An Educational Pilgrimage to the United States. Un pèlerinage psycho-pédagogique aux États-Unis.

Travel Diary of Raymond Buyse, 1922. Carnet de voyage de Raymond Buyse, 1922.

Edited by Marc Depaepe and Lieven D'hulst

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Special Book Design! Upside-down volume with the original French version on one side and the English translation on the other.

In 1922, a young Belgian ‘pedologist' named Raymond Buyse accompanied the famous Dr. Ovide Decroly on a study tour of the United States of America. They met with well-known American professors to learn more about the ‘scientific' study of the child and especially about applied American psychology.

Buyse noted his impressions of the trip in a diary. These are scribbles, sometimes difficult to decipher, written on loose sheets, held together by a ring binder. They reflect the culture shock experienced by Buyse in confronting this dazzling nation. The young scholar writes in a lively style and with humour about his meetings with the ‘great' psychologists and educationalists of that time, visualizing his impressions of the land and the people with little drawings in the text.

Here the record of this fascinating scholarly and cultural encounter is published for the first time, both in the original French with an English translation. In their exhaustive introduction Marc Depaepe and Lieven D'hulst explain the historical context of this both personal and intellectual journey to the present-day reader.

 

Livre imprimé tête-bêche! Volume réversible avec la version originale française d'un côté et la traduction anglaise de l'autre.

 

En 1922, Raymond Buyse, un jeune « pédologue » belge, entreprend, en compagnie du célèbre docteur Ovide Decroly, un voyage d'étude aux États-Unis. Ils y rencontrent des professeurs américains de renom et se familiarisent avec l'étude scientifique de l'enfant et avec la psychologie américaine appliquée en particulier.

Buyse note ses impressions de voyage dans un carnet. Ce sont des gribouillis, parfois difficiles à déchiffrer, rédigés sur des feuilles volantes réunies dans un classeur. Elles témoignent du choc culturel que la confrontation avec le pays du progrès suscite en lui. Le jeune chercheur narre avec humour ses rencontres et dresse un portrait vivant d'illustres psychologues et pédagogues de cette époque. Le texte est entrelacé de petits dessins.

Le récit de ce fascinant voyage scientifique et interculturel est publié maintenant pour la première fois, sous la forme d'une édition annotée, non seulement en français - la langue originale dans laquelle il a été rédigé - mais aussi en anglais. Dans une longue introduction, Marc Depaepe et Lieven D'hulst éclairent pour le lecteur d'aujourd'hui le contexte historique de ce voyage à la fois personnel et intellectuel.

Table of Contents
Introduction

I. Historical Background
1. In Search of a Science of Education
2. The Scientification of Education in North America
3. The Cult of “Measurement” and the Ideology of “Meritocracy”
4. “Pedology” and “Pedotechnics” in Brussels — 27
5. Buyse and Decroly, Travelling Companions: An Asymmetric Pair
6. Joint Publications: The Direct Result of the Trip
7. The Early Career of Buyse: An Indirect Consequence of the Trip
8. Personality and Character of Raymond Buyse

II. The Narrative of the Journey
1. Travelling to the United States at the Beginning of the Twentieth Century
2. The Steps of the Journey
3. The Travel Diary: Questions of Genre
4. A Question of Style
5. Major Themes
A Note on the Text

Text Edition

Format: Monograph - ebook

240 pages

ISBN: 9789461661227

Publication: July 08, 2011

Series: Studia Paedagogica 46

Languages: English | French

Stock item number: 63305

Lieven D’hulst is emeritus gewoon hoogleraar Franstalige letterkunde en vertaalwetenschap aan de Letterenfaculteit van de KU Leuven.

Marc Depaepe is Professor of History of Education at KU Leuven.


I would say first that it represents a substantial scholarly accomplishment. The editors reproduce this travel diary in two languages: both its original French and an English translation. Additionally, the editors provide an exceedingly informative introduction and historical background section, also in both languages [...]. This is all to the good, since in the introduction and historical background the editors prepare the document's readers, in either language, for the text that follows through their provision of an interesting account of Buyse's career, his cooperation with his senior colleague Ovide Decroly and the work of both of these men, set against the background of educational science and the new education in Europe.
The format of the volume is innovative and interesting, with the English introduction and translation at its beginning in one direction and the French introduction and original document at the end [...]. All told, the volume comes to over 300 pages -; a sizeable work that promises, and delivers, much to its readers.

Wayne J. Urban, Paedagogica Historica: International Journal of the History of Education, DOI:10.1080/00309230.2013.778060


 

This is an exceptional contribution to the history of education in terms of the
quality of the introductory analysis and the publication of Buyse's notes, a very difficult
task indeed.

Rosa Bruno-Jofré, Queen's University, Historical Studies in Education / Revue d'histoire de l'éducation 25, 1, Spring / printemps 2013


 

In het vlot lezend reisdagboek zal je dan - mede door de goede duiding - veel te weten komen over Buyse zelf, over de tijdsgeest van toen in de Verenige Staten en hoe psychologen en pedagogen toen te werk gingen. Een uniek boek!
Tom Van Daele - APPeL