The image of the child and childhood in Augustine of Hippo and its cultural-educational implications

Abstract

The article presents a cultural-pedagogical interpretation of Augustine’s image of the child and childhood, recognising Augustinian thought as an important impulse for the development of conceptualisations of childhood that for centuries constituted the dominant cultural discourse on the child, shaping educational practices referred to as the pedagogy of severity. The considerations are situated in the area of interdisciplinary childhood studies (childhood studies), combining, among others, cultural and social analyses with pedagogical issues, and in this case also entering the field of religious studies.