space (2)
(viii) Rejection (1).
4.6
Rotter sentence completion
In order of frequency, the following
contradictions appeared:
(i) Rejection (7)
(ii) Lack of bonding (3)
(iii) Absence-in-mistrust (3)
(iv) Experience of not belonging (2)
(v) Being solitary (1)
(vi) Yearning to escape (1)
(vii) Experience of inaccessibility (1)
(viii) Lack of sharing (1).
4.7
Results of particular pedagogic importance
When the results reported in 4.1 to 4.6 are
more closely examined, they mainly involve a falling out and a decline
regarding relationships between
parents and children. The pedagogic
relationship thus is distorted and this leads to the observation of other
distorted pedagogic results such as the following:
(i) Inadequate appreciation of
potentialities (20)
(ii) Not being appealed to (9)
(iii) Lack of direction (9)
(iv) Lack of experiencing the future (8)
(v) Ignoring norms (6)
(vi) Satisfied to remain a child (6)
(vii) No indication of persistence (5)
(viii) Rejection of authority (4)
(ix) Weakening of the idea of propriety (3)
(x) Rejection of responsibility (3)
(xi) Not allowed to have his say (3).
Observation:
(i) to (xi) are contradictions that appear
because of a disparity between parents and children. They are indications of pedagogic neglect. Consequently, in the conversation with the parents the following need to be pointed out
to them:
(i) how the child lived experiences the
existing disparity; and
(ii) what the effect of this is on their
child's being and on his becoming a proper adult.
The pedotherapist
has to rectify the disparity or meaningfully rework it. At the same time, during pedotherapy,
attention has to be given to the contradictions (i-xi).
5. THE CONTRADICTIONS
To accomplish the interpretations alluded
to above means the investigating (exploring) pedagogue needs to have a list of
defined contradictions. In this
connection, it is recommended that he understand and know the fundamental
pedagogic essences and express them in his own words with the aim of planning
the conversation with the parents
and engaging in pedotherapy to
rectify the contradictions.
A list of defined fundamental pedagogic
essences appears in Landman, W. A. Fundamentele
Pedagogiek en Onderwyspraktyk.
Durban: Butterworths, 1977, pp. 63-75
6. THE ACTUALIZATION OF THE PSYCHIC LIFE AND
ACTING AWAY (DISTORTING) FUNDAMENTAL PEDAGOGIC ESSENCES (A more detailed account of the actualization of the psychic life of
a child-in-education can be found in Sonnekus, M. C. H. The
Teacher, the Lesson and the Child.
Stellenbosch: University Publishers and Booksellers, 1975).
Previously under 4.7, the following two
questions were posed:
(i)
How does a child lived experience the
existing disparities?
(ii)
What is the effect of this on a
child's being and on his becoming a proper adult?
To answer these questions, first we must
briefly indicate the meaning of the psychic life of a child-in-education and,
in particular, the importance of its adequate actualization on a child's way to
adulthood. This means that notice must
be taken of a very important event in a child's growing up, namely, his psychic
life and its actualization. A child
himself always participates in actualizing his psychic life, and also this
actualization is directly influenced by the educating provided by adults, that
is, by the relationships of educating mentioned above.
But how does acting away fundamental
pedagogic essences influence the actualization of a child's psychic life, i.e.,
what is the influence of the appearance of the mentioned contradictions on
this? This section (and later section
8) takes a closer look at a child's experiences as well as lived experiences of
the disparities in the home or the acting away of the fundamental pedagogic
essences when he actualizes his psychic life.
The aim also is to try to understand the effects these disparities and
acting away have on his being and on his becoming adult.
6.1
How does the actualization of a child's psychic life occur?
It was already stated that, on the one
hand, a child himself participates in actualizing his psychic life and, on the
other hand, that the educating by his parents, teachers and by other adults
directly influences its actualization..
