To Teach or Facilitate Learning?

In Approaches to Teaching, Gary Fenstermacher and Jonas Soltis discuss what they call the facilitator approach to teaching. A facilitator values the knowledge that students bring to the classroom. They care less about following a strict curriculum and more about helping students grow. A facilitator would need to be very patient and open minded. 

A facilitators dream classroom might be set up very differently than other classrooms. They would probably hope everyone could sit around on bean bags, but since that is unlikely to be allowed, they would probably put students in groups that can easily discuss things. 

In today's classroom, a completely facilitator approach would be difficult to implement. Teachers today have to deal with strict curriculum designs, high stakes testing, and students with an array of behavioral problems. A loving class where students learn and grow seems almost too idealistic. 

While in theory I would love to be a facilitator, I don't think it is realistic in today's schools. I do hope, however, to care about and use my student's opinions and make my students active participants in the classroom.