Waldorf Education and Anthroposophy 1: Nine Public Lectures, February 23, 1921-September 16, 1922 (Foundations of Waldorf Education, 13)

This is the first of two previously untranslated volumes of Rudolf Steiner's public lectures on Waldorf education. Readers familiar with Steiner's lectures for teachers will discover here how Steiner presented his ideas to the general public with surprising directness.

Teaching, according to Steiner, should be artistic, creative, and improvisational, not dogmatic. Yet he is clear that the great battle concerns the spiritual nature of the child. Other themes include understanding the role of health and illness in education, as well as repeated expositions of the three major phases in child development: imitation, authority, and freedom. There are also two lectures Steiner gave in England on Shakespeare and new ideals in education.

Topics include:

· Spiritual Science and the Great Questions of our Present Civilization

· Education and Practical Life from the Perspective of Spiritual Science

· Knowledge of Health and Illness in Education

· The Fundamentals of Waldorf Education

· Educational Methods Based on Anthroposophy

· Education and Drama

· Shakespeare and the New Ideals