What challenges do the educational philosophies of Paulo Freire and Waldorf schools pose - Research Paper Example

? Educational Philosophies of the Waldorf Schools and Paulo Freire Introduction Education philosophy by Paulo Freire is approached on the basis that the world is surrounded by the oppressors and the oppressed in the education system. In his philosophy, Paulo equates the teachers to the oppressors and students are equated to the oppressed. In his philosophy, Paulo admired an education system that gives the students and the teachers an equal opportunity. He believed that an education system that allows teachers and students to work and learn together on the same level will enable the students have a voice in a society that will try to oppress them (Irwin, 2012). The Waldorf schools on the other hand rely on the educational philosophy which was developed by Steiner Rudolph. The educational philosophy of the Waldorf schools is mainly based on the belief that various developmental stages in children are the best when it comes to children learning different things. This is so because it is believed that children can only learn different things in life when their physical, spiritual and intellectual capabilities are in terms with the kind of information presented to them (Petrash, 2002). The essay below seeks to address the challenges posed by the educational philosophies of the Waldorf schools and Paulo Freire to the testing requirements of state and local school districts. The testing requirements in the state and local district schools have received challenges in various ways by the educational philosophy of Paulo Freire. Most of the state and local district schools have a tendency of not giving their students a voice of their own. Therefore if, the Paulo philosophy is incorporated in the local and state district schools, then the students will tend to be more demanding. In such cases when students are more demanding, the relationship between the students and the teachers becomes mayhem (Freire, 2000). Once the teacher-student relationship becomes chaotic, then the testing requirements of the schools are negatively affected. The students may feel oppressed by the teachers when the teachers fail to meet their demands, and this makes them be violent. Another challenge posed by the educational philosophy by Paulo Freire to the testing requirements of the local and state district schools is when the students accuse teachers of being irresponsible and disobliging in the sense that they fail to listen to the opinions brought about by the students. Such situation demoralizes the students to the extent of them not performing well in their school work (Irwin, 2012). Since most of the local and state district schools have a tendency of allowing their teachers to provide students with knowledge, the educational philosophy by Paulo Freire may be a challenge to the testing requirements of the schools. The educational philosophy by Paulo Freire advocates that teachers and students should interact equally in the acquisition of knowledge so that students may learn to have a voice in the oppressive society. It becomes a challenge because once students are used to being fed with knowledge by their teachers, it is quite difficult for them to interact with the teachers and give out their opinion on what they are taught (Dewey, 2009). Students in most of the district schools do not know how to interpret the knowledge they learn in school in the real world. In most occasions, these students tend to memorize what their teachers feed them with and fail to know what the knowledge they have been fed with really means in the real world. This becomes a significant challenge to the testing requirements of the local and state district schools. For this case, the students continue being the oppressed, and that they lack to obtain the powers of speaking for themselves (Freire, 2000). Another challenge that is posed by the educational philosophy of Paulo Freire to the testing requirements of the district schools is the fact that teachers in these schools tend to fear engaging with students in intellectually demanding learning environment. Despite the fact that the teachers in these particular schools are free to choose the instructional methods and study topics, they are faced by the pressure of teaching students to test for purposes of quantifying the improvement in students class work (Irwin, 2012). Paulo Freire philosophy on education that mainly focused on banking education is a challenge to the testing requirements in the local and state district schools. This is in the sense that it tends to prohibit the students of the district schools from knowing the realities of the world. According to this educational philosophy, it is believed that the type of banking education dwells on preventing the freedom and liberation of the oppressed who are the students. This is a considerable challenge to the district schools because change cannot be allowed to occur in the world due to lack of dialogue and reflection (Freire, 2000). Another challenge that the educational philosophy on banking education by Freire to the testing requirements of the district schools is the fact that it would make the students passive objects that are undertaken by the teachers. This follows students are not permited to give their own opinion on the education system; they use course books, prescribed curriculum, and syllabus. It is challenging because education is regarded as a gift that teachers who are knowledgeable pass the knowledge to students who lack knowledge (Irwin, 2012). The educational philosophy of Paulo Freire about banking education may pose the challenge of continued oppression to the testing requirements of the local and state district schools. According to this philosophy, students lack the voice of questioning or critically evaluating their world. This is so unfortunate because the students become unable to have the opportunity of changing their own lives for the better. According to Paulo, learning should not be reduced to a process of memorizing a certain quantity of information by the student (Freire, 2000). Another challenge that is posed by the educational philosophy of Paulo Freire about the banking education to district schools is the interference with the critical development and democracy of the students. Curriculums and syllabuses that students learn are fully developed by the teachers hence interfering with the democratic development of the students in the schools. A school curriculum should be developed in the sense that all the stakeholders, the teachers and the students, have an opinion on it. A reputable school curriculum should be based on the experiences students have in life. Students have a right of giving their opinion on the curriculum on the basis of negotiating it and evaluating it (Dewey, 2009). In the problem posing education philosophy by Paulo Freire, great challenge of students in the state and local district schools not being able to change the world from what they learn in class. This theory advocates for the application of the concepts and theories learnt in class to the real world. It is challenging for students in the district schools to be able to see what they learn in class and how it can help them be able to change the world (Freire, 2000). The educational philosophy of the Waldorf schools also seems