Wolfgang Ratke: An Unfinished Agenda

Wolfgang Ratke may be one of the more obscure thinkers in educational history, yet many of his pedagogical techniques are employed contemporarily and are viewed soundly. Ratke was discontented with the divisiveness of the Holy Roman Empire and sought to use education, notably in language instruction, to unify the Germanic area. Unfortunately for Ratke, many of his ideas ran contrary to the status quo of the period, especially in regard to maintaining power and the influence of religion. Ratke was somewhat of a ne’er-do-well relocating many times and on occasion finding himself incarcerated. His pedagogical techniques diverged from many of the techniques of the time, which found him in conflict with the clergy and many of his contemporaries. Ratke advocated for the use of the vernacular school as the proper method to approach the learning of all subjects. He espoused the fundamental theory of induction created by Francis Bacon that said there was a natural sequence by which the mind moves in the acquisition of knowledge from the particulars to the general. Ratke was truly an educational reformer ahead of his time.