Katechetik

Stapled in front of my father's class notes (ca 1910)on Catechetics is a pamphlet of 25 pages titled Abriss der Katechetik by J. Schaller which he says is a summary of J.Schmarjes Das katechetisch Lehrverfahren auf psychologische Grundlage. Further Schaller says his summary will demonstrate that Schmarjes manner of presentation was too difficult for our seminarians. Wonder what the seminarians thought of that?

The word katechesieren and its derivatives comes from the Greek katecherin, which literally has a negative tone but translated to orally teach, instruct , without reference to the subject matter.In the New Testament the word katechesieren is in the following verses: 1 Cor.14:19; Rom.2:18; Acts 18:25; Galatians 6:6.
In the ancient church the word has a narrower sense and signifies first: to instruct in Christianity, and later: Beginners and Adolescents to instruct in the saving truth. It is the origin of the following derivatives:katechet; the instruction; -katechumen-the instructed one; katechumenat-churchly office to instrcut the beginners. The teaching form (e.g. question and answer) was not indicated by this word. The word Katechismus indicates first the handling of instruction, then up until Luther the doctrinal content ; Luther first uses the name for a book which contains the doctrinal matter.

Katechesieren is namely then originally simply instruction, and Katechese or Katechisation is actually nothing further than a lecture, which according to the rule of the catechetical teaching manner actually given or presented in written form. The prevailing form of catechesis in ancient times without doubt was the coherent lecture (the akromatische form); yet the catechesis must also use question that its student rightly comprehended the lecture (the erotematische form).

After the middle ages in spite of the previous efforts of Charlemagne instruction was entirely disregarded and in decline,, but again raised up by the Reformation and made yet in the 17th century further progress by Pietism.In the following period of Rationalism two important fundamentals were applied, namely: 1. all instruction must include discussion of the opinion, and 2. that concepts must be developed in instruction. Both were not only in religous instruction required but in all instrcution matters and so developed the modern concept of Cathehesis as the as the question-developing teaching form, which not bound to any teaching-content but can and should be applied to all areas of instruction.

It should not be forgotten that in many ways now yet that the concept of catechetics is narrowly conceived. One understand under it a churchly activity, which only deals with church doctrine, which has only to do with with church-teaching and pursues the goal of having the student brought to a certain degree of Christian confession. That is the theological catechetics; that concept includes not only a teaching form but also a definite teaching content. Thereto we take here the concept of catechetics in the sense that it embraces all instruction matter and yet according to the paedagogical basis the development of the student is brought through question and answer to a self-standing inner relationship to the content of the teaching.
The paedagogical catechetics is this; Its concept includes only the teaching form with out consideration of the teaching content.

Chapter 2-The psychological bases;

The formal purpose of education is thus defined as the " formation of the powers which lie in the human nature"; the material purpose must be keep in eye "moral ideal" as which we true Christianity can designate.
The educational development should as also the instruction as a means of education chiefly as developmental instruction. The laws for developmental instruction however must be the same which mainly are the basis for the development of the soul. (In this sense Comenius says: "instruction according to nature". (Unterrichte naturgemass).

Hereupon rest the following fundamental statements: 1. The teacher must reckon with the position which the child brings and proceed from there. 2.The first and most necessary learning-activity is the discovery of the perceptive-circle of the student. 3.Only when the old related ideas are in consciousness can the apperception (perception?) of the new succeed.