Dénes Dienes: History of the Reformed Church Collég in Sárospatak (Sárospatak, 2013)
János Ugrai: „THE PERIOD OF NATIONAL ADVANCEMENT” 1777-1849 - Environmental conditions - The spirit of the age: from the enlightenment to the fall of the war of independence
79 period at hand and fell ever-further behind the German and also the Austrian and Czech systems. A similar type of lethargy can be said to have characterized reflection on pedagogy in Hungary. Books dealing with pedagogy appeared in ever-increasing numbers from the end of the 18th century onwards and periodicals and almanacs also dealt with questions pertaining to education in an increasing degree. But it was almost exclusively the compilations of Western authors which became accessible in the Hungarian language, exception to this being the odd original discussion by certain authors of some tangential question. As an exception to this and singularly excelling among his peers was Sámuel Tessedik, one of Lutheran background, who not only directed a trade and economics school for the public in the town of Szarvas but had also implemented practical training for teachers and adults and had, moreover, provided the theoretical basis to all this. Among the theories and teachings which reached Hungary were those of the classics of pedagogy such as Pestalozzi, those of the philanthropists and those of Locke and Rouseau, also, but those of the latter two with less effect. Protestants, such as the Lutheran adherent Johann Generisch from Késmárk or the former student of Patak, Sámuel Decsy, had a substantial role in introducing progressive concepts. Amidst the Catholics, it was often the Piarists who were intensely focused on educational upbringing. Overall, it can be said that Hungarian pedagogical thought was not yet at the level of development where any one individual would deal exclusively with issues of educational upbringing. It was, instead, very much more typical for individuals to express interest in several domains, one of which would be pedagogy or mostly some partial realm of it. Even though the discipline was accorded a separate chair at the university in Pest in 1814, change continued to be slow in coming. The relative inertness of the Age of Reforms is also enlightening in view of the fact that, in the years between 1830 and 1840, discourse on the politics of education became a regular matter. There was no parliamentary session nor any forum of the press which did not forcefully propagate the principle of expanding national education, the reinforcing of the functions of civil schools (e.g. practical education, vocational art training), the developing of the network of public schools and, last but not least, the shifting of a feudal-based school financing system to one of a proficient, nationally implemented, state-supervised system. But of the plans and demands relatively few were realized, mainly due to the resistance and financial passivity of the government in Vienna. Instead, only those concepts matured which could be rapidly accessed by the first responsible Hungarian government constituted in 1848. It is another matter that this government also passed over implementing the program because of it becoming increasingly mired in its struggle for independence from Vienna. Although the era was strongly characterized by ideas of educational reform, the issue of language was of considerably more import. At the beginning of this era, Latin was the dominant language in Hungary. Not only was it used in academic and cultural interaction but also in public administration and schools. The Hungarian language itself was not adequate for the furthering of all categories of information, it having a significant deficit specifically in the realm of professional terminology. Interestingly enough, it was Joseph II’s new measures prioritizing the German language over Latin which changed this. This PANNÓNIÁI FENIKSZ v'■ «/ avagy HAMVÁBÓL FÜL-'TÁMADOTT maqyar nyelv MBLtYBT IRT D. jßECSY SÁMUEL* ’ li* Könyvnek az ir* t, forint. 8 i TS B li N Nyomtattatott Nemes TRATTNBR JÁNOS ■ 'i'A MÁS KQiiyv - nyomtató MuheiyíbcB MDCCXC. The philosopher Sámuel Decsy initiated the providing of education in Hungarian
