Klaus Pranges pædagogiske distinktion mellem opdragelse (tradering) og læring (transformation): Den pædagogisk-professionelle som kulturfigur

The article posits (in section 1.1) a perspective of general education (allgemeine Pädagogik, almen pædagogik). In section 1.2, I look into the claim that the educational programs of pedagogical professionality as well as research related to schooling in Denmark is currently marked by a deficit of the dimension of Tradierung, recreation of tradition (Vejleskov & Winther-Jensen, 2017; Laursen, 2018; Prange, 2000). In section 2 the article unpacks the pedagogical theory of Klaus Prange (1939–2019) as a plausible remedy for this challenge. Prange’s theory is introduced with a special focus on his distinction between a) the ‘inter-generational handing-over of tradition’ (in german the Tradierung of ‘upbringing’) and b) the transformative dimension of an open becoming (inherent in the concept of ‘learning’). The implications of this are explicated. In section 3, Prange’s theory is contrasted with Erling Lars Dale’s concept of ‘pedagogical professionality’ (Dale, 1998). By means of this comparison, Prange’s exhortation is highlighted to prevent a technical pragmatism from dominating the concept of pedagogical competence. A central key for Prange in his pedagogical attempt to avoid the slide of educational programs into organizational competencies of technical pragmatism is presented (in section 4.1) with an emphasis on his concept of Erziehende Unterricht (upbringing by means of teaching). As an elaboration of this part of Prange’s argument, the article constructs (in section 4.2) the concept of the ‘pedagogical culture-figure’. A concept which functions as a further remedy for the identified deficit of Tradierung.