Education. Everything you need to know
Education. All you need to know is a book by Dietrich Schwanitz from 1999. It offers a journey through history , literature , philosophy , art and music and shows what, in the opinion of the author , should be part of the educational canon in Germany. The book also contains suggestions on how to advance in the field of education yourself.
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Section 1: Knowledge
Introduction on the state of schools and the education system ...
In the introduction on the state of schools and the education system , the author criticizes the state of the education system in Germany at the end of the 1990s. He claims that it was shipwrecked and that it is time to reconsider. Part of this rethinking is in particular to be clear about what should be part of the educational canon . This book is intended to help.
Chapter: The history of Europe
The chapter The History of Europe is the largest chapter in the book. The introduction lists the two central texts that are the sources of European culture : the Jewish Bible and the Greek double epic Iliad and Odyssey . This is followed by a short version of the history of ancient Greece including its gods and adventures from the Iliad and Odyssey and then the history of the people of Israel and their god. The Europeans have recognized this God as the only one: “The most important figure of our culture is the God of the Bible. And whoever does not believe in him, draws his idea of God from him anyway and then denies it. Whoever says I don't believe in God doesn't mean Zeus, but HIM. ”( Dietrich Schwanitz :) The following is the presentation of European history from 500 BC. Until 2000.
Chapter: European literature
After a description of the literary formal language, the chapter European literature contains a summary of the great works, with particular emphasis on the literary historical significance of the works. It concludes with a drama written in the form of the physicist by Friedrich Dürrenmatt . In this drama, under the supervision of a Dr. Watzlawick and a Dr. Godot, the writers George Bernard Shaw , Luigi Pirandello , Bertolt Brecht , Eugène Ionesco and Samuel Becket as inmates of a psychiatric clinic and discuss their work.
Chapter: The History of Art
In the chapter The History of Art , a museum guide leads the readership through a museum in which each room is dedicated to an art era. At the end of the tour, the viewers themselves become objects of the art exhibition in a simulated cafeteria, which can be observed via mirrors as part of the exhibition.
Chapter: The History of Music
In the chapter The History of Music , basic musical terms such as octave , fifth , third or chord are explained. The history of music begins with the first writings on music theory by the ancient Greek philosophers. It explains the problems that in the time of Baroque to tempered scale resulted in keyboard instruments. A number of important composers and their special contribution to the development of music are presented. Sometimes cross references to literature and film are made.
Chapter: Great philosophers, ideologies, theories and scientific worldviews
The first part of the chapter Great Philosophers , Ideologies , Theories and Scientific Worldviews deals with various philosophers and gives a very brief summary of their views. Since the Greek philosophers have already been dealt with in the historical part and in the Middle Ages philosophy served religion, this chapter describes René Descartes as the first philosopher . The last philosopher in this series is Martin Heidegger .
In the second part of the chapter, the author presents ideologies and theories as a market for products that compete with one another. He doesn't save with criticism and ironic swipes. He accuses Theodor W. Adorno and Jacques Derrida of incomprehensible jargon and writes about the symbolic politics of feminism: “Above all, ugly, discriminatory expressions are cured by a kind of semantic Lourdes and transformed into beautiful expressions; one no longer says »small«, but »vertically challenged«, no longer »stupid«, but »differently gifted«. "( Dietrich Schwanitz :)
The last part of the chapter deals with science and its worldview. Based on the research of the historian of science Thomas Kuhn , the progress of knowledge in the sciences is not presented as a linear process, but as a dispute between a government (the predominant doctrine ) and an opposition (the minority opinion ) over interpretative sovereignty. The theories that, in the author's opinion, had a revolutionary influence on basic cultural knowledge are Darwin's theory of evolution , Einstein 's theory of relativity, and Freud's interpretation of the psyche .
Chapter: On the history of the gender debate
In the chapter on the history of the gender debate it is shown that the equality of men and women is already endangered by language. B. in some languages the same word is used for humans and men. The image of man and woman has changed over the course of history, but was usually justified by biological differences. Today, some of the differences are attributed to learned role behavior . The roles of the sexes were also projected into nature: heaven was male, earth was female. Originally, equality for women was sought in the French Revolution , but was ultimately not realized when the demands of women went too far for men. The modern women's movement arose in England, where Florence Nightingale, through her service to wounded soldiers, changed the perception of the talent of women in the public consciousness. In the 1880s, the women's movement combined with socialism . The women's rights activist Annie Besant joined their struggle with a direct attack on Christianity. The women's movement in Germany followed the English model. After many women had to take the places of the men who fought in the war in their working life during the First World War, women were given the right to vote and to stand as electorate in almost all western countries after the war.
Modern feminism has its roots in the US civil rights movement . This movement is not just about political and social equality, but about changing the patriarchal culture. Schwanitz thinks that this movement tends to “hinder the free development of a liberal public through moral intimidation”, but nevertheless considers it “indisputable that the increased influence of women on culture has each time considerably increased the level of civilization in a society ".
Section 2: Ability
Introduction to the rules according to which one communicates among the educated ...
In the introduction about the rules according to which one communicates among the educated; a chapter that should not be skipped under any circumstances , the author first names a number of definitions for the term " education ". He then goes into more detail on education as a social game and describes it as what everyone presupposes and which therefore no one is allowed to ask about. He compares the educated with a chess player who can still play well when he has only a few pieces on the board, i.e. H. has already forgotten a lot of his knowledge.
