Tell To Teach
The human being is the most evolved being in creation. However, the complete unfolding of her or his faculties only occurs after a slow maturation period of approximately twenty-one years, actually, the slowest of any other creature. According to Anthroposophy, this development takes place in periods of roughly seven years, which are characterized by distinct and characteristic bodily developmental tasks and states of consciousness. Waldorf Education, based on the awareness of these specific needs and capacities, offers a curriculum that will not only teach but also honor and support the child’s development.
During the first seven years of life, the child is building its physical body, and is strongly influenced by the outside. During this time, movement and imitation, among others, are the main ingredients to right development. This is the time when the young child learns by imitation, and its mother tongue is acquired just by being fully immersed in it. Movement plays a major role in this period, and we know this to be true as children never seem to get tired. They are learning to live in the world and take hold of their physical sheath by moving and experimenting with their senses. Everything they perceive from their environment affects the child and actually contributes to shaping its body and soul. Therefore, we endeavor to provide the child with wholesome, true experiences of the world and strive to keep the media as well as synthetic materials and foods, away from the child.
In the realm of language, the child starts connecting his or her impressions of objects and inner experiences to the sounds that describe them, and slowly learns to apply them accordingly. At first, the child spends life in a sort of “silent period,” practicing some universal sounds but not yet words per se. At this time, it is of utmost importance that we speak with normal and adult language, so that the ear for language is able to imitate the correct pronunciation and attach meaning to it without any confusion.
Language learning becomes a matter of course, never an intellectual endeavor. Learning takes place in a pre-cognitive level; as we all know, we never need to explain to the child the verb tenses, and, in some languages, the use of gender
and number. The sounds a child is learning to master not only make an impression on its feeling life, but they also affect the specialization of the speaking organs, like the larynx, the use of the tongue, our vocal chords, etc, thus forming the characteristic accent of our language.
It is only after age one that the child starts saying its first words, and then, within what seems an amazingly short time, he or she is able to begin forming phrases, however grammatically incorrect. But we marvel at them and don’t expect them to be perfect. We know he will get it with time. We wonder how this incredible acquisition of the treasure of a whole language may be possible, even before the actual cognitive faculties of the child have awakened. In some cases, where a child is exposed to more than one language, it may take longer to start speaking, and the child may mix the languages in the beginning. But given enough time and exposure, the time will come when the child is able to master the two (or more) languages and switch back and forth at will.
The culmination of this phase is signaled sometimes by the change of teeth, as well as some other bodily changes like the elongation of the limbs in relationship to the head, and more coordination and mastery of gross and fine motor skills. Fantasy is now slowly transforming into imagination.
In the second 7-year period, the child’s body is now his own. The body has become a true and unique home for the soul, and only needs to grow and mature. The forces that had been active in the inner sculpting of the organs and the intense growth of these years are now liberated for other uses, such as memory, imagination, and learning. The child begins to show and experience more clearly its soul life and personality traits. This gives the child new tools to relate to the world around him. Always, but especially at this time in life, rhythm plays a main role in a child’s life, giving a sense of security and peace. It allows the child’s metabolism to find a healthy balance too. At this stage, the teacher is mostly concerned about providing a healthy balance of “in-breath” and “out-breath”... and lessons at school should be designed accordingly.
The in-breathing of the lesson means everything that makes the child be attentive, quiet, receptive, still, self-contained. It is the time to teach new items, the time of concentration and discovery. In the out-breath, children experience a kind of letting go, a time of more relaxation, of play, repetition, where in foreign language lessons they can play with language, and through repetition, assimilate it. The second 7-year period is the time of authority rather than pure imitation, of rhythmical activity, rich imagery, musical development, etc.
During the first part of the second period, imitation and devotion to the world start disappearing. There is a greater wakefulness and a growing sense of self. Especially around the middle of childhood, namely in the ninth year of life, there is an important milestone in the child’s consciousness, where she finally feels more and more her own individuality. This is a great moment, as well as a fearful one, since the child now fully realizes that there is a world outside and that it does not revolve around her necessarily.
According to some researchers, this is the point at which foreign languages can still be acquired without an accent from our own mother tongue.1 Regarding language in this period, children enjoy word games, tongue twisters, and rhymes. Secret languages can also be invented. The hearing element becomes extremely important. Lessons must strongly engage the children’s feeling life, which means that we bring to our lessons stories and examples that move them inside, rather than teach with abstract concepts. Children enjoy funny poems, rhythmical speech, surprises, etc.
Only after the age of twelve can the cognitive element, cause and effect, be introduced successfully. And then, students truly enjoy finding the grammatical relationships between the elements they know of the foreign language.
The third 7-year period is a time of individuation, the time for critical thinking and judgment. The student becomes more aware of self, discovering and experiencing the deepness of his or her subjective world of soul and feeling.
It is also a time of ideals, judgment, practical life, real life facts, the purpose and application of things.
During the first years of this period there usually is a turmoil in their inner world, the soul becoming like a boat on a rough sea. The Waldorf curriculum in the high school years addresses these needs by offering the students plenty of opportunities for discovery of self and the world through the study of technology as well as humanities, sciences, practical and fine arts, eurhythmy, community service, sports, etc.
In foreign languages we are always keeping in mind the aesthetics and beauty of language by teaching poetry, culture, etc., but also the more practical aspects of real language. We still make use of rational, grammatical examples, but we are aiming to a more logical and practical use of it. They are ready to recognize differences and similarities, and they are eager to compare and contrast expressions in various languages.
The way Johannes Kiersch, in his book Language Teaching in Steiner Waldorf Schools, explains how we learn a foreign language differently at various stages of life helped me to understand this even further:
“In this way we can say that language is acquired during the first period of life merely as a matter of what sounds right together (an approach to the formative aspect); in the second period, it is the beauty of language, the sound, rhythm and musicality that matter more (the descriptive aspect); and in the third 7-year period, students are more interested in the explanatory side of language.”
This understanding gives the teacher a starting point in the sketching of language teaching methods and materials appropriate for each age group.
Therefore, a true understanding of child development is an invaluable and indispensable foundation to creatively develop a successful curriculum, to design healthy methods, and to choose the appropriate materials for our teaching.
In the Christmas Course, Steiner makes an interesting remark regarding the design of teaching methods and curriculum:
“It is much more important that the teacher become familiar with such things (child development)... than that he be given some kind of ready made curriculum with fixed targets. In this way he will be able to match his material and teaching style to the age of his pupils.”2
1 Kiersch, Johannes, Language Teaching in Steiner Waldorf Schools, Steiner Schools Fellowship Publications
2 Rudolf Steiner, Soul Economy and Waldorf Education, Anthroposophic Press, 1986, Lectures 10 and 12