No Education without Hesitation: Exploring the Limits of Educational Relations

Abstract

In an 1894 publication, the German philosopher Wilhelm Dilthey wrote that “die Wissenschaft der Pädagogik kan nur beginnen mit der Deskription des Erziehers in seinem Verhältnis zum Zögling” — which roughly translates as “the science of education can only begin with a description of the educator in his relation to the one being educated.” In the 1930s, Dilthey’s student Hermann Nohl, by then professor of education at the University of Göttingen, would place the educational relation (“Der pädagogische Bezug”) at the center of his conception of education, thus making it into one of the key concepts of twentieth century German educational theory.