Rudolf Steiner
Born Feb 27th, 1861 – Died March 30, 1925
Anthroposophy, August 1925, Vol. IV, No. 8
Some Notes on the Educational Work of Rudolf Steiner
by Millicent Mackenzie
It is well, when a great teacher passes from our midst, to endeavour to record, however imperfectly, some of the impressions left upon the minds of those who knew and loved him, before these impressions have time to get blurred and dimmed. The time is not yet ripe for a systematic and exhaustive estimate of Steiner’s educational theory and practice. He did not live to see the full fruition of his labours, hardly more than the early blossoming was there to rejoice his heart. These few notes are written with the intention of emphasising in connection with his educational views some points which not only seem to be of special importance, but which were stressed by him in conversations as well as in his books and lectures.
It is to two important aspects of his educational work that special attention will here be drawn, and partly for the sake of clearness and partly because of limitations of space, our present consideration will be limited to these. In any case, we can hardly go wrong in regarding as fundamental to Rudolf Steiner’ s educational views – his attitude towards freedom and the supersensible.
1. Freedom
It is obviously impossible here to deal with all the aspects of his work in this direction. His views on the necessary freedom for the teacher; on education as a process of setting free, gradually and in the right manner, the spiritual elements in human nature and all the necessary corollaries of this process – e.g., special teaching methods and organization of school work and the function of Eurythmy in setting free the forces of body and mind, must here be omitted from consideration.
There is just one aspect of this freedom to which we shall now confine our attention, and it is one which those who came into personal contact with Rudolf Steiner know that he regarded as absolutely vital to the widespread efficacy of his educational views, and yet is one which, because of its very magnitude and apparent difficulty of attainment, is liable to be, if not overlooked, at least discounted as at present impracticable. Yet if it is once lost sight of, much of the significance of his educational message will be missed. This important view concerns the position and sphere of activity for education within the state or commonwealth. Until education and other spiritual activities are freed from the domination of political and economic authority, national education cannot become wholly free. How fundamental a matter Rudolf Steiner felt this to be is partly shown by the fact that, although in earlier years he was more than once pressed to set forth his views upon education, he refrained from doing so until his vision of the threefold commonwealth had been formulated.
Some have regretted that he did not earlier turn his attention to the tremendously important subject of education. Had this been possible, how many more teachers might have been trained and inspired, how many more schools founded while still he was there to guide and direct! But there is no doubt that the delay was at least partly due to his conviction that education is not an isolated problem, but is intimately related to other sides of the life of a people and can only be satisfactorily solved in relation to national (and perhaps even international) organization as a whole. Now it is very significant that his lectures on teaching were delivered after the publication of The Threefold Commonwealth, in which was clearly indicated the place of education as an essentially spiritual activity, which together with art, philosophy and science, must be organized upon an independent basis within the state and be freed from the domination of purely political and economic control. Only in a condition of freedom can spiritual forces come to full manifestation, and this is perhaps more true in regard to education than of any other important human activity.
Of course it must not be forgotten that another factor which determined the opening of an educational campaign was the opportunity afforded in 1919 for founding the Waldorf School. Rudolf Steiner was always very practical, and his recognition of education as an art, nay more, as a fine art, made it essential to secure some opportunity for the concrete expression of his educational principles. What splendid use he made of this opportunity is well known and need not be dwelt upon here. It is rather our purpose to show that it afforded means only for a partial expression of his ideas and that it is necessary still to strive towards a fuller application of his educational aims.
At present the Waldorf and other schools inspired by him are ‘private’ institutions, supported only by a very limited part of the community which they serve. It was to him indeed a matter of very earnest concern how best to liberate education as a whole from its present subservient condition in the state. Of course the complete reorganisation of national life on the basis of a recognition of its threefold activities, would provide the one really satisfactory solution. Short of that he felt that something might be done by the voluntary banding themselves together of all who believe in the supremacy of spiritual activities, in order to secure fuller recognition of this supremacy in matters educational, so that eventually schools might be freed from the present condition of almost purely legal and financial control. To this end he urged the formation of an educational or school union composed of parents, teachers and all who recognised the importance of reorganizing education under free conditions. This body might, he thought, even become sufficiently strong to be able to provide the necessary financial basis for free educational work during the transition period, and could in any case bring the required pressure to bear on public opinion which might lead in time to the drastic changes involved in the reorganization of society on the lines of a threefold commonwealth.