to pose a challenge to the testing requirements of the state and local district schools in a number of ways. Majority of the district schools do not teach their students according to their stages of development, unlike the Waldorf schools. At the Waldorf schools, the teachers tend to respond to the developmental and emotional needs of individual students and this is according to the philosophy of education they follow (Fenner & Rapisardo, 1999). If this is incorporated to the district schools, it may bring about a significant challenge to the testing requirements in the sense that teachers do not respond to the developmental and emotional needs of each student but rather to the academic excellence of the students. Unlike the local and state district schools, the Waldorf schools allow the class teachers to teach the same group of students for a period of eight years. On the contrary, the district schools allocate class teachers to various classes on a yearly basis; hence students are accustomed to having new class teachers as they are promoted to the next class level (Petrash, 2002). According to the educational philosophy of the Waldorf schools, class teachers are meant to have at least two hour lesson during the morning sessions, which is the main lesson, and later in the day have one or two lessons. This is unlike the class teachers in the local and state district schools, hence posing a challenge to the testing requirements of the schools (Clouder & Nicol, 2008). In the district schools, the teachers tend to teach the core academic subjects without incorporating the creative and imaginative activities such as drama, painting, and music. Another challenge which is posed by the educational philosophy of the Waldorf schools is the fact that the educational philosophy calls for a curriculum with a long lesson starting off each day that focuses on a certain subject for a number of weeks. According to this educational philosophy, students are supposed to take part in every basic subject irrespective of their talents because it is believed that each person requires a greater understanding of the world. It poses a challenge to the district schools in the sense that students in the district schools are not allowed to take part in all the offered subjects at school. They are only allowed to take the subjects that suit best their talents and interests (Fenner & Rapisardo, 1999). A curriculum challenge may be brought about by the educational philosophy of the Waldorf schools to the testing requirements of the state and local district schools. Unlike the local and state district schools, the Waldorf schools follow a curriculum that focuses on the unfolding of the children development. The curriculum, as per the educational philosophy of Rudolf Steiner, is aimed at meeting the developmental needs of children from the early years of schooling through to high school (Clouder & Nicol, 2008). This may be a challenge to the district schools because they are used to curriculum that are mainly academic rather than developmental needs of the students. Still on the curriculum challenge that may be posed by the Waldorf schools educational philosophy, it is indicated that the curriculum of the Waldorf schools is comprehensive and broad unlike the curriculum of the local and state district schools. The Waldorf curriculum tends to cover the three main developmental phases of childhood, from birth throughout to adolescence. This may pose a challenge to the curriculum of the district schools because as indicated in the previous paragraph, their curriculum does not focus on the developmental growth of the students (Petrash, 2002). Lack of academic excellence can be a challenge that the educational philosophy of the Waldorf schools may pose to the testing requirements of the local and state district schools. This is because the educational philosophy developed by Rudolf focuses much on the development of an individual rather than their academic excellence. This is a challenge to the local and state district schools because they mainly focus on the academic excellence of their students rather than developmental needs of the students (Clouder & Nicol, 2008). Lack of personal choice for the students may also be a challenge posed by the educational philosophy of the Waldorf schools. According to the philosophy, students are not allowed to select the subjects they want to study, but they study all the subjects offered by the school irrespective of their interests and talents. This may be a challenge to the state and local district schools in the sense that students in these schools are given the opportunity of studying the field of their interest (Fenner & Rapisardo, 1999). Challenge of poor curriculum may be posed by the Waldorf schools curriculum which is manly based on anthroposophy. This is a great challenge to the testing requirements of the local and state district schools in the sense that the district schools curriculum is not used to the anthroposophy religion. This is included in the educational philosophy that was developed by Rudolf, and it is used by the Waldorf schools (Petrash, 2002). Anthroposophy is regarded as a spiritual movement that is based on the perception that the spiritual world is only accessible through the higher faculties of occult knowledge. Majority of critics in the education sector claim that anthroposophy is part of the curriculum of the Waldorf schools and it can be a great challenge to the testing requirements of the state and local district schools (Clouder & Nicol, 2008). Conclusion The educational philosophy by Paulo Freire does not create the notion that the understanding, knowledge, and feelings of the students should not go challenged. According to Paulo Freire, the teacher was seen to be having the authority without being an authoritarian. The teacher should be there, not to intervene, but to assist the students in their studies and be able to think in a more critical way. In the learning process, teachers should to their take given by the students and affirm the experiences of the students without validating their content (Freire, 2000). On the other hand, the educational philosophy of the Waldorf schools aims at supporting the development of the children and adolescents in the sense that their gifts may be brought to fruition and at the same time learn on how to cope with the challenges in life. According to this type of educational philosophy, children should be able to leave school when they have a clear understanding of the world they live in and themselves (Fenner & Rapisardo, 1999). It tends to challenge children in a way that after the learning process, they are able to critically think for themselves and be able to have a true experience of meaning in life. References Clouder, C., & Nicol, J. (2008). Creative Play for Your Toddler: Steiner Waldorf Expertise and Toy Projects for 2 - 4s. Cambridge: Gaia. Dewey, J. (2009). Democracy and Education: An Introduction to the Philosophy of Education. New York: Cornell University Library. Fenner, P. J., & Rapisardo, M. B. (1999). Waldorf Education. London: Michaelmas Pr. Freire, P. (2000). Pedagogy of the Oppressed. New York: Continuum. Irwin, J. (2012). Paulo Freire's Philosophy of Education: Origins, Developments, Impacts and Legacies. New York: Continuum. Petrash, J. (2002). Understanding Waldorf Education. Kansas: Gryphon House. Read More