Discussions with Teachers
GA 295
6 September 1919, A.M., Stuttgart
Translated by Katherine E. Creeger
First Lecture on the Curriculum
My dear friends, it would still be possible, of course, to present many more details from the field of general pedagogy. However, since we are always forced in such cases to conclude prematurely, we will use the remaining time this morning to take our general discussions of education over into an outline of instructional goals for the individual grades. In our general pedagogical studies, we have been trying to acquire the right point of view for dividing up the subject matter with regard to the development of the growing human being. We must always remember the necessity of consolidating our instruction in the way that I demonstrated. For example, we can proceed from mineralogy to geography or use ethnological characteristics to link history and geography when we deal with cultural history in a spiritual way. Bearing in mind this possibility of proceeding from one subject to another, let’s go through the subject matter we want to present to our young charges and divide it into individual categories.
The first thing we need to consider when we welcome children into the first grade is to find appropriate stories to tell them and for them to tell back to us. In the telling and retelling of fairy tales, legends, and accounts of outer realities, we are cultivating the children’s speech, forming a bridge between the local dialect and educated conversational speech. By making sure the children speak correctly, we are also laying a foundation for correct writing.
Parallel to such telling and retelling, we introduce the children to a certain visual language of forms. We have them draw simple round and angular shapes simply for the sake of the forms. As already mentioned, we do not do this for the sake of imitating some external object, but simply for the sake of the forms themselves. Also, we do not hesitate to link this drawing to simple painting, placing the colors next to each other so that the children get a feeling for what it means to place red next to green, next to yellow, and so on.
On the basis of what we achieve through this, we will be able to introduce the children to writing in the way that we have already considered from the perspective of educational theory. The natural way to go about it would be to make a gradual transition from form drawing to the Latin alphabet. Whenever we are in a position to introduce the Latin alphabet first, we should certainly do so, and then proceed from the Latin alphabet to German script. After the children have learned to read and write simple handwritten words, we make the transition to printed letters, taking the Latin alphabet first, of course, and following it up with the German.1Steiner is referring here to the fact that the German language at that time was written in Fraktur, a specifically Germanic style of print and handwriting, rather than in the Latin, or Roman, alphabet now universally used for Western European languages.—TRANS.
If we proceed rationally, we will get far enough in the first grade so that the children will be able to write simple things that we say to them or that they compose themselves. If we stick to simple things, the children will also be able to read them. Of course we don’t need to aim at having the children achieve any degree of accomplishment in this first year. It would be completely wrong to expect that. The point is simply that, during the first grade, we should get the children to the point where they no longer confront the printed word as a total unknown, so to speak, and are able to take the initiative to write some simple things. This should be our goal with regard to language instruction, if I may put it like that.
We will be helped in this by what we are going to consider next—namely the elasticity and adaptability that the children’s speech organs can gain from instruction in singing. Without our making a special point of it, they will develop a greater sensitivity to long and short vowels, voiced or voiceless sounds, and so on. Even though this may not be our intention in teaching music, the children will be introduced nonetheless to an auditory understanding of what the instrument of the voice produces in music—in a simple way at first, so that they can get ... well, of course it’s impossible to get an overview of sounds, so I would actually have to invent a word and say: so that they can get an “overhearing” of it. By “overhearing” I mean that they really experience inwardly the single thing among the many, so that they are not overwhelmed by things as they perceive them.
In addition to this we must add something that can stimulate the children’s thinking when we tell them about things that are close at hand, things that will later appear in a more structured form in geography and science. We explain such things and introduce them to the children’s understanding by relating them to things that are already familiar—to familiar animals, plants, and soil formations, or to local mountains, creeks, or meadows. Schools call this “local history,” but the purpose is to bring about a certain awakening in the children with regard to their surroundings; a soul awakening, so that they learn to really connect with their surroundings.
At the beginning of the second grade, we will continue with the telling and retelling of stories and try to develop this further. Then the children can be brought gradually to the point of writing down the stories we tell them. After they have had some practice in writing down what they hear, we can also have them write short descriptions of what we’ve told them about the animals, plants, meadows, and woods in the surroundings.
During the first grade it would be important not to touch on issues of grammar, and so on, to any great extent. In the second grade, however, we should teach the children the concepts of what a noun is, what an adjective is, and what a verb is. We should then connect this simply and graphically to a discussion of how sentences are constructed. With regard to descriptions, to thoughtfully describing their surroundings, we continue with what the children began in the first grade.
The third grade is essentially a continuation of the second with regard to speaking, reading, writing, and many other things. We will continue to increase the children’s ability to write about what they see and read. Now we also try to summon up in them a conscious feeling for sounds that are short, long, drawn out, and so on. It is good to cultivate a feeling for articulating speech and for the general structure of language when the children are in third grade—that is, around the age of eight.2The German translates literally as “in their eighth or ninth year” and is sometimes mistranslated in English as “eight or nine years old”; thus references to beginning school in “the seventh year” can be taken to mean that “children shouldn’t go to school until they are seven.” What Steiner said, however, was “in the seventh year of their life—that is, “six-going-on-seven.”—TRANS. At this point, we attempt to convey an understanding of the different types of words and of the components and construction of a sentence—that is, of how punctuation marks such as commas and periods and so on are incorporated into a sentence.
Once again, with regard to telling and retelling, the fourth grade is a continuation of the third. When we take up short poems in the first and second grade, it’s good to make a point of allowing the children to experience the rhythm, rhyme, and meter instinctively, and to wait to make them aware of the poem’s inner structure--that is, everything that relates to its inner beauty—until the third and fourth grades.
At that point, however, we try to lead everything the children have learned about writing descriptions and retelling stories in writing over into composing letters of all kinds. Then we try to awaken in the children a clear understanding of the tenses, of everything expressed by the various transformations of a verb. At around age nine, the children should acquire the concepts for what they need in this regard; they should get a feeling for it, so that they don’t say “The man ran” when they should have said “The man has run”—that is, that they don’t confuse the past tense with the present perfect. Children should get a feeling for when it is proper to say “He stood” rather than “He has stood,” and other similar things that have to do with transformations in what a verb expresses. In the same way, we attempt to teach the children to feel instinctively the relationship between a preposition and its object. We should always make sure to help them get a feeling for when to use “on” instead of “at,” and so on. Children who are going on ten should practice shaping their native language and should experience it as a malleable element.
In the fifth grade, it is important to review and expand on what we did in the fourth grade, and, from that point on, it is important to take into account the difference between active and passive verb forms. We also begin asking children of this particular age not only to reproduce freely what they have seen and heard, but also to quote what they have heard and read and to use quotation marks appropriately. We try to give the children a great deal of spoken practice in distinguishing between conveying their own opinions and conveying those of others. Through their writing assignments, we also try to arouse a keen distinction between what they themselves have thought, seen, and so forth, and what they communicate about what others have said. In this context, we again try to perfect their use of punctuation. Letter writing is also developed further.
