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MillennialChild.com
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Essential Conferences for Summer, 2007 Articles: -Handwork and Intellectual Development -----ADHD: A Challenge of Our Time -The Cry for Myth -Freedom of Choice or Freedom From Choice? -Computers in Education -Helping Your Child's Teacher Communicate
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Freedom, Authority & Discipline, Page 2
So let this preamble be understood as a tribute to parents, the child's first educators and the unsung advocates of harmony and order in an increasingly uncivilized world. I will now be writing primarily as a Waldorf teacher. Much of what I will say is first and foremost addressed to teachers, and neither can nor should pass over into a home situation. However, I hope that some of what is described below can give parents the insight or inspiration which they can creatively apply in their own way. I often like to recall a remark that the British writer Carlyle once made about the difference between youth and old age. He said that when we are young, our life unfolds like a beautiful tapestry. When we grow old, we are permitted to step behind the tapestry. It is no longer so beautiful, but at last we can see all of the threads, and follow their connections! Many of those reading this have beheld the tapestry of the life of a Waldorf school as it manifests itself in class plays, in assemblies, in concerts and in the social experiences generated by parent evenings and class outings. I will now invite you, like Carlyle's old man, to step behind the impressive tapestry to view the threads. By no means are they all neatly tied together, but at least we will glean something of the grand design that underlies our work, and view some of the strands that remain to be woven into this "work in progress." One thread that will wind its way through this essay is the statement made by Rudolf Steiner that, just as imitation of the world around "educates" the child before the change of teeth, so between grades one and eight, authority is the primary educative power. What did he mean by this? Rather than answer directly, I would like to share with you the following dramatic re-enactment. It is a composite of scenes that I have witnessed again and again in Waldorf classrooms throughout America: (We are in a second grade classroom at "circle time," when the children sing, recite poetry or play rhythmic games. The teacher stands before his class, about to lead them in a new poem.) Teacher: All right, could everyone please stand up? We'll try to recite our verse about the dragon. Please--could we all get out of our seats and stand? Could we also quiet down a little? All right, we're almost all quiet, so I guess we'll go ahead...Now, could we all try to clap our hands? Prescott, why aren't you standing? Why aren't you doing as I asked? What do you mean, you don't want to stand up? Please, Prescott, try to do as I've asked... Second graders, could you all be quiet while I talk to Prescott? Now, let's begin, shall we?
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