It is important for teachers who work with children and teenagers to be aware of the role of media and popular culture in young people’s lives. It is a challenge to have an open and flexible approach to film, TV and other media products. Students’ real experiences have to be considered as equal in importance to the experiences and ideas of the teacher. The teacher has to help students to place their experiences in a larger perspective. In this study, the (...) didactic potentials and the use of film and media are studied in relation to the learning and teaching of English as a foreign language. Our personal experience shows that film is sometimes regarded as valuable teaching material and at other times only used for amusement or as a time-filler. The starting point for this study was, therefore, the curiosity to find out if our personal view is correct. The main questions at issue for this study are: What didactic potentials are there of film and media in English teaching? How do teachers use film and contemporary media in the classroom? How do teachers regard film and media as teaching resources? The possibilities of using media in teaching are great. It is, for example, possible to watch a movie with subtitles in English or find an interesting video-clip within seconds. However, there is no guarantee that contemporary media is being used to its fullest potential. (shrink)

The purpose of this paper is aimed at examining the educational needs and didactic competences of teachers for the preparation and use of didactic-methodical teaching materials in the teaching of the subject Macedonian language for the program areas Initial reading and writing and Language (first, second and third grade), and all with the aim of improving the teaching of the Macedonian language. For the successful realization of the goals/standards for evaluation needed in the program areas Initial reading and writing and (...) Language from the first to the third grade, it is necessary to prepare, apply and classify the teaching materials that will serve as a kind of teaching support for the teachers, but also for the students, which will help them in learning the Cyrillic and Latin letters, writing and reading with them, language and spelling rules, as well as the application of spelling signs. In teaching practice, there is a need for didactic-methodical design of teaching materials within the program areas Initial reading and writing and Language, respecting modern methodical, methodological and dokimological principles. For that reason, the examination of the attitudes and educational needs of teachers, as immediate implementers of teaching, is the methodological justification for their inclusion as a special research subsample. (shrink)

The didactics of history traditionally are assigned no role in the academic discipline of history, influencing the students, rather than the practitioners, of history. The developments of the categories of history and pedagogy in West Germany serve to illustrate the actual field of the didactics of history -questions of how one thinks of history; the role of history in human nature; and the uses to which history can be put. In the 1960s and 1970s, as part of an emerging process (...) of historical self-awareness and a concern with curricular reform, the didactics of history developed into a distinct field. Historical didacticians became more involved with the discipline of history, although they were still associated with pedagogy. Currently, four issues form the focus of the didactics of history. They are the methodology of instruction, the function of history in public life, the establishment of goals for historical education in schools, and the analysis of the nature, function, and importance of historical consciousness. The didactics of history can be defined as an investigation of historical learning, the basic question of which asks how our experience and interpretation of the past influences our understanding of the present and our conception of the future. (shrink)

This article reviews the didactic units in biology and environmental education in the context of Latin America, analyzing their design, implementation, and effectiveness in the teaching of environmental and biological topics. Through a literature review and case analysis, the most commonly used teaching strategies are identified and their impact on student learning is evaluated. It highlights best practices and proposes recommendations to improve the quality of biology and environmental education in the region.

Teacher competencies can be researched in many different ways. In the present article they are studied from the learner’s viewpoint. The article presents results of the extensive project “Teacher Education for New Competencies for the Knowledge Society and the Role of these Competencies in Educational Goal Attainment at School”, carried out at the Faculty of Arts of the University of Ljubljana, with the financial support of the Slovenian Ministry of Education and Sport. We present the results of the learner’s judgement (...) of the teacher’s didactic competencies. We formed a questionnaire with which we operationalised teacher competencies with the purpose of measuring the teacher’s efficiency of instruction. In order to achieve the goals of modern instruction it is important to engage both models: learner‐centred and teacher‐centred education. The research showed that elements of the traditional instruction model are more frequently used than the model that demands a changed learner role. (shrink)

