Work from the Perspective of Cardinal Stefan Wyszyński. Pedagogical Implications

Abstract

In his abundant teaching, Cardinal Stefan Wyszyński devoted a lot of attention to the question of work, its significance in human life and the role it plays in the process of education. The Primate claimed that education for work cannot be brought down to developing manual competences necessary to perform a given profession, but that it should be a process aimed at discovering the meaning of work itself. In order to understand that meaning properly, Cardinal Wyszyński analysed the text of the Book of Genesis, which tells about the Creator and His “work” in terms of creating the world. Man is a “child of God”, that is, a thinking being endowed with an inquiring mind and capable of grasping the transcendent dimension of his existence. The work performed by man cannot be senseless duplication of the Creator’s deeds, but rather independent human thinking and action. Education for work must be complemented by virtue, for it is virtue that enriches man and allows him to become the performer and creator of work, and not the other way around.

Keywords

• work, economy, sense of work, education for work, homo laborans