Description
Karl Stockmeyer served as a teacher and administrator at the original Waldorf School in Stuttgart during Steiner’s time and continued on after Steiner’s death in 1925. His compilation of Steiner’s thoughts on the curriculum is perhaps the richest and broadest source of both inspiration and direction available on the subject.
Although the English translation is fairly stiffly rendered, at least to an American English speaker’s ear, the liveliness of the thoughts and descriptions that are conveyed transcends that minor difficulty, making this exciting reading for anyone with an interest in further the aims of Waldorf education. It is small wonder that it has been at the side of so many teachers throughout the years.
From Kevin Avison’s introduction:
This volume is much more than a curriculum sketch for the first Waldorf school. It deciphers and provides context for the often-cryptic remarks Steiner made during seminars and discussions with staff from the opening of the Waldorf school in September 1919 until his last visits to the school in 1924.
This book thoroughly explores the curriculum of the first Waldorf school, expanding on the original Lehrplan. Divided into sections, the book outlines Steiner’s comments on schools and lessons in general, as well as many details on his thinking on specific issues, ranging from the various age groups to classroom decoration and arrangement.
This is an important book for all Waldorf schoolteachers and gets to the heart of Steiner’s ideas on education and child development.
C O N T E N T S:
Introduction to the Fifth English Edition by Kevin Avison
Introduction to the German Edition
Section I: School and Lessons in General
1. Different Phases in the Development of the Curriculum
2. Aims and Problems
3. About the Timetable
Section II: The Curriculum Arranged According to Subjects
4. German (the Mother Tongue)
5. Art, Aesthetics, and History of Art
6. Language Lessons
7. Shorthand
8. Mathematics
9. Home Surroundings
10. History
11. Geography
12. Surveying
13. Nature Study
14. Physics and Chemistry
15. Gardening
16. First Aid
17. Technology and Lessons Preparing for Life
18. Music
19. Eurythmy and Gymnastics
20. Painting, Modeling, Drawing
21. Handwork and Bookbinding
22. Handicrafts
23. Free Religion Lessons
Section III: Other Aspects
24. Quotations Relating to Different Age Groups
25. The Decoration of Classrooms
26. Quotations on Education and Anthroposophy
Glossary
Bibliography
