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Friedrich Nietzsche pp 41–60Cite as

Schools, Teachers and Learners

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Part of the book series: SpringerBriefs in Education ((BRIEFSKEY))

Abstract

Nietzsche is a ‘historical’ philosopher, who sees education as a set of practices used for different purposes at different times. On that view, the modern school has no single function or meaning. Rather, various interpretations are imposed on it by competing social forces such as the state, business, social morality and the academic profession, each wanting the school to serve its own ends. Nietzsche is very distrustful of mass education, since he thinks that public schools favour the average student and discourage the creative exceptions on whom culture depends. His views on teaching are unorthodox, although it is hard to find a clear picture of the ideal teacher in his writings. The Nietzschean teacher is a dedicated yet manipulative and devious figure. In any case, the relation between teacher and learner will involve tension and conflict. If the aim of education is the independent individual, students must resist any tendency to become mere followers.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Graduate School of Education, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC, Australia

    Robin Small

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  1. Robin Small
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Small, R. (2016). Schools, Teachers and Learners. In: Friedrich Nietzsche. SpringerBriefs in Education(). Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-29519-0_3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-29519-0_3

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-29518-3

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-29519-0

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