The Nicolaean paradigm, a metapedagogical tool for constructing the value process of western parenting


Abstract:

The relics of bishop Nicholas, transferred from Myra to Bari in 1087, brought with them a religious and, above all, pedagogical value model that was decisive in defining the sense of community; this identity platform then crossed the ocean contributing to the founding of New York. From the same shores of Anatolia had come the pedagogical model represented by the figure of Aeneas who, by saving his son Ascanius, emphasised the necessity of care for future generations in order to realise cohesive and identity-based social communities. St Nicholas' message has conditioned the way parents relate to their children, offering a pedagogical paradigm that has become deeply rooted in Christian communities in Western culture. Throughout the centuries, the pedagogy of care embodied in the Nicholas tradition has continued to teach adults to care for children and to catalyse collective commitment to the new generations.