RESUMEN Introducción: La educación en el trabajo es la forma fundamental del proceso docente educativo en las carreras de las ciencias médicas y en específico para la asignatura de Medicina Comunitaria de la carrera de Medicina. Objetivo: Exponer elementos referidos a una guía didáctica para la educación en el trabajo de la asignatura Medicina Comunitaria. Método: Se diseñó una guía didáctica para la educación en el trabajo, desde la asignatura Medicina Comunitaria. Se interactuó con estudiantes de segundo año de la (...) carrera de Medicina, la cuak abarcó 4 etapas. Resultados: Se ofrecen las tareas con sus objetivos y acciones a cumplimentar por los estudiantes, amparados por la guía actual de confección del Análisis de la Situación de Salud. Conclusiones: La guía constituye una herramienta que posibilita la realización de las actividades de la educación en el trabajo a la vez que permite el logro de competencias profesionales. ABSTRACT Introduction: The education in the work is the fundamental form of the educational teaching process in the careers of the medical sciences and in specific for the subject of Community Medicine of the career of Medicine. Objective: To exhibit elements referred to a didactic guide for the education in the work of the Community Medicine subject. Method: A didactic guide was designed for the education in the work, from the Community Medicine subject. It was interacted with students of the second year of the career of Medicine, which included 4 stages. Results: The tasks are offered with their objectives and actions to complete for the students protected by the current guide of preparation of the Analysis of the Situation of Health. Conclusions: The guide constitutes a tool that makes possible the achievement of the activities of the education in the work, simultaneously it allows the achievement of professional competitions. (shrink)

Educational web quest is an example of the introduction of the Internet in the learning process. Using the web quest as a pedagogical technology allows students to form and develop competencies in the use of information and communication technologies in the performance of educational tasks, research skills, skills of analysis and systematization of information received, teamwork skills and responsibility for the quality of their training. The article describes the didactic possibilities of an educational web quest in the educational process of (...) College students. (shrink)

En la carrera de medicina se evidencia desmotivación del estudiante hacia el aprendizaje del contenido estadístico y la presencia del estrés académico que genera este contenido que se imparte en la asignatura Metodología de la Investigación y Estadística. En el trabajo se diseña una estrategia didáctica para la disminución del estrés académico en los alumnos de segundo año de la carrera de medicina. Se realizó un estudio pre-experimental, con análisis cuanti-cualitativo. La muestra estuvo conformada por los 43 estudiantes del grupo (...) A1 y B4, a los cuales se les aplicó un inventario de estrés académico y una entrevista. Como parte del proceso de experimentación se aplicaron diferentes técnicas participativas enfocadas a la enseñanza aprendizaje del contenido estadístico. Para procesar los datos se utilizó el programa SPSS. Finalmente se pudo concluir que la aplicación de técnicas participativas contribuye a minimizar el estrés académico hacia el contenido. Some evidence is found of lack of motivation towards the learning of statistic contents in the medical studies as well as the presence of academic stress generated by this content taught through the Methodology of Research subject. This paper presents a didactic strategy to diminish the academic stress suffered by second year medical students. A pre- experimental study was carried out with a quantitative-qualitative analysis. The sample was made up of forty- three students from the A1-B4 group. An academic stress inventory was applied and an interview was conducted. Different participative techniques focused on the statistic teaching learning process were used during the experimental process. The SPSS program was chosen to process data. The authors concluded by saying that the application of participative techniques contributes to minimize the academic stress towards the contents. (shrink)

A genesis of media didactics was deconstructed through a theoretical-comparative and historical methodological approach, with the aim of gaining insight into its history and characteristics, defining the discipline, and recent development trends. The study elaborates the role of media in education, schooling, teaching, and learning. The anatomy of the social circumstances of the emergence of certain curriculum innovations and their consequences for global education as well as the development of media didactics is systematically explained. A synthesis of the facts obtained (...) from the analysed concept makes it evident that the development of media didactics was influenced by the concept of instructional technology transferred from the USA, as well as several social and technological factors. Theoretical and practical essence of media didactics is established in the application of various media with the purpose of arranging individualized, i.e., student-centred teaching. Over time, the characteristics and role of media in teaching have changed in accordance with the dominant didactic theories. A crucial challenge for media didactics is foreseen in the form of the application of artificial intelligence in education and schooling. (shrink)

The article analyzes textbooks and offers an insight into the didactical manuals written in early socialism. Textbooks of modest volume, published at the end of the forties and in the fifties of the last century, reflected the basic requirements of educational policy. The main goal of music education was to educate students to sing by notes. The publications were conceived as theoretical instructions for musical literacy. The first didactical manual written by Joža Požgaj was published, which in its revised version (...) was used in music teaching for many years. Textbooks written in the first half of the 1960s, after the educational reform, were adapted to children’s age, while didactical manuals focused on enriching the lessons with songs, literary examples, games, stories, the use of school instruments etc. The attention shifted from music literacy to singing as dominant activity in music teaching, but again with the aim of acquiring basic musical vocabulary. (shrink)

