2.3.9 Was Korczak Really Ahead of His Time?

Was Korczak really ahead of his time? In order to answer this question, one needs to analyze Korczak’s educational principles and compare them to later conceptions that were considered new, creative and revolutionary, led by a variety of prominent educators. Korczak was a writer, pediatrician and educator who perished in Treblinka in 1942 together with his 200 orphan students from the Jewish orphanage that he had directed in Warsaw for 30 years. Every change stems from dissatisfaction from the present situation. The criticism of today’s educational system was preceded by Korczak at the beginning of the twentieth century. Korczak was a great believer in the ability of the child and in his modifiability. This belief is the basis for Feuerstein’s theory of Mediated Learning Experience. Both of them assumed that proper individualized mediation is a means for rendering cognitive and behavioral problems, even when they seem unchangeable. Korczak was a firm believer in being supportive and nonjudgmental towards the child. Moreover, he stressed the fact that transformation is a slow process and even “small and isolated victories” should be noticed and encouraged. The revolutionary concept of mentoring was utilized in Korczak’s orphanage. The young mentors/mediators became active partners in the process of improvement. Korczak replaced the uniform education with personalized nurturance. This notion led the way to individualized teaching and mentoring. Students from all levels were going to benefit from that notion. Korczak engaged his students in a variety of enrichment experiences, during which he could notice special tendencies or talents. Those children would get special care, aiming to fulfil their potential (resembling the present programs for gifted children). Moreover, being against passive learning, Korczak strove to teach his students to generate questions and be independent learners. Feurstein followed Korczak’s footsteps basically for culturally deprived children, while Renzulli applied that trend for gifted children in his three ring model. Learning, according to Korczak should be a meaningful experience. This concept played a central role in Feuerstein’s theory as well as in Renzulli’s model. Korczak’s goal was to turn his students into contributing members of their democratic society. The notion of contributing to society plays a significant role in nowadays schools. Students are encouraged to volunteer and help the needy. It is believed that Korczak is better understood and more highly respected, since so many educators and psychologists today follow his footsteps, whether consciously or unconsciously.

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