In the sixth grade, of course we review and continue what we did in the fifth. In addition, we now try to give the children a strong feeling for the subjunctive mood. We use as many examples as possible in speaking about these things so that the children learn to distinguish between what can be stated as fact and what needs to be expressed in the subjunctive. When we have the children practice speaking, we make a special point of not allowing any mistakes in the use of the subjunctive, so that they assimilate a strong feeling for this inner dimension of the language. A child is supposed to say, “I am taking care that my little sister learn [subjunctive] how to walk,” and not, “I am taking care that my little sister learns to walk.”3These distinctions are not as readily detected in current English. In Steiner’s example, the difference is between lerne and lernt; the first is perhaps closest to the process of learning (not yet fact), the second to having learned (fact).
We now make the transition from personal letters to simple, concrete business compositions dealing with things the children have already learned about elsewhere. Even as early as the third grade we can extend what we say about the meadows and woods and so on to business relationships, so that later on the subject matter is already available for composing simple business letters.
In the seventh grade, we will again have to continue with what we did in the sixth grade, but now we also attempt to have the children develop an appropriate and flexible grasp of how to express wishing, astonishment, admiration, and so on in how they speak. We try to teach the children to form sentences in accordance with the inner configuration of these feelings. However, we do not need to mutilate poems or anything else in order to demonstrate how someone or other structured a sentence to express wishing. We approach it directly by having the children themselves express wishes and shape their sentences accordingly. We then have them express admiration and form the sentences accordingly, or help them to construct the sentences. To further educate their ability to see the inner flexibility of language, we then compare their wishing sentences to their admiring ones.
What has been presented in science will already have enabled the children to compose simple characterizations of the wolf, the lion, or the bee, let’s say. At this stage, alongside such exercises, which are directed more toward the universally human element in education, we must especially foster the children’s ability to formulate practical matters of business. The teacher must be concerned with finding out about practical business matters and getting them into the student’s heads in some sensible fashion.
In the eighth grade, it will be important to teach the children to have a coherent understanding of longer pieces of prose or poetry; thus, at this stage we will read a drama and an epic with the children, always keeping in mind what I said before: All the explanations and interpretations precede the actual reading of the piece, so that the reading is always the conclusion of what we do with the material. In particular, however, the practical business element in language instruction must not be disregarded in the eighth grade.
It will be important that we make it possible for children who have reached the fourth grade to choose to learn Latin. Meanwhile, we will have already introduced French and English [as foreign languages] in a very simple fashion as soon as the children have entered school.
When the children are in the fourth grade, we introduce them to Latin by having them listen to it, and we ask them to repeat little conversations as they gradually gain the ability to do so. We should certainly begin with speaking the language for the children to hear; in terms of speaking, we will attempt to achieve through listening what is usually accomplished in the first year of Latin instruction. We will then take this further according to the indications I gave in the lectures on educational theory, to the point where our eighth-grade graduates will have a mastery of Latin that corresponds to what is ordinarily taught in the fourth year of high school. In other words, our fourth graders must accomplish approximately what is usually taught in the first year of high school and our fifth and sixth graders what is usually taught in the second and third years respectively; the remainder of the time can be spent on what is usually taught in the fourth year.
Parallel to this we will continue with French and English [as foreign language] instruction, taking into account what we heard in the theoretical portion of these lectures.
We will also allow those who choose to study the Greek language to begin doing so. Here too, we proceed in the manner we heard about in the theoretical portion. Specifically, we attempt again to develop the writing of Greek letters on the basis of form drawing. It will be of great benefit to those who now choose to learn Greek to use a different set of letters to repeat the initial process of deriving writing from drawing.
Well, you have seen how we make free use of familiar things from the immediate surroundings for our independent instruction in general knowledge. In the third grade, when the children are going on nine, it is quite possible for this instruction to provide them with an idea of how mortar is mixed, for instance—I can only choose a few examples—and how it is used in building houses. They can also have an idea of how manuring and tilling are done, and of what rye and wheat look like. To put it briefly, in a very free way we allow the children to delve into the elements of their immediate surroundings that they are capable of understanding.
In the fourth grade we make the transition from this type of instruction to speaking about what belongs to recent history, still in a very free way. For example, we can tell the children how it happened that grapes came to be cultivated locally (if in fact that is the case), or how orchards were introduced or how one or the other industry appeared, and other similar things. Then, too, we draw on the geography of the local region, beginning with what is most readily available, as I have already described.
In the fifth grade, we make every effort to begin to introduce the children to real historical concepts. With fifth graders, we need not hesitate at all to teach the children about the cultures of Asian peoples and of the Greeks. Our fear of taking the children back into ancient times has occurred only because people in our day and age do not have the ability to develop concepts appropriate to these bygone times. However, if we constantly appeal to their feelings, it is easy enough to help ten- and eleven-year-olds develop an understanding of the Greeks and Asian peoples.
Parallel to this, as I showed you earlier, in geography we begin to teach the children also about soil formations and everything that is economically related to them, dealing first with the specific part of the Earth’s surface that is most readily available.
Greek and Roman history and its aftereffects (until the beginning of the fifteenth century) belong to the sixth grade. In geography we continue with what we did in the fifth grade, taking a different part of the Earth and then linking its climatic conditions to astronomical conditions, examples of which we experienced yesterday afternoon.
In the seventh grade, it is important to get the children to understand how the modern life of humanity dawned in the fifteenth century, and we then describe the situation in Europe and so on up to about the beginning of the seventeenth century. This is one of the most important historical periods, and we must cover it with great care and attention. Indeed, it is even more important than the time immediately following it. In geography, we continue with the study of astronomical conditions and begin to cover the spiritual and cultural circumstances of Earth’s inhabitants, of the various ethnic groups, but always in connection with what the children have already learned about material cultural circumstances—that is, economic circumstances—during their first two years of geography lessons.
In the eighth grade, we try to bring the children right up to the present in history, including a thorough consideration of cultural history. Most of what is included in history, as it is ordinarily taught, will only be mentioned in passing. It is much more important for children to experience how the steam engine, the mechanized loom, and so on have transformed the Earth than it is for them to learn at too young an age about such curiosities as the corrections made to the Emser Depesche.4Emser Depesche: An incident that touched off the Franco-Prussian War of 1870. Bismark publicized an abridged and misleading version of a telegram (known as the “Ems Dispatch”), and the effect of this action was to feed the fury of the opposing parties in France and Prussia. The things our history books contain are the least important as far as the education of children is concerned. Even great figures in history, such as Charlemagne, should basically be covered only in passing. You will need to do a lot of what I told you yesterday about aids to guiding abstract concepts of time over into something concrete. Indeed, we must do a very great deal of it.
Now I probably do not need to tell you that even the subjects we have discussed so far will help the children develop an awareness of the spirit that permeates everything present in the world, an awareness that the spirit lives in our language, in the geographical elements covering the Earth, and in the flow of history. When we try to sense the living spirit in everything, we will also find the proper enthusiasm for conveying this living spirit to our students.