This actualization means particular psychic ways of living. In
toto, this is known as the self-actualization or self-realization of his
psychic life, i.e., his own participation in his becoming adult.. These psychic ways of living are called by
psychopedagogics experiencing, willing, lived experiencing, knowing and
behaving.
Without considering these essences of the
psychic life in detail, we only mention briefly some of the particular
essentials of each and their interrelations.
Thus, a child is first experiencingly in the world and he experiences
things and persons in his relationships with them. This means he goes out to the world, explores it and ultimately
takes meaning from and gives meaning to it.
In other words, in his experiencing, he is searching for new meanings of
the world around him. However, his
experiencing is guided by his willing which directs and gives a direction to
it. Thus, this willing is decisive as
well as direction-giving in his search for the sense and meaning of the
relationships in which he finds himself.
Thus, a child, as an intentional being, directs himself experiencingly
and willingly to the world around him and also to his educators.
But a child also lived experiences
things. The contents he encounters in
the world, and this includes his educative relationships by which he converses
with his parents and vise versa. To
lived experience is to search for sense and meaning in the world and, in
particular, in educative relationships.
Particularly, there are different modes of lived experiencing; there is
affective or emotional lived experiencing, which can appear as impulsive,
labile or stable. Psychopedagogics
clearly shows that as a child progressively lived experiences stability, it
correspondingly will be more meaningful to him. There also is cognitive or knowing lived experiencing; that is
this is a more understanding, conceptual way, of actualizing his psychic life
and experiencing the world around him as well as the educative relationships
between him and his parents. Also he seeks
cognitive meaning in the relationships and contents which his educators present
to him. Viewed psychopedagogically,
cognitive lived experience can be for a child very global, diffuse or vague but
also more systematic and ordered.
Progressively ordered cognitive or knowing lived experiencing, along
with the already mentioned affective, also is a mode or way of giving meaning
when he actualizes his psychic life; progressivley ordered cognitive lived
experiencing is for a child a progression in sense and meaning.
At the same time, there is a close
connection between affective and cognitive lived experiencing and, indeed, it
is reciprocal. In other words, as a
child progressivley lived experiences affective stability, this supports and
prepares him for ordered cognitive lived experiencing; reciprocally, when he
lived experiences cognitive order in his relationships with his parents or
teachers, he lived experiences affective stability and, indeed, these two ways
of lived experiencing (as modes of actualizing the psychic life) are
preconditions for a child's normative lived experiencing of meaning.
In actualizing his psychic life by
experiencing, willing and lived experiencing, he also is actualizing his
cognitive life. In other words, in these ways of knowing he is learning about
his world. That is, a child learns to
know his world in affective, cognitive and normative ways. Although knowing is a cognitive mode, it
always is supported by the affective aspects of the psychic life. Further, the results of all of the above
modes of actualization flow into a child's possessed experience or experiential
residue. Possessed experience is a
child's experiences of contents (including the contents of education) with
which he has entered into dialogue and given meaning. As the outcome of a child's actualization of his psychic life,
possessed experience defines and co-defines each of his new experiences and
lived experiences in the future.
Finally, a child's experiencing along with
his willing and lived experiencing are knowable in his behaviors. Behaviors directly reflect the actualization
of the psychic life and this actualization also is visible in his learning and
becoming. Thus, from the moment of
birth, and for his entire life, a child/person is busy learning; that is, he
gives sense and meaning to particular contents by appropriating them for
himself. Learning is an affective as
well as a cognitive activity but in and through the affective and the cognitive
it also is a normative, meaning-giving activity. Learning is actualized by different modes that only are mentioned
and not considered in detail. They are
sensing, attending, perceiving, thinking, imagining and fantasizing as well as
remembering. The psychic life manifests
itself as a totality via these modes of learning. In and by learning, a child's psychic life is actualized by his
own participation as well as being influenced by the teaching by adults
(including teachers).
