Dr András Pető created the Conductive Education system, a method that produced remarkable results and was ahead of its time in both theoretical foundation and practical application. He surpassed many theorists because, as a practising teacher, he was able to verify his theory through practice.
András Pető was a doctor, an exceptional teacher, psychiatrist, scientist, polymath, and writer. It is said that he could play the piano like a concert pianist.
He maintained a carefully selected library, which included a wide range of medical literature alongside books on Oriental philosophy, healing, ancient teachings, and the history of philosophy, among many others. He spoke several languages and wrote and published his work mainly in German.
Pető possessed extensive knowledge about the world and life, encompassing the body, spirit, and soul; the arts and sciences; the earth and the sky; and people. He experienced much and unlocked many secrets.
He devoted his life to ‘healing’ people with motor disabilities, utilising his great knowledge and rich experience as a doctor, as well as his research throughout his studies, work, and life
“András Pető had an indomitable will to heal and this end would be achieved by no matter how hard everyone involved should have to work to achieve this.
The moral force of this will was transmitted down through his institute and everyone working there- those who taught and those who learned. It permeated every aspect of life there, the ethos, the atmosphere in which children were brought up (and of course for his numerous adult patients too). The pedagogic task was to transform this will from teachers to learners and along with this to transfer the teachers’ respect for the pupils’ sure ability to find their own path to success. And with the motivation and rewards from hard- won independent success, András Pető’s will became the will of everyone there.
Such pedagogy demands total focus of every possible factor relevant to learning and development, bringing everything together to be coordinated in pupils’ own particular, personally integrated ways. This was certainly a pedagogy rather than a therapy or a treatment, but what to call it? 60 years ago, for a Central European medical man with a classical education this was a pedagogy that is ‘conductive’.
And the pedagogues who implemented this were to become ‘conductors’. ”
Pető Studies, Conductive Education Press Birmingham, England 2012- page 229/230