In teaching physics and chemistry the main thing is the experiment, whether performed by the teacher as a demonstration, or by the students, alone, in pairs or in groups. The intention is to provide the students with powerful experiences; for instance, how an object’s position, as established by touch, appears different when looked at in a mirror, or how acids and bases are produced by the process of calcium combustion. The thing is to encounter phenomena with wakeful attention, observe them exactly, arrange them in order, and finally analyse them. In Waldorf education such experiments normally constitute the point of departure for coming to an ordered understanding of physical and chemical phenomena. They are the mediators between young people and the world, between subject and object – as Goethe put it.
In engaging in such experiments and going from observing to describing physical phenomena and chemical processes, the students develop what begins as a simple act of lookinginto a concrete and ultimately systematic form of seeing. It was Wagenschein (1962) [Translation available on the Nature Institute website] who first described the stages of this process: with looking, things are permitted to speak for themselves, nature tells her story without interruption. With concrete seeing, understanding comes into play, distinguishing essential from non-essential factors. When these essential conditions are met, then certain associated phenomena always appear. In thus perceiving such a pattern of related conditions, concrete seeing then further develops into systematic seeing.
In many Waldorf schools it has become customary to approach phenomena in the manner outlined, often without initially writing anything down. Here the students are being asked to be fully present in their sensory alertness. Subsequently they make notes and assess the experiment in terms of its construction, performance and what they observed. Thus they have a sound basis upon which to formulate a clear description of it.
Up to this point the demand made upon their understanding goes more towards grasping the “how” of the phenomenon with all its special details, and less towards inquiring into the “why” or into the relationships it might have to other phenomena. Such questions are raised by the interpretation of the experiment, which usually takes place at the beginning of the lesson on the following day.
The interpretation of experiments involves weighing up different perspectives, forming hypotheses, clearly identifying those factors which may or must be in play. Having gained certain insights from such experiments, those engaged in them are faced with a fundamental choice: they can either follow up on the hypotheses that emerged directly from the observations, or they can introduce non-perceptible variables or dimensions operating in principle as causes behind the phenomena.
In terms of the latter perspective, a surface is brighter because more light rays are falling on it; a person sees herself in a mirror because light rays are being reflected from the mirror’s surface. Analysed in terms of the former perspective, however, a surface is brighter the more it is inclined towards brightness. The degree of inclination can be described by a law, according to which the significant factors are the distance and the angle of inclination of the surface with respect to other bright surfaces. In the case of the mirror this approach yields the insight that the things in the mirror appear in spatial depth, exactly opposite their counterparts in front of the mirror (and at an equal distance from the mirror’s surface).
When Waldorf physics or chemistry lessons approach phenomena in terms of observation-based hypotheses, they are pursuing the primary pedagogical aim of deriving from a series of concrete phenomena, and from nowhere else, the factors that condition them. Such an approach may be termed phenomenological. It takes the phenomena seriously – exactly as they are. It does not regard them as a special case of some dimension standing behind them, not perceptible in principle, but nonetheless instrumental in bringing them to particular manifestation. Light rays, light waves and photons are models of this kind.
The phenomenological method is often misunderstood as one which delivers fine descriptions of phenomena, but does not seek to understand them. This is often based on the assumption that the only way to a scientific understanding of phenomena is to apply a quantitative model that can account for them. The phenomenological approach is different. Its intention is that the individual phenomenon should attain its meaning through the insight gained from viewing it within the context of a whole series of phenomena, all viewed in their own terms (Sommer 2005: p. 13). This can be presented in the form of graphs, symbols or mathematics. It is not averse to theory, although it attempts to generate theoretical positions through dialogue with the observed phenomena.
There are also strong pedagogical reasons for using the phenomenological approach. The thing is to give the students an appreciation for the fact that a coherent description of nature is possible without there necessarily being any conflict between direct perceptions and theoretical models. This has been set out in a comprehensive article by Østergaard, Dahlin and Hugo (2008), and taken further by von Theilmann et al. (2013) [Maier, Brady, Edelglas, Zajonc, Amrine, Bortoft]
To represent constructs, such as light rays, in the classroom as “actual” objective reality, and any direct sense experience as merely the subjective side of the process is to proceed in a reductionist fashion (Fuchs 2008: p. 18f.) which is likely to induce estrangement from nature. In many studies conducted in recent years it has been shown that constructs also play an important role in the phenomenological approach. Here they take the form of mathematical, geometric or graphical elements that have an ordering effect: accordingly, a shadow border is not formed by the last light-ray to come through, rather an optical path as an instance of geometrical ordering is derived from the course of possible shadow borders. – In physics, for example, the studies of Erb (1994), Grebe-Ellis (2005), Schön (1994) and Sommer (2005) are worthy of mention, and in chemistry those of Buck (2006), Buck and Kranich (1995), Buck and Mackensen (2006), Schad, Scheffler and Wunderlin (2011, 2012, 2013).