Yet another mode of the manifestation of
the psychic life is becoming. As with
the other moments of the psychic life, becoming is an activity in which a child
participates and which also is guided by adults. Briefly, becoming is an elevation in the level of a child's
growing up on his way to adulthood. Of
interest is the fact that a child's learning is observable in his
becoming. In other words, a child
becomes adult because he learns.
Becoming does not mean a developmental process such as contemporary
developmental psychology will make it.
Rather, it is an important educative event in which a child participates
by actualizing his psychic life via the modes mentioned above. Particular modes of becoming also are
distinguished, namely, exploration, emancipation, distantiation, differentiation
and objectification.
These particular modes of becoming are
shown in a child's growing up owing to the fact that he actualizes his psychic
life by learning, experiencing, willing, lived experiencing, knowing and
behaving. The aim of this brief discussion
is to present to the reader the tasks confronted by a child in relation to an
adult such that he will progressively become a proper adult.
Once again the question arises regarding
the influence of acting away fundamental pedagogic essences (i.e., the
appearance of contradictions) on a child's psychic life. In the following sections, this matter will
be gone into in a little more detail; however, at this stage it is emphasized
that a child's entire learning and becoming will progress inadequately if the
mentioned fundamental pedagogic essences become increasingly acted away, or, in
other words, if contradictions increasingly appear in a child's actualization
of his psychic life.
6.2
Guidance to adequately actualizing the psychic life as a pedagogic task
With reference to the previous section,
affective, cognitive and normative self-actualization are three particular
modes of actualizing the psychic life.
They do not occur apart from each other and are distinguished only for
the sake of better understanding. On
the one hand, a child actualizes his psychic life affectively or emotionally
and a precondition for this is a lived experience of progressive affective
stability. On the other hand, and
paired with this is the lived experience of progressive knowing or cognitive
order as another precondition. These
two modes of actualization are ways of giving and lived experiencing meaning,
thus they are modes of normatively actualizing the psychic life.
From a psychopedagogic view, the task of
educating or guiding a child in his self-actualizing his psychic life involves
three modes, namely, affective, cognitive and normative guidance. These three modes of adult guidance also
follow an inseparable and unitary course.
Even so, for sake of clarity, each is discussed separately.
Affective guidance is the emotional
contact, relationship or climate that exists between adult and child in
education. It involves self-confidence,
also known as a trusting relationship between parent and child, it occurs in
the association and encounter between adult and child, in the conversation or
dialogue between parent and child which continually is called for, etc. Also, it appears by way of pampering a
child, whether over or under done; it appears in the degree of distancing or
periodic breaking away advocated by a parent in his educative intervention with
his child. Even the voices and mutual
looks between parent and child primarily are affect-laden and they are lived
experienced by a child as such. The
younger a child, the more this affective guidance will take the form of
pampering, of bodily coddling, warmth, etc. and the older a child the more this
ought to diminish, although it always remains a very important mode of guiding
a child.
Cognitive guidance is concerned with
knowing, understanding or also conceptual conversations between parent and
child. For example, a child desires
from his parent not only the normative exemplification of his norms, or
authority, or discipline but at the same time a cognitive explanation or
interpretation by the parent regarding the why and wherefore of the particular
norm being exemplified. The well-known
child questions arise clearly here, a phenomenon that appears very early in a
child's life and continues through his entire becoming adult. These questions mean that a child wants to
know and understand more. It is the
task of the parent and teacher always to answer the childlike questions in a
knowing, clear way so that it will be understandable to him.
As indicated above, stemming from a child's
lived experiences, these affective and cognitive ways of guidance by the
parents make high demands, namely, that affective guidance has to be of a
stabilizing nature, i.e., it must be consistent from day to day as well as from
parent to parent; furthermore, there needs to be a constant and stable quality
in the entire family. Also, the
cognitive guidance by the parents needs to be of a systematic and ordered
nature; i.e., a child must experience and lived experience it as stable and
ordered and in this way give sense and meaning to it.
