An internationally acknowledged authority in Steiner education, Brien Masters has worked for decades as a teacher in both public and Waldorf schools, and has served as a teacher trainer, consultant, writer and lecturer. In Adventures in Steiner Education, he draws on his rich and varied experience to paint a vivid picture of Waldorf education in practice. Spicing the text with many personal stories and anecdotes, he brings to life the theory behind this increasingly popular educational approach, from the early years through to the Lower and Upper Schools. This lively book serves not only as an informative and entertaining introduction, but also as a helpful refresher course for those seeking to become fully acquainted with the basic principles of Steiner Education.
This book offers a comprehensive exploration of Steiner or Waldorf pedagogy and practice in schools. Drawing on key research, it traces the origins of Steiner education from the original Waldorf school and shows how this approach has since been adapted and applied in educational settings around the world. Outlining the educational philosophy of Steiner education, the book considers its unique features, such as its commitment to a pedagogical anthropology that takes the whole developing human being into account – body, mind and spirit – and the developmental approach that arises out of this. It sets out the specific curriculum and teaching approach alongside vignettes of teaching and learning situations adopted in Steiner educational settings to show how the approach works in practice. Offering a critical perspective on this teaching style, Rawson examines the contributions that Steiner education has made in different cultures and looks towards future developments in China and other Asian countries. Considering all aspects of Steiner education, this book is essential reading for anyone wanting to understand the fundamental elements of this approach and its continuing relevance within the educational landscape.
"To educate youth ... is to ennoble the mind, to fire the imagination, to fortify the will and to quicken initiative for life.' So writes Francis Edmunds in this inspiring, authoritative and popular introduction to Steiner (Waldorf) Education. Rudolf Steiner's educational system, well established and respected on the European continent, is gradually spreading internationally. Its radical principles, based on a view of the human being as composed of body, soul and spirit, allows for a truly holistic and balanced education that nourishes the whole child. The author explains in a clear, lively style many aspects of Steiner's educational theory, in particular the three stages of childhood development and how the Waldorf curriculum allows for a healthy understanding, nurturing and support of these phases. The role of the class teacher, the 'main lesson', temperaments, attitudes to discipline, competition and examinations are all discussed, and answers given based on the author's many years of rich and varied experience as an educator of both children and adults. This volume is an excellent introduction to the theory and practice of Steiner education, both for teachers or educationalists who would like to know more about Steiner's ideas, and for parents thinking of sending their child to a Waldorf school.
"The primary task of a Waldorf teacher is to understand the human being in body, soul, and spirit. From this understanding will grow the approach, the curriculum, and the methods of an education capable of addressing the whole child." --Roberto Trostli Waldorf education, an established and growing independent school movement, continues to be shaped and inspired by Rudolf Steiner's numerous lectures on education. In Rhythms of Learning, key lectures on children and education have been thoughtfully chosen from the vast amount of material by Steiner and presented in a context that makes them approachable and accessible. In his many discussions and lectures, Steiner shared his vision of an education that considers the spirit, soul, and physiology in children as they grow. Roberto Trostli, an experienced Waldorf teacher, has selected the works that best illustrate the fundamentals of this unique approach. In each chapter, Trostli explains Steiner's concepts and describes how they work in the contemporary Waldorf classroom. We learn how the teacher-child relationship and the Waldorf school curriculum changes as the students progress from kindergarten through high-school. This book will serve as an excellent resource for parents who want to understand how their child is learning. Parents will be better prepared to discuss their child's education with teachers, and teachers will find it a valuable reference source and communication tool.
For Rudolf Steiner, life can be truly understood only if it is experienced as art is experienced, as inner activities expressed through physical materials. On this ground of the union of inner experience and sensory life, he developed his unique, holistic approach to education. Richards views Steiner schools as expressing a new educational consciousness appropriate for our time, a "grammar of interconnections" among scientific observational, artistic imagination, religious reverence, and practical activity in which every part bears a deep connection.
Rudolf Steiner, the often undervalued, multifaceted genius of modern times, contributed much to the regeneration of culture. In addition to his philosophical teachings, he provided ideas for the development of many practical activities including education--both general and special--agriculture, medicine, economics, architecture, science, religion, and the arts. Today there are thousands of schools, clinics, farms, and many other organizations based on his ideas. Steiner's original contribution to human knowledge was based on his ability to conduct spiritual research, the investigation of metaphysical dimensions of existence. With his scientific and philosophical training, he brought a new systematic discipline to the field, allowing for conscious methods and comprehensive results. A natural seer from childhood, he cultivated his spiritual vision to a high degree, enabling him to speak with authority on previously veiled mysteries of life. Topics include: a social basis for education; the spirit of the Waldorf school; educational methods based on anthroposophy; children at play; teaching through the insights of spiritual science; adolescents after the fourteenth year; science, art, religion, and morality; the spiritual basis of education; the role of caring in education; the roots of education and the kingdom of childhood; address at a parents' evening; and education within the broader social context.