Whenever we do this, we will learn to compensate our students for what the religious denominations have been doing to humanity since the beginning of the modern era. These religious denominations, which have never made the free development of the individual a priority, have cultivated materialism from various angles. When it is not permissible to use the entire content of the world to teach people that the spirit is active, religious instruction becomes a breeding ground for materialism. The various religious denominations have made it their task to eliminate all mention of spirit and soul from any other form of instruction because they want to keep that privilege for themselves. Meanwhile the reality of these things has dried up as far as the religious denominations are concerned, and so what is presented in religious instruction consists merely of sentimental clichés and figures of speech. All the clichés that are now so terribly apparent everywhere are actually due more to religious culture than to international culture, because nowadays the emptiest clichés, which human instincts then carry over into outer life, are being promoted by the religious denominations. Certainly ordinary life also creates many clichés, but the greatest sinners in this respect are the religious denominations.
It remains to be seen, my dear friends, how religious instruction—which I will not even touch on in these discussions, because that will be the task of the congregations in question—will affect other types of instruction here in our Waldorf school. For now religious instruction is a space that must be left blank; these hours will simply be given over to the religion teachers to do whatever they choose. It goes without saying that they are not going to listen to us. They will listen to their church’s constitution, or to their church gazette or that of the parochial school administration. We will fulfill our obligations in this respect, but we will also quietly continue to fulfill our obligation to summon up the spirit for our children in all the other subjects.
Erster Lehrplanvortrag
Meine lieben Freunde, es wäre selbstverständlich noch recht, recht viel auch auf dem Gebiete der allgemeinen Pädagogik vorzubringen, allein in solchen Dingen muß ja alles einen vorläufigen Abschluß finden. Und so wollen wir denn heute vormittag in der Zeit, die uns noch bleibt, das in der allgemeinen Pädagogik und in der Didaktik Betrachtete überführen in eine skizzenhafte Behandlung unseres Lehrzieles für die einzelnen Stufen. Wir haben ja, sowohl durch die allgemein pädagogischen Betrachtungen wie durch die didaktischen Betrachtungen, die notwendigen Gesichtspunkte zu gewinnen versucht, um die Gliederung des Lehrstoffes mit Rücksicht auf die Entwickelung des werdenden Menschen richtig betrachten zu können. Und so werden wir denn immer darauf bedacht sein, daß der Unterricht soviel als möglich zusammengefaßt werden soll in der Art, wie ich es Ihnen gezeigt habe, daß man das Mineralogische in das Geographische hinüberführen kann, daß man in der geistigen Behandlung der Kulturgeschichte durch Völkercharakteristiken Geschichte und Geographie verknüpfen kann. Indem man das immer beachtet, daß man aus einem in das andere überleiten kann, wollen wir, nach den einzelnen Kategorien verteilt, einmal den Unterrichtsstoff, wie wir ihn heranbringen wollen an unsere Zöglinge, durchlaufen.
Da kommt ja zunächst für uns in Betracht, daß wir, wenn wir die Kinder ins erste Schuljahr hereinbekommen, geeignete Stoffe finden zum Vorerzählen und Nacherzählenlassen. An diesem Vorerzählen von Märchen, von Sagen, aber auch von äußerlich-realistischen Wirklichkeiten, und in dem Nacherzählenlassen bilden wir heran das eigentliche Sprechen. Wir bilden heran den Übergang von der Mundart zur gebildeten Umgangssprache. Indem wir darauf sehen, daß das Kind richtig spricht, werden wir auch den Grund legen für richtiges Schreiben.
Wir werden parallel gehen lassen diesem Vor- und Nacherzählen die Einführung des Kindes in eine gewisse bildnerische Formensprache. Wir lassen das Kind einfache, runde, eckige Formen, rein um der Formen willen, zeichnen, nicht, wie gesagt, um der Nachahmung eines Äußeren willen, sondern rein um der Formen willen. Und wir scheuen uns nicht, mit diesem Zeichnen einfaches Malerisches zu verbinden, indem wir die Farben nebeneinanderstellen; so nebeneinanderstellen, daß das Kind eine Empfindung bekommt, was es heißt, Rot neben Grün zu stellen, Rot neben Gelb zu stellen und so weiter.
Und aus dem, was wir so erreichen, können wir auf die Art, wie wir es in unserer Didaktik betrachtet haben, das Schreiben an das Kind heranbringen. Naturgemäß wäre es, wenn wir allmählich den Übergang suchten von gezeichneten Formen zu der lateinischen Schrift. Falls wir in der Lage sind, die lateinische Schrift vorausgehen zu lassen, so sollten wir das durchaus tun, denn wir werden erst dann die lateinische Schrift in die deutsche überführen können. Und wir gehen dann, nachdem das Kind gelernt hat, einfache Schriftformen, die es an Wörtern belebt, zu schreiben und zu lesen, über zu den gedruckten Buchstaben. Da nehmen wir wiederum zuerst natürlich die lateinischen und dann die deutschen.
Wenn wir rationell in diesen Dingen vorgehen, dann werden wir es im ersten Schuljahr dahin bringen, daß das Kind immerhin in einfacher Weise das oder jenes aufs Papier zu bringen vermag, was man ihm vorspricht, oder was es sich selbst vornimmt, aufs Papier zu bringen. Man bleibt beim Einfachen, und man wird es dahin bringen, daß das Kind auch Einfaches lesen kann. Man braucht ja durchaus nicht darauf bedacht zu sein, daß das Kind in diesem ersten Jahr irgend etwas Abgeschlossenes erreicht. Das wäre sogar ganz falsch. Es handelt sich vielmehr darum, das Kind in diesem ersten Jahr so weit zu bringen, daß es gegenüber dem Gedruckten nicht gewissermaßen wie vor etwas ihm ganz Unbekannten steht, und daß es die Möglichkeit aus sich herausbringt, irgend etwas in einfacher Weise niederzuschreiben. — Das wäre, wenn ich so sagen darf, das Ideal für den Unterricht im Sprachlichen und im Schreiben.
Dabei würde zu Hilfe kommen dasjenige, was ja im weiteren dann zu besprechen ist: jene Elastizität und Gefügigkeit, welche das Kind sich aus dem Gesangsunterricht heraus für seine Sprachorgane aneignen wird, und es wird sich, ohne daß man das beabsichtigt, eine feinere Empfindung für gedehnte, geschärfte Laute und so weiter ergeben. Es braucht das gar nicht im Musikalischen beabsichtigt zu werden, wenn das Kind in das gehörmäßige Verständnis desjenigen eingeführt wird, was das Instrument im Musikalischen hervorbringt, zunächst in einfacher und für das Gehör — wenn ich jetzt das Wort bilden darf, weil man ja doch nicht sagen kann «übersichtlich» — in «überhörlicher» Weise; man wird verstehen können, was ich meine: «überhörlich» ist dasjenige, was nun wirklich innerlich als eins in dem vielen erlebt wird, so daß sich einem nicht die Dinge überstürzen im inneren Aufnehmen.
