New Educational Ideas in Times of War, Disease, Hunger, Capitalism, and Global Climate Change by the European Refugee J. A. Comenius

The question of whether it is possible to learn from history is a question not only of historical science but also of educational science. No matter how many answers have been given to this question, there is no doubt that it is impossible to learn from history if one does not know history. In this respect, this text poses the question of whether historically comparable situations and pedagogical reactions to them can be identified in view of the challenge of global warming and its consequences. This would be a prerequisite for the possibility of learning something from these historical reactions to current challenges. Even if man-made global warming since industrialization is unprecedented, there have also been dramatic climate changes in more recent history that have had similar consequences to those predicted for current global warming. In contrast to the current warming of two degrees at best, however, the historical example is a cooling of approximately two degrees, the so-called “Little Ice Age”, which was accompanied by many disasters and sociopolitical innovations, including significant educational concepts such as that of Jan Amos Comenius.

The starting point of this contribution is the astonishment that, in a world marked by war, disease, destruction, and the beginning of capitalism, Comenius developed and built on the idea of a humane world. I want to ask, what are the sources for his contrafact ideals of a humane world?

In the first part, the article points out different elements that characterized the area around the 16th and 17th centuries, and I would like to add a new perspective, climate change in the so-called “little ice age”. I hope that this new point works like a “missing link” and is capable to explain the connection between war, disease, hunger, and capitalism slightly better.

The second part is a closer view of the work and life of Jan Komenský (Comenius) in the context of his time. In particular, it is interesting for this study what kind of new theory and praxis of pedagogy he founded in these horrible times.

The third part discusses the question of what could be the meaning of that for the development of education in the beginning of the 21st century.