Hier finden Sie die englische Fassung zur Geographie aus dem vertikalen Lehrplan der Waldorfpädagogik (aus der deutschen Fassung: „Pädagogischer Auftrag und Unterrichtsziele- vom Lehrplan der Waldorfschule“, Hrsg. Tobias Richter, 4. Auflage, 2016) übersetzt von Norman Skillen. Im vertikalen Lehrplan findet sich der Aufbau der Unterrichtsfächer vom 1. bis zum 12. Schuljahr. Die beiden Teile 1 und 2 „Pädagogischer Auftrag und Zielsetzungen an Waldorfschulen“ und den „Horizontalen Lehrplan“ finden Sie in der gedruckten englischen Publikation XY (Angaben von Douglas Gerwin verwenden). Die Angaben sind als Rahmenlehrplan und Impuls für die eigene Arbeit zu verstehen. Ansätze davon sollten unbedingtan das kulturelle Umfeld angepasst werden. Bei der hier vorliegenden Übersetzung handelt es sich um Hinweise und Angaben für die deutschsprachigen Waldorfschulen. Die Herausgeber sind sich bewusst, dass vieles nicht in andere Kulturräume übertragbar ist – sie sind aber der Überzeugung, dass diese Übersetzung sehr wohl Anregungen geben kann, sich eigene Lehrpläne und Unterrichtsziele zu erarbeiten.
There is scarcely another subject as complex as practical knowledge, nor one that touches upon so many other subjects. It is thanks to this subject that we are able to bring the child “down to earth”, and thus to prepare the ground for his or her subsequent coming of age. Out of the participatory oneness that characterises the relationship to the world in the pre-school years, a more dreamy consciousness which persists into the first two years of school, the child can be gradually guided towards seeing the world in a more wakeful, differentiated way. In doing this, of course, it is important that the close connection the child has to nature, animals and people is not torn asunder. That which was given until the age of seven or eight must be consciously engendered and nurtured in the years that follow through ever more intense contact with the surrounding world. In achieving this, besides colourful and evocative narrative descriptions of the basic professions and crafts and accounts of how they were/are practised locally, an essential role is played by practical activities of various kinds, e.g. ploughing, planting and processing grain, house-building, gardening (all according to what local conditions permit).
If we wish to make a contribution to partnership with nature, we must appeal to the children’s feelings, establishing a relationship to nature that does not stop at the factual-intellectual, but affirms our deep connection with and responsibility towards her, always through practical projects.
For the first three years of school the overall aim of this subject can be stated as follows: the children should be brought into close connection with their surroundings and with the world of human work.
With class 4 a clear process of thematic differentiation begins: starting from local geography, in other words, the exploration of the children’s home surroundings, the focus gradually expands into wider realms both of space (geography and astronomy, the natural history of animal, plant and human being) and time (history).
We do need to speak in terms of these different subjects from class 4 on, but at the same time the elements of practical knowledge each one contains needs to be recognised and given due consideration. The implication here is that from history lessons, say, it becomes clear how the after-effects of Greco-Roman culture, the Middle Ages, the Renaissance and the inventions of the industrial revolution are still influencing our way of life today. For geography this would mean viewing climate and topography in relation to transport, economy and patterns of settlement. For mother tongue lessons this aspect appears in business writing, just as in maths it takes the form of commercial arithmetic. Steiner was even keen that it not be left out of religion lessons, suggesting that now and then different themes, such as the steam engine or something from astronomy, be included (Steiner GA 294, 03.09.1919, lecture 12 (German edition 1990, p.168ff.)).
Thus the aim for the period between the ages of nine and twelve could be summarised as follows: everything that is taught should reflect and meet the children’s need to experience the realities of nature and the world, so that they may learn to love and appreciate them.
The subjects that deal with fundamental aspects of nature (physics and chemistry) provide class 7 and 8 students with an understanding of the world around them: “We live in a world produced by human beings, moulded by human thought, of which we make use, and which we do not understand in the least. This lack of comprehension for human creation, or for the results of human thought, is of great significance for the whole way we feel about the world [….] The worst thing is participation in a world made by human heads and hands without bothering in the least about that world.” (Steiner GA 294, 03.09.1919, lecture 12 (German edition 1990, p. 161f))
From this we can derive the general aim for all the aspects of practical knowledge that permeate everything taught in the period after the age of twelve: the students should acquire an initial working knowledge of the most important technologies of every-day life – albeit not only in a way that helps them feel at home with them, but that also takes every opportunity to stimulate their curiosity about what is going on around them.
