Wilhelm Ostermann (pedagogue)

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Otto Theodor Wilhelm Ostermann (born January 29, 1850 in Prezelle ; † January 31, 1922 in Breslau ) was a German teacher at the Evangelical Teachers' College in Oldenburg , which he headed from 1877 to 1896 as director .

Life

Ostermann was the son of a pastor and attended high school in Hanover . From 1872 to 1876 he studied in Berlin , Erlangen and Göttingen first theology , then philology and as a student also dealt with philosophical and psychological questions. After completing his studies, he initially worked as a private tutor in Wietzendorf and at the seminar in Schlüchtern . In 1876 he passed the rector's examination, received his doctorate at the University of Jena and went as the first seminar teacher to the Evangelical Teachers' Seminar in Oldenburg. There he was appointed director a year later. In 1886 he was awarded the title of school councilor . During his almost twenty years of service as director, Ostermann could hardly influence the teaching of the seminar. His initiative to extend the seminar time from four to five years and thus to align it with the apprenticeship time of the seminars of other German states failed because of the "spending-hostile and therefore reactionary Oldenburg state government". So the Oldenburg teacher training was behind the other German states up to the turn of the century and Ostermann was forced to impart the seminar material of five in four years in a military-strict teaching and leadership style. Furthermore, Ostermann found himself exposed to latent conflicts with the Evangelical High School College, especially when in 1894, past his superior authority, he contacted the state parliament member Carl Wilhelm Jaspers in order to improve the training situation at the seminar. Although he was generally in good standing, both professionally and personally, Ostermann was passed over in 1895 when he was appointed to the position of adviser for elementary schools at the Oldenburg Oberschulkollegium. He then applied for his discharge from the Oldenburg civil service and was put up for disposition in 1897. However, it was not until 1899 that the ministry complied with his dismissal request. Ostermann bridged this waiting time by working as a technical school worker for the government in Aurich . In that year he entered the Prussian civil service and took up activities in Aurich and Breslau, most recently as a provincial school councilor with the title of Privy Councilor . In 1908 he was finally transferred to the Provincial School College in Berlin , where he worked until his retirement at Easter 1919.

In Oldenburg he was a member of the Oldenburg Literary Society from 1877 to 1896 , which he chaired twice as president.

Publications

Ostermann published extensively on the scientific aspects of the teaching profession. His textbook on pedagogy , to which his seminar colleague Ludwig Wegener contributed the practical and academic part, appeared in 1882 (initially in two and later in five volumes) and was published thirteen times. This standard work, as well as the abbreviated, repeatedly published excerpt from the textbook Guideline for Pedagogy, influenced primary school teacher training in the coming decades.

From the 1880s onwards, one focus of his work continued to be the fundamental examination of Johann Friedrich Herbart , his pedagogical theory and Herbart-Ziller's teaching method. Ostermann criticized Herbart for the systematic neglect of feelings and attitudes in education, which he made public in various writings. He is convinced that interest (in the psychological sense) should be the motive for the will of the person to be educated and thus the fundamental concept of pedagogy. Applying this principle, Ostermann became an early pioneer of experiential and work instruction without knowing these terms. Ostermann is considered the most important director of the Oldenburg teachers' seminar.

Works (selection)

  • The basics of educational psychology. Oldenburg. 1880.
  • together with Ludwig Wegener: Textbook of Pedagogy. 5 vols. Oldenburg. From 1882.
  • The main errors of Herbartian psychology and their pedagogical consequences. Oldenburg. First in 1887.
  • On the Herbart question. A word of reply to Otto Flügel. Oldenburg / Leipzig. 1894.
  • The interest. A psychological investigation with educational uses. Oldenburg / Leipzig. First in 1895.
  • Pedagogical reading book for teachers' seminars. Oldenburg / Leipzig. 1901/2. (with Ludwig Wegener),
  • together with Ludwig Wegener: Guide to Pedagogy. 4 parts. Oldenburg. First in 1908.
  • Pedagogical reading book for teachers and teacher seminars. Oldenburg / Leipzig. 1915.
  • The pedagogy of our classics in connection with their worldview. Berlin / Stuttgart. 1913.

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Hilke Günther-Arndt: Ostermann, Otto Theodor Wilhelm. In: Hans Friedl u. a. (Ed.): Biographical manual for the history of the state of Oldenburg. Edited on behalf of the Oldenburg landscape. Isensee, Oldenburg 1992, ISBN 3-89442-135-5 , p. 545 ( online ).
personal data
SURNAME Ostermann, Wilhelm
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Ostermann, Otto Theodor Wilhelm
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German teacher and seminar director
DATE OF BIRTH January 29, 1850
PLACE OF BIRTH Precell
DATE OF DEATH January 31, 1922
Place of death Wroclaw