Deborah Meier's Impact On Education

Deborah Meier is considered a highly influential educator in modern society, as she implemented ideas into the classroom that were previously considered ‘radical’ by others. She believes that children are educators themselves, and that each child can learn from another; she believes in a democratic classroom, one that will mirror the way that life is played out in the real world, which in her case would be in American society; and she believes in play, and the importance of its’ role in child development. These views are relevant to Australian education, and in fact most western societies, in that we need to insure students are capable of looking after themselves when they leave school. They need to be knowledgeable of the society that they …show more content…
This belief is imperative to the way a classroom runs, especially if the first point is also being considered. We as a society have to cooperate and work together in the ‘real world’ in order to be productive, communicate effectively with others and not be afraid of having different ideas and opinions. In the modern Australian classroom, teachers are the main educators; the teacher says, the students do without question, and often if they attempt to help each other out, they are told to be quiet, as being quiet is equated to ‘being good’. Students in the classroom can often become upset and confused at the notion of having to work with their own ideas, rather than having a guide to go with. This ‘cookie cutter’ routine that teachers often have in place in the classroom is harmful to students in the way that it does not allow for their imagination to develop to its full potential, rather having the opposite effect. Meier believes the opposite has to be done in order to be prepared for the future. With this in mind, teachers should give students the opportunity to work together in the classroom, thus fulfilling the idea that students are not only learners, but are also …show more content…
As mentioned in Goldberg (1990), Meier founded an elementary school in 1974, and was teaching before then. The main idea of education from that era that is widely accepted is that the teacher is the ultimate educator and has full control of all activities in the classroom. Good educators would try to incorporate children’s ideas into lessons, however Meier solidified this idea into the American educational system. This idea continues in today’s schooling methods, although it still has room for improvement in a lot of areas. In order for Meier’s ideas to make a real impact, they need to be considered at a whole-school level, not just in the