AD ALTA
JOURNAL OF INTERDISCIPLINARY RESEARCH
initiated the first congress of Friends of Slovakia (Pedagogická
encyklopédia Slovenska, 1984).
He had great organizational, rhetoric and literary skills. His
numerous articles were published in both Czech and Slovak
periodicals: Učiteľské listy, Posel z Budče, Česká škola,
Komenský, Učiteľské noviny, Pedagogické Rozhledy, Osvěta,
Květy, Zlatá Praha, Dětské Květy, Noviny Malých, Malý Čtenář,
Naše Doba, Nový Lid, Národnie Noviny, Slovenské Listy,
Slovenský Denník, Slovenský Východ, Česká Dívka, Národní
Listy, Moravská Orlice, Opavský Týdenník, Jiskra, Národní
osvobození, Ruch, Ľudovýchovný Vestník, Slovenská škola,
Sokolský Věstník, Hronské Noviny, Naše Orava, Vestník
Detvana, České Slovo, Kostnické Jiskry, Husův Odkaz, Kritika,
etc. Particularly valuable are his articles published in the Slovak
pedagogical journal Dom a škola (Zbaviteľ, 1929). This journal
provided space for promotion of the idea of Czechoslovak
reciprocity. Karel Kálal in the Czech lands and Karol Slava in
Slovakia embarked together on a bloodless journey to Slovak
freedom.
Karel Kálal authored several Slovakophile publications such as
Slovenské pohádky, Co si dva chlapci dopisovali, Na krásném
Slovensku,
Nevěsta z Tater, Obrázky z pod Tater, Z posledních
let jařma, Slovesnko a Slováci, Češi na Slovensku, Dejiny
Slovenska,
Jiný svět, Národnie poviedky, Nové rozprávky,
Obrazy z
dějin Slovenska, Die Unterdrückung der Slovaken
durch die Magyaren, Vyhubit!, Slo
vensko, země budoucnosti,
Účinky lihových nápojů, O kouření, Omamování, Životní
program, Na cestu životem, Dívka dospívající, Palackého mladá
léta,
Čtení o Fr. Palackém etc. He co-authored Slovník
slovensko-
český a česko-slovenský [Slovak-Czech Dictionary]
(Chlup, Kubálek, Uher, 1938). Other his books had informative
character:
Slovenská vlastivěda and Přehled slovenských dejín. A
book entitled Na krásném Slovensku asks for a detailed study.
Kálal penned over 40 publications about theory of education,
didactics, and psychology of adolescents (Pedagogická
encyklopédia Slovenska, 1984).
5
.2 Alojz Zbaviteľ (1889 – 1977)
Kálal was a teacher and motivator of other Czech scholars
passionate about Slovaks who were coming to Slovakia to teach.
One of them was
Alojz Zbaviteľ, a pioneer in popular education
in Slovakia. He greatly contributed to the intensification of
mutual Czech-
Slovak relations. Zbaviteľ linked his educational
activities with public enlightenment. He was a teacher and a
school inspector, a chronicler, a museologist, an archivist, a
founder of the Sokol movement and local enlightenment
committees. He laid the theoretical foundations of popular
education; he organized courses and congresses of popular
educators. He worked in the Radio Košice and was a director of
the first boarding popular education school (with a month stay).
Zbaviteľ worked in Slovakia between 1919 and 1933, and his
primary goal was to “slovakise” the Slovak population – i.e. to
rid them of Magyarization, but not only in terms of a language,
but especially in terms of nature and mentality (Plachý, Vojtek,
1969).
A spoken word (a lecture) and theatre came first in his hierarchy,
only then came reading (a magazine or a book). He arrived in
Slovakia as a skilful public speaker, but this did not satisfy him.
Zbavit
eľ constantly worked on his improvement and soon he
became teaching speakers. He penned many articles on how to
master the word and he published his own handbook for popular
educators:
Uvedenie do rečníctva [Introduction to Art of Public
Speaking]. Zbavite
ľ also organised rhetorical courses. He
delivered 161 lectures for radio stations in Brno, Prague,
Ostrava, and Košice.