The title of this present volume tends to be misleading. For it suggests that Nicholas’s didactic sermons are to be distinguished from his non-didactic ones—ones that are, say, more inspirational and less philosophical, or more devotional and less theological, or more situationally oriented and less Scripturally focused. Yet, in truth, all 293 of Nicholas’s sermons are highly didactic, highly pedagogical, highly exegetical.1 To be sure, there are inspirational and devotional elements; but they are subordinate to the primary purpose of teaching. (...) Likewise, only occasionally2 do the sermons show signs of addressing local circumstances that are idiosyncratic to the respective churches in Koblenz, Trier, Mainz, Augsburg, Frankfurt, Brixen, and Rome. Rather, their Scriptural focus more often than not yields up interpretations that are allegorical—or otherwise figurative—in a general way that allows Nicholas to draw inferences about the relationship between the intellect and the senses, about the unity of the virtues, the two natures in Christ, human freedom of will, the gifts of the Holy Spirit, the inter-relationship of faith and reason, the triune nature of God, the role of conscience, the precepts of the natural law, time as the image of eternity, the four stages of a knowledge of God, Christ as Wisdom Incarnate, God as Beauty, the Holy Spirit as Love, … and so on. Each of the sermons contains more than one major theme, so that no sermon dwells at length upon a single topic so as to sound pedantic and inappropriately academic. On the contrary: in a limited measure Nicholas’s sermons tend to entice through their extensive display of original metaphor, of striking imagery, of fresh vocabulary, and of erudite knowledge of earlier writers such as Plato, Aristotle, Augustine, Anselm, Albertus Magnus, and Meister Eckhart. (shrink)

The paper describes the conception of logic in Polish didactics authored by the Commission of National Education (KEN), an important educational institution of the European Enlightenment. Since the documents of the Commission refer to a vision of science presented by such influential works then as the Encyclopédie ou dictionnaire universel raisonné [Great French Encyclopedia], the paper compares the requirements from the Commission’s programmer with the encyclopaedic entries that entail logical problems broadly understood. It turns out that the Commission, following the (...) Encyclopédie, not only recommended a list of textbooks of logic but also shared its eclectic vision of logic. Although it is characteristic of modernity to take a relative approach to the importance of traditional logic, transformed into science on method, or literally an outline of epistemology, understood according to É. Condillac as a specific form of metaphysics, nevertheless some elements of logic were eclectically made valid. This logic, from the times of I. Kant, has been defined as formal logic. Practical logical skills were preferred to the knowledge of logical theories. At the same time attention was paid to the meaning of natural logical skills, and drills in logical reasoningwhen studying languages and mathematics. Despite preferences for the analytical method they also noticed the importance of synthetic method. It seems also that although the documents of the Commission do not say anything about the teaching of syllogistic issues, in didactic practice inspired by the Encyclopédie in the schools controlled by the Commission, the room was made to teach these problems. Condillac’s book was preferred in the schools controlled by the Commission, nevertheless, it was not, as in the case of other textbooks, a must on the reading list, an obligatory reading matter, therefore it was not published in Poland. The conception of logic presented by the Commission as modelled on the Encyclopédie managed to avoid the one-sidedness of Condillac’s approach, the approach that in fact eliminated the teaching of logic. (shrink)

In the Nile excursus of his Bellum Civile (10.172-333), Lucan portrays Caesar's inquiry into the source of the river, a well-known topos of human ambition, as an act of aggression, an imperialistic push to transgress natural boundaries. This aggressive drive is foiled by the duplicitous response of both the priest Acoreus and the divinity who inspires him. The digressive quality of the episode offers a redirection and setback for the character of Caesar, which are achieved through the momentary transference of (...) the conflict of the epic to the field of didactic exposition. (shrink)

The aim of this article is to unveil the ways of teaching new philosophical paradigms in Dutch Universities between Seventeenth and Eighteenth Century, by means of an analysis of the uses of illustrations in Cartesian and Newtonian natural-philosophical textbooks. This analysis allows to understand the overall functions of philosophical textbooks, where illustrations act as conceptual means, filling the gap between the premise of a theory and its actual contents; didactic means, aiming to help the reader in understanding scientific models fully (...) explained in texts; promoting or propagandistic instruments, useful to present theories in a fascinating way. Eventually, I argue for a positive correlation of the use of illustrations and the introduction of new philosophies, and for the existence of non-philosophical reasons for such use: as to the propagandistic function of illustrations intended as decorative means. (shrink)

