Download the article: "And How Goliath Stamped..."

Fashioning the temperament through story telling so that it becomes a useful tool

Published in Steiner Education, Vol.35, #2, 2001, UK

Economy in teaching
Balancing my attention between the individual children and the whole class was one of the first challenges that I met in my first teaching experience. I found myself sucked into situations with one child and then another, and I would spend endless time in preparation at night thinking of these particular children. The more I tried to concentrate on the individuals and tried to 'solve' problems, the more little individuals reared their heads and demanded my undivided attention. I was losing the class. I needed to find a way to address the class as a whole while giving each individual child the sense that they were being recognized. A colleague suggested that I look at the children's temperaments and that I consciously address each temperament group in some individual way every day, even better every lesson.

Download the article with illustrations: Art and the Adolescent

Published in Child and Man, Volume 12, #1, 1977 (UK)

The age of puberty has never provoked as much controversy as it does today; educationalists, sociologists, psychiatrists and parents are confronted with problems which become increasingly difficult almost day by day. Educationalists call for parent partici­pation, parents call for stricter guidelines from schooling establishments, sociologists complain about environmental conditions, psychiatrists research parent-child relation­ships and report the lack of care and under­standing. While opinions and advice differ greatly, the adolescent continues to bang more loudly and violently on the doors of established authority.

It is difficult within the context of a short article to discuss puberty and its problems in any detail. I hope within this brief description of the art curriculum in the upper classes of a Steiner or Waldorf school to show how the art teacher approaches these very urgent and complex difficulties of the adolescent.

Download the lecture with illustrations: Arts and Their Relationship to Adolescent Development

AWSNA lecture given at AWSNA Teachers' Conference Kimberton Waldorf School,
Tuesday, June 25, 2002 by Van James

To begin with I'd like to place a wonderful aphorism of Rudolf Steiner's before us: "Art must become the lifeblood of the soul." I believe this is an essential ideal to live by in our work as educators. I will explain why as we proceed.

The author Robert Fulghum who wrote the bestseller, Everything I Needed to Know I Learned in Kindergarten, claimed that if you go into any kindergarten and ask, "How many of you can draw?" All the children hands will go up. If you ask, "How many of you can sing?" All the hands go up again. "What if you don't know the words?" We make them up, is the children’s response. "How many of you can dance?" All the hands go up yet again. The young child shows in kindergarten that the human being is an artist.

This is really what we are—it is part of our essential nature that we are creators—we are artists. Art is for the child, already, the lifeblood of the soul.

Download the article: Aspects of Adult Education in the Light of Anthroposophy: A Former Student's View

Published in Renewal, A Journal for Waldorf Education, Vol. 9 #1, Spring 2000

What is the most fruitful relationship between teacher and student in adult education? Norman Davidson, the former head of teacher training at Sunbridge College looks at this question from the viewpoint of spiritual science.

Keywords: Waldorf teacher training, Anthroposophy, Rudolf Steiner, teaching