Non-directive pedagogies: Leon Tolstoy, Alexander Neill, and Carl Rogers

Abstract

Non-directive pedagogies constitute a pedagogical conception different from the mainstream approaches practiced in schools across different countries, including Brazil. This article was empirically based on a bibliographic survey of the historical-epistemological foundation of this pedagogy, seeking to explicitly clarify its fundamental premises. Among the key thinkers of non-directive pedagogies are Leon Tolstoy, Alexander Neill, and Carl Rogers. Despite the various understandings of this pedagogical trend, the resulting term from the conducted research was non-directive pedagogy (regarding its pedagogical process), with its practicing schools identified as democratic schools or free schools. After the bibliographic research, it was also observed that the editorial space dedicated to this theme is limited, despite the considerable pedagogical potential of this teaching approach in fostering genuinely inclusive education, providing an alternative to conventional schooling. Values that are often underestimated in other pedagogies, such as autonomy, the right to be oneself, and protagonism, are considered central to this process. When Rogers acknowledges this central, protagonist, and authentic self, it reveals the maximum point of connection with the thoughts of Tolstoy and Neill. Thus, the objective of this article is to explicitly clarify the basic premises that underpin non-directive pedagogy, guiding the educational practices carried out in democratic schools, free schools, and non-directive schools, while also contributing to the possibility of sparking new research and reviving existing studies that may shed light on their possibilities, reframe, and expand the knowledge on the topic.