In the article, the author analyzes the conditions for a subject’s existence in the post-informational society, which lead to forming a new style of thinking in the younger generation, functioning outside the textocentric paradigm. The author raises the actual problem of the education system, since it is impossible to build a successful learning process without meeting the demands of the time, without taking into account the peculiarities of perceiving the world by modern people. In the youth environment, the screen (clip) (...) style of thinking has long prevailed, which in the process of cognition is based on visual images. In the course of the study, the author comes to the conclusion that, responding to the new style of thinking, it is necessary to strive for a combination of methods of working with linear text and visual sources of information, to which a modern person is so receptive. This harmonious combination is provided by a comic strip with rich didactic potential. The article describes the positive aspects of using comics in the educational process and examines an example of using comics in philosophy classes. (shrink)

We note an increasing consciousness of weakness of legal methodology taught to law students today: The students get neither real idea nor feeling of legal decision-making as mixture of legal matters, issue of facts, personal inputs, diverging interests, and the interplay with other actors. For minimize these defects it is necessary that law students learn in legal studies the following points: (1) Legal decision-making is a special kind of decision-making and is embedded in all problems of this process. (2) Jurisprudence (...) is a hybrid science: It deals with facts of issue as well with legal matter. (3) Jurisprudence will be understood as transnational science and requires greater cooperation between law schools all over the world. (4) Legal education should focus on general principles and legal tools rather than on detailed rules. (5) Legal theory should demonstrate students our lack of understanding legal decision-making. (6) A realistic legal methodology has to take into account the impossibility of absolute certainty of the correctness of legal decision. (7) It is important to point out that analysis of facts of the case as crucial part of legal methodology requires teaching systems to introduce students in the respective techniques in practice like case studies, projects as well as legal clinics or SASLA-system. (shrink)

‘Mimesis’ is a concept explored in Antiquity as well as in cultural history. It also plays an important role in the Bible. In this article we argue for ‘mimesis’ as a role model for Bible teaching in religious education. In the first part we give some insights into the concept of mimesis, drawing on ancient philosophers (Aristotle, Plato). ‘Mimesis’ does not denote a copy of a prescribed object; instead, the type of depiction and reference brings it into the present in (...) an intensive, creative and productive way. In the second part we want to give some examples for how ‘mimesis’ is used in the Bible itself. Biblical tradition can be described as a ‘mimetic process’. Furthermore, authors like Paul explicitly use the concept of ‘mimesis’, for example in his ethical admonition. Thus, the use of ‘mimesis’ in the Bible inspires directly our teaching on biblical genres, motifs and ways of thinking. The third part gives a draft of how the ‘mimetic didactic’ works, drawing on parables, Gospel writing, Johannine theology and coping with painful fate like Job. Mimetic hermeneutics transforms tradition in applying it into the contemporary situation. This can prove stimulating for contemporary contexts: mimesis is closely connected to tradition, but simultaneously encourages its transmission into the present day with astonishing variability and freedom. (shrink)

Although most scholars now seem to agree that Herodotus was to some extent a didactic historian writing for the instruction of his readers, the systematic nature of his didacticism has perhaps not been fully appreciated. The Histories' concluding episodes reveal at least two didactic programs or strategies: first, the reader is to be trained in the application of Herodotean thinking to events subsequent to the period covered by the narrative; second, the reader is to be warned of the moral and (...) intellectual dangers posed by the “wonders” that have played so conspicuous a role in Herodotus' work. The existence of these programs helps to explain several features of the last chapters of the Histories, including the prominent position given to the peculiar story of Xerxes and Masistes. (shrink)

Le Livre du Chevalier de la Tour Landry pour ses filles et Le Ménagier de Paris, textes didactiques écrits au quatorzième siècle, enseignent aux jeunes filles et aux épouses les normes du comportement sexuel qu’elles doivent adopter en puisant dans les écrits courtois et religieux. Cependant, les formes socialement acceptables du désir divergent pour les hommes et les femmes. Tandis que le désir masculin est associé à la vie et la continuité, le désir féminin demeure placé sous les auspices de (...) la mort et de la perte. Cette partition est révélatrice des présupposés idéologiques de ces auteurs masculins, dont le lectorat n’était pas limité au seul public féminin. (shrink)

