A Modern Art of Education: (CW 307) (Volume 17)

by Rudolf Steiner

14 lectures and talks, Ilkley, Yorkshire, August 5-17, 1923 (CW 307) In this fine introduction to Waldorf education, written out of a series of lectures given in 1924, Steiner provides one of the most comprehensive introductions to his pedagogical philosophy, psychology, and practice. Steiner begins by describing the union of science, art, religion and morality, which was the aim of all his work and underlies his concept of education. Against this background, many of the lectures describe a new developmental psychology. On this basis, having established how children’s consciousness develops, Steiner discusses how different subjects should be presented so that individuals can grow and flourish inwardly. Only if the child absorbs the right subject in the right way at the right time can the inner freedom so necessary for life in the modern world become second nature. “Readers of Steiner’s lectures printed here will be ‘quietly astonished’ and ‘genuinely enthusiastic.’ After an introduction, in which he speaks of reuniting science (intellectual knowledge), art, and morality once again, he turns to the principles of Greek education, in which body, soul, and spirit were still a unity. He then traces the development through the Middle Ages, during which new, evolving elements were added. In our time, he says, we must understand the concrete connection of the spirit with the human being, so that thinking, feeling, and willing can once more become alive. He relates this to the child’s developmental stages, as well as the human basics such a sleeping and waking. Then he turns to the specifics of the reading, writing, nature study, arithmetic, geometry, history physics, chemistry, crafts, language, and religion. Finally, he turns to memory, the temperaments, physical culture, art, and the actual organization of a Waldorf school―to which this volume is, all in all, one of the best introductions.” ― Christopher Bamford, from his introduction German Gegenwärtiges Geistesleben und Erziehung (GA 307). Previous English Education and Modern Spiritual Life.

Genres: Education, Philosophy

256 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1981

About the author

Author also wrote under the name Rudolph Steiner.

https://www.goodreads.com/author/show...


Rudolf Joseph Lorenz Steiner was an Austrian occultist, social reformer, architect, esotericist, and claimed clairvoyant. Steiner gained initial recognition at the end of the nineteenth century as a literary critic and published works including The Philosophy of Freedom. At the beginning of the twentieth century he founded an esoteric spiritual movement, anthroposophy, with roots in German idealist philosophy and theosophy. His teachings are influenced by Christian Gnosticism or neognosticism. Many of his ideas are pseudoscientific. He was also prone to pseudohistory.
In the first, more philosophically oriented phase of this movement, Steiner attempted to find a synthesis between science and spirituality. His philosophical work of these years, which he termed "spiritual science", sought to apply what he saw as the clarity of thinking characteristic of Western philosophy to spiritual questions,  differentiating this approach from what he considered to be vaguer approaches to mysticism. In a second phase, beginning around 1907, he began working collaboratively in a variety of artistic media, including drama, dance and architecture, culminating in the building of the Goetheanum, a cultural centre to house all the arts. In the third phase of his work, beginning after World War I, Steiner worked on various ostensibly applied projects, including Waldorf education, biodynamic agriculture, and anthroposophical medicine.
Steiner advocated a form of ethical individualism, to which he later brought a more explicitly spiritual approach. He based his epistemology on Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's world view in which "thinking…is no more and no less an organ of perception than the eye or ear. Just as the eye perceives colours and the ear sounds, so thinking perceives ideas." A consistent thread that runs through his work is the goal of demonstrating that there are no limits to human knowledge.

Reviews

[Orione · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed this lecture series. It has, for the most part, similar content to Study of Man, but it was spoken in front of a British audience, and Steiner adjusted his language and the approach of the topics for that. As such, it is a lot easier for me -a 21st century Dutch person who is culturally oriented towards anglophone media - to understand the difficult concepts.

Far more readable to me than the lectures spoken in front of a 1910’s German audience. It helped me make more sense of the Study of Man and of what we can do with education in this day and age. The title speaks of “modern education”, and this still holds true.

I studied this text with a wonderful group of people, which also helped to make it very enjoyable. Recommending the same for you all!

[James · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rudolf Steiner, along with Maria Montessori and the Reggio Emilia approach, is one of the pioneers in a new way of approaching education, especially early years education; his Waldorf Approach takes a holistic and measured approach to education, focusing on introducing material to children in an age-appropriate way.

His approach is truly a modern art for education, shaking off undue focus on tests and rote memorisation. In this collection of lectures, he outlines how the Waldorf Method benefits children of all ages, instilling in them a love for the world and for each other. It is both useful reading for those specifically trained in Steiner's theories and for those either becoming teachers or who want to see a new approach taken.