Jan Amos Comenius: modernity and prevalence of an universal education thinker

Abstract

The celebration of the 350th anniversary of the publication of the educational works collection "Opera didactica omnia" related to equity problems in Chilean education and the development of an education reform in the country provides a baseline to revise and expose the historical context trying to explain thought trends underlying the works of the great Czech pedagogue Comenius. Teachers" need to use didactics on classrooms, "learning-by-doing", the role of the State and the whole society on education are permanent questions that Comenius clearly addressed almost four centuries ago. His works have motivated the creation of the best educational systems around the world. Comenius is considered as the first specialist supporting education as a legitimate science. His ideas have been crucial for the development of didactics, the educational psychological theories and the internationalization and democratization of education. The present study updates Comenius" work and postulates in order to contribute to the debate about the need of improving Chilean current education.