The Ignorant Teacher

This book can be read in different ways. First of all, it is the story of Joseph Jacotot, a French school teacher in exile, who, in 1818, discovered a new method of teaching—causing panic throughout the scientific community of Europe.

Jacotot did not know the Flemish language, but discovered that he could teach Flemish students who did not speak French in French. Thus, he concluded that knowledge as such is not necessary for teaching, and explanation is not a universal method of learning. The results of this unusual pedagogical experiment led Jacotot to recognize that all people are equally intelligent. Based on this postulate, he developed a philosophy and method of “intellectual emancipation,” allowing, for example, illiterate parents to teach their children to read themselves. The book is dedicated to describing and analyzing Jacotot's method, its influence on the understanding of what the learning process is, and also explains why, having freed ourselves from the yoke and hierarchy of intellect, we gain freedom and the opportunity to finally learn something new.