Nun wird man zu dem eben Gesagten dasjenige hinzufügen, was das Kind anregen kann zum Nachdenken, indem man ihm Naheliegendes erklärt: dasjenige, was später geordneter auftreten soll in Geographie, in Naturgeschichte. Das erklärt man ihm, bringt es seinem Verständnis nahe, indem man an Bekanntes - an bekannte Tiere, an bekannte Pflanzen, an bekannte Bodenkonfigurationen, an Berg, Fluß, Wiese — anknüpft. Die Schule nennt das Heimatkunde. Aber es handelt sich darum, daß man gerade im allerersten Schuljahr ein gewisses Aufwecken des Kindes gegenüber der Umgebung zustande bringt; ein Aufwecken des Seelischen, so daß es lernt, sich selber wirklich zu verbinden mit der Umgebung.
Und wenn dann das zweite Schuljahr angeht, da wird man versuchen, das Vorerzählen, das Nacherzählenlassen fortzusetzen und weiter auszubilden. Das Kind kann allmählich im zweiten Schuljahr dazu übergeführt werden, daß es dasjenige aufschreibt, was man ihm erzählt. Und dann kann man es, nachdem es herangebildet ist an dem Aufschreiben dessen, was man ihm erzählt, auch veranlassen, das, was man ihm beigebracht hat über Tiere, Pflanzen, Wiese und Wald der Umgebung, in ganz kleinen Beschreibungen wiederzugeben.
Nun wäre es wichtig, daß man im ersten Schuljahr nicht viel tippt an Grammatik und so weiter. Aber im zweiten Schuljahr sollte man schon dem Kinde Begriffe beibringen von dem, was ein Hauptwort ist, was ein Eigenschaftswort ist und was ein Tätigkeitswort oder Zeitwort ist. Und es sollte daran angeknüpft werden in einfacher, anschaulicher Weise die Besprechung des Baues von Sätzen.
Mit Bezug auf die Beschreibung, die denkende Beschreibung der Umgebung fahre man fort in dem, was man im ersten Schuljahr begonnen hat.
Das dritte Schuljahr wird im wesentlichen eine Fortsetzung des zweiten Schuljahres sein mit Bezug auf Sprechen, Lesen, Schreiben und noch mit Bezug auf vieles andere. Man wird die Fähigkeit erweitern, Gesehenes und Gelesenes niederzuschreiben. Man wird nun aber auch versuchen, in dem Kinde ein bewußttes Gefühl hervorzurufen für kurze, lange, gedehnte Laute und so weiter. Dieses Erfühlen der Sprachartikulation und überhaupt der Sprachkonfiguration, das ist etwas, was gut im achten und neunten Jahr getrieben werden kann, wenn man das Kind im dritten Schuljahr hat. Da versuche man dann, dem Kinde eben eine Vorstellung der Wortarten zu geben, der Satzglieder und des Aufbaues eines Satzes, also der Eingliederung von Satzzeichen, Komma, Punkt und so weiter in den Satz.
Das vierte Schuljahr wird wiederum eine Fortsetzung sein des dritten Schuljahres in bezug auf Vorerzählen und Nacherzählenlassen. Und es wird gut sein, wenn man darauf sieht, insofern man Dichtungen behandelt - kurze Gedichte -, daß man insbesondere im ersten und zweiten Schuljahr das Kind instinktiv Rhythmus, Reim, Takt erfühlen läßt, und daß man die innere Formung des Gedichtes, also was sich auf die inneren Schönheiten des Gedichtes bezieht, zur Empfindung bringt beim Kinde im dritten und vierten Schuljahr.
Dann aber versuche man dasjenige, was das Kind gelernt hat mit Bezug auf schriftliches Nacherzählen, schriftliches Beschreiben, überzuleiten in das Abfassen von Briefen, von Briefen aller Art. Dann versuche man gerade in dieser Zeit bei dem Kinde eine deutliche Vorstellung von den Zeiten hervorzurufen, von alledem, was durch die Verwandlungsformen des Verbums zum Ausdruck kommt. Also daß das Kind gerade in dieser Zeit in Begriffen — wir sind etwa zwischen dem neunten und zehnten Jahre jetzt — das bekommt, was es in dieser Beziehung bekommen soll, daß es ein Gefühl dafür bekommt, daß es nicht sage: Der Mann lief —, wenn es sagen sollte: Der Mann ist gelaufen. — Daß es also nicht verwechsele die Mitvergangenheit, das sogenannte Präteritum, mit dem Perfektum oder der Vergangenheit. Daß es ein Gefühl bekommt, wann man sagt: Der Mann stand -, und wann man sagt: Der Mann hat gestanden -, und ähnliche Dinge in bezug auf die Verwandlungsformen desjenigen, was durch das Verbum ausgedrückt wird. Ebenso versuche man, dem Kinde gefühlsmäßig, instinktiv den Zusammenhang, sagen wir zum Beispiel der Präpositionen mit dem, wovor eben die Präpositionen stehen, beizubringen. Aber überall sehe man, daß das Kind sich ein Gefühl dafür erringe, wie man an der einen Stelle «an» sagen soll, an der anderen Stelle «bei» und so weiter. Plastisch gliedern die Sprache, das ist dasjenige, was ja an der Muttersprache gegen das zehnte Jahr hin geübt werden soll. Plastisch empfinden die Sprache!
Nun wird es sich darum handeln, daß wir im fünften Schuljahr alles dasjenige wiederholentlich fortsetzen, was wir im vierten gepflogen haben, und daß wir namentlich von da ab Rücksicht nehmen auf den Unterschied der tätigen und der leidenden Verbalformen, also auf Aktives und Passives im Gebrauch des Verbums. Dann versuche man, gerade in dieser Zeit das Kind zu veranlassen, nicht nur Gesehenes und Gehörtes frei wiederzugeben, sondern womöglich Gehörtes und Gelesenes in unmittelbarer Rede anzuführen. Also so anzuführen, wie man es anführen müßte, wenn man es in Gänsefüßchen, in Anführungszeichen schreiben soll. Man versuche, das Kind viel darin zu üben, daß es in der Art des Sprechens Rücksicht darauf nimmt, wann es seine eigene Meinung gibt und wann es die Meinung eines anderen mitteilt. Man versuche dann auch in dem, was man schreiben läßt, im Kinde einen starken Unterschied hervorzurufen zwischen dem, was es selber denkt und gesehen hat und so weiter, und dem, was es mitteilt aus dem Munde anderer. Und in Verbindung damit suche man die Anwendung der Satzzeichen noch einmal zu vervollkommnen. — Das Briefschreiben wird dann weiter ausgebildet.
Und wenn es ins sechste Schuljahr geht, da setzen wir natürlich wiederholentlich alles das fort, was wir im fünften gepflogen haben. Und wir versuchen nun, dem Kinde stilistisch stark ein Gefühl von dem beizubringen, was das Konjunktivische ist. Dabei spreche man möglichst über diese Dinge in Beispielen, damit das Kind unterscheiden lerne zwischen dem, was unmittelbar behauptet werden darf, und dem, was konjunktivisch ausgedrückt werden muß. Und man versuche, mit dem Kind solche Redeübungen zu machen, in denen man stark darauf sieht, daß nichts durchgelassen werde, was das Kind falsch leistet mit Bezug auf die Anwendung des Konjunktivischen. Also wenn das Kind sagen sollte: Ich sorge dafür, daß mein Schwesterchen laufen lerne - so lasse man ihm nie durch, wenn es sagt: Ich sorge dafür, daß mein Schwesterchen laufen lernt -, damit ein starkes Gefühl von dieser inneren Plastik der Sprache eben in das Spracherfühlen übergehe.