In the teaching of physics and chemistry, then, the mode of analysis normally employed takes the form of a dialogue between the experience of the experiment and the thinking it invokes. Proceeding phenomenologically entails engendering in the students a predisposition towards this judgment by dialogue. Waldorf education thus follows Varela (2008: p. 120) in viewing phenomenology as a method which consists in “exploring one’s own experiences and perceptions without presuppositions or hasty judgments, while including one’s own presence as a scientist in the process of reflection, in order to avoid a disembodied, purely abstract analysis.”
Waldorf education’s phenomenological stance is most clearly apparent when it comes to dealing with atomic and molecular interactions in physics and chemistry. Atoms do not figure in introductory lessons as ultimate explanatory structures. Rather they are represented to the students as a way of looking at things, which makes it logically possible to create explanatory models, but does not say anything fundamental about the nature of reality. The intention is to avoid giving the students the idea that in getting their minds around a coherent explanatory model they have grasped something of the essential being of the world. In keeping with other pedagogical approaches (Bader 2000), Waldorf education is concerned to avoid ontological interpretations of purely epistemological models. This is why atomic models do not figure on the curriculum until the students are old enough to develop an awareness about their own contribution in the formation of concepts (i.e. the participatory aspect of intentionality). Most teachers reckon with this ability (“meta-conceptual competence”) only from class 11 onwards.
In summary it may be said that in physics and chemistry in grades 6 to 10 the teaching method is purely phenomenological. Any accumulation of knowledge is gained from experiments that the students have experienced together. On this basis the teachers will be working with mixed ability groups. In classes 11 and 12 the relative merits of the phenomenological and explanatory model approaches are discussed.
Bader, F. (2000): Quantenmechanik macht Schule. Physikalische Blätter 10/2006, S. 65–67
Buck, P. (2006): Warum, vielleicht, Chemie schwer zu verstehen ist.Erziehungskunst 1/2006, S. 3–13
Buck, P./Kranich, E.-M. (Hrsg.) (1995): Auf der Suche nach dem erlebbaren Zusammenhang. Weinheim und Basel
Buck, P./Mackensen, M. v. (2006): Naturphänomene erlebend verstehen. Köln Erb, R. (1994): Optik mit Lichtwegen. Bochum, Magdeburg
Fuchs, T. (2008): Das Gehirn – ein Beziehungsorgan. Eine phänomenologisch- ökologische Konzeption. Stuttgart
Grebe-Ellis, J. (2005): Grundzüge einer Phänomenologie der Polarisation. Berlin
Goethe, J. W. v. (1966): Der Versuch als Vermittler von Objekt und Subjekt. In: Goethes Werke. Hamburger Ausgabe, Bd. 13, S. 10–20. Hamburg
Ostergaard, E./Dahlin, B./Hugo, A. (2008): Doing phenomenology in science education: a research review. Studies in Science Education, 44/2, S. 93–121
Schad, W./Scheffler, A./Wunderlin, U. (2004). Chemie an Waldorfschulen. Stuttgart
Schön, L.-H. (1994): Ein Blick in den Spiegel –Von der Wahrnehmung zur Physik. In: Physik in der Schule 32, 1, S. 2–5
Sommer, W. (2005): Zur phänomenologischen Beschreibung der Beugung im Konzept optischer Wege. Berlin
Theilmann, F./Buck, P./Murmann, L./Ostergaard, E./Hugo, A./Dahlin,B./Aeschlimann, U./Rittersbacher, Ch. (2013): Phänomenologische Naturwissenschaftsdidaktik. Erkenntnis- und wissenschaftstheoretische Positionierung und erziehungswissenschaftliche Folgerungen. Zeitschrift fur Didaktik derNaturwissenschaften, 19, S. 397–416
Varela, F. (2008): ≪Wahr ist, was funktioniert≫. In: Porksen, B.: Die Gewissheit der Ungewissheit. Gespräche zum Konstruktivismus. Heidelberg
Wagenschein, M. (1962): Die pädagogische Dimension der Physik. Braunschweig
Wunderlin, U. (2011): Lehrbuch der phänomenologischen Chemie. Band 1. Chemieprojekte der 7., 8. und 9. Klasse. Stuttgart
Wunderlin, U. (2012): Lehrbuch der phänomenologischen Chemie. Band 2. Chemieprojekte der 10., 11. und 12. Klasse. Stuttgart
Wunderlin, U. (2013): Lehrbuch der phänomenologischen Chemie. Band 3. Stuttgart
The teaching of physics follows a phenomenological approach, as described above, and strives to provide participatory experiences. The experiment is the central focus of the lessons. Indeed, sequences of experiments constitute the point of departure for much of what is to be brought within the sphere of understanding. They are conceived such that all the students can be “in the picture” when the phenomena arise and the associated laws are discovered.
