Comenius’ View of Education
For Johann A. Comenius (1592-1670), the ultimate purpose of human life was to become united with God and obtain eternal bliss in the life after death, with life here on earth being the preparation for life after death. For that purpose, everyone should
(1) know all things,
(2) become a person who can control things as well as oneself, and
(3) become like the image of God.
He advocated the necessity of three kinds of education: intellectual education, moral education, and religious education. To teach “all things to all men” was the theme of Comenius’ theory of education, which was called pansophia. 1
According to Comenius, the character to be achieved through education is naturally inherent in human beings, and it is the role of education to draw out this natural gift, namely, “nature.” Comenius said that originally parents are responsible for education, but should they become unable to do it, schools would become necessary to replace them.
The image of the ideal person, according to Comenius, was that of a “pansophist,” or a person who has learned all knowledge concerning God, nature, and human beings. The purpose of education is to raise practical Christians who have learned everything knowable, and to realize the peaceful unification of the world through Christianity.