Soul Economy : Body, Soul, and Spirit in Waldorf Education

The important lectures in this volume were given by Rudolf Steiner in Dornach, Switzerland, to leading educators, including many from England. As a result, he was invited to Oxford, England, to expand on some of the themes presented in these lectures. Steiner begins by placing Anthroposophy as the foundation for understanding the principles behind Waldorf education. In the talks that follow, he describes an education based on the human being as a continually developing being of body, soul, and spirit. Out of this perspective, Waldorf education depends on the teacher''s ability to observe and respond to each stage of a child''s development. Steiner shows how Waldorf education emphasizes the efficient use of children''s inner energies, and how children can be nurtured through their natural stages of development by giving them just what they need at the right time - an approach that he refers to in these talks as "soul economy." The topics on education include: health and illness, children from before the seventh year through adolescence, physical education, esthetic education, and religious and moral education. These detailed and accessible lectures give parents and teachers the keys to a much-needed renewal of education for our children and their future.