Studies and politics rationale: a <em>Ratio Studiorum</em> study

Abstract

This article analyzes Ratio Studiorum, the classic text of jesuitical pedagogy which since its first publication in 1599 has greatly influenced education and pedagogy in modern and contemporary world. The text neither defines nor explains a concept of education, but it is presumed when activities, roles, methodologies and evaluation modes are prescribed for the schools of that order. From a simple rationale of studies it was transformed into a rationale of polities regarding its influence even on non-Catholic and political milieus and thus becoming one of the most important pedagogical and political documents of the beginning of modern times. Studying it may be helpful in understanding the genesis of modern pedagogical concepts and the typical political ideas of that period due to their interconnection.