A Pedagogy of Stewardship: The Inspiration of Janusz Korczak

A Pedagogy of Stewardship:

The Inspiration of Janusz Korczak

"We must educate the soul and not just the mind"
Abraham Heschel

Inspiring stewardship is a lofty mission with multiple implications for an emerging pedagogy. Many educators have tried to facilitate such growth in children within the context of moral development and used a variety of techniques. In today's classrooms, it is easy to find character education, critical thinking skills, community service projects and democratic classrooms as means towards achieving this goal. Many of these strategies are used at IslandWood as we strive to meet the educational goal of inspiring community and environmental stewardship. As I have struggled to ascertain what is the most effective means in achieving this outcome, I am brought back to thinking about the child rather than the technique. I ask myself, who is the child and what affirmations and experiences do they need to come to a place that they feel deep compassion and exhibit care for both cultural and natural communities? During this process, I have come to understand that inspiring stewardship is about holistic and caring relationships with the child.

My understanding of the child has been shaped by the work of Janusz Korczak. A teacher, doctor and orphanage director in Poland, Korczak dedicated his life to the care of the child. Over his lifetime, he was dedicated to the care of abandoned children, and it was with those children that he perished in Treblinka after years of misery in the Warsaw Ghetto. Korzak would not have wanted to be remembered in his death, but rather in the life he dedicated to the hope and possibilities that children provide for this good earth. Although I am moved deeply by the dedication of Korczak to his children and his willingness to stay with them to the end in spite of several opportunities to escape, I have found that Korczak's writings have given me a greater gift in understanding the child and affirming their growth as just and compassionate human beings. My study of Korczak has led me to recognize four ideas that shape my understanding of the child and hence frame the teacher/student relationship which I feel it is at the root of a stewardship pedagogy.

Understanding Vulnerability
When interacting with children who have often grown quite tough from the conditions of their lives, educators often forget how little power children actually have. Korczak was quick to recognize that even in his toughest kids, their vulnerability had led to both their exploitation and their disempowerment. He often wrote about how children were forced to endure treatment that would be unacceptable amongst adults. This disregard for the child also led to a lack of appreciation for what children had to offer. Korczak recognized that children often have to spend so much time being defensive that they never have the opportunity to show their gifts. Korczak deeply appreciated children so much that in a whimsical reflection he wrote, "All children realizing my faults would be glad to change me, to make me better. The poor youngsters can not grasp that my greatest fault is that I am no longer a child." (Korczak, 1999, p.27) Korczak has helped me to understand that a pedagogy of stewardship requires educators to provide a safe space where children can move beyond vulnerability and share their deeper selves.

Understanding Uniqueness
The recognition of the uniqueness of each and every child is key to nurturing children. Korczak kept detailed notes on the physical, emotional, cognitive and moral development of every child in his orphanage. He strived to understand the spark in each child, yet also recognized the mystery the child as well. He had a deep faith in the goodness of children and served as an advocate of juvenile delinquents in Warsaw. He recognized how the harsh conditions of one's life could lead a child to be angry and distrustful, but he continued to trust that each child had the potential to contribute to larger community. Education's fault was that its "approach to the child is in: 'I'll make a man out of you,' rather than in the searching question: 'What are you going to make of yourself, man?'" (Korczak, 1967, p. 154) Korczak, in his observation of the uniqueness of each child, was truly interested in the future that child was creating. He was enchanted by both the child and the mystery that was unfolding. By taking time to discover the uniqueness of each child, we can lead children to believe they are worthy.

Understanding Meaning Making
In step with social and cognitive constructivism, Korczak recognized that children are in the process of making meaning of themselves, their community and their world. Educators have a great influence as to how children understand the world in which they live. Is it cruel and vicious – a war of all against all? Is it a web of relationships where care spins new threads and new connections? Upon graduation from the orphanage Korczak told his children, "We give you one thing – however – a longing for a better life, one which does not yet exist, but which will one day, for a life of truth and justice." (Korczak 1891, p.vii) In the orphanage, Korczak was able to instill in his children a sense of hope and responsibility. One orphan, reflecting at his time in the orphanage wrote, "When the war broke out and I was starving and ready to do anything, I didn't, because something of Korczak's teaching stayed with me." (Korczak, 1999,p.xix) Educators have the power to shape life stories. Those who are committed to inspiring stewardship must be convinced that children can be led to live with compassion and care.