In the article, the author analyzes the views of the leading ideologues of the concept of pan-Slavism in the Russian Empire, who, according to Ivan Mirchuk, had a decisive influence on the formation of the modern ideological mythologeme of the hegemony of the Russian state on a planetary scale and contributed to the deepening of ideological differences between Western and Eastern civilizations. Using the example of the arguments of representatives of the Slavophile stream of Russian Pan-Slavism regarding its messianic role (...) in the history of the Slavic peoples, the researcher proves the absurdity of the very idea of the superiority of one nation over another. At the same time, intelligence focuses the reader’s attention on those dangerous tendencies of the spread of this theory, which in the future may lead to global world conflicts with catastrophic consequences.Following the further development of the ideology of pan-Slavism during the second half of the 20th century, the researcher reveals the process of transformation of Moscow messianism into the leading role of the now Soviet (Soviet) people in world history, which received its theoretical embodiment in the concept of pan-Sovietism. It was she who contributed to the final consolidation of the lawless position of the Slavic peoples within the framework of a single state entity on the territory of Eastern Europe, and the emergence of a new socio-cultural generation with an ideologically shaped rejection of values contrary to communist ideals and a negative attitude towards the entire surrounding world.The research methodology is based on the philosophical-anthropological and psychological analysis of the key ideas of the concept of pan-Slavism and pan-Sovietism in the historical-philosophical studies of I. Mirchuk. In particular, we used formal-logical, critical and hermeneutic methods of research to reveal the process of transformation of the pan-Slavism mythology in modern Russia and its influence on the socio-political life of other Slavic peoples. Among the general scientific methods, the methods of deduction and comparison came in handy, which helped to analyze the views of individual representatives of various pan-Slavic currents on the problem of uniting the Slavic peoples into a single ethnic substratum in different historical time periods. And the principles of objectivity and systematicity helped us dispel the myth of Russian messianism among other Slavic peoples.Conclusion. Thus, the main mythologeme of the ideology of Pan-Slavism in the studies of the Slavic scholar I. Mirchuk was reduced to the messianic role of Russia and its people, as the leader among the entire Slavic world, in relation to all other, primarily European nations. Neglecting the historical and spiritual contribution to the development of the world culture of other nations and peoples, the Moscow Empire to this day continues to call itself the only center of true Christian traditions, which strives to lead the planet to a better future. Declaring itself the successor of the Roman Empire as the “Third Rome”, Muscovy, and later the Soviet Union, completely usurped the right of other Slavic peoples of the continent to independently choose their own path of state formation and social development.The transformational processes experienced by pan-Slavism at the beginning of the 20th century brought only the change of the name of the ideology to pan-Sovietism, fully preserving the essence of the imperial unity principle in all spheres of social and political life of the communist era. According to the leading communist ideologues, all the best that the world had could be found only in the Soviet Union, or rather in its capital. Other Slavic peoples got the desired equality only in the negative attitude of the center towards any manifestations of their own spiritual identity and economic initiatives, which were instantly punished by brutal repression and physical destruction under the slogans of finding non-existent enemies of the people and invented counter-revolutionary activities. The theoretically attractive idea of the special purpose of the Slavic peoples in the international arena has in practice turned into an imperial totalitarian dictatorship of one country, which wanted only one thing – world domination. (shrink)

The present paper is aimed at the teachers (to be) of human sciences (especially economics) and offers an in-depth commentary and interpretation of Hans- Georg Gadamer’s view of the concept of question and the activity of questioning. The goal of the paper is to circumscribe the conditions of interrogation thus offering the teachers (to be) a means of enhancing the didactic efficiency of the learning sequences based on questioning.