Nun lasse man die Briefe übergehen in leichte, anschauliche Geschäftsaufsätze, worin wirklich solche Dinge behandelt werden, die das Kind von anderswoher schon kennengelernt hat. Man kann ja im dritten Schuljahr das, was man über Wiese, Wald und so weiter sagt, schon ausdehnen auf geschäftliche Beziehungen, so daß später Stoff da ist für das Ableisten einfacher Geschäftsaufsätze.
Im siebenten Schuljahr wird man das wieder fortzusetzen haben, was im sechsten Schuljahr gemacht worden ist. Und nun versuche man, an den Sprachformen dem Kinde ein richtiges plastisches Erfassen der Ausdrucksformen für das Wünschen, Erstaunen, Bewundern und so weiter zu entwickeln. Man versuche, daß das Kind lerne, dieser inneren Konfiguration der Gefühle gemäß die Sätze zu formen. Dabei gehe man weniger so vor, daß man etwa Gedichte oder sonstiges malträtiert, um zu zeigen, wie der oder jener einen Wunschsatz geformt hat, sondern man gehe direkt darauf los, indem man das Kind aussprechen läßt etwas Gewünschtes, dann den Satz formen läßt. Dann läßt man aussprechen etwas Bewunderndes und läßt dann den Satz formen, oder man hilft dem Kinde, den Satz zu formen. Und dann vergleicht man den Wunschsatz mit dem Satz der Bewunderung, um auf diese Weise die Anschauung der inneren Plastik der Sprache weiter auszubilden.
Nun wird das, was in der Naturgeschichte heraufgebracht worden ist, es dem Kinde schon ermöglichen, im Aufsatze leichte Charakteristiken zu geben, sagen wir von dem Wolfe, von dem Löwen, von der Biene und so weiter. Neben diesem mehr auf das allgemein Menschliche in der Bildung Hingehenden pflege man in dieser Zeit besonders die Abfassung von geschäftlich-praktischen Dingen. Der Lehrer muß sich darum kümmern, was es für geschäftlich-praktische Dinge gibt, und muß sie dann in dieser Zeit in einer vernünftigen Form in die Köpfe seiner Schulkinder hineinbringen.
Im achten Schuljahr wird es sich darum handeln, daß man dem Kinde ein zusammenhängendes Verständnis beibringt für länger ausgedehnte prosaische oder poetische Darstellungen, so daß man in dieser Zeit etwas Dramatisches, etwas Episches mit den Kindern liest. Dabei muß man immer berücksichtigen, was ich gesagt habe: Alle Erklärungen, alle Interpretationen vorausgehen lassen, so daß, wenn es ans Lesen kommt, dieses Lesen immer der letzte Abschluß desjenigen ist, was man mit einem gelesenen Stoff tut.
Insbesondere aber darf in diesem achten Schuljahr das GeschäftlichPraktische gerade im Bereiche des Sprachunterrichts nicht außer acht gelassen werden.
Nun wird es sich darum handeln, daß wir in einer möglichen Art, wenn die Kinder das vierte Schuljahr erreicht haben, in den Lehrplan frei die lateinische Sprache aufnehmen können, während wir die französische und englische Sprache in ganz einfacher Weise schon heranbringen an das Kind, wenn es eben in die Schule hereinkommt.
Die lateinische Sprache beginnen wir, wenn das Kind im vierten Schuljahr ist, mit dem Anhören, und soweit es geht, dem Wiedergeben — was sich erst nach und nach ausbilden wird - von kleinen Gesprächsstücken. Man beginne auch da durchaus mit dem Vorsprechen und versuche, an Gesprochenem durch das Gehörte zunächst dasjenige zu erreichen, was eben da gewöhnlich für das erste Jahr vorgeschrieben ist. Man wird dann diesen Unterricht im Lateinischen nach der Anleitung, die ich in den didaktischen Vorträgen gegeben habe, soweit fortführen, daß der Schüler die Volksschule bei uns verläßt mit einem Beherrschen des Lateinischen, wie es sonst etwa dem Unterricht in der Tertia entspricht. Also wir haben im Lateinischen in unserem vierten Schuljahr ja ungefähr dasjenige zu erreichen, was die Sexta gibt; in unserem fünften Schuljahr, was die Quinta gibt; in unserem sechsten Schuljahr, was die Quarta gibt; und dann bleibt uns dasjenige, was als Unterricht in der Tertia zu geben ist.
Daneben führen wir den Unterricht im Französischen und Englischen fort, namentlich mit Berücksichtigung desjenigen, was wir im didaktischen Teil dieser Vorträge gehört haben.
Und wir lassen für diejenigen, die es lernen wollen, von dem sechsten Schuljahr an frei beginnen mit den Elementen des Griechischen, indem wir auch da so verfahren, wie wir es im didaktischen Teil gehört haben. Namentlich versuchen wir aber wiederum, das Schreiben der griechischen Buchstaben dazu zu verwenden, auch dieses Schreiben anhand des Formenzeichnens heranzubilden. Und es wird für diejenigen, die jetzt Griechisch lernen wollen, eine außerordentliche Wohltat sein, in anderen Buchstabenformen dasjenige zu wiederholen, was zuerst beim Herausholen des Schreibens aus dem Zeichnen getrieben werden soll.
Nun, Sie haben gesehen, wir verwenden in freier Weise dasjenige, was aus der nächsten Umgebung bekannt ist, um eben einen freien Sachunterricht zu treiben. Das Kind kann ganz gut, indem es mit dem dritten Schuljahr gegen das neunte Jahr zugeht, durch diesen Sachunterricht eine Anschauung davon haben, wie man — nun, ich kann nur Beispiele herausheben — Mörtel zubereitet, wie man ihn verwendet beim Hausbau. Es kann auch eine Vorstellung davon haben, wie man düngt, wie man ackert, wie der Roggen, der Weizen aussieht. Kurz, in freier Weise läßt man das Kind eindringen in dasjenige seiner nächsten Umgebung, was es verstehen kann.
Dann wird man im vierten Schuljahr von diesem Unterricht aus den Übergang finden, um — noch immer in freier Weise — über das zu sprechen, was der nächstliegenden Geschichte angehört. Man kann zum Beispiel dem Kinde erzählen, wie, sagen wir, wenn es gerade der Tatsache nach sich ergibt, der Weinbau in seine (des Kindes) eigene Heimatgegend gekommen ist, wie der Obstbau gekommen ist, wie diese oder jene Industrie aufgetreten ist und ähnliches.
Dann auch aus der nächstliegenden Geographie. Also man beginnt zunächst, so wie ich es Ihnen dargestellt habe, mit der nächstliegenden Geographie.
