Eternalised

The Real Purpose of Education | Rudolf Steiner

In his adolescence, Steiner began to tutor fellow students, which forced him to concern himself with practical psychology and the difficulties of human soul development. He once tutored a boy considered so abnormal in his physical and mental development that the family doubted he could be educated at all. Steiner felt that an education adapted to his individual condition would awaken his dormant capacities. He was convinced that the child had great intellectual capacities. By gaining the child’s love and using carefully adjusted methods, including shorter lessons, the child improved significantly, and after a few years, he passed the entrance exams for classical studies. His health also improved. He entered a school of medicine and became a physician. Serving in that capacity, he was killed in the First World War. Through his years of tutoring, Steiner became familiar with the needs of young people and basic methods of modern education. This proved useful when he would later develop the methods of education behind the Waldorf school movement. He realised that education must be an art based on true knowledge of the human being. The whole task of education is not about giving out information, but awakening hidden potential. The mind is not a vessel to be filled, but a fire to be kindled. #education #waldorf #rudolfsteiner #awakening