The Arts
Art, music, drama and movement are a direct line to deeper levels of the human being; they work with subtle qualities of experience. In accessing these levels and exploring them we can encourage flourishing of a different kind to the purely intellectual. Working ‘in the body’ (as opposed to predominantly ‘in the head’) opens many doors to learning as the process is, by its very nature, individual and self-expressive. It is also a process which is led and owned by the child making it the ultimate form of differentiated learning. The Steiner approach brings the arts into the teaching of all subjects.
Traditional Crafts and Practical Intelligence
“By rekindling our relationship with the Earth, by working with the materials it provides, through traditional crafts and landscape skills we can regain our sense of self. We can rediscover that by working to transform these materials we transform ourselves also. By teaching our children these skills we can enable them to craft their own futures.” (Bernard Graves)
Competence in practical tasks should be valued as much as mastering key skills in academic subjects. If children are to live sustainable lives as adults they need to learn independence in a multitude of areas from cooking to building and gardening.
The Steiner curriculum offers a rich experience of traditional crafts such as knitting, crochet, spinning, sewing, weaving, basketry, pottery, bronze work, iron forging and woodwork and bush-craft at different ages. The learning of ancient skills serves many purposes:
- to understand and appreciate processes which are no longer widespread in the Western world,
- to teach sustainable living,
- to develop specific development (such as hand-eye co-ordination, left-right brain co-ordination, fine motor skills etc)
- to encourage emotional maturity and resilience which comes through grappling with the diverse challenges and problem-solving presented in each activity.