In schools where it is customary to do a so-called “class 8 project”, this offers a perfect opportunity for students to engage with such technological topics in ways appropriate to their age, and thus to satisfy their curiosity, or develop it further.
Methodological considerations
For the young child the surrounding world, in other words, people, animals, plants, stones, stars, sun and moon and seasons, is something that is accepted without question. If we succeed in constantly renewing experience of how all these realms belong together, this can bring about trust, gratitude and a feeling of security. In the first seven years of life, these feelings form a fundamental mood, which can be expressed as “the world is good!”
In grade 1 the children should begin to make distinctions in their perception of nature, which also means, of course, that they learn to be more alive to its unity. In stories, in looking together at plants etc., and through descriptions in which they can experience many special aspects of nature, ranging from the largest to the smallest, and including both highly delicate and awesomely powerful experiences, they are given much to set them thinking. These stories and descriptions, however, will not reach the children unless they speak with the voice of the human soul. In this way the feeling arises that there is nothing in the world that is not charged with meaning. “It is precisely as a preparation for confronting the real situation we are currently facing that these experiences are especially important […] (because) they not only lay the tracks for the future, but ‘set the points’ as well.” (Suchantke 2007: p. 196f.)
Suggested lesson content
The kingdoms of nature, the elements, the seasons, the heavenly bodies should be given “voice”, as it were. The idea here, of course, is not to ply the children with things “fantastic” and fanciful, but to give them authentically imaginative stories. These can and should take the form of parables. Nature stories of the kind found in collections such as Dan Lindholm’s Wie die Sterne entstanden (How the stars came to be) and teaching stories, such as those of Erhard Fucke and Inge Finkbeiner, are prime examples of what is meant here.
Methodological considerations
If in grade 1 the children have learnt to see the world around them with “new”, more wakeful eyes, and begun to take in its “language”, in grade 2 the human being’s relationship and inter-connection with the kingdoms of nature can begin to become part of their experience. The sense of what could be called active identification, or simply “love for the world”, that grows out of this is of crucial significance. Up to grade 8, to the time of puberty, it goes through a gradual transformation that can then be recognised as “responsibility”.
Suggested lesson content
The sort of material that might be used for these purposes includes: “The Stones of Plouhinec (a Breton folk tale), “Little Lusmore” (an Irish folk tale), “How the stars came to be” (a Norwegian folk tale); teaching stories that could have titles such as “the Child and the Oak Tree”, “the Wolf and the Star Treasure”, “Where Water comes from”, “The Miner and the Little People” and many more. These are not intended as “ready-made” stories, but simply to indicate through the thematic ground they cover what the real point is: namely, to find, possibly invent, and tell stories that express something of our inter-connectedness to the world at large. The figure of St. Francis of Assisi and his humble reverence for all creatures can be taken as the exemplary focus for all lesson design.
All the way through classes 1 and 2 every lesson can be introduced by engaging the children in dialogue about what is going on in the world of nature, or what they encountered on the way to school, what they discovered on their last class outing etc. Such little discussions of the children’s experiences together with the things that they bring with them to school (birds’ nests, flowers, chestnuts, fruits, stones, horns, snail-shells etc.) can now provide the material for many aspects of practical knowledge. Whole main lessons can be devoted to some topics, while others can be handled within other contexts.
Methodological considerations
At the age of nine, children, as has been alluded to many times already, go through a major transition in their development, whereby their relationship to the world changes from one of participatory identification to one of increasing detachment. The world changes, we could say, from intimate home to living environment. The children now have a need to graspthis new world (in the truest sense of the word), insofar as they are capable of doing so at this age. In succeeding years an understanding of nature, animals, human beings, work and technology can gradually develop out of this. By incorporating in a main lesson the knowledge and practical experience of what is involved in building a house, or everything a farmer has to do, from ploughing to sowing and harvesting, in order to end up with bread, the children can be given an idea of complex working processes that span a long period of time. In this way a schooling of intelligence takes place though concrete objects. Here it is important that at the moment when the world appears and is inwardly experienced as “other” the connection to it is not torn asunder, culminating in rational abstraction, but is sought anew through practical action that opens up the wider context.
Suggested lesson content
The topics concentrated on here will, of course, depend on where in the world the school is situated.
Methodological considerations
The last of the main lessons devoted to practical knowledge as a subject in its own right comes in grade 3, but following Steiner’s injunction that “all teaching must provide insights into practical life” (Steiner GA 192, 11.05.1919 (German edition 1991, p. 98)) it does not, of course, disappear. Indeed, from here on it receives special consideration.
