Articles

By A.W. Mann
Published in Education as an Art Vol. 29, No. 2 – Spring/Summer 1971
Download the article: The Value of Art for the Adolescent

Before us on the screen is the figure of a Pharaoh. His body is uncomfortably still and rigid. He looks as if he were confined within an invisible strait jacket. His legs are stiff and parallel down to the toes, the feet flat on the ground. His weight rests on the back leg; we do not feel the urge to move arising within this man. His arms and hands are almost painfully harnessed to the body - no greater absence of freedom could be portrayed (even Michelangelo's Bound Slave is not so imprisoned). Lastly the head: the senses wide awake, full lips, large nose and nostrils, large eyes and ears; but there lies a secret: the eyes are not looking at you or me - they are gazing into space; their interest lies not in this world but beyond. They are not asleep, and not rapt in mystic reflection - the beyond is visible, a world of constant change, or filled with objects or beings that call forth respect and wonder. The head, whose importance is accentuated by the striking headdress, is slightly thrown back as though to emphasize the direction of the gaze into the beyond.

By Theodore Schwenk
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By Rahima Baldwin Dancy
Originally published in Mothering, issue 123, March/April 2004.
Download the article: The Wisdom of Waldorf

An eloquent account of Waldorf education its goals and influence in North America as well as its growth and challenges. 

Keywords: Waldorf education, Waldorf teaching

By Barbara Sokolov
Published in Renewal, A Journal for Waldorf Education, Vol. 9#1, Spring 2000
Download the article: There’s More to Reading than Meets the Eye

Everyone who comes in contact with Waldorf education is sure to notice how beautiful it is, from the enchanting natural toys and seasonal themes in the kindergarten rooms, to the incredible chalkboard drawings in each classroom. Visitors and prospective parents enjoy the amazing array of children’s artistic creations — the paintings and drawings, knitted dolls and animals, woven baskets, beeswax figures, and wood carvings, just to name a few. The music that the children play, their singing, and the wonderful plays each class performs are truly impressive. They admire the main lesson books written and illustrated by the students, books that artistically reflect the rich curriculum of a Waldorf school. And of course they can’t help but notice the happy faces of the children in a Waldorf school.

By Waldorf Johannes Stein
Published in Present Age, Vol.2, #4, 1937 (England)
Download the article: Thirty Three Years...

IT SEEMS to be not only the sequence of the years but the change from generation to generation, which is the decisive factor in the unrolling of world-history. Three generations occupy a century. Strange to say, many things happening in the world to-day are not a continuation of the conditions of yesterday, but of those that prevailed thirty-three years ago.

by Stephen Spitalny
(an excerpt from the article "Festivals") Originally published in Gateways #43
Download the article: Thoughts about an Advent Festival

As winter approaches in the Northern Hemisphere, there is a growing mood of the outer sleepiness of the world. Through the stories, poems and songs we bring, and their own observation of nature, the children can experience a settling down, a feeling of being blanketed for a winter’s nap. The fallen leaves, the animals in hibernation, the shorter daylight hours which bring us inside much earlier (even in California) than at other times of the year all contribute to this experience. Advent balances the darkness and sleepiness with expectation and anticipation. It is a time of moving through the darkness toward the yearly rebirth of the light, when the days begin to grow longer. Advent is really a four–week festival, the four weeks leading up to Christmas and Solstice, starting on a Sunday evening. Many religions celebrate festivals of the returning of the light. Among those festivals are Solstice, Chanukah, Christmas and Divali. The mood of Advent reminds me of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony—so much preparation for the choral climax that reminds me of the light beginning to grow stronger again.