In this experiment-centred classroom practice an alternation between two perspectives has proved particularly valuable. The one involves direct sensory experience, constructing the experiment around some suitable aspect of every-day life. In contrast to this integral perspective, then, is that of the detached perspective, whichinvolves arranging experimental events in systematic series. The ultimate aim is to discern the inherent lawfulness within the observed phenomena, especially the circumstances that trigger them. This culminates in formulations such as: when this event happens, then this always follows. – The change on the part of an observer from the integral to the detached perspective has thus established itself as a didactic method, which helps the students use their observations to arrive, as far as possible independently, at an interpretation of the experiments (Grebe-Ellis 2005; Sommer 2005).
Treading a path which gradually distances them from their experience, the students learn, from the more comprehensive level thus attained, how to discern and formulate lawful regularities. This is, in effect, the process of theory construction. For them, then, experience (participatory involvement) and detached interpretation are complementary modes of knowledge attainment (Grebe-Ellis 2005: p. 38). They learn to encompass both and to fuse them together. In terms of the phenomenological approach to physics, then, the process of knowledge acquisition is characterised by a change from the first- to the third-person perspective. This is cultivated in interpretive discussions, in weighing up attempts at explanation, and in formulating summaries of results.*
In the middle school the main focus is on providing a wide-ranging encounter with the physical world and to this end there is a creative interplay among the disciplines of physics. In the high school, by contrast, themes change according to the different age-levels. The upshot of this is that each main lesson will be devoted to a particular discipline of physics.
*A comprehensive survey of Waldorf students in Austria conducted in connection with a 2006 PISA study centred upon science teaching supports this. It was able to show that “for over 80% of the students in Waldorf schools […] interactive participation in science lessons was a part of their daily classroom experience”, placing them far above the OECD average (47%). In this connection it was also stated that “by interactive teaching is meant that the students engage in discussions, offering their own opinions and explanations” (Wallner-Paschon 2009: p. 387-399).
Methodological considerations
Various aspects of physics can be approached by homing in on phenomena from the world of human culture or from that of nature. From the experience of listening to a piece of music experiments can be done to bring out the fact that the size and power of the sound source and the pitch of the tone produced must match, and that intervals correspond to a pattern of simple fractions. The daily course of the sun can be experimentally represented by moving a lamp in a dome-shaped arc over a hilly model landscape made, say, of salt. Thinking about this yields the realisation that the brightness of particular slopes can be worked out by imagining every slope having its own dome. The plane of each slope will then be brighter the nearer the lamp is to the zenith of its dome and the smaller the distance between lamp and plane.
Similar types of experiments can be imagined in connection with heat and electricity. Scientific judgment develops, according to Wagenschein (1962), along the border between simple, natural looking and informed seeing.
Suggested lesson content
Acoustics
Optics
Heat theory is based at this stage entirely on experiencing the external effects of heat and cold:
Electricity is introduced through the basic phenomena of frictional static electricity:
Magnetism begins with naturally occurring magnetic stone – magnetite, and with the magnet insofar as it functions as a floating compass. Then follow:
Methodological considerations
After the grand pictures from the realm of nature through which the students of grade 6 encountered the various aspects of physics, the focus shifts in grade 7 to physics in relation to every-day life: how does a tuning fork vibrate, and how fast? Where do we see things in a mirror? How do you build a thermometer? What is an electric circuit? Why is a loose pulley so effective?
Suggested lesson content
Acoustics
Optics
Heat theory
Magnetism
Electricity
Mechanics
Methodological considerations
Building upon the close connection of class 7 physics lessons to every-day life, in class 8 they become more technical in orientation. Simple technologies at the heart of civilisation are considered: the electric motor, the telescope, water pumps, the buoyancy of ships etc. These pubertal early adolescents are encouraged to think of the world around them in technological terms.
