Die teorie en praktyk van die onderwys by Hieronymus

Abstract

Although many learned studies have been published on the life and work of Jerome, none deals solely with his educational thought and practice. It is therefore the purpose of this study to ascertain his contribution to the development of education in general and Christian education in particular. This aim is reached by a thorough investigation of all his works as primary sources of information, The first three chapters describe the educational heritage (both Roman and Christian) from which Jerome benefited and by which he was influenced in his own academical career. The main body of the thesis consists of an exposition of his educational thought and practice in chapters four and five respectively. In the concluding chapter an estimation is made of his contribution to the development of Christian education. Some interesting results have come to light. Contrary to the popular believe that his educational thought is restricted to one or two of his letters, it became clear that it is scattered throughout all his writings. Without producing in every respect original ideas he nevertheless pondered deeply on educational problems. Another popular misconception is that his educational precepts were generally unacceptable and therefore not widely followed. As a matter of fact, he enjoyed immense prestige during the Middle Ages, his influence was still strong in the Renaissance, and many of his educational ideas are relevant even today. The final and most important conclusion that has been reached, is that Jerome gave more than just the first steps toward establishing a Christian system of education. A few facts to support this conclusion can be pointed out: he based education on Christianity; he saw the inculcation of the "timor Dei" as the main purpose of education; he believed the pupils to be "templa Dei" and the teacher to be an instrument of God; he held the Bible, in stead of pagan literature, to be the main content of education; while adopting the ancient educational principle of "exemplum" and "imitatio", he drew his examples from Scripture and eventually outlined the Christian duty as "imitatio Christi"; to achieve the moral purpose of education he adapted the traditional cardinal virtues to Christian conceptions and added to them the specifically Christian virtues of love, humility, thankfulness and joy; he connected education to the Christian faith by establishing a monastic school in Bethlehem, thereby setting an example for many others. - In the history of education Jerome is an intermediate figure between die classical and medieval systems of education. He played an important though underestimated role in the survival of education and scholarship in the West.