Tradition and Meaning of Czech Education

The Czech Republic has recognized the importance of education from an early age and has made efforts to establish concepts and ideas for this purpose. In the case of the Czech Republic, the main ideas of Czech education were established through the Middle Ages and the Baroque period, and that tradition was unified in the late 19th century and became the fundamental ideology of policy. Although this tradition was temporarily interrupted through the process of communism and changes occurred in Czech educational policies after the transition, the educational ideas and traditions that underlie them remain unchanged. The ideological and philosophical background of Czech education begins with Jan Hus, who set an example of the fundamental spirit of education, which is the restoration of humanity, and of putting this into practical action. And this idea developed through Petr Chelčický, who laid the framework for the idea of peace through ‘non-violence’. This development continues through J. A. Comenius(J. A. Komenský), who has the title of father of pedagogy, who emphasized the ‘pan-educational thinking’ that humans can and should be educated without conditions, regardless of gender, race, and ethnicity. His ‘peace education ideology’ and pedagogical theory and system became the starting point for creating ‘international cooperation and system’ in education. The ‘humanistic ideas’ and efforts toward education that they emphasized have been passed down to modern President T. G. Masaryk, and form the core ideas of Czech education in the future, and have a powerful influence in forming the consciousness and identity of the Czech people. When the Czech Republic became a Soviet bloc, there was a time when it deviated from its traditions and legacy, such as the centralized education system, but after the reform, it sought to return to an essential and fundamental system, and the change was also based on the spirit of Hus and Comenius of the past.