Pestalozzi, or an Ambiguous Legacy in Education

Abstract

The cultural shift of the educationalization of the world was not interrupted with the death of Pestalozzi but continued to grow in importance, not least because an increasingly self-confidant new profession—trained and certified teachers—were defending their interests by referring to the “educational saint” Pestalozzi. Teacher education, on the other hand, needed the teachers to identify with their national and moral duties, and with that, Pestalozzi became a hero of historiography, praised (wrongly) as the founder of the modern school and uniting the allegedly essential characteristics of a teacher: moral character and devotion. It was through this double interest—professional-political interest on the part of the teachers and national-moral interest on the part of the teacher educators—that Pestalozzi became the star of an educationalized culture that has expanded its cultural jurisdiction uninterruptedly to the present day.