A View of Human Nature

Teaming up with my friend Alison here, we are digging deep to try to understand this lecture! On August 26, 1919, Steiner spoke to his teacher trainees for the morning lecture of the Teacher’s Seminar. Steiner explains…

The Temperaments & Math

On Day Four of the Teacher’s Seminar in 1919, one of the teachers picks up a piece of chalk to demonstrate taking a whole piece of something and showing how it can be divided by being broken. Steiner…

Tips on the First Day of School

“You must look on the first lesson you have with your pupils in every class as outstandingly important.” Thus Steiner begins Day Four of his midday lectures to the teachers in the first Waldorf School (collected in…

The Power of the Will

Waldorf education is experiential. It’s founder, Rudolf Steiner, was adamant that we cannot merely tell a child something once and expect learning to take place. We must work with the power of the will in Waldorf education….

The Temperaments

“Now it is really very important, particularly for those who want to work as teachers, to get rid of the habit of unnecessary criticism…it is not a question of always trying to improve on what has already…

The Arts Engage the Will

The focus of this lecture on Day Three of the Teacher’s Seminar (given by Rudolf Steiner on August 23, 1919) is the formative quality of the arts. The arts engage a child’s whole being, “particularly his will…

Cosmic Law

Steiner chooses the topic of “cosmic law” for his morning lecture on Day Three of the very first Waldorf teacher training in August of 1919. He says, “As modern teachers, we must hold a comprehensive view of…

The Temperaments

Discussion Two is all about the temperaments! On Day One of the Teacher’s Seminar in 1919, Steiner introduced the temperaments by saying, “The important thing for us to remember is the diversity of children and indeed of…

It All Starts with Love

Rudolf Steiner starts off Day Two of his Practical Advice to Teachers lecture by saying that “a great deal will have to be transformed and renewed” in teaching methods. The starting point? Love!  Here is Steiner on…