My journey with Waldorf Education @chasing-dragonflies - Tumblr Blog

Sight and the Temperature Sense

This sense often overrides the rest. We ‘see’, fast. The beauty of the world is revealed to us through the eyes. Through colour, the soul of the world is made visible. What happens when we look at colour? We become involved - certain moods are evoked in us. With colours you immediately experience an emotion. The most elementary things slumbering in our soul make their appearance.The sense of sight also has a process associated with it- when we see, we ‘think’ through our eyes. We could not be thinking beings if mankind had not been given the capacity for vision. With our thinking, we add what we expect to see to what we actually do see - we thus experience optical illusions. On one hand, it is an emotional sense, and on the other hand a scientific instrument. It is said that the eye is an all-encompassing sense. We keep our balance by means of our eyes. Through the eyes, we also see warm, cold, dirty and sweet colours - relating to a sense of taste. When you see, you also watch it in movement -sense of movement; perceive whether it is pleasant or not - life sense. When we meet each other in a personal way - ego sense (to be discussed later on), our eyes have a huge role to play. How do we nourish our sense of sight? It helps to spend time looking at nature blossom around us, taking in all the colours and moods. It’s an especially special feeling to watch the weather change. It also helps to focus on healthy sight development by introducing children to focal point exercises - drawing different perspectives of ‘near’ and ‘far’. We experience the temperature sense when ‘flow’ happens - between us and the world. Cold makes us contract while with heat, an enthusing and stimulating effect is awakened within us. When we get nothing back from the world, we experience cold and feelings of illness. When we receive something back, we experience warmth. Our interest is answered and we feel included. As human beings, we always radiate interest, and expect to be met with warmth. We crave connection.

Smell and Taste

The first of the middle senses is the sense of Smell. With the sense of smell, one has to breathe in. You can not force yourself not to smell. When there is an odour, you can not avoid it. An odour overwhelms you. We seem to have this tendency to lose ourselves in smells, letting it permeate our entire being. We instinctively use smells and odours to decide how we feel about something - whether it is dirty or wholesome, whether something is good or evil. A moral judgement never arises in the masses. It is something individual, something for which each one is personally accountable. The sense of smell helps the child begin to relate to aspects of nature outside its own organism. Young children learn what is ‘good’ and ‘bad’ through smell. The second of the middle senses is the sense of Taste. Unlike smell, the individual is never confronted by it. Taste is admitted into the mouth. There is more control over this sense. It is an intimate space. Through taste, we do more than ascertain if food tastes ‘good’ or ‘bad’. We are able to taste whether food is wholesome or unwholesome. Children are given sweet-tasting things first to nurture a general sense of well-being. Sour things are given later and awakens something in children. Salt wakes them up strongly as it reveals the taste concealed in food. Small children never like to eat bitter food because they don’t fully know the experience of engaging their will to cope with bitterness. Over time, they learn to engage their will and are able to manage bitter tastes. If they are only given sweets, and not something bitter once in awhile, these children will never grow up to be vigorous children. We offer children a wide range of taste experiences so that they can grow up to become more discerning. Waldorf teachers also decorate their classrooms in ‘good taste’ - make the classroom beautiful and inviting so that children are nurtured by a wholesome environment.

So far we have examined the six more ‘inward’ senses of the human being- Touch, Life, Movement, Balance, Taste and Smell. Touch defines for us the bodily boundary of the skin. Life defines the harmony or disharmony in our bodies. Movement allows us to be aware of the motions of muscles and joints. Balance allows us to get a sense of how our weight is disposed in space. We do not question these senses. We find a sureness and security in relation to our bodies - for example, we use touch as a kind of test of what is real. We don’t argue about discomfort we feel in our bodies. While through these senses we are prone to indulgences in ‘greed’, a healthy function of these senses is the basis for secure ‘down-to-earth’ waking consciousness. In other words, these senses serve children as they learn to become citizens of earth. It is also through these senses that they intimately experience the ‘primary’ qualities of earth - weight, movement and solidity.

Balance

The fourth of the lower senses is a sense of balance. Through this sense, a young child learns how to stand up and work their body through this human experience. Young children enjoy playing with their sense of balance. They learn how to master their own equilibrium by learning to feel at home on the earth, on solid ground. When they stand up straight, they experience the ‘I’ of the human being. There is something tremendous about this moment - when the infant stands up for the first time. At that moment, the infant is able to fill the space around it with its being and also becomes aware of the existence of others in the room. As the children grow up, a good sense of balance helps them come to terms with what is happening around them, weigh their options and make sound judgements. They are also able to meet things with equilibrium in terms of their feelings.

This concludes our brief exploration of the 4 lower senses. The previous posts covered the sense of Taste, Life and Movement respectively. Steiner called these 4 lower senses the bodily or physical senses because they give us an insight into our own physical body. Waldorf teachers help develop these foundational senses in young children in the first seven years of life. Upon the strength or weakness of these four senses, the human being will meet the world with certainty and trust, or hesitation and fear.

