The relevance of Otto Willmann’ pedagogical thought

Abstract

: This theoretical essay has as main objective to analyze and debate the thought, mainly in the educational area, of the Austrian pedagogist and philosopher Otto Willmann, considered the founder of modern social pedagogy. This is a bibliographic study, which uses, in the foreground, the only work of the author translated into Portuguese and others written by contemporary commentators, as well as recent texts of reflection, in which the historical context is analyzed, the influences he suffered, such as Johann Friedrich Herbart’s theories, his biography, his works and not only his contribution to the history of pedagogical thought, but also possible contributions to the current educational situation. In a period of great changes of thought in the West, mainly in the Germanic world of the 19th century, one of the aspects discussed is how Otto Willmann managed to reconcile the individual aspect with the social aspect in Pedagogy, avoiding some of the characteristic extremisms of his time, such as psychologism and social determinism, being a pioneer of social pedagogy. In addition, it seeks to demonstrate how he constituted himself as a public intellectual, in the sense coined by Henry Giroux, contributing to changes in his reality, in this case, the Austrian Empire. It is understood, then, that Willmann constituted himself as a thinker who sought to reconcile the individual and social aspects in pedagogy and didactics, justifying, from that, the scientificity of both areas and demonstrating the importance of the study of sociology and the history of education (including the history of pedagogical ideas) as auxiliary sciences for education.

Keywords: Otto Willmann. Social pedagogy. History of pedagogical ideas. Philosophy of education.