“Skills need showing and testing. The Main Lesson Review is a celebration of making progress, with increasing consciousness,” stated the late and great Georg Locher on his advisory visit to our school, dispelling the notion that there ought to be no testing in a Waldorf School’s Main Lessons. Naturally, such testing needs to be in …
As the season of Advent approaches, my next guest author contributes his thoughts on the Christmas Plays that are traditionally performed in Waldorf Schools and anthroposophical settings. I added a few subheadings and notes, and some pertinent quotes from Rudolf Steiner’s lectures that point to the esoteric wisdom behind the scenes of the Paradise Play. …
Whenever we see paintings displayed in Waldorf classrooms, at first sight we are struck by their uniformity. The often-heard title quote is a likely response, and its undertone of reproach makes class teachers bristle defensively. But is it an expression of ignorance, or justified criticism? Well, as usual that depends on a range of factors …
Morning Circle activities centre children in themselves: mind, body and soul. Wholehearted recitation in chorus feeds their imagination through poetry’s word-pictures. Acting out a poem’s characters together engages the class in moral activity, and miming actions with purposeful gestures naturally trains dramatic expression. Singing songs about the seasons, and topics that range from practical to …
Every year, teams of experienced experts put their heads together to compose their school’s annual timetable. But a Waldorf timetable is more than just a master plan that juggles subjects and teachers, classes and available rooms. It also reflects our overarching aim to do justice to the threefold human nature of mind, body and soul. …
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In Waldorf circles, we find several pervasive myths about the creation of Main Lesson blocks. And these myths are overtaxing many a class teacher, for they imply that getting help is somehow incompatible with our ideal of individual and creative teaching. These myths contribute to questionable outcomes in the classroom, and they lower the expected …
Oberufer Christmas plays are a cherished tradition in Waldorf/Steiner settings. But are they really a Waldorf thing? How many plays are there? The Oberufer Paradise Play depicts Adam and Eve’s original sin of disobedience to God, their fall from grace and exile from Paradise. The Shepherds Play tells of Christ the Redeemer, born to save …
About European Advent traditions in Waldorf Schools, Saint Nicholas as a representative of the law of karma, and the problem with Santa, his American cousin. Adventus is the time when Christendom prepares for the arrival of Jesus. The Legenda aurea lists the four weeks of Advent as symbolic of the four comings of Christ: coming …
Waldorf pedagogy is based on the ancient and universal human ideal of Truth, Goodness and Beauty. Beautiful impressions and surroundings have long been known to stimulate actions that are morally good, while unlovely impressions and ugly environments do the opposite. How do we instil a sense of beauty in the children we teach, how do …