Self-Movement

The third is a sense of movement. It is more than our ability to move our limbs. It is the sense through which we can feel inside that we are in movement. Why is nurturing this feeling in children important?

Through this sense children learn that they have some influence over their bodies. They can bend an arm or stretch a leg on their own initiative. Through nurturing this sense of movement, children learn that they have the capacity to make things happen for themselves. They learn how to move towards the things they need to meet, in order to grow in self-knowledge and take responsibility for their personal path. Through movement, they encounter the world, become conscious of certain things and complete tasks which they have set for themselves. They experience both pleasant things and bitter experiences which are all necessary to meet their life plan. Does this mean that they cannot encounter anything they did not plan to encounter? No. The children will still need to try things alien to their interests in order to make a distinction between the things they have an aptitude for and the things they have no aptitude for. Over time they will realize that what comes easily to them has something to do with their life plan and that the things that they have to make their own with great effort are just as meaningful for their future.

Thus the children’s feeling of freedom which has arisen out of healthy, sensible, bodily movements, changes in the course of development into a consciousness of freedom - of moving freely and being able to act in a manner worthy of human beings.

Pain points to the dignity of man.

Novalis

the sense of Life

The second sense is Life. This is our experience of our constitution - of whether we feel healthy in our bodies or whether we feel pain and discomfort. Through the life sense we also notice whether we are hungry or thirsty. With this sense which is spread through the entire body, we have the ability to monitor the condition of our bodies. Pain is how we know things aren’t quite right. Young children learn about restraint through the experience of pain. For instance, one learns that one can wait a few more minutes or so before they can do something they want to do. Does one have to have a treat immediately or can one wait until after they have had their meal? Can one not say a verse or prayer, or does one have to start eating right away? In the classroom, children learn how to exert themselves to listen to the teacher and accept things from them. How then do we nurture the sense of Life in children? How do we help them build resilience? We tell them fairy-tales to help them find archetypal connections to learn resilience. This has a connection to Coherence. In every fairy-tale. there is a perfect balance between joy and sorrow. It is beautifully composed - relief always comes at the end. Teachers tell children these stories in their original form, so that the images come alive for the children and they can experience all the emotions in the story. Without the life sense, we wouldn’t be able to feel pain and thus be able to live pain-free lives. However, we should consider all that pain can do for us. It is our own warning system. What is happening in our body is kept under constant surveillance. We come to understand that if we consume food that is too acidic or too greasy, we receive a warning from our bodies. Instead of saying “My stomach bothers me,” you might say: “I have given my stomach trouble”. We then realize that it is we ourselves who in the future can mend our ways. We would never mend our ways without our life sense. Pain also gives us orientation. Because of the pain of falling down little children learn how to walk well, they learn how to climb the stairs safely and to keep their distance from dangerous objects. After they fall, they learn to watch themselves a little better. How much a ‘little better’ is depends on inner maturity. If the life sense is underdeveloped in a child, this child has to be supervised constantly. Our life sense also alerts us when we experience too much passivity. Children instinctively know this. This is why after experiencing too much passivity they suddenly have to run after a ball for an hour and a half straight, for example. Our life sense thus teaches us about pain and awakens us to the presence of the Higher Being who lives within each one of us and who intuitively knows what is right or wrong for us. If no sorrow is allowed to exist in young children’s lives, we will rear weak children. Those who always get their way, who are given everything that they ask for, will later on be intimidated by the smallest challenges in life.

Through the sense of touch, we are released from the divine totality and simultaneously experience a longing to return to it. That's why we have a deep longing to touch things.

Albert Soesman

Touching is separation and connection both at once

Novalis

The Sense of Touch

According to Rudolf Steiner’s teachings, our whole soul life, likewise our Ego, moves within the circumference of 12 Senses, just as the sun moves in the circumference of the twelve zodiacal star-pictures. In this series of posts, I hope to discuss my study of the 12 Senses, as reflected in Steiner Education. The senses constitute an order, together they form a cosmos. Each is inseparably connected with another, and together they make a tremendous, wonderful composition which help Man perceive the world he lives in. The young child lives life through 4 Senses - the lower senses. These 4 senses help the young child to master the Self and their experience on earth. As Waldorf teachers, we create opportunities and environments for our young ones where they can experience and nurture these senses in their lives. These are the foundational senses. We begin here by discussing the Sense of Touch.

The Sense of Touch brings about the awareness of a boundary. When we touch something, part of myself, something within me awakens to part of the world, something in the world. Does an infant know where its crib begins and where it begins itself? Does it know where its little hand begins and where it comes into contact with the crib? It learns this slowly, bit by bit, after bumping into the crib a hundred times. This means of knowing takes place through a sense of touch.

