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<br />An Idea Ahead of its Time:
<br />Steiner’s Visionary Waldorf Schools
<br />Recent broin rcseorch shows
<br />what Rudolf Steiner, the Austrian
<br />philosopher and mystic, knew
<br />intuitively: the whole person must
<br />he touched by the cducotional
<br />process. From tlie very bcKinnint',
<br />when Steiner's Waldorf Schools
<br />began in Germany in 1919, he
<br />turned toward holistic methods,
<br />seeking an archetypal intcrcon*
<br />necting ground for the teaching nf
<br />urt, science and religion. Steiner
<br />believed that a sense of individual
<br />totality, based on personal free*
<br />dom and unpossessive love, could
<br />enhance perception. By weaving
<br />these into teaching methods,
<br />Steiner hoped to create a seminal
<br />model of education so powerful
<br />that there would soon be no con*
<br />tinuing need for the prototype
<br />Waldorf Schools.
<br />How did these schools differ
<br />from others? Primarily in their
<br />emphasis on the arts and the
<br />inner life. Said Steiner simply:
<br />"Waldorf School Education is nnc
<br />a pedagogical system but an Art
<br />— the Art of awakening what is
<br />actually there within Uic human
<br />being."
<br />Steiner understood the prob
<br />lems of our strong inicllectuol
<br />bios ^ and of parental expecta
<br />tions of success in money, ])owcr
<br />ond social adaptation. T' override
<br />such repressive pressure^, nc felt
<br />on overarching view was neces
<br />sary — one that took into a- unt
<br />the purpose of man's develop
<br />ment Steiner had such a view: he
<br />called it Anthropusophy and he
<br />stressed the idea of growth and
<br />change, believing that u new kind
<br />of education could pave the way
<br />for man's next evolutionary stage.
<br />What mokes Steiner's work
<br />valuai>:e today? First of all, it
<br />asks the qucalion, "What is a
<br />human beirg?" His answer,
<br />which includes rcvorcncc for life
<br />— os toughl in every class —
<br />expressos the true conncctiuns
<br />between nature, person ond
<br />society. It is dedicated to inner
<br />development, to the education of
<br />spiritual qunl'ties, ego strength,
<br />differentiation, will, thinking,
<br />feeling, movement — ond even
<br />breathing. For instance, in
<br />Steiner's curriculum, science is
<br />taught with a concern for human
<br />values; rclinion is not the only
<br />route to our .scnac of meaning iind
<br />of belonging; art is a rou»e that
<br />helps reveal nature's secrets. And
<br />individual school.s take on the
<br />character of different creative
<br />personalities, free of in.s'.itutionnl
<br />rigidity and state control.
<br />Steiner advised against a
<br />merely intellectual .school day,
<br />firmly believing in the seriousness
<br />of play: oil main lessons have
<br />recreational a.spects. Students
<br />document their ideas by writing
<br />and drawing in special notebooks.
<br />Art is taught not to make children
<br />into artists, but to expose them to
<br />the healing influence of color, to
<br />exercise their creative wills, and
<br />to counteract the tendency of our
<br />time to set the imnginotion apart
<br />from learning.
<br />Music is also tended as a b.-inie
<br />component of learning. Life, said
<br />Steiner, is intrinsically musical.
<br />Interval, tone, polyphuny — all
<br />. nffeclour thinking and ordering of
<br />experience. Thus in Waldorf edu
<br />cation, music may be interwoven
<br />with botany, geometry, astronomy.
<br />Dunce is taught as a combination
<br />of sound, motion and lnnj>un^'c —
<br />ond expressed in a unique form
<br />call eurhythmy. (As with most
<br />Waldorf lessons, this multiple-skill
<br />exercise appears to aynchronize
<br />several different sectors of the
<br />brain.) Steiner also encouraged
<br />his teachers to include the ele
<br />ments of humor ond Nurpriue.
<br />Sixty years after the first
<br />Waldorf School was cetablishcd
<br />there still remains a need for this
<br />epcciol typo of education — and
<br />its whole sy.stem.s opproach t«
<br />liumtin ciipahilities UcHeurelivr:
<br />as diver.>*c as Hnword Gardner,
<br />Ueuven i''eucrstein and Bob
<br />Samples ure now calling fur
<br />multiple approaches the reach ir.
<br />* the whole brain and echo Stcinc
<br />comprehensive vision. Meanwhi
<br />our most important social critio
<br />arc point ’ng to the kind of litcrn
<br />logical thinking which Steiner
<br />saw as onc-.sided, egoistic, and
<br />responsible for the most pressin;
<br />Rroblem.s of our tinr.c.
<br />M. C. Richards, ? poet, potto
<br />anu teacher trained in the Stein-
<br />methods asks, "If we arc all so
<br />smart ond creative and highly
<br />educated, why are our schools
<br />characterir.ed by confusion, ill-
<br />will, violence and sterility?"
<br />Richards points to the rage that
<br />bred by our current authorituriai
<br />system.
<br />Archetypal psychologist Jam
<br />Hillman underscores Steiner's
<br />emphasis on the arts and the
<br />imogination ns u form of culture,
<br />therapy und a necessary aNpert i
<br />/•df-heuling — and asks why the.
<br />are the very things we are deniec
<br />"Do we know what idea of the
<br />human underlies the school.x to
<br />which our children arc sent?"
<br />Millmun cautions us against
<br />tacitly accepting the rational
<br />model — which blocks us from
<br />our full humanity. The whole .
<br />Steiner pre.scription — feeling,
<br />imagination, music, ort and movt.
<br />ment — is necessary for a bal
<br />anced view of life. Otherwise we
<br />become trapped, says Hi'lmnn, b>
<br />rational sy.stcm.i that lead to irrn
<br />tional nets, from domestic violenc
<br />to global conflict. Through crea
<br />tivity, the unconscious can he pos
<br />itively channelled and expressed.
<br />Olherwine, warns Hillman, we ar>
<br />controlled by our own weapons:
<br />"Idoos wc don't know wo have,
<br />have us."
<br />— Carolyn HeynoUs
<br />For further information
<br />RUDOLF STEINER COLLEGE.
<br />contact:
<br />9200 Fair
<br />THH TAnnYTOWN LETT
<br />Oaks Blvd., Fair oaks, C.^ 9562B, ^916) 961-8727
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