Im fünften Schuljahr wird man alle Anstrengungen machen, um mit wirklich geschichtlichen Begriffen für das Kind beginnen zu können. Und man soll durchaus nicht davor zurückschrecken, gerade in dieser Zeit, in der das Kind im fünften Schuljahr ist, dem Kind Begriffe beizubringen über die Kultur der morgenländischen Völker und der Griechen. Die Scheu, in alte Zeiten zurückzugehen, ist nur erzeugt worden durch die Menschen unseres Zeitalters, die keine Fähigkeit haben, entsprechende Begriffe hervorzurufen, wenn man in diese alten Zeiten zurückgeht. Ein zehn- bis elfjähriges Kind kann ganz gut, namentlich wenn man fortwährend an sein Gefühl appelliert, auf alles das aufmerksam gemacht werden, was ihm ein Verständnis beibringen kann für die morgenländischen Völker und für die Griechen.
Daneben beginnt man eben in der Geographie damit, so wie ich es gezeigt habe, Bodenkonfigurationen, und was in wirtschaftlicher Beziehung damit zusammenhängt, für einen gewissen Teil der Erde, den mehr naheliegenden, dem Kinde beizubringen.
In das sechste Schuljahr gehören hinein geschichtliche Betrachtungen über die Griechen und Römer und über die Nachwirkungen der griechischen und römischen Geschichte bis zum Beginn des 15. Jahrhunderrts.
In der Geographie setze man dasjenige fort, was man im fünften Schuljahr gepflegt hat, indem man andere Teile der Erde berücksichtigt, und versuche dann, den Übergang zu finden von den klimatischen Verhältnissen zu den Himmelsverhältnissen, wovon wir gestern Nachmittag einige Proben hier vorgeführt haben.
Im siebenten Schuljahr wird es sich darum handeln, daß man dem Kinde recht begreiflich macht, welches Leben der neueren Menschheit mit dem 15. Jahrhundert heraufzieht, und daß man dann die europäischen und so weiter Verhältnisse etwa bis zum Beginn des 17. Jahrhunderts schildert. Es ist dies der allerwichtigste Zeitraum, auf den man viel Sorgfalt verwenden muß. Es ist wichtiger sogar als das Nächstfolgende.
Dann versuche man in der Geographie die Dinge über die Himmelsverhältnisse fortzusetzen und mit der Betrachtung der geistigen Kulturverhältnisse der Erdbewohner, der Erdenvölker, zu beginnen; immer im Zusammenhang mit dem, was man über die materiellen Kulturverhältnisse, namentlich die wirtschaftlichen Verhältnisse, in den zwei ersten Jahren, in denen Geographie getrieben wurde, für die Kinder gewonnen hat.
Im achten Schuljahr versuche man, mit den Kindern die Geschichte bis herauf zur Gegenwart fortzuführen, wobei man aber wirklich das Kulturgeschichtliche durch und durch berücksichtigt. Das meiste von dem, was den Inhalt der heute noch gebräuchlichen Geschichte ausmacht, erwähne man überhaupt nur nebenbei. Es ist viel wichtiger, daß das Kind erfahre, wie die Dampfmaschine, der mechanische Webstuhl und so weiter die Erde umgestaltet haben, als daß es allzufrüh solche Kuriositäten erfahre wie die Korrektur der Emser Depesche oder dergleichen. Diejenigen Dinge, die in unseren Geschichtsbüchern stehen, sind die allerunwichtigsten für die Erziehung des Kindes. Und selbst Karl der Große und ähnliche geschichtliche Größen sollten im Grunde genommen recht vorübergehend behandelt werden. Was ich Ihnen gestern gesagt habe mit Bezug auf die Art, wie man sich hilft, die abstrakte Zeitvorstellung immer in Konkretes überzuführen, darin tue man recht, recht viel. Denn das ist notwendig, daß man darin recht, recht viel tue.
Nun brauche ich Ihnen wohl nicht zu sagen, daß schon an diesen Lehrgegenständen, von denen wir bis jetzt gesprochen haben, beim Kinde sich mancherlei entwickeln lassen wird von einem Bewußtsein, daß Geist alles durchdringt, was in der Welt vorhanden ist. Daß Geist in unserer Sprache lebt. Daß Geist in dem lebt, was als Geographisches die Erde bedeckt. Daß Geist lebt in dem Leben der Geschichte. Wenn wir versuchen, den lebendigen Geist in allem zu fühlen, dann werden wir auch die richtige Begeisterung finden, diesen lebendigen Geist auf unsere Schüler zu übertragen.
Und dann werden wir an unseren Schülern für die Zukunft wieder gutmachen lernen, was namentlich die religiösen Bekenntnisse seit dem Beginn der neueren Zeit an der Menschheit verschuldet haben. Diese religiösen Bekenntnisse, die nirgends darauf gesehen haben, daß der Mensch sich möglichst frei entwickele, sie haben von den verschiedensten Richtungen her den Materialismus großgezogen. Darf man nicht das gesamte Weltmaterial dazu verwenden, dem Menschen beizubringen, daß Geist wirke, dann wird der religiöse Unterricht zu einer Pflegestätte für den Materialismus. Die religiösen Bekenntnisse haben es sich geradezu zur Aufgabe gemacht, dem übrigen Unterricht zu verbieten, vom Geist und von der Seele zu sprechen, weil die sich dieses als ein Privilegium nehmen wollten. Dabei ist diesen religiösen Bekenntnissen immer mehr die Wirklichkeit über diese Dinge ausgetrocknet, und so ist das, was im Religionsunterricht vorgebracht wird, nur eine Substanz von sentimentalen Redensarten und Phrasen. Und das, was uns heute so furchtbar aufgeht in der Phrase, die in aller Welt herrscht, das ist eigentlich mehr noch ein Ergebnis der Kanzelkultur, als es ein Ergebnis der Weltkultur überhaupt ist. Denn die leersten Phrasen werden in den religiösen Bekenntnissen zutage gefördert und dann durch den Instinkt der Menschheit übertragen in das äußere Leben. Gewiß erzeugt das äußere Leben auch sehr viel von Phrasenhaftem, aber am meisten sündigen in dieser Beziehung doch die religiösen Bekenntnisse.
Wir werden sehen, meine lieben Freunde, wie die erste Rubrik «Religionsunterricht» — die ich auch in dieser Besprechung gar nicht antaste, denn die wird die Aufgabe der Kirchengemeinschaften sein - in unserem Waldorfschul-Unterricht auf die folgenden Rubriken wirken wird. Denn das muß ich ja ganz leer lassen, was da als erste Rubrik steht. Oben wird frei bleiben «Religionsunterricht». Da werden einfach die Stunden dem Religionslehrer überlassen. Da ist er freier Walter. Da hört er nicht auf uns, selbstverständlich. Da hört er auf die Verfassung, auf das Amtsblatt seiner Kirchenverwaltung oder kirchlichen Schulverwaltung. Wir werden unsere Pflicht nach dieser Richtung tun, und werden ruhig unsere Pflicht aber auch in bezug darauf tun, den Geist aus den übrigen Unterrichtsgegenständen für die Kinder hervorzuzaubern.
