Abstract (eng)
At the centre of this thesis entitled “Learning Through Theatre – An Investigation of the Works of John Amos Comenius” lies the philosopher, clergyman and educator John Amos Comenius (1592-1670), and his dramatic work Schola Ludus, which was explicitly written for theatre and contains eight separate stage plays. Initially, his educational and philosophical thoughts are explained using a biographical approach, since they were highly influenced by his life journey and circumstances. This leads to his central postulation that an essential challenge lies in the education of man, including knowledge of the world as well as religious beliefs. For a successful education one needs class with lively school plays. Comenius himself was able to put his reformatory thoughts to life, when joining the school of Sárospatak, where he wrote Schola Ludus and performed parts of it. The analysis of the text focuses on content, music, properties, and costumes, where the educational and theatrical elements necessitate each other. The intention and purpose of Schola Ludus are also explained using his theoretical concepts of pansophia/universal wisdom, pampaedia/universal education, and panorthosia/universal improvement. Additionally, the parts VI and VI are considered separately. On one hand, Comenius shows how he imagines the perfect school and its educational measures. On the other hand, he addresses school as teaching morals, which is essential to his understanding of theatre. The main focus of this thesis is to take into account Comenius as an educational dramatist who understands theatre as a didactic tool for knowledge transfer and education. In conclusion, learning through theatre in the works of Comenius is not a simple theoretical demand, but finds its realisation in an interrelationship between theatrical and didactic elements.