Customer Reviews

The Child's Changing Consciousness (Foundations of Waldorf Education)

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is an excellent book and, since it is out of print and only one copy is available used here (at an outrageous price) I just wanted to say that it is available online for free courtesy of the folks at the SteinerBooks Spritual Research Center. I don't think I'm allowed to put the link here, so just visit my website for the full link. It is under My Waldorf Library on the About Me page. Hope this helps! www.waldorfcurriculum.com

Here are the contents:

Lecture One

APRIL 15, 1923 .............................................................. 1

What must happen for education to receive a new heart again? The

intellectual age has reached a one-sided view of the human being. Its

findings are based upon what becomes evident when the spiritual and

some of the soul forces are left out of account. Many elements of an

unreal soul constitution have crept into the present-day scientific viewpoint

of the world. In order to reach the human being, living ideas are

needed. In educational practice the whole life span of the human being

needs to be considered.

Lecture Two

APRIL 16, 1923 ............................................................ 23

Knowledge of the growing child--The first three faculties: walking,

speaking, and thinking. In coming to terms with statics and dynamics,

the weaving of destiny is hidden. From its environment the child absorbs

the soul element of its surroundings. Through thinking it takes hold of

outer nature.

Lecture Three

APRIL 17, 1923 ............................................................... 43

Imitation as a natural law. Religious devotion toward the surrounding

world. The widening of the horizon through the child's walking, speaking

and first thinking. Approaching the artistic element through the

medium of language. The child needs a pictorial, and not a logical

approach. During the second life period acceptance of authority

THE CHILD'S CHANGING CONSCIOUSNESS vi

becomes a natural law. With the change of teeth memory begins to

develop out of the child's ensouled life of habit. The interweaving of

breathing and blood-circulation within the rhythmic system during the

ninth and tenth years, and, through it, the child's taking hold of the

musical forces. Puberty. The nature of the rhythmic system.

Lecture Four

APRIL 18, 1923 ................................................. 66

The importance of play during the stage of imitation. The transformation

of play into work. Writing out of the activity of painting and drawing.

Learning to read. Speech. Vowels and consonants. The main periods

of life and the ninth year in particular. Ego and the surrounding world.

First nature study. The plant world from the earthly point of view. The

animal world as an unfolded or spread out human being.

Lecture Five

APRIL 19, 1923 ............................................................ 98

The child's life of feeling between the seventh and fourteenth years. The

nature of authority. The child's life of will. The child's experience of the

pictorial element before and after the ninth year. The artistic element in

lessons. The different characteristics of the human members during the

course of life. After the twelfth year the sense for causality begins to

develop. The child is now ready for lessons on mineralogy, physics, and a

causal interpretation of history. The harmful effects of premature judging.

The crisis around the ninth year. Color perspective and flexibility of

soul. Learning to read. The transition of knowledge into faculties.

Lecture Six

APRIL 20, 1923 ............................................................. 124

The relationship of the individual to the body social. The three fundamental

virtues: gratitude, love, and a sense of duty, and their development.

The need to introduce an element of "soul breathing" in the

lessons. Seriousness and humor. An all embracing attitude to life should

pervade the teacher's soul and spirit. Education and healing. Education

is self-education. The teacher needs to cultivate unselfishness. Education

as a social deed. Institutions are of little significance in social development.

The two guiding principles for working in the social sphere.

Foreword vii

Lecture Seven

APRIL 21, 1923 ............................................... 145

The need to compromise in coping with the demands of modern life,

especially after the twelfth year. Through the sense of gratitude and the

ability to love, the third fundamental virtue is unfolded, namely the

sense of duty. After the twelfth year, and especially after puberty, education

must enter practical activities: lessons in knitting, sewing, weaving,

spinning, and bookbinding for both boys and girls. Introduction of simple

mechanical and chemical processes used in technology and the ensuing

permeation of the physical body by soul and spiritual forces.

Shortage of available lesson time due to pressure of exam work. The tragedy

of materialism.

Lecture Eight

APRIL 22, 1923 ............................................................. 167

Running a school on the principles presented in the course. Equal consideration

must be given to body, soul, and spirit. The hygienic and therapeutic

aspect of education. The interweaving and interaction of the

three main systems: nerves and senses, the rhythmic system, nutrition

and movement. Children's illnesses during the first seven-year period.

The second seven-year period is the healthiest, because the rhythmic system

radiates out into the child's entire organism and the rhythmic system

never tires. Faculty meetings as the lifeblood of the school. The

school doctor. How to treat the various temperaments. Each detail

within the entire school life must reflect the spirit reigning throughout

the school. Block periods in Main Lessons. Language lessons. Gymnastics

and eurythmy. The entire human organism is oriented towards the

forces of music. Waldorf education as an education for all humankind.

Introductory Words to a Eurythmy Performance .......... 190