Suggested lesson content
Optics
Heat theory
Electromagnetism
Hydraulics
Aeromechanics
Acoustics
Ideas and methodological suggestions
In class 8 the students were encouraged to bring their powers of understanding to bear upon the world around them, especially its technological aspects. Now these demands upon their thinking are significantly increased. The questions put before them, therefore, are mostly of a practical nature, often stemming from the world of technology, the purpose of this being to give them practice in thinking and forming judgments. At the same time it helps to give them a confident attitude to the technological civilisation around them. Setting physics lessons in this context also meets the pragmatic, intellectual mentality often found among young people of this age.
The focus is on modern civilisation with its increased mobility and new communication systems. At the time when the first Waldorf school was founded the steam engine and telephone were the epitome of civilisation, and learning about them in school was sure to kindle the interest of young people. Since then this approach to physics teaching has been further developed. As regards locomotion, we have gone beyond the steam engine to the internal combustion and jet engines; and in the case of communication, from the analogue to the digital telephone, and thence to serial data-processing.
Suggested lesson content
Thermodynamics
Electricity theory and acoustics
Possible further topics
Ideas and methodological suggestions
Grade 10 physics comes as a contrast to that of grade 9, which had very much to do with certain features of technological civilisation. Here, based on illustrative examples from the fundamental concepts of mechanics, attention is centred upon the mathematical symbols and formulae used in describing processes in physics. The pedagogical aim is that the students hereby gain graphic experience of the correspondence between mathematically acquired insights and observation or measurement (e.g. the parabola). A strong experience of the fact that things coincide like this is the intention here.
The phenomenological nature of physics lessons strongly suggests that forces be derived as far as possible from bodily experiences. Vectors and planes of force are worked out on the basis of a change from first- to third-person perspective, which opens up the way to describing planes of force in terms of mathematical symbols and formulae. Vectors thus appear as vehicles of geometrical order, which represent bodily experience in the form of abstract symbols. They are not, however, seen in terms of metaphysical realism: as causal entities standing behind the phenomena.
Kinetics, based on theoretical guidelines, is a regular feature of grade 10 physics. For example, the students could be set the following problem: what movement results when a rectilinear movement of constant speed is overlaid by a rectilinear movement of constant acceleration? The viability of their solutions can then begin to be investigated by means of experiments.
Suggested lesson content
Statics
Kinematics (uniform movement)
Dynamics
Possible further topics
Ideas and methodological suggestions
Taking a lead from a suggestion of Steiner’s (GA 300b 21.6.1922 german edition1975:, p 103)) to tackle the achievements of modern physics (at that time the discovery of alpha, beta and gamma radiation), a tradition has grown up of teaching the fundamental phenomena of radiation in class 11. This is done in connection with electricity theory, electro-magnetism, electro-magnetic oscillations and waves, and finally through gas discharge experiments. This usually includes an introduction to atomic physics.
The best way to approach this phenomenologically is in terms of fields as ideal structural elements. The elementary steps in this process and their reconstruction lead in many ways to the central connection between the electrical field and electrical charge. In this way the students learn to assess and express the relative merits of experiments dealing with these two models. Just how atoms, as ideal or logical constructs which generate theoretical unity, are best introduced is currently under intense discussion.
Suggested lesson content
Atomic physics
Methodological considerations
The theme here is that of the connections between physics and philosophy, and the issues involved are brought out by focusing upon optics. In this way the ground is also being prepared for the transition to quantum theory. Through the phenomenological assessment of a series of experiments, for instance, in terms of the light-beam model, the Fermat principle, the wave model and photon imaging, the main lesson aims to equip the students with the ability to see different ideas in relation to each other and to appreciate the epistemological positions involved in various explanatory approaches.
Possible lesson content
Optical and related phenomena
Grebe-Ellis, J. (2005): Grundzüge einer Phänomenologie der Polarisation. Berlin
Sommer, W. (2005): Zur phänomenologischen Beschreibung der Beugung im Konzept optischer Wege. Berlin
Steiner, R. (1975): Konferenzen mit den Lehrern der Freien Waldorfschule 1919 bis 1924. Zweiter Band, GA 300b, Dornach
Wagenschein, M. (1962): Die pädagogische Dimension der Physik. Braunschweig
Wallner-Paschon, C. (2009): Kompetenzen und individuelle Merkmale derWaldorfschuler/innen im Vergleich. In: Schreiner, C./Schwantner, U. (Hrsg.):
PISA 2006: Österreichischer Expertenbericht zum Naturwissenschaftsschwerpunkt. Graz