Local history and geography isa subject in which various aspects of practical knowledge figure large. Whereas before attention tended towards generalities (connection with nature, knowledge of the world of work), now its orientation becomes “spatial and temporal”. This creates a new point of focus, which will differentiate into the co-ordinates of space (geography) and time (history) in the following year.
The idea is that the child become acquainted with the geography of the school’s immediate surroundings – the town, the village – and their history right up to the present. This entails taking up an entirely new point of orientation: “We try to take the child through the difference between standing in a landscape and looking down on it from the air; that is, we show him the transformation into a map of the landscape immediately familiar to him.” (Steiner 1990: GA 294, Lecture XI) Drawing a map entails knowing the four cardinal points and how they can be found in relation to the courses of sun and moon.
And in order to show how certain types of agriculture or industry fit into the picture, Steiner suggests that we tell the children of grade 4, “when the subject naturally arises, how wine- or fruit-growing, or how one industry or another came into their neighbourhood”. (Steiner GA 294, 02.09.1919 (German edition 1974, p. 150))
The aim of this subject could be summed up as “gaining a bird’s-eye view”, so that personal location and direction-finding are possible. This provides the basis upon which the much-maligned concept of “local history and geography” can be justified: Through being made aware of their relationship to their geographical and social context, a sense of belonging can awaken in the children. A place only becomes home, of course, when it also creates a feeling of security. At this stage of development, when the child is putting many things in question, this is likely to be very important. It is not the natural sort of warmth and security which we hope the child has experienced up to the age of nine, but one which rests upon understanding, and a conscious awakening to his or her surroundings.
Suggested lesson content
In accordance with the dynamics of child development there is now a shift of emphasis in the curriculum: In classes 5 and 6 it begins by bringing the children closer to the earth. Starting from what they already know of their home ground (®Local history and geography, class/grade 4) they are introduced to a wider sphere of economic activity, in other words, human action in relation to the earth, with the human being as the partner of nature. This has the effect of strengthening the bond the children have with the earth. In classes 7 and 8, then, the focus is on cultural geography. Now the students have the opportunity to become acquainted with a range of human cultures. Thus, in geography what begins in the middle of childhood as a movement towards feeling at home on the physical earth is complemented in the pre-puberty years by a counter-movement in the direction of how the human soul expresses itself in different corners of the earth.
Methodological considerations
Teaching physical geography to children in the middle of childhood means setting before them a rich store of facts, which are saturated in experience. Everything they are told about the features of the earth should engage the pupils’ feelings. Dealing with the causes of these phenomena is not yet the central concern. What we offer is a portrayalof a selection of landscapes characteristic of the wider geographic context within the continent the school is situated in, and conveying an initial acquaintance with its topography. Thus the pupils come to see how the land displays a three-level structure in plains, hills and mountains, interspersed with “mini-regions” of various kinds. It is important that the modes of commerce and transport they encountered in the local geography lesson in class 4 are to be found within the expanded horizons they are now concerned with. In principle the aim is not to teach straightforward “national” geography, but to convey something of the diversity, in terms of landscape and culture, of a fairly large-scale region.
Suggested lesson content
The children are taken on “voyages of discovery”, for instance, down rivers that take them over the borders of their home country, thus opening up for them the structural diversity, in terms of landscape and economic activity, of the greater region beyond the immediate locality of the school (and part of a particular continent).This can include “voyages along coastlines”, “mountain expeditions”, “desert safaris” etc.
Methodological considerations
In grade 6 the descriptive horizon can be expanded to take in the whole of the “home” continent (this could also be done in a second main lesson in grade 5). This is then followed by a systematic survey of all the continents, so that the students gain a living sense of the earth as a whole. The continents are compared in terms of their particular topography and morphology (outline, river systems, mountain ranges, celestial phenomena, climate, vegetation etc.). Here astronomy must be seen in its relation to geography. What has been dealt with in geology and botany should also be incorporated in the geography main lesson. When it comes to the topic of economic geography, the presentation will benefit greatly from the addition of some striking examples from distant parts of the world. In selecting these the teacher will do well to bear in mind what he or she is intending to focus on in subsequent work on particular continents in grades 7 and 8.
Suggested lesson content
Main Lesson dealing with the home continent
Having looked at contrasting landscapes and land-forms in previous lessons,the students can now have their home continent portrayed to them from the point of view of polarity. Taking into account the influence of water, air, light, temperature and solid matter (mountain masses) upon particular regions can be very helpful here.
