| Commonly asked questions
How are Children Taught
to Read ?
How is Number Work Introduced ?
Why
is Art so Important ?
Why does the Primary School Teacher
Keep the Same Children for Several Years ?
What is the 'Main
Lesson' ?
Are the Main Lessons Continued in the High School
?
What Importance is Given to the Sciences in the High School
?
Are Waldorf Pupils Adequately Prepared for the Real, Competitive
Modern World ?
What is the Attitude Towards Academic Results
?
How is Discipline Handled ?
Can
a Child Adjust to a Change of School ?
How Do Others See
Waldorf Education ?
Going on to Other High Schools ?
How
are Children Taught to Read ? During
the first three classes, great care is taken in laying a thorough foundation for
writing and reading. Children learn to write before they read. Letters of the
alphabet are learned in the first class in capitals, as they originated in the
evolution of our culture. Man perceived, then pictured, and out of the pictures
he developed signs and written symbols. The children, with their naturally pictorial
thinking, do likewise. In the shapes of natural objects, children re-discover
the shapes of the letters: M in a series of mountain peaks, V in the valleys between,
S in a sinuous snake. The experience is deepened and widened through speech and
movement. This method of approach develops a sense for the qualifies of the letters
and makes them come alive so that they are remembered. Phonetics are treated thoroughly
and the first experiences in reading centre around that which the children know
well and have copied from the board. The first printed reader is introduced during
the second year.
Jump
back to the list of questions! How
is Number Work Introduced ?
It
is generally recognised that the first experiences of arithmetic are crucial,
and here Steiner made some interesting recommendations. By starting with "two
plus two equals four", the child meets
(i)
a completely abstract proposition,
(ii) a reductionist view of the universe
in which wholes are made up of parts, and
(iii) a problem with only one answer.
If he explores instead how to divide an apple or a cake and share it round
the class, he starts from real life, from wholeness, and from a problem with several
answers. Arithmetic is taught to children not as a method for computing, but as
a powerful process which is inscribed into the world around them. They can see
oneness in the image of the sun, twoness in the contrasts of day and night, fiveness
in flower petals and sixness in the legs of beetles. Always, there is a sense
of the reality underpinning the world.
Numbers
are taught in movement, and through music before anything is committed to paper.
They can be modelled in plasticine, clay or beeswax, together with the shapes
in which they are found: the square, circle, pentagon and so on. Arithmetic tables
are recited with much clapping and stamping, for unless the knowledge sinks deeper
than the child's conscious memory, very little has been achieved. As in so much
else, in their early years the children need to learn by heart before they learn
by head.
Jump
back to the list of questions! Why
is Art so Important ? Art
is recognised as an important aid to learning. It permeates the curriculum as
a medium of expression and enlivens all subjects. By teaching with imagination,
movement, sound and much artistic activity, the whole nature of the child is aroused
and involved, developing enthusiasm for the learning experience. Learning is transformed
into a stimulating process with far-reaching results when enriched with art and
movement, enabling the whole person to unfold.
Jump back to the list of questions!
Why does the Primary School
Teacher Keep the Same Children for Several Years ? While
the diversity of the curriculum demands specialist subject teachers, we aim at
a balance between these specialists and the class teacher who becomes the pupils'
guide and friend. The class with its class teacher moves through the school as
a single unit. This practice has many social advantages. It also takes account
of the fact that a child's speed or slowness in one subject or area of school
life is almost always matched by an opposite in other areas. The class teacher's
connection with the class achieves four valuable educational objectives :
- the teacher's continuous and deepening
knowledge of the children in his class;
- an
increasingly intimate connection between teachers and parents, fostering greater
understanding of and security for the pupil;
- the
continued development of the teacher;
- an
interrelationship between subject matter taught in early and later years which
enriches the curriculum even further.
Jump
back to the list of questions! What
is the 'Main Lesson' ? The
Main Lesson system has proved to be one of economy and efficiency. One subject
at a time is taught in depth for a period of 3 or 4 weeks in a way suited to the
child's understanding and stage of development. Every morning for the first two
hours of the day, the children are at their most receptive and greater concentration
can be expected.
This system allows for the integration of a variety of activities
and intellectual and creative work based on the topic that is being taught at
the time. Language, mathematics, history, geography and the sciences are taught
during these periods and are all presented in a way that stimulates in turn the
emotions, the thinking and the physical activity of the child. Thus the pupil
experiences a deep involvement resulting in enthusiasm for the work. As he works
more intensively, his powers of concentration are strengthened.
The
later morning lessons are devoted to other languages, the practice of skills,
music (each child learns to play the recorder), singing and eurythmy. Handwork,
craft lessons, painting, modelling, gymnastics and games are scheduled at the
end of the school day.
Memories of the involvement and enthusiasm gained during
the morning are what should accompany the child into sleep. This is one of the
reasons why we do not recommend the viewing of television as it lessens the effectiveness
of the classroom experience.
Jump
back to the list of questions! Are
the Main Lessons Continued in the High School ? Yes,
indeed. The Main Lesson approach is a particularly helpful alternative in the
High School to the conventional way of splitting lessons into 35-40 minute segments.
