UNIVERSIDADE FEDERAL DO RIO GRANDE DO SUL INSTITUTO DE LETRAS DEPARTAMENTO DE LNGUAS MODERNAS ESTGIO DE DOCNCIA EM INGLS I Simone Sarmento

Student: Aline Stawinski The Forbidden Education (2012) Critical review Under the direction of the Argentinian German Doin (24 years old at the release time), La Educacin Prohibida is, in general lines, a documentary about the western educational system. The film presents people from Latin America involved with alternative educational proposals, presenting the origins of our traditional school (as it is pictured today), criticizing this old system as being modeled to standardize and oppress its members. Instead of the fear that this kind of institution creates, the educators highlight the necessity of a school that is concerned with emotional aspects a school that creates humanity through love. The idea is to go against the flow of competition, verticality, segregation, prize and punishment and obedience/submission, typical qualities of the Prussian model of education (200 years out of date). The documentary comments on many problems that our schools face day by day: the issue of evaluation standards, which sees people as numbers, without a general idea of a person (e.g. international tests, IQ tests); the contradictions between discourse and practice; the fact that not only students but even teachers are demotivated and unsatisfied with the classes; the lack of real life in schools curriculum and so on One important point that is discussed is that schools should aim at personal growth, collaborative development, instead of dealing with students as if they were objects who should be tamed or coached. Good education forms citizens, people who are individuals no matter who they are children, teenagers, blue-collar workers or whatever they do for a living. The discourse of education for a solidary community can become a practice that will overcome the individualism, materialism and emotional violence. Schools cannot be models that resemble industries or prisons. Freedom is taught with freedom: participation is essential in a model concerned with autonomy. The documentary also develops discussions about child learning, open school, free education, homeschooling, and many other methods however, the objective is not giving us a receipt for a good and perfect way of teaching. The point is that there is no receipt at all, and each place should get to know their community, their students, their possibilities, facing education itself as a process which cannot be finished. Teaching the same things to a heterogeneous group cannot result in equality. Different people demand different methods, and this is the main idea we should keep in mind. The teacher is a guide in the endless process of learning.