The Education of the Child: And Early Lectures on Education (Foundations of Waldorf Education, 25) (Paperback)

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"Spiritual science, by its inherent character and tendency, has the task of providing a practical concept of the world-one that comprehends the nature and essence of human life.... For spiritual science is not intended as a theory that is remote from life, one that merely caters to human curiosity or the thirst for knowledge. Nor is it intended as an instrument for a few people who for selfish reasons would like to attain a higher development for themselves. No, it can join and work at the most important tasks of modern people and further their development for the welfare of humankind" (from The Education of the Child).

As early as 1884, while tutoring a boy with special needs, Rudolf Steiner maintained an active interest, which continued through his life, in applying spiritual knowledge to the practical aspects of life. The essay that forms the core of this book was originally published by Steiner in 1907 and represents the earliest expressions of his ideas concerning education. Here Steiner lays out the soul-spiritual processes of human development, describing the necessity of understanding how children unfold their being through successive "births," beginning with the physical body's entry into earthly life, and culminating in the emergence of the I-being at adulthood.

Also included here are several early lectures on education (1906 - 1911).

Language Notes

Text: English (translation)
Original Language: German

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Product Details

• Paperback: 144 pages
• Publisher: Anthroposophic Press (May 1, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0880104147
• ISBN-13: 978-0880104142
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.2 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #278,681 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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2 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A classic gem of an essay, January 2, 2007

By	D. Hindes "dh373" (Austin, TX) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

A classic gem of an essay. Over ten years before the first Waldorf school, Rudolf Steiner lays out a program for the reform of education. Contains much common sense, such as,


"Vague and the general phrases - 'the harmonious development of all the powers and talents in the child,' and so forth - cannot provide a basis for a genuine art of education. Such an art of education can only be built on a real knowledge of the human being. Not that these phrases are incorrect, but that at the bottom they are useless as it would be to say of a machine that all its parts must be brought harmoniously into action. To work a machine you must approach it, not with phrases and truisms, but with real and detailed knowledge. So for the art of education it is the knowledge of the members of man's being and of their several development which is important. There is of course no doubt that they truly realistic art of education, such as is here indicated, will only slowly make its way. This lies, indeed, in the whole mentality of our age, which will long continue to regard the facts of the spiritual world as the vapourings of an imagination run wild, while it takes vague and altogether unreal phrases for the result of a realistic way of thinking."