“One hundred children are one hundred human beings. Not ‘someday’, not ‘not yet’, not ‘tomorrow’ – they are human
beings now.” (Korczak, “How to Love a Child”)

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Korczak, a progressive educationist, does not possess an elaborate systematic theory of education. In fact, Korczak didn’t trust elaborate theories, as life is greater than all theories. Life experience may be the best teacher for the young educator who can use his/her senses, rationality and authenticity to find his/her way in the labyrinth of education.

Several ideas together create a field of ideas, which gives Korczak an orientation and philosophical horizons. No one of these ideas is an absolute, giving Korczak’s works on education a solid philosophical basis, but all of them, taken together with the example of Korczak’s life, provide us with a radical humanistic paradigm, who opens the horizons of education for us and inspires generations of educators all over the world.

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The first idea is his apprehension of the child as a complete human being at every stage of his/her life. There is no pedagogy – he would say – but only anthropology. Korczak doesn’t see a child in front of him but only a human being. In education we deal with people, not with a different species. Children are human beings, not in the future, not in days to come, but here and now. As such they deserve our respect, love and support.

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Children are human beings at a different stage in their life; human beings with less life experience, weaker, dependent on adults, but not less worthy and complex. Adults have no advantage over children except for their longer life experience and their economic power. Even if children are weaker than we are and dependent on us, they have rights like all of us. Adults have a mission to learn about the child, his/her needs, his/her abilities and limitations, his/her imagination, feelings and unique way of thinking.

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Three basic rights of children are mentioned in Korczak’s work, “How to Love a Child” (Korczak, Selected Works. pp. 128)

• The child’s right to die

• The child’s right to live in the present

• The child’s right to be what he/she is

 

The first right is unclear: a child has the right to live, but why one has the right to die? It may be understood against the background of Korczak’s writings and the drastic social setting in which the death of a child was a common phenomenon. Korczak says that the fear of death do not let us to enjoy ourlives and live it in full. The fear of death can overshaddow life. Life is always risky. So, If we afraid all the time what will happen is that we will not be let our children to live their life in full. So,Korczak's teaching is that we have to trust life and take the risks that it entails.

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The individuality of every child is a cornerstone of Korczak’s education. Every child is a unique personality with unique needs, which we should respect. The love of life, in all its expressions, directs Korczak’s approach to the world of the child. The children’s games, joy, sorrow, love, aggressions, imagination, skills, possessions and discoveries are all parts of the rich life of every individual child. Even if it seems unimportant to us, it is important and meaningful to the child. We should respect every single moment of life, as it will never return.

Life should be cherished. Games, adventures, dreams and the discovery of new horizons should be a natural part of every child’s life. The world can be and should be better. Children have to receive the impression that adults seek only their good. Instead of experiencing adults’ manipulations and discipline, children should trust the good intentions and care of their educators.

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 “The child has the right to desire, to claim, to ask. He has the   right to grow and ripen, and having matured, to bear fruit. And the purpose of education: that the child may learn not to make noise, not to wear out shoes, to listen and to do as he is told, not to criticize but to trust that everything is done solely for his own good. Harmony, good nature, liberty – that is the command: love thy neighbor. Take a look at the world and laugh.” (Korczak, “How to Love a Child”)

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Trust leads to democracy in education. Korczak expresses his trust in the child’s strengths and his/her ability to grow and gain more and more control over his/her life. Korczak believes in democracy and in the children’s ability to learn how to master a rational way of life. Korczak tried in his orphanages to build a unique system of a growing children’s democracy, including a parliament, a code of law, a Court of Peers and a community newspaper. The children in the orphanage were citizens of a democratic community and had a say in many aspects of their lives. Conflicts were to be settled through dialogue and in a rational manner that showed respect for the children and their genuine idea of justice.

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Korczak, however, had no romantic illusions as to the nature of children, their ability to solve all life’s problems and their democratic virtues. Democracy is something people have to learn to master gradually. His classic children’s book, “King Matt the First”, tells the story of children’s failure to run society without proper guidance. Nonetheless, with responsible and sincere help children can learn to respect the law and to make realistic and responsible decisions.

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The Court of Peers was the highlight of Korczak’s guided children’s democracy. The goal of the Court was to maintain order and to protect the rights of the individual. He tried to introduce the idea that the law is the protection of the weak from their oppressors. Five children were elected as judges, and together with one educator they sat every week and settled issues which arose between children or between children and the orphanage staff. Through the law of the orphanage and the rulings of the Court of Peers, Korczak tried, on the one hand, to retain the sense of a community of law and order and to settle conflicts in a rational and just way. On the other hand, he tried to advocate forgiveness and mercy, as many of the laws carried a very light punishment with them.

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Korczak lived in a dramatic period in Polish history and during a difficult time for Jews and the poor parts of society. As a Jew he could not experience full civil rights. He hoped that education would solve the problem of anti-Semitism and the social problems of society. However, historical circumstances showed the opposite. Hence, he directed his sights towards the Land of Israel. All human dreams are directed to this land, he wrote in a letter to a friend in Palestine. With a religious and messianic-like hope, Korczak wanted to see the emergence of a new faith, a new vision for humanity, in this country. The world, he wrote, doesn’t need more oranges, but it does desperately need new hope, a new vision that will solve both the problem of the Jews and the problem of the child, every child.