Why Waldorf
Community as base for the learning process
Waldorf pedagogic has big developing possibilities in Tanzania, because many parents are looking for a good education for their kids. It answers to the developing need of the country in the way it gives integrated education which supports creative thinking and creative skills which are so necessary for the future of this country. The wonderful thing of Waldorf pedagogy is that it has a community as base for every learning process. While other initiatives of developing work together trying to isolate and abstract the learning process from the reality, Waldorf pedagogy refers to the whole society in the learning process.
As the child enters Primary School, the earlier stage of imagination expands into a need for applied learning and guiding authority. The class teacher should become the beloved, respected and readily accepted representative of the world. In Waldorf schools the class teacher moves with his or her class right through the Primary School. Through this a deeper understanding develops between the pupils and their teacher. This secures continuity and enhances the children’s learning. Throughout the years the class teacher and the parents develop a co-operative relationship centred on the growing child.
The school day begins with a lively two hour Main Lesson which concentrates on one subject for a period of three to four weeks. This is a very natural method of teaching. The uninterrupted focus on a theme enables the children to immerse themselves completely in the subject matter at hand. It also allows the class teacher the freedom to structure the lessons creatively incorporating a variety of activities such as music or the use of drama and storytelling to expand the work in history.
Through large colored free hand drawings the child develops that experience of inner harmony which can be applied later, both in practical tasks and the exact thinking. In addition to helping develop good handwriting, these exercises give a real basis for exact geometrical constructions which follow.
Main lessons include Mathematics, Geometry, Ancient Civilizations, Mythology, English Literature and later Biology, Science, Astronomy and the Humanities. Other subjects such as Languages technical skills, Eurhythmy and Sport may be taught by subject teachers.
Waldorf Education
Waldorf education is a humanistic approach to pedagogy based upon the educational philosophy of the philosopher Rudolf Steiner, the founder of anthroposophy. Learning is interdisciplinary, integrating practical, artistic, and conceptual elements. The approach emphasizes the role of the imagination in learning, developing thinking that includes a creative as well as an analytic component. The educational philosophy’s overarching goals are to provide young people the basis on which to develop into free, morally responsible and integrated individuals, and to help every child fulfill his or her unique destiny, the existence of which anthroposophy posits.
The Arts and Practical Skills
Arts and practical skills make their essential contribution, educating not only heart and hand but… the brain as well. Waldorf teachers believe that the human being is not just a brain – but a being with heart and limbs – a being of will and feeling, as well as of intellect. To ensure that education does not produce one-sided individuals, crippled in emotional health and volition, these less conscious aspects of our human nature must constantly be exercised, nourished, and guided. Here the arts and practical skills make their essential contribution, educating not only heart and hand but, in very real ways, the brain as well.
Waldorf Students
For the Waldorf student, music, dance, and theater, writing, literature, legends and myths are not simply subjects to be read about, ingested and tested. They are experienced. Through these experiences, Waldorf students cultivate a lifelong love of learning as well as the intellectual, emotional, physical and spiritual capacities to be individuals certain of their paths and to be of service to the world.
Waldorf Teachers are interested in the questions:
- How do we establish within each child his or her own high level of academic excellence?
- How do we call forth enthusiasm for learning and work, a healthy self-awareness, interest and concern for fellow human beings, and a respect for the world?
- How can we help pupils find meaning in their lives?
