This unique volume reproduces the course Notions of Pedagogical Psychology, taught by Ştefan Velovan for 30 years (1896-1926), at the Boys' Normal School in Craiova. Ștefan Velovan's psychology is a realistic psychology based on love for one's fellow man united with free authority. In this sense, he said that "Psychological mechanics will seem strange to many, in a science whose object may even be the freedom of the will." Closely following Herbart's psychology, he distinguished himself as an educator who, with skillful love and recognized authority, explores the innermost springs of his students' souls, succeeding in gaining their unbounded confidence, so as to lead them to conscience and morality. In his opinion, pedagogy has a double vocation: theoretical, explanatory science of the educational phenomenon, laws and principles; practice, guide of the concrete human training activity based on the results obtained by the pedagogical researches, the conquests of the other sciences, the forecasts, which he carries out through his own efforts. Ștefan Velovan made the experiment his fundamental method of investigating the paideutic phenomenon. In the desire to give pedagogy a solid foundation, he calls on the services of logic, especially when it comes to choosing the methods of teaching knowledge. Pedagogy must be based not only on ethics, but also on psychology. Respecting the principles of logical thinking and the correct use of scientific research methods are also necessary in pedagogy.
