Will-developed intelligence: The handiwork and practical arts curriculum in Waldorf schools

by David S. Mitchell, Patricia H. Livingston, Nancy Jane (Editor)

The handwork and practical arts curriculum in Waldorf schools stimulates children's creative powers. At the same time, it establishes an aesthetic confidence by developing the child's will -- that part of us which interacts with the world, and lays the foundation for our thinking. This masterly book argues that only by working with their hands does our children's cognition develop as it should. It examines the craft curriculum from Years 1 to 8, and all the way through High School. This is a wonderful curriculum resource for Waldorf teachers which includes numerous practical projects, as well as exploring the particular benefits that the activities have.

Genres: Education, Childrens

210 pages, Paperback

Published January 1, 1999

About the author

David Mitchell was a Waldorf teacher for thirty-six years. He was a class teacher and a founding teacher of the Pine Hill Waldorf School in Wilton, New Hampshire. He taught life sciences, Shakespeare, geometry, blacksmithing, woodworking, and stone sculpture in Waldorf high schools for thirty-six years. An adjunct professor at Antioch College, he served as a leader in the Association of Waldorf Schools in North America (AWSNA) in various capacities since the 1980s. In 1997, the Amgen Corporation selected him as one of the top two teachers in the state of Colorado. Then he was the chair of publications for AWSNA and serves as the co-director of the Research Institute for Waldorf Education. He edited scores of books over the years and is the author of Will-Developed Intelligence; Windows into Waldorf; The Wonders of Waldorf Chemistry; and 25 Plays, and Resources for Waldorf Teachers (all from AWSNA), as well as a contributor to The Inner Life of the Earth from Lindisfarne Books.