Today, I was confronted with yet another of the nationalistic excesses that seem to shoot up these days every so often like mushrooms after heavy spring rainfall. Two days ago, one of our seventh-grade students, Miss Horváthová, always top of her class and the pride of our institute, delivered an essay to her Czech teacher […]
Today, I was confronted with yet another of the nationalistic excesses that seem to shoot up these days every so often like mushrooms after heavy spring rainfall.
Two days ago, one of our seventh-grade students, miss Horváthová, always top of her class and the pride of our institute, delivered an essay to her Czech teacher full of grammatical and stylistic errors intolerable even for a young first-grade pupil. When summoned up to explain this unpleasant situation, she arrived in some kind of brightly coloured ensemble, absolutely unacceptable for a student of our institute, claiming it to be a Slovak national costume!
I do not tolerate any dress code extravagances in my institute for it is my opinion that young ladies should be modest and obedient. This clearly does not apply to miss Horváthová who, whilst defending her rather peculiar dress with improper arguments and in a tone than can only be qualified as impertinent beyond belief, defiantly persisted in describing the weird mutation of the Czech language used in her essay as the mother tongue of the Slovak nation and her outrageous behaviour as national consciousness!
It is true that I have recently read in the Nationalist Newspaper about silly attempts of some Upper Hungarian students to create a new, somehow artificial, Slavonic nation within our Empire. God knows I was no angel during my early days and I am, therefore, prepared to make allowances for inexperienced youths who may in the motley group of nations united in the Austro-Hungarian Empire seek a pretext for undesired rivalry and try to put themselves forward. However, the last thing we need right now are nationalistic demonstrations and disputes. Such tendencies could very easily destroy the Empire! In my opinion, all similar attempts must be promptly nipped in the bud, if necessary, by using all means available to current pedagogical science, regardless of how harsh they may seem to be!
The curious dress of miss Horváthová appears to be absolutely unsuitable not only for our institute but also for any practical use whatsoever. The nationalists, so blindly enthusiastic about anything “originally Slavonic”, are probably unable – or unwilling – to anticipate whether this “folk costume” can be normally used for everyday life or whether it might be necessary to take it off before every physical act.
I have been maintaining for years – and my long-time experience can only prove me right – that no educational method is more effective than repeated memorising, supported by a gentle, yet firm hand. And frankly, miss Horváthová has still a long way to go before she learns how poisonous nationalistic fervour can be, or how to behave when dealing with her teachers.
It should be said that after my previous – and unfortunately not very successful – attempts to use educational instruments that are foreign to our country and nation I had to regretfully return to traditional well-established Austrian educational instruments, tested by time. There is really nothing quite as good and effective as a proper Austrian cane. I have come to the conclusion, however, that it will be necessary to have the bench modified a bit for it seems to be too low and not heavy enough. As a result, it is no longer capable of keeping some more physically developed students still as they move around the room trying to escape, dragging the bench behind them.
From the pedagogical point of view it is worth mentioning that the difference between attitudes to just punishment shown by experienced persons familiar with its good results on the one hand, and by persons so far unable to appreciate its educational effects on the other, is still immense.
The former accept just punishment with humbleness and respect, yet also with conciliatory patience for they know that they can only benefit from it and that although it may sometimes seem harsh, it is tolerable. The latter – and miss Horváthová, a model student who is not very familiar with stricter educational methods, must be included in this category – at first display ignorant pride that is, however, soon replaced by tears and pain as they learn about its merits the hard way. I am still not quite sure whether I haven’t compromised my impartiality to students entrusted to my care by lessening the punishment of Miss Horváthová and replacing the cane with an instrument intended only for first-grade pupils. This benevolence can be, perhaps, excused by my conviction that punishment should always be appropriate not only in relation to the given offence, but also to the offender, and – last but not least – also by my own recollections … I will never be able to express how thankful I am to my old headmaster, Mr. Unterfelsen, for the way he saved me, a young green supply-teacher, with his good-natured rigidity from backsliding into the unhealthy and reprobate company of those so-called nationalists by sending me to a village school for two years. I have to admit that I will always remember these years with gratitude and could not resist thinking of the wise greying head of Mr. Unterfelsen even today when educating the young lady. I can only hope that Miss Horváthová will one day remember me with the same love and gratitude!
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