A contribuição da autoeducação para o fazer pedagógico: relato de experiência imersa na Pedagogia Waldorf

Abstract

This end of course paper aims at analyzing the contribution of self-education to the health of teachers in the perspective of Waldorf Pedagogy. The research methodology used was the Experience report of five years as a teacher in the school Flor de Mandacaru, a Non-Profitable Pedagogical Institution. The Waldorf pedagogy is considered by UNESCO as a humanized answer for the educational diversities we face nowadays. Even though this Pedagogy has been created for more than 100 years, the post-war scenario contributed with the development of a non-profitable school with the purpose of embracing, welcoming and fostering, from individual and social potential, the impulse of human beings, by the Austrian Rudolf Steiner along with other teachers and scholars of Anthroposophy (philosophy in which the Waldorf Pedagogy is based on). Self-education is intrinsically connected to the pedagogical work, with the possibility of self-evaluation and constant self-realization, the intuitive thinking of the teacher is shaped along with the study of the students' development, allowing a contemplative and active observation of each one of them. It is considered that the teacher´s state of health has a direct relevance to his or her performance in the school environment. His or her gestures, language and actions are attentively observed and grasped by the students. This is a direct contrast to the reality of teachers in conventional schools nowadays, who frequently become ill due to heavy mental loads and difficult work conditions. To act as a teacher in the Waldorf Pedagogy one must acquire different artistic skills, thinking of the needs of students. The requirement for the teacher is that his practice must be healthy, which requires the pursuit of his or her personal development. Therefore, during my years of graduation and teaching in this educational perspective, it was verified that the focal point was always the search for the balance between school and personal demands, always reflecting on decisions and actions, and being directed by pedagogical purpose and intention.