First Lecture on the Curriculum
My dear friends, there is of course still a great deal to be said in the field of general pedagogy, but in such matters everything must come to a provisional conclusion. And so, in the time we have left this morning, let us transfer what we have considered in general pedagogy and didactics into a rough outline of our teaching objectives for the individual levels. Through both general pedagogical and didactic considerations, we have attempted to gain the necessary perspectives in order to be able to correctly consider the structure of the teaching material with regard to the development of the growing human being. And so we will always be mindful that teaching should be summarized as much as possible in the way I have shown you, that mineralogy can be transferred to geography, that history and geography can be linked in the intellectual treatment of cultural history through the characteristics of peoples. Keeping in mind that one subject can be transitioned into another, we will go through the teaching material, divided into individual categories, as we intend to present it to our pupils.
The first thing we need to consider is that when we welcome the children into the first year of school, we need to find suitable material for them to listen to and then retell. By listening to fairy tales, legends, but also stories about external, realistic realities, and then retelling them, we develop their actual speech. We develop the transition from dialect to educated colloquial language. By ensuring that the child speaks correctly, we also lay the foundation for correct writing.
We will parallel this telling and retelling with the introduction of the child to a certain pictorial language of form. We let the child draw simple, round, angular forms, purely for the sake of the forms, not, as I said, for the sake of imitating an external appearance, but purely for the sake of the forms. And we will not shy away from combining this drawing with simple painting by placing colors next to each other; placing them next to each other in such a way that the child gets a sense of what it means to place red next to green, red next to yellow, and so on.
And from what we achieve in this way, we can introduce writing to the child in the manner we have considered in our didactics. It would be natural for us to gradually seek the transition from drawn shapes to the Latin alphabet. If we are in a position to let the Latin alphabet take precedence, we should definitely do so, because only then will we be able to transfer the Latin alphabet into German. And once the child has learned to write and read simple letter forms that it brings to life in words, we then move on to printed letters. Here, too, we naturally take the Latin letters first and then the German ones.
If we proceed rationally in these matters, then in the first year of school we will be able to get the child to write down in a simple way what is spoken to them or what they themselves decide to write down. We stick to the simple things, and we will get the child to be able to read simple things as well. There is no need to be concerned that the child will achieve anything definitive in this first year. That would be completely wrong. Rather, the aim in this first year is to get the child to the point where they do not feel completely unfamiliar with the printed word and where they are able to write something down in a simple way. That would be, if I may say so, the ideal for teaching language and writing.
This would be aided by what will be discussed later: the elasticity and flexibility that the child will acquire for its vocal organs through singing lessons, and, without this being the intention, a finer sensitivity to elongated, sharpened sounds and so on will develop. This does not need to be intended in musical terms if the child is introduced to the auditory understanding of what the instrument produces in musical terms, initially in a simple and, for the ear — if I may coin the word, because one cannot say “clear” — in an “audible” way; you will understand what I mean: “audible” is that which is now truly experienced internally as one in the many, so that things do not rush in on one's inner perception.
Now, to what has just been said, one will add that which can stimulate the child to think by explaining to him what is obvious: that which should later appear in a more orderly fashion in geography and natural history. This is explained to the child and brought within its understanding by linking it to familiar things — familiar animals, familiar plants, familiar soil configurations, mountains, rivers, meadows. The school calls this local history. But the point is that, especially in the very first year of school, a certain awakening of the child to its surroundings is brought about; an awakening of the soul, so that it learns to really connect itself with its surroundings.
And then, when the second year of school begins, one will try to continue and further develop the practice of telling stories and having the children retell them. In the second year of school, the child can gradually be guided to write down what is told to them. And then, once they have been trained to write down what is told to them, they can also be encouraged to reproduce what they have been taught about animals, plants, meadows, and forests in the surrounding area in very short descriptions.
Now, it would be important not to focus too much on grammar and so on in the first year of school. But in the second year, children should already be taught concepts such as what a noun is, what an adjective is, and what a verb is. And this should be followed up in a simple, vivid way with a discussion of the structure of sentences.
With regard to description, the thoughtful description of the environment, one should continue what was begun in the first year of school.
The third year of school will essentially be a continuation of the second year with regard to speaking, reading, writing, and many other things. The ability to write down what one has seen and read will be expanded. However, an attempt will now also be made to awaken in the child a conscious feeling for short, long, drawn-out sounds, and so on. This feeling for speech articulation and speech configuration in general is something that can be pursued well in the eighth and ninth years, when the child is in the third school year. One should then try to give the child a mental image of the parts of speech, the sentence elements, and the structure of a sentence, i.e., the integration of punctuation marks, commas, periods, and so on into the sentence.
The fourth school year will again be a continuation of the third school year in terms of pre-telling and retelling. And it will be good, when dealing with poetry – short poems – to let the child instinctively feel rhythm, rhyme, and meter, especially in the first and second years of school, and to bring the inner form of the poem, that is, what relates to the inner beauty of the poem, to the child's perception in the third and fourth years of school.
Then, however, one should try to transfer what the child has learned with regard to written retelling and written description to the writing of letters, letters of all kinds. Then, especially at this time, one should try to evoke in the child a clear mental image of the tenses, of all that is expressed by the conjugations of the verb. So that at this stage, between the ages of nine and ten, the child acquires what it needs to acquire in this regard, that it develops a feeling for it, that it does not say: The man ran — when it should say: The man has run. — So that it does not confuse the past tense, the so-called preterite, with the perfect tense or the past tense. That it gets a feeling for when one says: The man stood — and when one says: The man has stood — and similar things in relation to the inflected forms of what is expressed by the verb. Similarly, one should try to teach the child emotionally, instinctively, the connection, for example, between prepositions and what precedes them. But everywhere, see that the child gains a feeling for how to say “an” in one place, “bei” in another, and so on. Structuring language vividly is what should be practiced in the mother tongue around the age of ten. Feel the language vividly!
Now it will be a matter of continuing in the fifth school year everything we did in the fourth, and of taking into account from then on the difference between active and passive verb forms, i.e., the active and passive uses of the verb. Then, during this period, we should try to encourage the child not only to freely reproduce what they have seen and heard, but also, as far as possible, to quote what they have heard and read in direct speech. In other words, to quote it as one would have to quote it if one were to write it in quotation marks. Try to get the child to practice a lot in taking into account, in the way they speak, when they are expressing their own opinion and when they are communicating the opinion of someone else. Then, in what you have them write, try to make a strong distinction between what they themselves think and have seen, etc., and what they are communicating from the mouths of others. And in connection with this, try to perfect the use of punctuation marks once again. — Letter writing will then be further developed.
And when they enter the sixth grade, we naturally continue everything we did in the fifth grade. And we now try to teach the child a strong sense of what the subjunctive is in terms of style. In doing so, we talk about these things in examples as much as possible, so that the child learns to distinguish between what can be stated directly and what must be expressed in the subjunctive. And we try to do speech exercises with the child in which we take great care to ensure that nothing is overlooked that the child does incorrectly with regard to the use of the subjunctive. So if the child says, “I will make sure that my little sister learns to walk,” never let them get away with saying, “I will make sure that my little sister learns to walk,” so that a strong sense of this inner plasticity of language is transferred into their feeling for language.
