The Salesian Preventive System is the educational method of the

Salesians The Salesians of Don Bosco (SDB), formally known as the Society of Saint Francis de Sales (), is a religious congregation of men in the Catholic Church, founded in 1859 by the Italian priest John Bosco to help poor and migrant youth during the ...

, built upon the pedagogical experience of Saint

John Bosco John Melchior Bosco, Salesians of Don Bosco, SDB (; ; 16 August 181531 January 1888), popularly known as Don Bosco or Dom Bosco (International Phonetic Alphabet, IPA: ), was an Italian Catholic priest, educator and writer. While working in Tu ...

with poor children in 19th-century

Turin Turin ( , ; ; , then ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. The city is main ...

. It is based on three pillars namely—reason, religion, and lovingkindness which is opposed to school punishment, or what Don Bosco refers to as the repressive system of education. Don Bosco is the principal historical representative of this method of formation of the young. He was preceded in its development by such luminaries as Saint Philip Neri and Saint Francis de Sales. Don Bosco wrote only one essay explaining his

pedagogical Pedagogy (), most commonly understood as the approach to teaching, is the theory and practice of learning, and how this process influences, and is influenced by, the social, political, and psychological development of learners. Pedagogy, taken ...

method, ''The Preventive System in the Education of the Young'' (1877). This was included in the first Salesian Constitutions.

History

The beginnings of the Salesian Preventive System can be traced to the life and apostolate of Saint John Bosco (1815–1888). During the second half of the 19th century, Don Bosco began work among poor youth in

, especially the homeless and orphans. In addition, the

Industrial Revolution The Industrial Revolution, sometimes divided into the First Industrial Revolution and Second Industrial Revolution, was a transitional period of the global economy toward more widespread, efficient and stable manufacturing processes, succee ...

had led to a smaller proportion of poor children who would not survive until adulthood. Consequently, more living children needed guidance and direction. Don Bosco based his pedagogy upon two preventive aspects. The first is a timely awareness of the dangers to which youths may be exposed. By this, the educators can help the youth avoid such harmful experiences in time. The second aspect is the immediate rehabilitation of youths who have already been victims of such dangers before. This is the consequential onset of bad habits, the process including sanitation therapies, empowerment of energies, and the possibility of alternative work opportunities. Carlo Nanni defined Don Bosco as a man of action rather than a scholar. And indeed, Don Bosco did not write extensively on the matter. As such, students of the Preventive System may wish to study the life and actions of Don Bosco.

Administration

This system is used widely by instructors in Don Bosco Schools and Institutes. These include such schools as Don Bosco Bandel, Don Bosco School, Park Circus, Don Bosco School (Alaknanda, New Delhi), Salesian English School, Don Bosco High & Technical School, Liluah,

St. John Bosco High School St. John Bosco High School (SJBHS) is a Salesians of Don Bosco, Salesian all-boys college preparatory high school located in Bellflower, California, and is operated by the San Francisco Province of the order. The school is named after the ord ...

, and Salesian High School (Richmond).

References

{{Salesians Salesian Order Pedagogy

History

Administration

Further reading

References