Dénes Dienes: History of the Reformed Church Collég in Sárospatak (Sárospatak, 2013)
THE STRUGGLE AGAINST MARGINALIZATION- BEFORE AND AFTER WORLD WAR II. - Revolutionary personalities - A Catholic teacher’s success - Károly Lázár
193 REVOLUTIONARY PERSONALITIES A CATHOLIC TEACHER’S SUCCESS - KÁROLY LÁZÁR Although it was founded by the Reformed Church, the Teacher Training School was under the government’s jurisdiction already during the first three decades of the 20th century and, as such, not only did students of other denominations enroll in large numbers for studies, but it was also possible for Roman Catholic teachers to be granted a position. Moreover, in 1929, when the school was returned to the Reformed Church, in order to have the right to receive a subsidy from the state, the church district signed a contract with the Ministry which guaranteed the continuous employment of staff of different denominations. This was partly the reason why Károly Lázár (1889-1959) stayed in Patak and, until his retirement in 1948, remained an active staff member of the school which once again was integrated into the Reformed Church College. But also part of the reason he stayed was, in fact, because he was one of the most popular and nationally acknowledged teachers of his time and one whose talents made his situation somewhat special. Lázár studied in Csáktornya and Budapest. He received a teaching degree in natural history and geometry from Apponyi College and began working as a teacher in Igló. After serving during World War I and spending two years in captivity, he returned to his first posting but the Czechoslovakian authorities expelled him in 1919. This is how he ended up in Patak where he lived until his death. People grew fond of him quickly, being much appreciated for his social and intellectual skills. He taught his classes with great enthusiasm and enjoyed spending his free time among locals; he enjoyed society and was a delightful conversationalist. In addition to his two main subjects, he showed an increasing interest in the art of teaching. His intense interest in education later made him a nationally- recognized expert. His main area of study revolved around the ‘effectiveness of teaching’. Working his way through that, he soon encountered the modern theories of advanced education, and, more specifically, the Children’s Educational Movement, which defined pedagogical thinking as applied in Hungary. He applied the ‘children’s cognitive science program’ of László Nagy and Mrs. László Domonkos to his field of teacher training and then further developed it. In 1933, he published a textbook entitled “Children’s Study Outline” in which he summarized for teachers and postgraduate students the main characteristics of pedagogical philosophies. The book contained a twelve-page annex, in which he included a template for the personal sheet of the child to be observed. In this way, he systematically recorded the main points of differential development and of individual education. The booklet is very detailed, having one hundred seventy-three questions spread out over six major chapters. Many of these main points dealt with the family background of the child and the parents’ task in education. Thus, he recognized the pedagogical importance of co-operation with children’s parents and family relations - quite a revolutionary notion in his era. As a result, the annex was published separately as well and a large number of copies were distributed to parents, too. lAzAH KAROLY; A NÉPISKOLA HÁZI FELSZERELÉSE Károly Lázár was the editor and publisher of the Small Library of the Practical Pedagogy series