Experience with cultural-enlightenment work and practical
knowledge
Zbaviteľ gained in organizing various activities,
especially in the Slovak countryside, he transformed into a
manual for popular educators, which he entitled
Ľudovou
výchovou k zaisteniu slobody [Popular education towards
freedom] in which he stresses how important it is to know the
psychology of the people and the soul of the listener, when being
a good speaker does not suffice. The publication addresses the
need of popular education;
Zbaviteľ specifies the tools of
popular education and characterizes a popular educator. He also
focuses on the psychology of the listener who is the recipient of
popular education. On 149 pages,
Zbaviteľ provides a very
valuable insight into popular education and his handbook proved
to be a source of information on almost every question related to
popular education. Zbavite
ľ thus provided a solid theoretical
foundation for popular education.
In Slovakia, Zbavite
ľ also managed Slovak amateur theatre in
Modra. He translated Jirásek’s play into Slovak, and the
rehearsed with actors and even performed. The spoken word,
however, was his number one priority. He never stopped
emphasising how important it is to hear the spoken word,
especially during his time in Košice where he was appointed a
secretary of the district board, a head of the county
enlightenment association and the general secretary of Slovenská
liga [the Slovak League]. For students, he founded the Holuby’s
society for self-education at the Teacher’s training college and
the Hviezdoslav’s society for self-education at the Land
Development Vocational School.
He actively participated in discussions at the mayors’ meetings
in municipalities, where he eagerly encouraged them to organize
cultural and public life there. He visited Barca, Beňakovce,
Moldava, Buzinka, Poproč, Rudno, Čaňa, Haniska, Ždaňa,
Chrastné, Šaca, Michalovce, Silva
š, Nižný Čaj, Buzice,
Kráľovce, Nižný Tejkeš, Krompachy, Siplak, Košické Hámre,
Košická Belá, Rákoš, Kokošov, Nové mesto pod Sal., Kalša,
Prešov, Bardejov, Nižná Myšľá, Vyšný Olčvár, Zlatá Ida, Kysak,
Kokošovce, Gelnica, Zlatá Baňa, etc.
Zbaviteľ organised courses for popular educators and librarians.
In 1929, he organized a course of economics education in
Spišská Nová Ves. In 1930, he participated in the Slovak
congress of popular educators in Žilina, in working congress in
Prešov and in 1931 at the course for librarians and popular
educators in Košice. In the same year, he was appointed a
director of the first boarding school in Spišská Nová Ves. In
1928 -29 he presided a “jubilee” committee joining all political
organisations and associations for the common goal of popular
education. In 1931, the Ministry of Education and National
Enlightenment appointed Zbaviteľ the county’s official of the
state enlightenment service responsible for the administration
units of district enlightenment boards in Dobšinej, Jelšava,
Liptovský Mikuláš, Liptovský Hrádok, Kežmarok, Levoča,
Poprad, Rožňave, Spišská Nová Ves, Stará Ľubovňa and Veľká
Revúca (Plachý, Vojtek, 1969).
In 1932, Zbaviteľ published another handbook for popular
educators with a title
Ľudová výchova na vidieku [Popular
Education in the Country] as a methodical recommendation for
practical implementation of popular education. With regularity,
Zbaviteľ addressed burning issues concerning popular education
in articles in a monthly
Náš ľud – ľudovýchovný vestník pre
Slovensko [Our People – Bulletin of Popular Education in
Slovakia] published between 1928/29 – 1937/38. Some of his
articles are listed here: O potrebe výchovy kultúrnych
pracovníkov, Utuženie pomeru medzi Okresnými osvetovými
zbormi a miestnymi osvetovými komisiami, Ekonomizácia síl
ľudovýchovného pracovníka, K sedemdesiatke Karola Kálala,
Reklama k ľudovej výchove, Tlač a ľudovýchovný pracovník, K
podmienkam zdaru ľudovýchovnej práce, Služba na poli ľudovej
výchovy službou národu a
štátu, Do služieb ľudovýchovných
najlepších ľudí!, etc.
Zbaviteľ and other passionate Czech popular educators working
in the Slovak Enlightenment Association introduced into the
Slovak enlightenment movement some consistency and system.
They developed methodology; spoke about education agents and
tools, clarity and visualisation, chronological sequence and other
principles of enlightenment work (Pasiar, Paška, 1964). For
Zbaviteľ, popular education was a continuation of the nation’s
liberation process. Although he left Slovakia in 1933, he was
- 179 -