Art Education In Curriculum

Rudolf Steiner’s education and pedagogy philosophy was inspired by nature. Intrigued and fascinated by the process and beauty involved in the unfolding of a flower, Steiner believed human growth and development worked in a quite similar manner. The philosopher argued that “with each phase of physical growth, a new mode of knowing unfolds which must be given particular opportunities to develop fully” (Smolen 1). The Steiner Schools philosophy is based on this theory, schools which attempt to recreate an environment that is most conducive to this type of unfolding or development, one that is whole and integrative.

The arts are the learning curriculum used to integrate the child with his or her environment. Steiner argued that human beings possess more than five senses. He argued that the development of all of these senses must be stimulated in order for optimal development or unfolding of the individual to occur “Steiner believed that people actually have twelve senses-the accepted five plus thought, language, warmth, balance, movement, life, and the individuality of the other” (Oppenheimer 4). Art allows

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ken outdoors to experiment with moving big branches and a log before doing mathematical formulas for leverage. (Smolen 2) One can see from the above depiction that learning in Steiner-based schools where art takes the central role in the curriculum is a whole and integrative process that involves mixed environments and is designed to develop learning and growth from the concrete to the abstract. In so doing, children learn creative and practical skills at the same time they learn abstract theories and formulas. Children are not graded until the seventh grade and the rush to learn to read at other types of schools is de-emphasized. Further, children learn by playing, a playing that becomes more purposeful as they age. Wood carving, knitting, and other artistic skills are learned as a means of developing individuality, form, style, and injecting a sense of the material into a world that is becoming more technologically oriented at an ever-faster pace. Not only are physical skills learned but intellectual and psychological skills are developed simultaneously. As the wood-shop instructor at one Steiner-based school asserts “Why learn an archaic art like wood carving moments before we enter the twenty-first century? You almo
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Approximate Word count = 1210
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page)