Rudolf Steiner
Rudolf Steiner (1861-1925) was an Austrian philosopher, literary
scholar, architect , playwrigh , educator, and social
thinker, who is best known as the founder of Anthroposophy
and its practical applications, including Waldorf Schools
(or Steiner Schools as it is known in Australia), Biodynamic
agriculture, the Camphill Movement, and the Christian Community
.
Steiner characterized history as essentially shaped by changes
formed through a progressive development of human consciousness.
The activity of individualised human thinking was seen as
a relatively recent advance which led to the dramatic developments
of the Renaissance and the Industrial Revolution . In his
epistemological works, he advocated the Goethean view that
thinking itself is a perceptive instrument for ideas, just
as the eye is a perceptive instrument for light.
He characterized his system of Anthroposophy as follows:
"Anthroposophy is a path of knowledge,
to guide the spiritual in the human being to the spiritual
in the universe... Anthroposophists are those who experience,
as an essential need of life, certain questions on
the nature of the human being and the universe, just
as one experiences hunger and thirst." -Rudolf
Steiner, Anthroposophical Leading Thoughts ( 1904 )
Steiner Education
Based in the work of Rudolf Steiner, Waldorf schools employ
a curriculum that addresses subjects on three levels:
- the intellect, as in thinking and logic
- the heart, as in feeling--art and spirit
- the hands, as in craft and practical work.
The attempt is made to integrate art into all aspects of
the curriculum, including the teaching of science. A conscious
effort to build a sense of community and environmental
responsibility is fostered at every level. Movement, sport and drama
are employed throughout, in fact, a type of body movement called
Eurythmy (beautiful or harmonious movement), is taught to every age
group.
They are comprehensive and co-educational. There is no headmaster,
but are run co-operatively by a college of teachers. There is no
school uniform.
The schooling is divided into 3 stages (see Pedagogy below) of Kindergarten
(early years to 7), Middle school ( 7 to 14 ) and Upper school, (14
to 19).
Pedagogy
Steiner's 3-stage pedagological model of child development
is utilized in Waldorf education:
- Until approximately age 7 a child learns through imitation, so
it is best to surround him with the goodness of the world and
caring adults to emulate, children are not taught academic
subjects including reading and writing at this time and are sheltered
from the media and even stories which include violence.
- After age 7 and until puberty, academic instruction is integrated
with arts, craft and physical activity. As far as possible
the class teacher should remain the same person throughout
this stage.
- After puberty, the child should begin a guided,
but independent search for truth in himself and the
world around him.
Specialist Waldorf education teacher training colleges
exist.
History
Waldorf education was developed by Rudolf
Steiner as an attempt to establish a school system that
would facilitate the inclusive, broadly based, balanced and timely
development of children. His first and only opportunity to open such
a school came when Emil Molt of the Waldorf Astoria Cigarette Company
asked and financially supported him to do so in 1919 in Stuttgart,
Germany. Steiner insisted upon four conditions before opening:
- that the school be open to all children;
- that it be coeducational;
- that it be a unified twelve-year school;
- that the teachers, those
individuals actually in contact with the children,
have primary control of the school, with a minimum interference
from the state or from economic sources.
Within
a few years, many other Waldorf schools modeled on
the Stuttgart school opened in other cities. Most of
the European schools were closed down by the Nazi regimes
but were later reopened. Today (2005) there are over 900 independent
Waldorf schools worldwide, a growing Waldorf charter public
school movement, and a large homeschooling movement utilizing Waldorf
pedagogy and methods.
Links to leading online Steiner resources
Some links to important online resources of Steiner information is included below:
This content was taken from Wikipedia
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