Romantic pedagogical model: what does this teaching method consist of?

Summary of the characteristics of the romantic pedagogical model, with its advantages and disadvantages.

Among the many pedagogical models that exist, the romantic pedagogical model proposes a series of innovative premises as opposed to the traditional ones.

In order to know exactly what this system consists of and what are the keys that it proposes as opposed to other models, we are going to describe it in depth throughout this article. In this way we will know what the characteristics of the romantic pedagogical model areits strong points and also its weak points.

What is the romantic pedagogical model?

The romantic pedagogical model is a teaching approach centered on the child himself above the proposed contents. For this reason, proposes to give the child total freedom in the classroom so that his or her potential is not limited in any way, so that he or she can develop all that is within him or her.so that he can develop all that he harbors within himself. Therefore, the first fundamental issue for this methodology is to guarantee absolute flexibility.

The aim of the romantic pedagogical model is to ensure that there is no interference in the environment that could in any way restrict the behavior and the spontaneous learning process of the child. What is sought is that the child is guaranteed a totally natural development. For this, it is also necessary that previously it is the teacher who leaves behind his traditional role and becomes only an assistant in a process in which the child is the protagonist.

It will be very important, therefore, that the teacher dispenses with the classic rules and discipline and instead encourages the child to express him/herself freely.. All content is relegated to the background, as is the teacher. This may seem too idealized a scenario, but there is a reason why it is called the romantic pedagogical model.

It seems, therefore, that what the advocates of this methodology claim is that the most important thing in the educational process is not what we try to instill in children, but what they already carry within them in some way, a potential that is unique to each of them. That is why the teacher must be a neutral the teacher has to be a neutral figure who simply accompanies them to bring out that creativity and those abilities that are innate to them, to take them to their maximum exposure.to take them to their maximum exponent.

Emotional education

The precursor of the romantic pedagogical model is Alexander Sutherland Neill, a Scottish educator famous for creating the Summerhill School, the great standard-bearer of free education.the great standard-bearer of free education. The key to this approach, according to Neill, was the belief that every human being was naturally good. Therefore, it was not necessary to devote the schooling years to turning children into model adults, but rather to have them discover this for themselves.

Therefore, what he proposes is to provide students with an environment of absolute freedom and security, where they can explore and develop their aptitudes without a set course. Why? Because for A.S. Neill, emotional education is much more important than intellectual concepts. For this reason, he did not want to stifle them, preventing them from expressing their impulses. Nor did he rely on traditional competitive methods.

For Neill, emotional education was such an important element because it represented the path to the development of happiness for each child and there could be nothing above that. Therefore, under this principle, if the traditional system of education based on formal teaching was maintained, even if the teacher's style was closer to the pupil, it would still be oppressive children by curtailing their freedom.

Even so, Alexander Neill did consider some limits to this freedom. For example, in any situation that could be harmful to the students. In that case, teachers should ensure the safety of the children until they could provide their own protection from danger. Likewise, freedom should not imply licentiousness. Neill asserted that with sufficient autonomy, children would self-regulate..

Advantages of the romantic pedagogical model

After a general overview of the pillars on which the romantic pedagogical model is based and the vision of one of the pioneers in the use of this system, we are ready to review the most important advantages of this methodology compared to those of a more classical nature. Let us look at some of them.

1. Absolute freedom

Freedom is the basis of the romantic pedagogical model. This principle is irreplaceable. Therefore, the first advantage provided by this method is a scenario of free action for children that had never been provided before and that offers a whole new set of possibilities that were previously somehow blocked by the rules and regulated contents of classical methodologies.

This freedom has a very important effect and it is that it it causes the children to have a better reception of the concepts, since they themselves choose those that interest them the most and approach them entirely of their own free will. Thanks to this process, their retention will be more satisfactory than in the face of models that try to impose them in one way or another, without giving them that capacity of choice and autonomous approach.

2. It favors self-regulation

We had already pointed out that what Neill defended with the romantic pedagogical model was not a libertinism in his students, but such a pure freedom that they themselves, by experimenting, were able to discern what was correct and what was not, thus achieving the self-regulation they need to know how to behave in society in any type of situation.

The goal is for them to acquire this ability to self-regulate without having to give up being who they are in the process.. The maxim of this model is to give all the facilities to the children so that they can externalize the potential they harbor within themselves. In this process, they will also learn to self-regulate.

3. Preparation for adult life

Likewise, A.S. Neill affirms that this work to promote the emotional education of children makes them capable of facing all types of situations because they have acquired the skills because they have been able to explore their environment without any hindrance.. Therefore, when they become adults they will be ready to face any challenge, just as they had done during their childhood in a free environment.

Disadvantages of this way of educating

The advocates of the romantic pedagogical model defend this optimistic vision we have seen, as is logical. But it is true that not all educators agree with the proposal and claim that the advantages are not entirely clear and that it also has some disadvantages that cannot be disregarded. These are some of the most important ones.

1. A controversial model

The excess of freedom proposed by the romantic pedagogical model has been the subject of controversy. In fact, in the Summerhill School itself, founded by A.S. Neill, there was freedom and naturalness for any action and this included the sexual field, which, in a society as puritanical as the English one at the beginning of the 20th century, was a provocation in every sense of the word.

However, Neill always defended the concept of freedom as the absence of oppression, both from adults towards children but also from children towards adults, or between adults or between children. Therefore, the liberal environment did not imply that any individual could always do what he or she wanted.It was imperative that his actions did not infringe on the rights or freedoms of others. This was the key to achieving the self-regulation that Neill advocated.

2. Absence of content

Although the romantic pedagogical model aims to achieve totally autonomous, free adults with their inner potential developed, there is a very important issue that is one of the main disadvantages of this model. It is the absence of fixed contents. Let's remember that the teaching contents were not imposed, but that the children themselves chose according to their interests.

The logical consequence of this freedom of choice is a lack of specific content that each child would have in the subjects that did not interest him/her and that in the future would make it difficult for him/her to continue his/her studies. or even face the workplace with a sufficient basis to be able to perform certain jobs.

3. Shortage of teachers

The third major drawback of the romantic pedagogical model is a great lack of suitable teachers to be able to work within the premises of this methodology. Very few have adequate training, which makes it difficult to create schools based on this system.

4. Formal education

Nowadays, in countries such as Spain, education is so regulated and the contents are so specific that it is very difficult, if not impossible, to implement this methodology., not to say impossible, to implement a methodology such as the one proposed by the romantic pedagogical model, at least in its purest version.

Bibliographical references:

• Neill, A.S., Torner, M.F. (1963). Summerhill: a radical view on the education of children. Library of psychology and psychoanalysis.
• Neill, A.S., Laguilhomie, M., Mannoni, M. (1970). Libres enfants de Summerhill. Folio Essais.
• Zubiría, J. de (2006). Pedagogical models: towards a dialogical pedagogy. Aula Abierta. Magisterio.