Currently, students in basic secondary school in Colombia have a low performance in reading comprehension at the inferential level. This pedagogical proposal aimed to strengthen the level of inferential reading of students who attend elementary school, through the application of a didactic sequence from the cognitive-discursive perspective. Theoretically, the concepts proposed by Cisneros, Olave and Rojas regarding four types of inferences were assumed. Likewise, the theoretical orientations of Van Dijk (1978), Solé (1992) and Martínez (2002) were taken into account to (...) support the cognitive-discursive perspective adopted in the study. Methodologically, the qualitative approach was used with the action research method, and techniques such as observation, questionnaire, field diary and didactic sequence were used. In relation to the results, it is evident that the participants in the closing questionnaire increased significantly compared to the four types of inference evaluated, thus demonstrating greater interpretation when facing the texts. (shrink)

The study examines the modes of representation and communication of information through illustrative teaching aids in the 19th century. It focuses primarily on the didactic wall paintings and the tradition of lectures with slides and notes, how could the experience of these types of collectively observed images influence impressions and expectations of early film audiences. Didactic images are here analyzed primarily in terms of their compositional features, but in an effort to explain how processuality penetrated into the didactic image of (...) the 19th century also with regard to the aspect of time. As a result, the study calls for a reassessment of the importance of the didactic wall painting in the formation of modern visuality and observational practices of the late 19th century. (shrink)

RESUMEN El trabajo responde al desarrollo del Programa Nacional Formación Médica Integral Comunitaria, dada la necesidad de consolidar el proceso formativo desde las potencialidades que brinda el trabajo comunitario integrado. Se reflexionó desde el tratamiento teórico metodológico en aspectos epistemológicos del tema, sus relaciones, que desde la acción práctico transformadora puede y debe lograr la entrada en las áreas de residencias de colectivos humanos identificados ya por estilos y formas de vida, por costumbres y cultura autóctonas. El objetivo está dirigido (...) a establecer una aproximación a la problemática del trabajo comunitario integrado como escenario para fortalecer lo formativo, en tanto se resalta la importancia de reconstruir una comunidad y esbozar aspectos metodológicos para la acción concreta de transformación que garantiza su estabilidad y sostenibilidad y por tanto, dirigida a establecerse como tecnología social orientada a demostrar su impacto social y científico desde las condiciones de la construcción de una sociedad diferente. ABSTRACT The work answers to the development of the National Program Community Integral Medical Education, considering the need to consolidate the formative process from the potentialities that offers the integrated community work. It was reflected from the methodological theoretical treatment in epistemological aspects of the topic, its relations, that from the practical transforming action can and must achieve the entry in the areas of residences of human groups identified already by styles and forms of life, by native customs and culture. The objective is directed to establish an approach to the problems of the integrated community work like stage to strengthen the formative, meanwhile it is highlighted the importance of reconstructing a community and of outlining methodological aspects for the concrete action of transformation that guarantees its stability and sustainability and therefore, directed to settle like social technology faced to demonstrate its social and scientific impact from the conditions of the construction of a different society. (shrink)

There is nowadays consensus in the community of didactics of science regarding the need to include the philosophy of science in didactical research, science teacher education, curriculum design, and the practice of science education in all educational levels. Some authors have identified an ever-increasing use of the concept of ‘theoretical model’, stemming from the so-called semantic view of scientific theories. However, it can be recognised that, in didactics of science, there are over-simplified transpositions of the idea of model. In this (...) sense, contemporary philosophy of science is often blurred or distorted in the science education literature. In this paper, we address the discussion around some meta-theoretical concepts that are introduced into didactics of science due to their perceived educational value. We argue for the existence of a ‘semantic family’, and we characterise four different versions of semantic views existing within the family. In particular, we seek to contribute to establishing a model-based didactics of science mainly supported in this semantic family. (shrink)

This article is a qualitative study charting the dimensional range of a particular type of translative phenomenon, namely, intralingual translation within educational practice. Theoretically, the article is based on a broadened concept of translation that encompasses any kind of sign translation, including the transcending of a language-internal comprehension barrier, such as the one between scientific and lay linguistic registers. Further, the article assumes that such intralingual translation is conceptually identical with the interpretive procedures found in didactic practice, given that the (...) central aim of (much) pedagogy is to make sense of new and unfamiliar knowledge – typically embedded in abstract, scientific concepts – to learners. The article also draws on the Bakhtinian concept of “dialogized heteroglossia,” i.e., the view that different language varieties may be fused into, and brought into dialogue with each other within, one and the same text. Empirically, the article investigates intralingual translation in didactic practice through analyses of textbooks and one classroom lecture in five different academic disciplines, spanning both the natural and social sciences and the humanities. The analyses identify a handful of different translational strategies, some of which are shared across several disciplines, and others of which are unique to a single discipline only. (shrink)

