The educational philosophy of Don Bosco

Abstract

In the twentieth century in which we are living, we are likely to hear about the difficulties met by youth when getting to face their future. One of the main reasons why such youth find it difficult to make important decisions is because they do not have enough parental support and confidence which Bosco refers to as loving-kindness and also because they lack the education of reason which our schools may not be compensating to youth. Before Don Bosco died, he gave a brief sketch of a system he adopted with youths, the so-called: "Preventive System". To discover the success of Don Bosco's system of education, one must not start from what he wrote but from what he did. In the following chapters, I shall analyse and examine in more detail, in what this system consists of, how it was used in history and· whether it is likely to be used in the present as well as in the future. I shall also consider its effectiveness and importance in the twentieth century through library research. I shall also analyse its relevance .in the Maltese context through case studies conducted in some Maltese schools and organisations.