PREFACE to WALDORF EDUCATION IN PRACTICE - By Christof Wiechert
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In the field of applied Anthroposophy, as for example in Banking, Farming, Medicine, Early Childhood Care as well as in Education, we all face one and the same problem. It is the problem of bringing together knowledge and “good practice”, or, in more philosophical terms, ensuring that Idealism meets Realism in a productive way.
How easy it is today to study Anthroposophically-inspired education; you can even obtain a Master’s degree in it. But how difficult it is to do the right thing at the right moment – in practice – in front of thirty children who want to be inspired by their beloved teacher. |
And this is precisely the quality of [Waldorf Education in Practice]: it combines profound knowledge of the becoming human being with the reality of day-to-day teaching.
Of course, there is always the danger that such a text will be used only as a recipe: Now I know what to do in my class! And it can be used that way. But if used like this, the Waldorf-idea is lost: the idea of recreating moments of learning out of the teacher’s creative forces. When the Waldorf idea is realized, teacher and children experience the proper relationship between learning processes and inspiration. Then, education becomes a health-giving force, instead of bringing harm. This is also what we call the new paradigm of education.
This new paradigm of education is not a structure or set of rules. Let’s be honest: The issue of quality in education is not a question of standards, tests and/or of competence, but a question of deeply felt attitudes within the teacher’s soul.
Of course, there is always the danger that such a text will be used only as a recipe: Now I know what to do in my class! And it can be used that way. But if used like this, the Waldorf-idea is lost: the idea of recreating moments of learning out of the teacher’s creative forces. When the Waldorf idea is realized, teacher and children experience the proper relationship between learning processes and inspiration. Then, education becomes a health-giving force, instead of bringing harm. This is also what we call the new paradigm of education.
This new paradigm of education is not a structure or set of rules. Let’s be honest: The issue of quality in education is not a question of standards, tests and/or of competence, but a question of deeply felt attitudes within the teacher’s soul.
The quality of this “book” is also the quality of an author I admire deeply. With the experience gained over 65 years of teaching and mentoring, Else Göttgens enlivens the right combination of Idealism and Realism in her work. She is precise in her observations; she gets right to the point in her comments; and she is always fighting for the new paradigm of education.
We are each asked to solve this riddle: How can Ideals and Reality come together in the right way? When they do, we see the result as common sense. Else Göttgens is, in my opinion, the knight of common sense. That is what she brings to our schools: This quality of judgment by one’s own “I” always needed in the classroom, in the education’s indispensable spiritual background, and in our social reality.
May this book fulfill the same task: May it inspire us to educate ourselves through our own I toward the goal of becoming a true human being and meeting the needs of our time.
We are each asked to solve this riddle: How can Ideals and Reality come together in the right way? When they do, we see the result as common sense. Else Göttgens is, in my opinion, the knight of common sense. That is what she brings to our schools: This quality of judgment by one’s own “I” always needed in the classroom, in the education’s indispensable spiritual background, and in our social reality.
May this book fulfill the same task: May it inspire us to educate ourselves through our own I toward the goal of becoming a true human being and meeting the needs of our time.
Christof Wiechert
Head of the Pedagogical Section of the
School of Spiritual Science, Goetheanum,
Dornach, Switzerland.