Now let the letters transition into easy, vivid business essays that deal with things the child has already learned elsewhere. In the third school year, what is said about meadows, forests, and so on can already be extended to business relationships, so that later there is material for writing simple business essays.
In the seventh year of school, you will have to continue what was done in the sixth year. And now try to develop in the child a correct, vivid grasp of the forms of expression for wishing, astonishment, admiration, and so on. Try to teach the child to form sentences according to this inner configuration of feelings. In doing so, one should not so much maltreat poems or other texts in order to show how this or that person has formed a sentence of desire, but rather go directly to the point by letting the child express something desired and then form the sentence. Then let the child express something admirable and then form the sentence, or help the child to form the sentence. And then the wish sentence is compared with the sentence of admiration, in order to further develop the perception of the inner plasticity of language.
Now, what has been brought up in natural history will already enable the child to give simple characteristics in an essay, say, of the wolf, the lion, the bee, and so on. In addition to this more general humanistic approach to education, particular attention should be paid at this stage to the composition of practical business matters. The teacher must take care to identify practical business matters and then, at this stage, introduce them to his or her pupils in a sensible form.
In the eighth grade, the aim will be to teach the child a coherent understanding of longer prose or poetic works, so that during this period something dramatic, something epic, is read with the children. In doing so, one must always bear in mind what I have said: all explanations and interpretations must come first, so that when it comes to reading, this reading is always the final conclusion of what one does with the material that has been read.
In particular, however, in this eighth school year, practical business matters must not be neglected, especially in the area of language teaching.
Now it will be a matter of freely incorporating Latin into the curriculum in a feasible way when the children reach the fourth grade, while we introduce French and English to the child in a very simple way as soon as they enter school.
We begin teaching Latin when the child is in the fourth year of school, starting with listening and, as far as possible, repeating short pieces of conversation, which will develop gradually. We also begin with speaking and try to achieve, through listening, what is usually prescribed for the first year. We will then continue these Latin lessons according to the instructions I gave in the didactic lectures, so that the student leaves elementary school with a command of Latin that corresponds to the level taught in the third year. So, in Latin, in our fourth school year, we have to achieve roughly what the sixth grade achieves; in our fifth school year, what the fifth grade achieves; in our sixth school year, what the fourth grade achieves; and then we are left with what is to be taught in the third grade.
In addition, we continue teaching French and English, taking into account what we have heard in the didactic part of these lectures.
And for those who want to learn it, we allow them to start freely with the elements of Greek from the sixth school year onwards, proceeding as we have heard in the didactic part. In particular, we will again try to use the writing of Greek letters to develop this writing on the basis of form drawing. And it will be an extraordinary benefit for those who now want to learn Greek to repeat in other letter forms what is to be done first when extracting writing from drawing.
Well, you have seen that we freely use what is familiar from the immediate environment to teach a free subject. By the third school year, as they approach the age of nine, children can gain a good understanding of how to prepare mortar and how to use it in house building through this subject teaching. They can also form a mental image of how to fertilize, how to plow, and what rye and wheat look like. In short, children are allowed to freely explore their immediate surroundings in a way that they can understand.
Then, in the fourth year of school, this teaching will provide a transition to talking — still in a free manner — about what belongs to the most immediate history. For example, you can tell the child how, say, if it just so happens, viticulture came to their (the child's) own home region, how fruit growing came about, how this or that industry emerged, and so on.
Then also from the most immediate geography. So you start first, as I have described to you, with the most immediate geography.
In the fifth grade, every effort will be made to begin with truly historical concepts for the child. And one should not shy away from teaching the child concepts about the culture of the Oriental peoples and the Greeks, especially at this time when the child is in the fifth grade. The reluctance to go back to ancient times has only been created by the people of our age, who are unable to conjure up the appropriate concepts when going back to these ancient times. A ten- to eleven-year-old child can be made aware of everything that can teach them an understanding of the peoples of the East and the Greeks, especially if their feelings are constantly appealed to.
In addition, as I have shown, geography begins by teaching children about soil configurations and their economic implications for a certain part of the earth that is more familiar to them.
The sixth school year includes historical considerations about the Greeks and Romans and about the aftermath of Greek and Roman history until the beginning of the 15th century.
In geography, continue what was cultivated in the fifth school year by considering other parts of the earth, and then try to find the transition from climatic conditions to celestial conditions, of which we presented some examples here yesterday afternoon.
In the seventh school year, the aim will be to make it clear to the child what life was like for modern humanity from the 15th century onwards, and then to describe European and other conditions up to the beginning of the 17th century. This is the most important period, to which great care must be paid. It is even more important than what follows.
Then, in geography, one should continue with the study of celestial phenomena and begin to consider the spiritual cultural conditions of the earth's inhabitants, the peoples of the earth, always in connection with what the children have learned about material cultural conditions, especially economic conditions, in the first two years of geography.
In the eighth school year, try to continue the history with the children up to the present, but really take cultural history thoroughly into account. Most of what constitutes the content of history still in use today should only be mentioned in passing. It is much more important for the child to learn how the steam engine, the mechanical loom, and so on have transformed the earth than to learn too early about such curiosities as the correction of the Ems Dispatch or the like. The things that are in our history books are the least important for the education of the child. And even Charlemagne and similar historical figures should, in principle, be treated only in passing. What I told you yesterday about the way in which one helps oneself to always translate the abstract concept of time into something concrete, one should do a great deal of that. For it is necessary to do a great deal of that.
Now, I probably don't need to tell you that even with the subjects we have discussed so far, children will develop an awareness that spirit permeates everything that exists in the world. That spirit lives in our language. That spirit lives in what geographically covers the earth. That spirit lives in the life of history. If we try to feel the living spirit in everything, then we will also find the right enthusiasm to convey this living spirit to our students.
And then we will learn to make amends to our students for the future for what religious confessions in particular have done to humanity since the beginning of modern times. These religious confessions, which have never sought to allow human beings to develop as freely as possible, have fostered materialism from a wide variety of directions. If we are not allowed to use all the material in the world to teach people that spirit is at work, then religious instruction becomes a breeding ground for materialism. Religious confessions have made it their mission to forbid other forms of instruction from speaking of spirit and soul, because they wanted to claim this as their privilege. At the same time, the reality of these things has increasingly dried up in these religious confessions, and so what is presented in religious education is only a substance of sentimental sayings and phrases. And what strikes us so terribly today in the phrase that prevails throughout the world is actually more a result of pulpit culture than it is a result of world culture at all. For the emptiest phrases are brought to light in religious confessions and then transferred to outer life by the instinct of humanity. Certainly, outer life also produces a great deal of phraseology, but it is religious confessions that sin most in this regard.
We will see, my dear friends, how the first category, “religious instruction” — which I will not touch upon in this discussion, as that will be the task of the church communities — will affect the following categories in our Waldorf school teaching. For I must leave the first category completely blank. “Religious instruction” will remain free at the top. The lessons will simply be left to the religion teacher. There he is freer, Walter. There he does not listen to us, of course. There he listens to the constitution, to the official gazette of his church administration or church school administration. We will do our duty in this regard, and we will also calmly do our duty in relation to conjuring up the spirit of the other subjects for the children.