This book is not an informative text, but a brief and interesting work about a real concept which deserves consideration inside educational debate.
On this text, the writter closer to us the real educational framework of a new way to think about education, which is call by himself “sensitive education”. It is important to say that this term has nothing to do with “feelings”. It is not trying to appeal to any aspect related to emotions. In fact, the writter focus on identify a way to think about education that search going with human beings and make them link in a healthy way to themselves.
Once the concept is clarified, book structure’s has three parts. A brief introduction, sensitive education basics in the first chapter and educational principles in the second one. Finally, conclusions take the future lines of work in terms of this new model.
In the first chapter, basics of sensitive education are explained. The writer makes a review from what sensitive education is, what it is looking for and, he highlights human genuity and his necessity of being conscious of that. So, through self-consciousness, selflearning and an opening mind to “the origin”, whatever it may be, the man will be formed considering that for which he was made for. To make this substantiation, an antropological view is done, through different kinds of philosophical schools as Viena one. This is because he is trying to show how a search of meaning involves often, the way we have to face life.
The most interesting idea contained on this book, It is that the writter doesn’t say the way to open ourselves to the mentioned “origin” but what he looks for, it is to show the need to achieve, each one, guided and advised by “sensitive” individuals, would be able to achieve his maximun level without being a victim of the system. On this way, It supports the idea of original life would be showed in spite of every bad circunstances around the subject. With this, a slow involvement of the subject in his own education through lower level of demands or by a soft education system is not search, but doing the learner looks for a new way to roll out his originality, which is good because it makes us going through our real plenitude.
Regarding the second chapter of the book, educational principles, the fact that it is not a methodology is again underlined. So, doing things in just one way is not considered as a solution. In fact, one of the most relevant ideas is the neccesity of being out of ideologies, religions or any other mental structure. This is because, If it could only be thought of in one sense, it could not be considered universal. This is the reason because of the writter takes every resources, begining by the teacher, which could be considered as a source of sensitive education.
According to the author, the most relevant virtue of sensitive education is that: it is the framework of everyone. This book highlights the danger of individuals, regardless of their age, simply reacting to the circumstances around them, seeking to cope with what they experience and not actually living it. That is the reason because possible beneficts are considered such a respecting behaviour by every member of educative community. It could be the way, may be not to healing wounds, but to know what their origine could be and the way to care them. Once we achieve be closer to each one genuity version, may be we could, in some way, try to implement educational methodologies considered more appropiated.
In short, this book aims to propose a new way to think about some different, more human and less serial education, where we can consider our deepness and personal qualities to live situations of social life. It does not try to change the model in a bad way, giving more relevance to particular qualities in a bad sense of the word. In fact, it tries to show everyone has an origin and a different way to live. This new way to think education wants to make people consider an antropological view of human being, which makes us looking people as an educational agent, not just as a subject. It gives us the chance to apply our educational tools to change our view and to look to each one in a more “sensitive” way.
Mª Isabel de la Rubia