In the Main Lesson curriculum, pupils experience a wide range of topics and creative
opportunities not available in ordinary schools. It is an ideal way of incorporating
the balance and wholeness inherent in Waldorf education.
Jump
back to the list of questions! What
Importance is Given to the Sciences in the High School ? We
live in a highly scientific and technological age, and therefore the study of
sciences plays a crucial role in preparing the young adult to understand and integrate
into today's world. An understanding of the discovery and workings of machinery,
electronics and energy sources, and the implications these have for man's life,
is one of the most important aspects of life-long learning.
Two
aspects make the Waldorf approach to science unique. - Firstly,
pupils study the dramatic biographies of remarkable personalities whose discoveries
changed and moulded the social conditions of our civilisation.
- Secondly,
the pupils study of science does not begin with the learning of pre-programmed,
fixed laws of the text book, but through the development of their own observations
to which they can apply their own creative thinking. They thus receive a truly
scientific training - working from the phenomena and then engaging in deep thinking
processes, finally coming to new insights and conclusions.
Jump
back to the list of questions!
Are
Waldorf Pupils Adequately Prepared for the Real, Competitive Modern World ? As
indicated above, Waldorf pupils are exposed to an education which balances social
development and academic study. Their studies include many aspects of the modern
world in Science, Technology, History, Literature, etc. The education is guided
by the principle: the right thing at the right time. There is thus most definitely
a place for computers, for instance, in a Waldorf School - but at the appropriate
moment. Pupils who have proceeded from Michael Oak to other schools and from Waldorf
High Schools to university have been found to be more than adequately prepared.
In fact, the degree of independence, originality and confidence of Waldorf pupils
has often been noted.
Jump
back to the list of questions!
What
is the Attitude Towards Academic Results ?
Matriculation
is a vital step for many careers today and for those pupils wishing to excel academically
Michael Oak provides a thorough preparation. Michael Oak has consistently achieved
very high standards. Striving towards individual excellence is essential. Underlying
Waldorf Education is a broad, comprehensive preparation for life. Given this goal,
it would be educationally unsound for academic achievement to receive the exclusive
and pressurised emphasis it often has elsewhere.
It should never be the sole determinant of a person's worth or of scholastic attainment
- this buries different natural ability levels in the competitive maelstrom. There
is a place for every pupil in a Waldorf school, no matter how 'bright', and the
intention is to bring out the best in each. In asking how we would regard our
children as adequately educated, we would surely stipulate social, moral, spiritual
and practical development alongside academic and vocational training. The Waldorf
'graduate' is a well-rounded, widely accomplished person who has been taught how
to think, not what to think for exam purposes.
Jump
back to the list of questions!
How
is Discipline Handled ? In
a Waldorf School, the approach to discipline is much more personally based. There
are no abstract authorities like the headmaster and prefects, and respect must
be won through personal contact. While a freer, more open atmosphere (including
no uniforms) is encouraged, Waldorf schools are in no way neglectful of 'discipline'.
Orderliness is inherent in the classroom and is demanded in behaviour, dress and
the presentation of work. These qualities, as part of social development, are
not imposed in the form of external coercion, but are developed more as an inward
sense of duty. Generally it can be said that, when motivation and interest is
high, when personal concern for the pupil is central to the teacher, the whole
question of discipline eases.
Jump
back to the list of questions! Can
a Child Adjust to a Change of School ? If
a child's career at Michael Oak has to be interrupted, we urge parents to avoid
making the change until after the first three years which we consider to be a
unit in the educational experience. After that, there should be no problem, and
children usually make such a change with ease.
Jump
back to the list of questions! How
Do Others See Waldorf Education ? World
renowned conductor Bruno Walter is one of many distinguished people to note the
specific contribution of Waldorf education. "There is no task of greater
importance than to give children the very best preparation for the demands of
an ominous future. As long as the Waldorf School movement continues to spread
its influence, we can all look forward with hope," he says:
"As
a scientist involved in research into the physics of perception, I am impressed
with both the content of the Waldorf curriculum, which includes right hemisphere
side learning activities to complement the left hemisphere side; and with the
style of the curriculum which promotes direct involvement, creativity, and attention
to detail,"
says Dr H.Puthoff, researcher at SRI International. "This
holistic, well-grounded and in-depth approach is what is required to meet the
challenges of a stressful, fast moving technological age, while keeping one's
will and sense of purpose alive and whole." To
date, the most comprehensive and authoritative research on Waldorf education has
been conducted in Germany. Three independent scientists sponsored by the German
Government assessed 1460 former Waldorf students and concluded that they had achieved
"an educational level well above average." Impressively, more than 80%
of the 1460 former students interviewed had completed a professional training.
Jump back to
the list of questions! Going
on to Other High Schools ? The
children leave Michael Oak at the end of Class 10. Although our children are equipped
to enter any High School and have made the transition very successfully, we strongly
recommend that they should continue with the same educational aims and ideals
at the Constantia Waldorf High School. There the curriculum takes into full consideration
the further development of the adolescent, as well as the achievement of a high
standard in respect of matriculation requirements
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