Rudolf Steiner and Child Development

Foundations of Waldorf Education for the Twenty-first Century

Aug 9, 2009

Steiner's thought on children's growth and evolution is the basis of the famous Steiner-Waldorf education, and is more modern than ever.

Rudolf Steiner founded his first school in 1919 in Stuttgart. Ever since the approach he outlined in his essays and books came to be known all over the world as Waldorf Education, from the name of the cigarette company managed by Emil Molt. The latter asked Steiner to see to the institution and provision of education for the children of the company workers. Today there are about one thousand Steiner–Waldorf schools across sixty countries. But what are the main ideas and principles underlying their practices?

Human Constitution According to Rudolf Steiner

Steiner’s vision of the human being is threefold and goes back to esoteric Christian principles. The human being is made up of body, soul and spirit but, although there are present in embryo even before birth, in the mother’s womb, they develop and become active and independent at different ages.

First the child is to develop the physical body and this process comes to an end at the change of teeth around the age of seven, when all the organs assume their definitive shapes. Outer stimulation of the senses and movement are paramount at this stage. The child lives in the outer world and lives in communion with its environment.

From seven up to fourteen the child develops imagination, feeling and memory, which are faculties of the soul. At this stage, the soul of the child starts to live independently, the veil of unconsciousness is lifted and the child becomes aware of being a soul. Inner feeling is developed through artistic activities and love of authority.

It is however only from the fourteenth years up to the twentieth-first year or so that the child turns into thinking individual and its intellectual faculties are developed. His judgment, abstract thought and criticism take off at this stage, when the child comes to full maturity and is ready to enter adult life with its responsibilities. It is now that its spirit unfolds.

Child Development Through Imitation

In the first stage, up to seven years, it is necessary to train the child through imitation and example. The little child learns best by watching what adults do and repeating those actions which the educators have deemed appropriate for the child. In this way a strong will is developed.

At this time the child’s intellectual faculties should be left alone and the best teaching is by example, whereby the child learns love for work and activity. Play is the child’s work and the establishment of rhythm to the daily activities and the story that ends the day are key elements of Waldorf early years education.

Child Development Through Feeling

From seven to fourteen years the educator’s task is to foster the child’s soul, developing its love for community and its imaginative and inner life through an aesthetic education. The practice of crafts and arts is a scheduled curricular activity in Waldorf Schools. As important are the singing of songs and the telling of fairy-tales and other stories.

Another fundamental feature of Waldorf-Steiner education is that during this stage the child is guided by the same teacher over the years, thus developing a personal and loving relationship to him or her. The strong imaginative power of the child is encouraged and fostered at this stage: the development of a refined moral sense is achieved through the means of this aesthetic education.

Child Development Through Intellectual Activity

It is only from the fourteenth year that the child, according to Steiner, is ready to develop abstract intellectual faculties and independent judgment. Now each teacher will teach a different subject, as the child no longer requires an exclusive authority figure to guide him. Balance between inner and outer life has to be fostered by all teachers, who are collectively involved in pastoral care work.

Rudolf Steiner envisioned the development of the child as an organic process that unfolds through stages, which have to be acknowledged and respected for the welfare of the child and its future being as a man. His thought continues to inspire educators and parents worldwide almost one century after the first Waldorf School was founded.

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