William John Dickson – “Prevention or repression. The reception of Don Bosco’s educational approach in british salesian schools” in “Journal of Salesian Studies”

The question that this paper seeks to explore is to what extent Don Bosco’s educational approach was received and accepted in England and to what extent it was itself modified in the process of meeting a new and alien culture. Part of the debate involves the English perception that some aspects of Don Bosco’s Preventive System to the eyes of some foreign Salesians the existence of corporal punishment in Salesian schools was a direct contradiction of Don Bosco’s approach to education. In order to understand this cultural incomprehension, this essay looks at the nature of the English educational context in Victorian England. It will highlight one particular issue where the Salesian approach to education was significantly modified by its experience in England i.e. how corporal punishment came to be incorporated into the practice in the English Salesian schools.

La domanda che questo articolo cerca di esplorare è in che misura l’approccio educativo di Don Bosco è stato accolto e accettato in Inghilterra e fino a che punto sia stato modificato nel processo di incontro con una cultura nuova e diversa. Parte del dibattito coinvolge la percezione inglese su alcuni aspetti del Sistema Preventivo di Don Bosco agli occhi di alcuni Salesiani stranieri come l’esistenza di punizioni corporali nelle scuole salesiane che era in contraddizione con l’approccio di Don Bosco all’educazione. Per capire questa incomprensione culturale, questo saggio esamina la natura del contesto educativo inglese in Inghilterra vittoriana. Evidenzierà un problema particolare in cui l’approccio salesiano all’educazione è stato significativamente modificato dalla sua esperienza in Inghilterra, cioè da come sono arrivate le punizioni corporali da inserire nella pratica delle scuole salesiane inglesi.

Contents:

• The English educational context: different political and educational traditions
• Dr. Arnold and Rugby School
• Don Bosco ‘s Educational Approach
• Prevention or Repression: contrasts and cultural differences
• Corporal Punishment in Piedmont
• General regulations for Boarding schools (Jan. 23, 1827)
• Salesians and School Punishment
• Assistance and the Salesian Preventive system
• England and the Preventive System
• The Preventive system at Battersea
• Grounds for understanding

Reference time period: 1790 – 1920

Reference institution:
Institute of Salesian Studies