Systematic survey of “the Earth as a Whole”
The following themes could be seen as preparation for what is taught in grades 7 and 8:
Methodological considerations
In planning the geography lessons for classes 7 and 8 two main aspects may be distinguished, which can be encapsulated in the concepts of “self” and “world”.
On the one hand, the students increasingly direct their attention towards the world at large – towards other countries, technological developments and inventions, historical backgrounds and much more. They want to understand the world, and have a need to discover the causes of what they perceive in it.
This gives the geography teacher the opportunity to take full advantage of the holistic nature of the subject and compose it from the combined contents of a range of other subjects: The process of building up a geographical picture of a particular part of the world can involve looking at its geological, climatic, technological, social, economic, historical, cultural and other aspects, and showing how they all mutually affect each other within this overall context.
On the other hand, the students’ gaze is also turned inwards on their own sense of self: here they are confronted by the beginnings of their development into adulthood. Developing individuality is associated with strong feelings and the tendency to make judgments, all of which reveals the ongoing search for personal identity.
Consequently, a central topic for geography in classes 7 and 8 is the study of other cultures. The approach, as established and described by Rudolf Steiner (Steiner 1990: GA 294, Lecture XI) is to view them as different ways of life.
This entails describing how people live in other regions and continents, how they interact in every-day life, how they bring up children, what sort of values they have and much more.
It is through such attention to the internal details of different cultures, their origins and systems of values, that the students come to see that there are different ways of organising life. At a time when they are on the trail of their own identity, such models can help to give them direction.
So that the students are not left with merely mental impressions of these different cultures, Steiner recommended that they approach them through the medium of art or some aspect of practical life in the ethnic style of the culture concerned. Stereotypes should, of course, be rigorously avoided, and the emphasis placed upon enjoyment of the detail and diversity of different ways of life. Here also the point should be made that any human being is capable of embodying different streams of culture at the same time, i.e. of having a cross-cultural identity. The narrative part of other main lessons can be used to extend and deepen understanding through ethnographic descriptions and accounts of the biographies of field researchers.
Looking at the various continents may also involve taking into account the processes of metamorphosis, polarity and intensification at work in their shaping. This is a mode of thinking that places demands upon the power of imagination, and in this way this faculty in the students can be further developed. It will also mean that rather than absorbing fixed ideas, they will be developing living concepts capable of growth.
Aspects of physical geography are also part of the picture here. Such things as varying climatic conditions, where certain mineral deposits are to be found, and the world’s great mountain ranges, which run east-west in Eurasia, and north-south in the Americas, can be taken into consideration. A possibility is also to go into the trade and transport routes and show that through our global economic system we are all, as human beings, connected with each other. Thus the students can come to experience themselves as members of a world society and to develop feelings of solidarity with their fellow humans.
Suggested lesson content
Africa
Asia
North and South America
Australia/Oceania
Notes on the choosing of material for classes/grades 7 and 8
The teacher should choose the material for grade 7 together with that for grade 8.
Here it is well worth reminding ourselves that other subjects often set the scene for topics in geography (cf. Steiner GA 301, 07.05.1920 (German edition 1991, p. 184 ff.)). For instance, in grade 7 there is a history main lesson that deals with the age of Exploration – this could provide a bridge to the geography of Africa and Asia.
In grade 8 history the focus is upon the industrial revolution in connection with the value-system of the West, which is characterised by individualism, freedom, and the primacy of economic activity. This provides a sound basis upon which to conduct a main lesson on the economic and cultural geography of America.
It has been customary within this framework to deal with Asia and Africa as the “Old World” in grade 7 and the Americas and Australia as the “New World” in grade 8. These themes could all, of course, be arranged differently – according to local circumstances and requirements. For instance, if the home continent dealt with in class 6 is not Europe, then Europe needs to figure among the grand survey of the continents.
In [the] high school geography, like every other subject, has the task of reflecting and supporting the students’ physical, emotional and intellectual development. For the phase of adolescence this is accomplished by considering the earth as a Whole, starting from the properties of the rocks and the life-processes of the earth (vegetation zones as organs of the earth, rhythmic processes of the earth’s core, lithosphere, hydrosphere and atmosphere); this is followed by consideration of the way the earth has been modified by human action (anthropogeography). This entails conceiving the earth as an organism, which in turn depends upon clarification of the concept within the context of a goetheanistic method. This works with concrete phenomena in such a way that the concern is not to convey merely abstract facts and models which over-emphasise chains of physical cause and effect, but also to give expression to the dimensions of life and human intentionality.
