Educating Children Today E-Book

Rudolf Steiner

• Herausgeber: Rudolf Steiner Press
• Kategorie: Bildung
• Sprache: Englisch
• Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2013

Seitenzahl: 67

Beschreibung

"Vague and general phrases... cannot provide the basis for a genuine art of education, which depends on real knowledge of the human being. It is not that such phrases are wrong, but that they are as useless as saying that all parts of a machine must be made to work together harmoniously. To make a machine work you have to apply real, detailed knowledge, not phrases and truisms. For the art of education likewise, what is important is specific insight into the way the human being is constituted, and how each aspect develops."In his earliest and most succinct statement regarding education, Rudolf Steiner describes the stages of childhood development and explains why it is important to introduce aspects of the curriculum at specific times. He relates developmental steps in children to the "births" of the non-physical aspects of the human being: the etheric body that accompanies the change of teeth, the astral body that becomes apparent at puberty, and the birth of the "I" that heralds the individual's maturation to adulthood. Without this knowledge, says Steiner, well-meaning but misguided educational theory and practise can cause harm.

Leseprobe

About the Author

RUDOLF STEINER (1861-1925) called his spiritual philosophy ‘anthroposophy’, meaning ‘wisdom of the human being’. As a highly developed seer, he based his work on direct knowledge and perception of spiritual dimensions. He initiated a modern and universal ‘science of spirit’, accessible to anyone willing to exercise clear and unprejudiced thinking.

From his spiritual investigations Steiner provided suggestions for the renewal of many activities, including education (both general and special), agriculture, medicine, economics, architecture, science, philosophy, religion and the arts. Today there are thousands of schools, clinics, farms and other organizations involved in practical work based on his principles. His many published works feature his research into the spiritual nature of the human being, the evolution of the world and humanity, and methods of personal development. Steiner wrote some 30 books and delivered over 6000 lectures across Europe. In 1924 he founded the General Anthroposophical Society, which today has branches throughout the world.

EDUCATINGCHILDREN TODAY

RUDOLF STEINER

Sophia Books

Sophia BooksAn imprint of Rudolf Steiner PressHillside House, The SquareForest Row, East SussexRH18 5ES

www.rudolfsteinerpress.com

Published by Rudolf Steiner Press 2012

First published in a translation by George and Mary Adams byRudolf Steiner Press in 1981

This translation revised by Matthew Barton© Rudolf Steiner Press 2008

Originally published in German as part of the volume entitledLucifer-Gnosis (volume 34 in the Rudolf Steiner Gesamtausgabeor Collected Works) by Rudolf Steiner Verlag, Dornach. Thisauthorized translation is published by permission of the RudolfSteiner Nachlassverwaltung, Dornach

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may bereproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by anymeans, electronic, mechanical, photocopying orotherwise, without the prior permission of the publishers

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

ISBN 978 1 85584 277 9

Cover by Andrew MorganTypeset by DP Photosetting, Neath, West Glamorgan

Contents

EDUCATING CHILDREN TODAY

Notes

Further Reading

Note to the German edition, 1909

The following text is based on the substance of a lecture which I gave at various places in Germany. I have here refashioned it in essay form in response to requests for a printed version. The reader’s attention is drawn to footnotes which have now been added.

Rudolf Steiner

Contemporary life is calling into question much that we have inherited from past generations—giving rise to the many ‘contemporary issues’ and ‘needs of the time’ we keep hearing about. There are so many of these ‘issues’: the Social Question, the Women’s Question, various questions about education and schooling, questions of human rights and health issues, to name but a few. People are attempting to grapple with these problems in all kinds of ways. The number of those who offer this or that remedy or solution—or partial solution—is beyond counting. In the process all shades of opinion come to the fore: radicalism, with its revolutionary stance; moderate liberalism which maintains respect for what already exists, but tries to develop something new from it; and conservatism, which is up in arms whenever any of the old institutions and traditions seem under threat. All sorts of other, intermediate positions exist alongside these main tendencies.

Looking at all these phenomena with deeper insight we cannot help feeling that our time often fails to meet contemporary needs with adequate means. Many wish to introduce reforms without really knowing life’s deeper foundations. Whoever wishes to propose solutions for the future, however, cannot be satisfied with a superficial knowledge of life, but must explore its deeper aspects.

The whole of life is like a plant, containing not just what it presents outwardly but also a future state concealed in its depths. If you look at a plant just coming into leaf you can be sure that after a while the leaf-bearing stem will also put forth flowers and fruit. In its hidden depths the plant already contains the disposition to produce flowers and fruit; but if you restrict your judgement to what the plant now presents to outward sight, how would you ever know what its new organs will look like? Only someone who familiarizes himself with the essence of the plant, its deeper nature, can know such a thing.

Likewise, the whole of human life contains the germs of its own future within it. But if we are to know anything about this future state, we must first explore the hidden nature of the human being—which our age is little inclined to do. Instead it concerns itself with what appears on the surface, and thinks that trying to engage with what is hidden from external observation is treading on shaky ground.

Things are of course a good deal simpler in the case of a plant. We know that others like it have in the past repeatedly borne fruit. A human life, on the other hand, is present only once, and the blossom it will bear in future has never previously appeared. Yet it is germinally present in us just as flowers exist in a plant that is still only in leaf.

It is in fact possible to say something about our future if we dig down beneath the surface of human nature and penetrate to its essence. Only deeper insight into human life will enable the various ideas for social reform to become really fruitful and practical.

It is intrinsic to the science of the spirit that it must offer a practical view of the world—one that takes full account of the nature and essence of human life. Whether what people often call spiritual science is worthy of the name in this respect is not the point. We are here concerned with the essence of spiritual science, and its true potential. Anthroposophy1 is not intended to be an abstract, lifeless theory that caters only for people’s curiosity; nor is it meant to be a means by which just a few people try, selfishly, to attain a higher level of self-development for themselves alone. What it can do is collaborate on solving the most important tasks of contemporary humanity, and supporting developments which enhance human well-being.2

In taking on this task, it is true, anthroposophy must be prepared to face all kinds of scepticism and opposition. Radicals, moderates and conservatives in every sphere of life will inevitably regard it with scepticism. To start with it will scarcely be in a position to meet with favour from any partisan tendency, since its concerns lie far beyond the thrust of party politics and are rooted solely in a true knowledge and perception of life.

Those who have insight into life will create the tasks they set themselves in accordance with life itself. They will not plan arbitrary reform programmes, since they will know that the fundamental laws of life prevailing today will still apply in the future. Spiritual researchers will therefore inevitably respect what already exists. However great the need for improvement they find in the present, they will see latent in it the germ of the future. But they will also know that all development requires growth and evolution, and thus find in what already exists the seeds of this transformation and growth. They will not invent programmes of reform but will read them out of what is already there. What is read in this way will in a sense itself become a programme of reform, bearing within itself the very nature of development. This is why anthroposophical insight into the essential nature of the human being will offer the most practical means for solving urgent contemporary problems.

In what follows I will try to show this in a particular instance—in relation to education. Rather than making demands and establishing programmes I will simply describe the nature of the child. What is inherent in the growing and evolving human being will itself provide the perspective from which to develop education.

If we wish to perceive the characteristics of the developing human being, we must start by considering the hidden nature of the human being per se.