THE ART OF FORMATION

CHARACTERISTICS OF EDITH STEIN’S PEDAGOGICAL VISION

Abstract

The present article identifies some characteristics of Edith Stein’s pedagogical vision and its development in the context of the consecrated religious life and the priesthood’s formative itinerary. The German term “Bildung” corresponds to what we translated by the term “formation”. It means configuring the soul to what the person should become. Therefore, the question about who is the human being is highly valued. In this process, God is the most essential instructor. In his freedom and finitude, the human being will receive or not the divine grace. The path of formation, therefore, is a path of autonomy, for every formation is self-formation. Thus, Edith Stein's pedagogical understanding invites the religious formation to understand the first and the fundamental role of person in his formative itinerary.