The idea is to equip the students with the following abilities and give them opportunities to apply them: impartial observation, process-related thinking, as well as an empathic relationship to the environment, so that they can have a sensitive understanding of human mental states, needs, thoughts, aims and ideals.
They should also be encouraged to develop an understanding of our need to be responsible in our management of resources, within the context of a just world economy which respects the cultural identities and needs of diverse countries and peoples. Perspectives on the future should also be opened up for the students in the form of ideas for organising society in a human way (including the threefold social order).
Methodological considerations
At this stage in life young people tend to be subject to a fairly intense experience of their bodily existence. This offers a sound basis upon which to cultivate a sense for phenomena which in principle are susceptible to causal explanations. In geography, therefore, this is the ideal time for a main lesson on – as Steiner calls it – “the skeleton of the earth”, in other words, the world of rocks, continental masses, tectonic processes and the formation of the great mountain ranges – an overall experience of the fact that the earth has a structure. Since the thought processes necessary for a comprehensive grasp of complex, dynamic systems only begin to develop in class 10, it is best to handle geology in class 9 in terms of characteristic individual examples. For instance, plate tectonics, which requires an eye for the whole, should only be sketched, and then gone into in detail in class 10.
Suggested lesson content
Methodological considerations
Grade 10 is the time for bringing into play the ability to comprehend larger contexts and reciprocal effects. In the geography main lesson the earth – going beyond individual phenomena – can now be portrayed as a complex, dynamic organism involving reciprocal interactions among the lithosphere, hydrosphere and atmosphere – in short, “the earth as a Whole” (Steiner GA 300b, 17.06.1921 (German edition 1995, p. 24)).
Suggested lesson content
A note on classes/grades 11 and 12
Steiner left no definite indication for the class 11 and 12 curricula in this subject. In the minutes of the teachers’ meetings and curriculum discussions from the first school class 11 geography is not even mentioned, and for class 12 there is only a very brief note: “give an overview” (Rohrbach 2000: p. 9-11). In keeping with the overall curriculum for geography, it would seem that anthropogeographical topics are appropriate and in tune with the times.
Methodological considerations
In grade 11 young people are increasingly capable of being aware of their own mental and emotional processes and of perceiving and reflecting upon the world around them. Accordingly, there is now a change of direction: from the former attention to nature, to a concern with human geography.
Suggested lesson content
In recent times a number of possible themes for the class 11 geography main lesson have been outlined:
I The orientation of human beings in space
II Astronomy
In connection with the following topics the constellations should be viewed in relation to the earth in order to concretise the particular position of each one in space
III. Patterns of land-use in relation to the natural conditions available
Aspects and tendencies to take into account
In grade 12 young people develop a new breadth of vision: world problems are now perceived with a more mature sense of judgment, they begin to have some idea of their own path in life, and with this comes a readiness to take on responsibility in a spirit of realistic idealism. The predominant quality of all grade 12 main lessons is that of a comprehensive synthesis.
Suggested lesson content
I Economic geography: globalisation
II Cultural Geography: cultures of the world
Rohrbach, K. (2000): Keine Lehrplanangaben Steiners? Eine einführende Studie zu den Lehrplanangaben der 11. und 12. Klasse. In: Kübler, F. (Hrsg.):
Geografie – Wirtschaft – Technik und das soziale Leben der Gegenwart. Kassel 2000, S. 9–11
Steiner, R. (1964): Geisteswissenschaftliche Behandlung sozialer und pädagogischer Fragen. GA 192, Dornach
Steiner, R. (1984): Erziehungskunst. Seminarbesprechungen und Lehrplanvorträge. GA 295, Dornach
Steiner, R. (1990): Erziehungskunst. Methodisch-Didaktisches. GA 294, Dornach, Vortrag vom 2.9.1919
Steiner, R. (1991): Die Erneuerung der pädagogisch-didaktischen Kunst durch Geisteswissenschaft. GA 301, Dornach
Steiner, R. (1995): Konferenzen mit den Lehrern der Freien Waldorfschule 1919–1924. GA 300b, Dornach
Suchantke, A. (2007): Erziehung in Kooperation mit der Natur, in: Helmich, A./ Teigeler, P. (Hrsg.): Montessori-, Freinet-, Waldorfpädagogik. Weinheim
Göpfert, C. (1991): Von der Heimatkunde zum Verständnis Mitteleuropas. In: Erziehungskunst, Heft 5, Stuttgart