It should be clear that this affective and
cognitive guidance has a unitary course as does a child's corresponding lived
experiences and since these are the ways a child lived experiences sense and
meaning, this guidance also involves the normative education or guidance
provided by the parent himself. In
other words, affective and cognitive guidance by the parents contribute
directly to their daily normative guidance.
6.3
The influence of pedagogic neglect (contradictions) on actualizing the psychic
life of a child on his way to proper adulthood
At this stage we can return to the two
questions posed in section 4.7, how are the disparities (contradictions)
experienced and lived experienced and what is the effect of this on a child's
being and on his becoming adult?
By now, it ought to be obvious that
pedagogic neglect, as the acting away of fundamental pedagogic essences,
detrimentally influences the entire actualization of the psychic life. Briefly, this means experiencing and lived
experiencing an inadequate educative situation. This involves inadequate guidance on the part of the parents,
which means an unstable affective as well as disordered cognitive guidance and,
hence, a meaningless normative guidance.
This is a highly disharmonious situation for such a child.
Further, the effect is an equally unstable
affective self-actualization, a diffuse, poorly ordered cognitive
self-actualization and thereby a meaningless normative self-actualization of
the child's psychic life--all viewed in terms of his total becoming adult. This means that in such cases a child's
becoming adult takes an inadequate and distorted course.
Viewed more closely in terms of the
appearance of contradictions, such pedagogic neglect leads to inadequate
learning and becoming because it directly restrains them.
In terms of actualizing his psychic life, a
child will experience such educative relationships as pedagogic neglect and,
correspondingly, this influences the actualization of his willing and lived
experiencing (i.e., labile affective, poorly ordered cognitive, meaningless
normative lived experiences). A child's
intellectual life also is directly restrained by what in turn undermines his
cognitive learning which leads to meaningless possessed experiences.
The behavior of these children also gives
an indication of this pedagogic neglect or appearance of contradictions, the
actualization of which influences his affective, cognitive and normative
aspects. In this way, pedagogic neglect
leads directly to a child behaving meaninglessly.
Seen as a whole, learning and becoming as
two ways a child's psychic life shows itself, also will take a distorted course
and there will be definite learning difficulties and problems of becoming
(i.e., a child can be seriously harmed regarding his becoming a proper adult.
7. THE PEDOTHERAPEUTIC TASK REGARDING THE
APPEARANCE OF CONTRADICTIONS
In section 4.7, the following proposition
was presented regarding the task of the pedotherapist: He has to direct himself to rectify the
disparity or meaningfully rework it.
The question now is what does this mean psychopedagogically and
orthopedagogically, and what task does this hold for the pedotherapist?
First, in connection with section 5, a
pedotherapist has to take into account the list of contradictions that may have
appeared in the interactions between parents and child. Such contradictory guidance by the parents
leads a child to attribute negative meanings, as possessed experience, when he
actualizes his psychic life in this relationship.
Second, a pedotherapist aims at modifying
these negative meanings through his pedotherapeutic intervention; that is, he
aims to replace these negative meanings with positive, meaningful sense. In terms of the inadequate parental guidance
and the concomitant inadequate, meaningless actualization of his psychic life
by such a child, the pedotherapist's task includes repairing the prevailing
particular disharmonious relationships of educating by replacing them with
meaningful, harmonious educative relationships.
Third, psychopedagogically viewed, such
pedotherapy means the labile affective guidance has to be replaced by an
affectively stable form, that the disordered cognitive guidance be replaced by
a more ordered cognitive form, and the meaningless normative guidance, which
springs from the inadequate affective and cognitive guidance, also has to be
changed to a meaningful normative form.
Accordingly, such repaired ways of guidance will lead a child to a more stable
affective, ordered cognitive and meaningful normative self-actualization of his psychic life. In addition, this change in parental guidance and a child's
resulting more favorable self-actualization enables him to overcome learning
problems owing to the more favorable affective, cognitive and normative
actualization of his psychic life.
