Currículo Waldorf como prática subjetivadora: narrativas dos/as egressos/as e o agir no mundo

Abstract

This thesis is a study on the subjectivation practices of the Waldorf pedagogy curriculum, focusing primarily on how Waldorf school graduates speak about themselves, perceive, live, and project themselves in relation to acting in the world and social awareness. The research for this thesis was conducted with 102 Waldorf school graduates in Brazil through narrative interviews. The analysis of the written curriculum for Waldorf schools was also conducted. The theoretical perspective supporting this thesis is grounded in post-critical curriculum theories, incorporating concepts extracted from the works of Michel Foucault, Gilles Deleuze, and scholars engaged with the works of these philosophers to discuss complex issues in the Humanities and Social Sciences. The central conceptual tools for the thesis include “modes of subjectivation,” “techniques of self,” “care for others,” “aesthetics of existence,” “learning” in the encounter with “signs,” “acting in the world,” and “social awareness.” In methodological terms, inspired by post-critical curriculum research methodologies, the investigation conducted an experimentation, utilizing as a motto the activities occurring in an atelier of arts, more specifically, a painting atelier. In this atelier, referred to in the thesis as the “experimental art research atelier,” an analogy to a painting atelier was made, given the significant importance of this type of art in the Waldorf curriculum. This experimentation articulates the narratives of Waldorf graduates regarding their experiences in their educational trajectory and their ways of being, living, and dealing with contemporary social issues. The overall argument of the thesis is that in the self-narratives of Waldorf school graduates, it becomes evident that the Waldorf curriculum is a subjectivizing practice that, through differentiated knowledge, practices, and procedures, brings contributions to the techniques of self for the constitution of subjects with social awareness. These individuals identify themselves as confident, free, and capable of acting in the world with ethics, purpose, and art in their ways of life. To develop this argument, the thesis is divided into five analytical chapters, referred to as “canvases”: Canvas Earth, Canvas Wind, Canvas Sun, Canvas Moon, and Canvas Water. The analyses demonstrate that the graduates see themselves as individuals connected to the world and feel prepared to do various manual and artistic tasks. Consequently, they feel capable, creative, and confident. The analyses also reveal that the Waldorf teacher guides various techniques of the self, exercising a mastery that aids in the formation of a subject as a lifelong learner, awareness to the signs of the world, self-caring, and fostering a keen interest in continuous learning. The social awareness that graduates claim to possess is associated with the notions of inclusivity, spreading joy, and actively participating in the care of others. The thesis also demonstrates that graduates perceive themselves as free individuals, and that the practices of freedom valued by them unfold into the desire for a good and beautiful life for themselves and for others. This constitutes a form of resistance to the forces of contemporary capitalism through a unique aesthetics and ethics. In summary, this thesis reveals that the Waldorf curriculum activates an alternative, artistic, and sensitive form of education, constituting a subjectivizing practice that increases the social awareness of graduates and their authentic, free, and creative acting in the world.