In order to demonstrate the way in which his teachings would affect school work and organization, he approved the foundation or adaptation of certain schools in different countries, according to what may be termed the ‘Waldorf method’, but it seems pretty clear that he neither desired (except as a temporary measure) the establishment of a series of privately supported schools, nor the mere patching up of those moribund under existing state systems, by the introduction of some of his methods. Of course it is obvious that in these ways knowledge of his views may be spread and the way prepared for some more fundamental change, but it is well to remember that there is always the danger of losing sight of his more comprehensive view of an education organized upon free spiritual lines, a living force able to set the world free from a one-sided materialism. It would be a tragedy indeed if the net result of all his educational efforts should be just one more ‘special method’ adopted by certain select schools and destined to be studied, with others, by future students of the history of education.
Rudolf Steiner always gave out living ideas, capable of growth and development under suitable conditions, all that was stereotyped and dead was alien to his soul. He planted seeds, which in a right soil of spiritual life, freedom and love may grow into forms undreamed of yet. The possibilities of root, trunk, leaves, blossom and apple lie hidden in the apple-pip. Nature’s power of metamorphosis has its counterpart in realms of human thought and action. May those who have faith in the seeds sown by Steiner, secure for them the necessary conditions for growth and expression, awaiting with open minds and understanding hearts the perhaps unexpected developments that the future may hold.
2. The Supersensible
It is neither necessary nor possible here to enter into any deep consideration either of Rudolf Steiner’s views on the significance of the supersensible worlds, or of the means by which we may attain knowledge in regard to them. All who believe that the material world as apprehended by our senses requires a spiritual interpretation in order to become fully intelligible, must also realize that human nature – upon a right knowledge of which education must depend for its success – can only be understood from the point of view of the supersensible.
If the body and sense life constitute only part of man’ s nature, knowledge of the other elements which go to make up a human being are, obviously, required by the educator. All this may be readily admitted, but yet it may be difficult to know what is really implied. Many are frankly puzzled to know whether they should accept all on authority or attempt themselves to get supersensible experience to help them in their work. A comparison with the way in which our intellectual powers develop may help us here. We should not get very far in mathematical or other scientific investigation if we depended only on sense data or even upon our own experience. Imagination and reason are necessary for progress and we develop these powers within ourselves by training and exercise. But we also need to use the results of those who have led the way in these investigations, and it is with their aid that we advance in knowledge. Mathematicians and all scientific workers at the present day use the results of former investigators even when they make new discoveries. Even so, the other latent powers within us may be developed by training and exercise and we owe to Rudolf Steiner practical guidance as to the ways in which we may develop all that is implied in imagination, inspiration and intuition. Belief in the wisdom of his views about education does not relieve teachers from the necessity of developing their own powers, or of learning to stand upon their own feet.
The teacher however who would wish to develop his own soul forces finds the problem complicated by difficulties arising from language. It has often been stated that Rudolf Steiner’s views are based upon ‘exact clairvoyance’, but the precise significance to be attached to this expression is not very clear. ‘Exact’ is obviously not the right English word to express the idea. It gives an impression of something lifeless and mechanical. The terms ‘true’ or ‘real’, especially if combined with ‘adequate’ or ‘complete’, would better convey his thought. The word ‘clairvoyance’ presents an even greater difficulty. There is no word either in English or German which properly expresses the mode of apprehension of supersensible phenomena, and this French term has been borrowed. In England at least it is unfortunately associated popularly with ghost-seeing and fortune-telling powers of an atavistic kind. Clairvoyance – ‘clear-seeing’ – also stresses too much the visual side of supersensible knowledge. Steiner more than once pointed out this danger. What is of importance in education is the possibility of a real and understanding relationship between teacher and pupil, but the modes of this relation may vary considerably. Through appropriate exercises some may attain supersensible sight and some hearing; but many who develop real intuitive awareness of what is passing in the minds of their pupils would find it difficult perhaps to relate this mode of knowledge to any particular physical sense. It seems important to stress this point, as there is always grave danger of the words of a great teacher being taken as binding and authoritative in form as well as in spirit. Rudolf Steiner has given us the results of his own investigations into human and especially into child-nature. These he gave to serve as guides and aids in educational work, but those who were trained by him know that they were never intended to supersede the individual efforts of the teachers he inspired. The true scientific spirit which he desired to foster demands constant investigation, comparison and readjustment of phenomena, in order to keep pace with the evolution of the world and of human nature. It is for those who followed and loved this great teacher to see to it that his educational work is kept living and progressive, renewing itself with perpetual youth, so that it may in time fulfil his great vision of the future of humanity.