Since antiquity, Empedocles has been considered as an example of both successful and unsuccessful communication. Aristotle credits him with vividness of images, but blames him for failure of clarity, and eventually compares his obscureness to that of oracles. Therefore, scholars in the past came to the conclusion that Empedocles deliberately employs an opaque style, like Heraclitus and his "studied ambiguity", as means for initiation. This paper challenges this assumption and asks whether and how ambiguity can work within a didactic poem. (...) By showing how Empedocles' and Heraclitus' communicative strategies differ from one another, I shall point to the poet's role as a charismatic and spiritual guide, displaying at times a Sibyl-like attitude. Being a mediator between two separate dimensions puts Empedocles in an ambiguous position, because he delivers what the Muse and the gods made available for him to share, and so his opaqueness does not come directly from him. Ultimately, this style analysis also says something about who the ideal audience must have been. (shrink)

In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:Self-Reference:Theory and Didactics between Language and LiteratureSvend Erik Larsen (bio)Semiotics of Self-ReferenceLiterary metafiction constitutes the extreme case of self-referential texts. Therefore we can either discard it as generally irrelevant for the understanding of the cultural functions of texts, or use it as a point of departure for the formulation of both general and basic aspects of such functions. The position taken in this essay will opt for the last (...) possibility, although I know full well that already the term "metafiction" itself inevitably triggers a variety of skeptical reactions. Does it not just refer to some author's self-centered ruminations in the ivory tower? Or a topic for the nerds of literary studies with a taste for theoretical acrobatics? If so, in both cases following metafictional inclinations results in complete isolation from both the context of literature and its readers.However, one may also adopt the opposite position. The metafictional features of literature constitute one of the means by which literature reaches out to its context and also engages its readers. And critical endeavors are not necessarily devoid of anything but their own concepts. They may instead pave the way for methodological and didactic considerations that ultimately make difficult literature more accessible as a cultural phenomenon. Rather than dwelling upon subtle theoretical differences in the definition of what metafiction is, I will therefore engage in a methodological approach: what kind of questions can we put to the texts, and what kind of answers can we reasonably come up with when using metafiction in a methodological and didactic framework?I shall begin by proposing a set of definitions broader than metafiction that will allow me to zoom in on it as a relevant methodological concept that opens for didactic reflections. The notion of metalevel will constitute my starting point. In its broadest sense, a metalevel indicates a position outside a given field of objects or meanings and in relation to it. But rather than relating [End Page 13] to the content of the field in question, the metalevel is supposed to serve as a platform enabling us to observe and evaluate basic principles and function of the field. This is the role of, for example, the theory of science or of epistemology in relation to the particular knowledge of various sciences. We may call it an epistemological metalevel.In a more restricted sense, a metalevel comprises a level in relation to a given sign system — rather than to a given field of objects — from which we can observe and evaluate the basic principles defining the function, range and validity of the sign system. This is the role of, for example, musicology in relationto the acoustic arts, art criticism in relation to the visual arts, medicine in relation to bodily symptoms. We may call it an inter-semiotic metalevel.Finally, in its most restricted sense, a metalevel points toward a level inside a given sign system from which we can refer to this sign system itself,but not in relation to a given field of objects or in relation to another sign system. We may call this level an intra-semiotic metalevel. In this context, language is a unique system, which in this capacity shapes literature as a particular linguistic phenomenon. Only inside the semiotic system of language can the intra-semiotic metalevel have two different functions:The first function is as a science of language, linguistics, which is itself a verbal sign system. In verbal scientific descriptions and arguments we may scrutinize the natural or everyday language as a medium, that is, its basic linguistic structures and principles, without taking into consideration its content, which it may share with other media. Texts and pictures may refer to the same phenomenon even if such references do not overlap completely. All other sciences differ from linguistics in this respect, because they cannot deal scientifically with their non-verbal objects through the same non-verbal medium as that which makes up the object, but need the support of a linguistic metalevel or at least of signs that are linguistically anchored. Even mathematics or other strictly formal sign systems are based on natural languages. We may refer to... (shrink)

