The role of school in humanistic education
The paper highlights the educational-upbringing role of school, which affects at the systematic and organizational level the development of cultural identity, civic awareness and personal responsibility - responsibility towards the other. It is emphasized that one of the most important educational and upbringing functions of school is achieved through socialization and humanization of students' personality. Humanistic upbringing is based upon a high degree of empathy and solidarity, the development of self-awareness and tolerance, the understanding of our own national and cultural identity, but also on the acceptance of other cultures. It is indicated that the empathy has a significant place in humanistic education and moral upbringing of students. The empathy is understood as a form of self-awareness and as the basis of emotional harmony with other people. In the educational context the concept of empathy refers to the ability of compassion for those who suffer, who are in distress or the ones who are the victims. Empathie behavior is at the very root of altruism and morality: compassion for the afflicted or the victim leads us to recognize the evil, to react to it and to help those who suffer. Within the school, the empathy should be developed at all ages. The ability to empathize helps students to get involved in society, to adopt appropriate rules of conduct culture and codified system of values and thus prepare for life in a multicultural world.