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Following a lecture of November 27, 1919 requested by the Basel Department of Education, sixty members of the audience invited Rudolf Steiner to return and deliver a complete lecture course on his approach to education. These lectures are the result. Rudolf Steiner begins by outlining the gradual development of the child with the help of spiritual forces and enlightened educational practices, which form the basis for Steiner’s approach to education. He describes the problems that modern educators face and provides practical solutions. Steiner explains the effects of morality on real freedom and how the development of a child’s will leads to a free, flexible ability to think. He describes the life-long effects that teachers have on children through the ways they teach in the early grades. The subjects of these lectures cover a broad range, from the threefold nature of the human being to the teacher’s responsibility toward their students’ future; from arts such as music and eurythmy to the problems involved in training teachers; from zoology and botany to language, geography, and history. Like many of Steiner’s lectures to public audiences, these are accessible and practical and provide a real overview to his ideas for renewing modern education.
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Renewal of Ed.qxd 9/30/2002 9:33 AM Page 1 THE RENEWAL OF EDUCATION Renewal of Ed.qxd 9/30/2002 9:33 AM Page 2 [IX] THE FOUNDATIONS OF WALDORF EDUCATION Renewal of Ed.qxd 9/30/2002 9:33 AM Page 3 RUDOLF STEINER THE RENEWAL OF EDUCATION LECTURES DELIVERED IN BASEL, SWITZERLAND, APRIL 20–MAY 16, 1920 FOREWORD BY EUGENE SCHWARTZ Anthroposophic Press Renewal of Ed.qxd 9/30/2002 9:33 AM Page 4 Published by Anthroposophic Press P.O. Box 799 Great Barrington, MA 01230 www.anthropress.org Translated with permission from Rudolf Steiner, Die Erneuerung der pädagogischdidaktischen Kunst durch Geisteswissenschaft (GA 301), copyright © 1977 Rudolf Steiner–Nachlassverwaltung. Translation copyright © 2001 Anthroposophic Press Foreword copyright © 2001 Eugene Schwartz Publication of this work was made possible by a grant from the Waldorf Curriculum Fund. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form, printed, electronic, or other, without permission in writing from the publisher. ISBN 0-88010-455-4 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Steiner, Rudolf, 1861-1925. [Erneuerung der pädagogisch-didaktischen Kunst durch Geisteswissenschaft. English] The renewal of education / by Rudolf Steiner ; translated by Robert F. Lathe & Nancy Parsons Whittaker ; introduction by Eugene Schwartz. p. cm.—(Foundations of Waldorf education ; 9) Includes bibliographical references. ISBN 0-88010-455-4 1. Waldorf method of education. 2. Anthroposophy. I. Title. II. Series. LB1029.W34 S7212 2001 370’.1—dc21 2001001608 Printed in the United States of America 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Renewal of Ed.qxd 9/30/2002 9:33 AM Page 5 TABLE OF CONTENTS FOREWORD BY EUGENE SCHWARTZ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7 1. SPIRITUAL SCIENCE AND MODERN EDUCATION . . . . . . .17 Basel, April 20, 1920 DISCUSSION FOLLOWING LECTURE ONE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33 2. THREE ASPECTS OF THE HUMAN BEING . . . . . . . . . . . .37 Basel, April 21, 1920 3. UNDERSTANDING THE HUMAN BEING: A F OUNDATION FOR EDUCATION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .53 Basel, April 22, 1920 4. THE TEACHER AS SCULPTOR OF THE HUMAN SOUL . . . .68 Basel, April 23, 1920 DISCUSSION FOLLOWING LECTURE F OUR . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82 5. SOME R EMARKS ABOUT CURRICULU