In this paper I shall approach Hesiod's poetry from two, rather different, directions; consequently, the paper itself falls into two parts, the argument and conclusions of which are largely independent. In I offer some observations on the vexed question of the organisation of Works and Days; that is, my concern is with the coherence of the poem's form and content. In my attention shifts to the function of this poem and of its companion, Theogony; given the form and content of (...) these two poems, what can we plausibly conjecture about the end or ends to which they were composed? In particular, I shall consider whether, and in what sense, these poems may be regarded as didactic in intent. Much of what I have to say in I say with a measure of confidence; in , by contrast, my primary aim is to undermine unwarranted confidence — although I do, even here, reach some positive conclusions. (shrink)

This paper analyses the problem of shame in the thinking of Lucius Annaeus Seneca. The authors examine this problem primarily in two contexts. The first, social meaning, understands shame as an emotion that appears during a conflict between a person’s “self” and social norms. Seneca mainly tackles this question concerning providing “benefits” (beneficia) in his On Benefits and eighty-first letter of Moral Epistles. The second therapeutic and didactic meaning utilises shame as an instrument to manage some illnesses of the mind (...) (for example, anger). Moreover, to educate a “Stoic disciple” (proficiens), deliberate exposure to shame in public marks one of the important techniques to near the perfect ideal of “the wise man” (sapiens) and to prepare oneself for service in public office. Especially in Moral Epistles, we find a detailed description of this didactic approach and the limiting factors to using this technique. (shrink)

All modern critics have read verses 128–36 of Pseudo-Scymnus’ iambic Periodos to Nicomedes (c.133–110/109 b.c.e.) as a description of the personal autopsies of the author. However, close analysis of both the literary dynamics of the poem and the syntax of the lacunose text that precedes this passage shows that this cannot be the case. This article proposes that Timaeus of Tauromenium (c.350–260 b.c.e.) is a superior candidate for the referent of these lines, and offers a coherent approach to emending the (...) manifestly corrupt text. This reinterpretation makes better sense of the extant text of the Periodos, and allows these verses to be read as a second-century witness to Timaeus’ autoptic prowess. (shrink)

The title of this present volume tends to be misleading. For it suggests that Nicholas’s didactic sermons are to be distinguished from his non-didactic ones—ones that are, say, more inspirational and less philosophical, or more devotional and less theological, or more situationally oriented and less Scripturally focused. Yet, in truth, all 293 of Nicholas’s sermons are highly didactic, highly pedagogical, highly exegetical.1 To be sure, there are inspirational and devotional elements; but they are subordinate to the primary purpose of teaching. (...) Likewise, only occasionally2 do the sermons show signs of addressing local circumstances that are idiosyncratic to the respective churches in Koblenz, Trier, Mainz, Augsburg, Frankfurt, Brixen, and Rome. Rather, their Scriptural focus more often than not yields up interpretations that are allegorical—or otherwise figurative—in a general way that allows Nicholas to draw inferences about the relationship between the intellect and the senses, about the unity of the virtues, the two natures in Christ, human freedom of will, the gifts of the Holy Spirit, the inter-relationship of faith and reason, the triune nature of God, the role of conscience, the precepts of the natural law, time as the image of eternity, the four stages of a knowledge of God, Christ as Wisdom Incarnate, God as Beauty, the Holy Spirit as Love, … and so on. Each of the sermons contains more than one major theme, so that no sermon dwells at length upon a single topic so as to sound pedantic and inappropriately academic. On the contrary: in a limited measure Nicholas’s sermons tend to entice through their extensive display of original metaphor, of striking imagery, of fresh vocabulary, and of erudite knowledge of earlier writers such as Plato, Aristotle, Augustine, Anselm, Albertus Magnus, and Meister Eckhart. (shrink)

SummaryThe College of New Jersey (which later became Princeton University) provides an example of how Scottish philosophy influenced American higher education in an institutional context during the late eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. This article compares the administrations of John Witherspoon (served from 1768 to 1794), Samuel Stanhope Smith (served from 1795 to 1812) and James McCosh (served from 1868 to 1888) at Princeton and examines their use of Scottish philosophy in restructuring the curriculum and reforming its institutional purpose. While presiding (...) over Princeton during its most significant transitional moments, these philosophers of the Scottish School of Common Sense instituted different versions of moral education. Meanwhile, Witherspoon's legacy of balancing the interests of Evangelicalism and Scottish philosophy as Princeton's driving purpose influenced the creation and reception of nineteenth-century programmes of moral education. The broader question this article addresses is: how did the interconnecting points among Scottish philosophy, Calvinism and moral education inform notions of didactic Enlightenment at Princeton across a century? (shrink)