Among other things, a pedotherapist has to
have an understanding of the modes of learning (sensing, attending, perceiving,
thinking, imagining and fantasizing as well as remembering) so he can
adequately guide these different modes of learning in their
interconnectedness. Linking up with
instructing a child, more particularly with his teacher(s) in school, is of
great importance regarding the aim of providing pedotherapeutic assistance that
necessarily is directed to the modes of learning and that also is followed up
in school.
It also is necessary that a pedotherapist
have knowledge of the different modes of becoming (i.e., exploration,
emancipation, distantiation, differentiation and objectification). That is, the pedotherapist also aims to
adequately guide a child regarding these modes of becoming by giving adequate
support so there is an elevation in the level of his becoming. A child participates directly in all of this
while remaining under the direct guidance and influence of an adult.
8. ACTING AWAY (DISTORTION) FUNDAMENTAL
PEDAGOGIC ESSENCES: SYNTHESIS AND PERSPECTIVE
8.1 In spite of its limited nature, this investigation of the acting
away of fundamental pedagogic essences has lead to highly valuable
results. One of the most important of
these and that is of great importance to the pedagogue, psychopedagogue and
orthopedagogue is that acting away pedagogic essences, as an increased
appearance of contradictions, is an unacceptable course of action known as
pedagogic neglect. Hence, a pedagogue
should take note of the phenomenon of contradictions as unacceptable tendencies
in educating particular children. In
his turn, a psychopedagogue has to take note of the enormous impact that this
pedagogic neglect, as an adult's inadequate educating and guiding, has on the
way a child actualizes his psychic life, including the course of his learning
and becoming.
The orthopedagogue (i.e., pedotherapist),
as one who provides help for such children, similarly has to take note of the
results of this study because such pedagogic neglect confronts him with highly
important pedotherapeutic as well as orthodidactic tasks.
8.2 The present study revealed particular educative problems that ought
to be investigated more closely on a broader basis and in more empirical
ways. In particular, these problems
lead to offering pedotherapy as well as orthodidactic assistance, each of which
present tasks from its own domain as well as jointly to design means to repair
the inadequate actualization of a child's psychic life and the correlated
inadequate course of educating by the parents.
AUTHORS' SUMMARY
(AN INQUIRY INTO THE DISTORTION OF FUNDAMENTAL
PEDAGOGIC ESSENCES)
The actualization of pedagogic essences in
education ought to contribute to a child adequately becoming toward
adulthood. However, if an educator
underestimates or disregards the existence of pedagogic essences this doesn't
occur.
An examination of 25 children from homes of
poor pedagogic quality revealed that they show signs of social aversion, a lack
of warmth in personal relations and a sense of rejection and mistrust. In addition, there is conspicuous evidence
of inadequate appreciation of their own abilities and a general lack of
direction to and perspective on the future.
The following should be pointed out to
their parents during interviews: How the children experience their relations
with their parents and how this affects their progress toward adulthood.
Failing to implement pedagogic essences, also
known as pedagogic neglect, results in a child experiencing the educative
situation as inadequate. This amounts
to inadequate guidance by the parent which is the result of his unstable
affective, disordered cognitive and meaningless normative guidance of his
child.
An equally strong effect is the unstable
affective self-actualization by the child of his psychic life, a diffuse,
poorly ordered cognitive actualization of his potential together with a
meaningless actualization of his psychic life all viewed in terms of his total
progress toward adulthood.
Such pedagogic neglect also impedes a
child's learning and, therefore, his total becoming.
The findings of this study indicate that a
pedotherapist has an important task to carry out in which cognizance has to be
taken of the pedagogic neglect that has taken place, and steps must be taken to
prevent further neglect and to restore the pedagogic essences. The basic objective is to change a child's
negative meaning structure and to rectify the disharmonious educative
relationships.