Understanding Community
Finally, Korczak did not lecture about community, he created it in his orphanages. The orphanage community was governed by the children and for the children. Korczak's one ground rule was that the weak could not be exploited by the strong, and he helped the children create systems where respect of individual could be balanced with the needs of the larger community. Korczak trusted that most children could and would amend their behavior and care for the other if they were given the opportunity to see how their behavior affected the greater community and were able to experience the forgiveness by that community. Much of Korczak's work focused on the ways in which children could learn to engage in respectful and caring relationships with each other through self-rule. It is important to note that Korczak was ultimately concerned with the care of each child and always demanded that the orphanage provide love and security for each child. Yet he trusted that the children could provide love and security for each other. Korczak wrote "I believe that many children rebel against virtue because they have been incessantly trained and overfed in its vocabulary. Let the child discover for himself, slowly the need for altruism, its beauty and its sweetness." (Korczak, 1999, p.9) By immersing children in a context that is safe, caring and nurturing and teaching them to work together to create a better community, children are able to see themselves as capable of creating better communities in their schools and in their lives.

In each of these understandings, educators are challenged to think deeply about the thoughts, concerns and needs of the child. Who is this child? What is their greatest gift? What do they fear? How can I make them feel valued? In doing the hard work of coming to know and care for the child, the educator not only comes to know that child, but has created a relationship so that he or she feels valued and respected. The child is then able to give back to the community because of the safety, care, and meaning that community has provided. These relationships are the building blocks of stewardship. These relationships teach the child to know and care for the other.

The challenge for educators is that they are no longer asked to be experts on stewardship. They are facilitators who allow the strengths of all children to emerge. They provide the safety, concern, and community from which children can come to understand the ways in which they can make the world a better place. This only works when one trusts the child and all they have to offer. In the foreword to his book When I am Little Again, Korczak wrote:

You say: Dealings with children are tiresome.
You're right.
You say:
Because we need to stoop, bend, crouch down.
You are mistaken.
It isn't that which is so tiring. But because we have to reach up to their feelings. Reach up, stretch, stand on our tip-toes.
So as not to offend.

(Korczak, 1992, p.2)

I believe that ultimately inspiring stewardship is trusting in the human potential for all educators to be stewards. Inspiring stewardship is a cognitive, emotional and moral process. It is a process that requires relationships based on compassion and trusts the potential for goodness in each and every child. It does not require training in educational methods, but rather a stretch to our most caring and compassionate selves.

References

Korczak, J. (1967). Selected Works of Janusz Korczak (M. Wolins, Ed.). Washington, D.C.: National Science Foundation.

Korczak, J. (1978). Ghetto Diary. New York: Holocaust Library.

Korczak, J. (1981). Face to Face with God: Prayers of Those Who do not Pray (E. P. Kulawiec, Ed.). Unpublished Manuscript.

Korczak, J. (1986). King Matt the First. New York: Farrar, Straus, and Giroux.

Korczak, J. (1992). When I am Little Again and The Child's Right to Respect (E. P. Kulawiec, Ed.). New York: University Press of America.

Korczak, J. (1999). A Voice for the Child: The Inspirational Words of Janusz Korczak (S. Joseph, Ed.). London: Thorsons.

About the author

Kristin Poppo, Ph.D., is the Graduate Program Coordinator at IslandWood. During the past fifteen years, Kristin has worked in both education and ministry exploring children's ethical formation. The educational philosophy that she brings to IslandWood and hopes to share with graduate students is grounded in the belief that children will only learn to respect others if they have been treated as valued members of learning communities. Education: B.A. in Philosophy and Religion, Colgate University; M.S.T., Antioch / New England; M.Div., Harvard Divinity School; Ph.D. in Educational Foundations, University of North Carolina-Greensboro.

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