Whereas most readers are familiar with Goethe as a poet and dramatist, few are familiar with his scientific work. In this brilliant book, Henri Bortoft (who began his studies of Goethean science with J. G. Bennett and David Bohm) introduces the fascinating scientific theories of Goethe. He succeeds in showing that Goethe's way of doing science was not a poet's folly but a genuine alternative to the dominant scientific paradigm. Bortoft shows that a different, "gentler" kind of empiricism is possible than that demanded by the dualizing mind of modern technological science and demonstrates that Goethe's participatory phenomenology of a new way of seeing--while far from being a historical curiosity--in fact proposes a practical solution to the dilemmas of contemporary, postmodern science. If you read only one book on Goethan science, this should be the one!
Have you ever wondered what the Steiner approach is all about, where it comes from and how it can be used to benefit the young children in your setting? Bringing the Steiner Waldorf Approach to your Early Years Setting is an excellent introduction to this philosophy. Janni Nicol clearly explains the history of Steiner Waldorf education, the role of play in learning and the key themes of rhythm, repetition and reverence with ideas for activities and resources. Practical examples throughout the book involving children of different ages in a wide variety of settings allow readers to see the connection between theory and practice. This new edition has been fully updated to include: Clear comparisons between Steiner practice and the revised Early Years Foundations Stage (EYFS) requirements A section on the growth of international Steiner settings Information on celebrating festivals and outdoor environments This convenient guide will help Early Years practitioners, students and parents to really understand what the Steiner Waldorf approach can bring to their practice and children.
Education is one of the most hotly debated subjects of the day. This book points to the unique approach of the philosopher and educationalist Rudolf Steiner, whose spiritual thought has provided practical new insight. Roy Wilkinson gives an overview of Steiner education and its spiritual background, showing how the development of the whole human being is its aim, rather than simply the dispensing of knowledge. He demonstrates how the inner needs of the child can be nourished through a choice of subjects and a method of presentation which accords with the objective developmental stages of the human being.
As early as 1884, while tutoring a boy with special needs, Steiner began a lifelong interest in applying spiritual knowledge to the practical aspects of life. Steiner originally published the essay at the core of this book in 1907. It represents his earliest ideas on education, in which he lays out the soul spiritual processes of human development, describing the need to understand how the being of a child develops through successive "births," beginning with the physical body's entry into earthly life, and culminating in the emergence of the "I"-being with adulthood. Also included are several early lectures on education, ranging from 1906 to 1911, well before the birth of the Waldorf movement in 1919. ORIGINAL SOURCES The essay "The Education of the Child in the Light of Spiritual Science," translated by George and Mary Adams, appeared originally in German in the journal Lucifer-Gnosis (nr. 33), 1907, under the title "Die Erzieuhung des Kindes vom Geschictspunkte der Geisteswissenschaft." It is included in vol. 34 of the Collected Works of Rudolf Steiner, published by Rudolf Steiner Verlag, Dornach, Switzerland, 1987. The lecture "Teaching from a Foundation of Spiritual Insight," translated by Robert Lathe and Nancy Whittaker, is included in Ursprungsimpulse der Geisteswissenschaft, vol. 96, as "Erziehungspraxis auf der Grundlage spiritueller Erkenntnis"; the lecture "Education in the Light of Spiritual Science," translated by Rita Stebbing, appeared as "Die Erziehung des Kindes vom Standpunkt der Geisteswissenschaft"; and the lecture "Education and Spiritual Science," translated by Rita Stebbing, appeared as "Schulfragen vom Standpunkt der Geisteswissen-schaft" in Die Erkenntnis des Ubersinnlichen in unserer Zeit, vol. 55; the lecture "Interests, Talent, and Education," translated by Robert Lathe and Nancy Whittaker, is included in Antworten der eisteswissenschaft auf die grossen Fragen des Daseins, vol. 60, as "Anlage, Begabung und Erziehung des Menschen," all of which are in the Collected Works of Rudolf Steiner, published by Rudolf Steiner Verlag, Dornach, Switzerland, 1987. The lecture "Interests, Talents, and Educating Children," translated by Robert Lathe and Nancy Whittaker, appeared originally in the magazine Die Menschenschule, vol. 31 (nr. 6),1957 and vol. 48 (nr.1), 1974.