Chapter: The House of Language
The chapter The House of Language explains the importance of language for being human in general and for the acquisition of education. You will receive tips on how to improve your use of the language and how to use it correctly in communication. The term " metaphor " is described as a marriage between two words so that new relationships arise. So z. For example, the marriage between “reading” and “eating” leads to the fact that one “devours” books, “digests” or “tastes” the content. The chapter ends with examples of linguistic paradoxes and self-referentiality , the self-referential sentences being taken from a collection by Douglas R. Hofstadter .
Chapter: The world of books and writing
In the chapter The World of Books and Scripture , the author emphasizes the importance of scripture and reading for human thought. Scripture removes language from the immediate situation and thus contributes to objectification. The author gives tips on how to find the right book in a bookstore and how to make sensible use of book and theater reviews in newspapers.
Chapter: Regional geography for women and men of the world
The chapter on regional studies for women and men of the world describes what image the peoples of other countries have of Germans and of themselves. These images are explained as a consequence of the respective historical development of these countries. From this it is deduced how a German should behave towards the other. The USA , Great Britain , France , Spain , Italy , Austria , Switzerland and Holland are dealt with .
Chapter: Intelligence, Talent and Creativity
In the chapter on intelligence, talent and creativity , the function of the brain is first explained based on the book Mentopolis by Marvin Minsky . The terms “ intelligence ”, “ intelligence quotient ”, “ creativity ” and “convergent and divergent thinking ” are also dealt with. It also includes the first ten names from Catharine Cox Miles' list of the 300 most intelligent historical figures. First on this list is John Stuart Mill . Its capabilities are described in more detail.
Chapter: What one shouldn't know
The chapter What you shouldn't know describes the areas of knowledge that are viewed as frowned upon among the educated. These include a. the information about high society from the rainbow press , television programs or sports. The chapter closes with an illustration of the thesis of the " two cultures " of CP Snow , the humanities-literary culture and the scientific-technical culture. Schwanitz shows the reader how the girl Sabine and the boy Torsten, who are still in love when they graduate together, develop apart because the girl studies a subject in the humanities and literary fields and the boy a subject in the natural science and technical fields.
Chapter: The reflective knowledge
In the chapter The reflexive knowledge is about self-reflection, ie thinking about themselves, because it is part of the education, to understand themselves. This includes a knowledge of the categories with which the person describes himself, such as B. Identity , role , emotion , psyche , consciousness . Since individuality unfolds as a life novel, this also includes knowledge of the associated stories and their forms such as B. Transformation, initiation , crisis , traumatization . Furthermore, knowledge of the laws of communication and one's own reality as a social construct are required. The author hopes that the above-mentioned gap between the natural sciences and the humanities will begin to close because the area of self-reflection previously reserved for the humanities is also finding its way into the natural sciences, as one recognizes that there are also organisms, companies, nervous systems or Observe anthills yourself, organize yourself and describe yourself.
attachment
The appendix contains
- Timeline of important events from 500 BC Chr. To 1999
- List of books that changed the world
- List of books to read on
- Chronology of cultural history from 1250 BC Until 1990
criticism
Schwanitz's compilation has sparked controversial discussions in critical circles. It is pointed out that such “cunning compilations” lack true education and that only knowledge disguised as education is treated. Some readers consider the level of Schwanitz's educational canon to be clearly too high and favor a simpler presentation of knowledge with a broader range of knowledge areas.
The deliberate exclusion of the natural sciences from the canon of what is worth knowing has occasionally been criticized. Ernst Peter Fischer then wrote the book The Other Education - What One Should Know About the Natural Sciences, in which he describes what he believes are the most important developments and findings in the natural sciences.
The author is also accused of factual errors. Manfred Schneider attests to the book in his review: "Stilblüte follows on from style, error after error." Ernst Peter Fischer also criticized the factually completely wrong presentation of Einstein's theory of relativity .
continuation
In 2003, Eichborn-Verlag published “Life, Nature, Science. Everything you need to know ”by Detlev Ganten , Thomas Deichmann and Thilo Spahl .
expenditure
- Dietrich Schwanitz: Education. Everything you need to know . Eichborn, Frankfurt am Main 1999, ISBN 3-8218-0818-7 (hardcover).
- Dietrich Schwanitz: Education. Everything you need to know . Wilhelm Goldmann Verlag, Munich 2002, ISBN 3-442-15147-3 (paperback edition).
Individual evidence
- ↑ Education. Everything you need to know. Wilhelm Goldmann Verlag, Munich 2002, p. 53
- ↑ Education. Everything you need to know. Wilhelm Goldmann Verlag, Munich 2002, p. 459
- ^ Dietrich Schwanitz: Education. Everything you need to know . Wilhelm Goldmann Verlag, Munich 2002, p. 502 .
- ↑ The order in the book differs from a list published on the Internet , in English, accessed on July 30, 2011
- ↑ Quote: "Scientific knowledge does not have to be hidden, but it does not belong to education." In: Dietrich Schwanitz: Bildung. Everything you need to know . Wilhelm Goldmann Verlag, Munich 2002, p. 618 .
- ↑ Ernst Peter Fischer: The other education. What one should know about the natural sciences. 2003, Ullstein-List-Verlag, especially p. 10f.
- ^ Review by Manfred Schneider from the Frankfurter Rundschau of October 13, 1999, quoted from perlentaucher.de
- ↑ Quote: "Everything is somehow relative" In: Dietrich Schwanitz: Education. Everything you need to know . Wilhelm Goldmann Verlag, Munich 1999, p. 367 .
- ↑ Ernst Peter Fischer: The other education - What one should know about the natural sciences. 2003, Ullstein-List-Verlag, p. 11.