As teachers, we establish boundaries with the children through healthy touch.This is so that they can learn where they stop and where something else begins. A sense of touch also helps children to develop certainty - whether something is really there or not. A well-developed sense of touch also sets a healthy foundation for the experience of intimacy in the teenage years. It teaches the need for honouring a sense of touch.

The sense of touch is most acute in the fingers. There is a vast difference in the quality of the touch sense developed in the child that is brought up with natural materials such as good wooden toys,soft woolen or silk dolls, from that of a child that has grown up with another kind of material, such as plastic.

Small children sometimes, are completely united with their whole sphere of their sense-perceptions. This is why they are deeply imitative - everything in their surroundings makes a deep inner impression. They ‘imitate’ the very qualities of the the things that surround them and that is why Waldorf educators strive to surround children with things that are ‘honest’ - made with natural materials and created with a feeling of true craftsmanship. Waldorf teachers create an environment for young children so that they are able, at this time, to experience that ‘the world is good’. This is the source for true security and inner certainty in later life.

If we did not have the sense of touch, we would all be totally one. We would dissolve in the environment as a drop of water in the ocean. With the sense of touch, the small infant separates itself from total unity with the cosmos. It then begins to experience its own bodily nature, slowly but surely.

Amazon.com: And There Was Light: The Extraordinary Memoir of a Blind Hero of the French Resistance in World War II (9781608682690): Jacques Lusseyran: Books

Book recommendation

The Choice: Embrace the Possible [Dr. Edith Eva Eger] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. A powerful, moving memoir—and a practical guide to healing—written by Dr. Edith Eva Eger

Book recommendation! Throughout the Waldorf curriculum, the children are presented with human beings of other times and places who are worthy of admiration and emulation. Dr Edith Eva Eger is one such role model in modern times.

It is not so much what you teach but who you are that matters.

Educating for Health

Here’s an interesting question to think about. What are we educating for? Do we educate children to help them create Connections, encourage Integration and nurture a sense of Wholeness about the world they live, play and thrive in? What does it mean to Educate for Health? People who have an overall sense of well-being, experience a sense of coherence. How do we enable ‘coherence’ in our lives? According to Aaron Antonovsky, 1) People who are healthy have a social network of connections they can count on for wisdom and inspiration. 2) They recognize dimensions of them that is beyond the here and now. 3) They know themselves and are on a journey of growth. 4) They are active. 5) They are kind. 6) They engage in problem-solving How do we as Teachers then create these opportunities for our young charges?

In Waldorf Education, the teacher is encouraged to be a relatable companion for development, one who encourages the unexpected, is a good listening ear and helps the student see the important bits. Their presence is comforting because they present all that might be, with confidence and strength :> Acquiring education is a journey. It is thus a Gift to create learning places that have a sense of coherence. These imbue our students with clarity, compassion and courage about the things they need to do to walk on a path of development.

Inspiring Health in young people

A verse for 10 year olds by Rudolf Steiner Steadfast i stand in the world With certainty i tread the path of life Love I cherish in the depths of my being Hope shall be in all my deeds Confidence i impress into my thinking These five lead me to my aims These five give me my life.

What are we educating for?

#waxmodelling #waldorfeducation

Beeswax Modelling

In Waldorf schools, children paint, draw, sing, play musical instruments, knit, sew, embroider, sculpt, carve, weave, work metal and strive for grace in athletics and dance. They do not do this to become artists, as some people who do not understand Waldorf Education believe. The arts develop in the child - the ability to perceive harmony, beauty, ‘rightness’ and ‘completeness’. There is no formulas that lead to the creation of something beautiful. One simply works, strives, even struggles until the piece in question seems ‘complete’. I tried my hand at wax modelling. We engaged in an activity designed for children in classes 1 to 3 (ages 7 to 9). It’s a great activity for quiet time and whisper time in class. It was a wonderful activity calling for patience when warming up the wax between my hands and slowly using my fingers to knead and sculpt the wax into a bowl, bird and eggs. It took me awhile to understand that wax cannot be handled like dough :P each depression in the wax takes careful thought and consideration. The activity activates the senses - the wax smelled liked it had been made with a hint of Honey, it felt smooth and steady in my hands, and the gentle colours of the wax i worked with got me to think about the details on things i have seen... Through this observation exercise, I came to realize that i have not actually, truly looked at a bird :P I struggled to visualize what it looked like without referring to a picture or an actual bird. It is also possible to do this activity in an outdoor classroom setting! That’s what i’m going to be doing for my project. I’m going to Bishan-Ang Mo Kio park to do wax models of native flora and fauna.

In class, we also re-purposed our beautiful bowls with birds and eggs into another creation (i made a tree log with a snail on it) to show that beautiful things don’t always last. They can be re-purposed into something else that is beautiful. In summary, the Student, in doing artistic work such as wax modelling is cultivating a moral sensibility, an ability to perceive what is right and true. By working with the colour, tone, texture of the wax and their own body in movement, they discover the possibilities and limitations in each. They find the essence of the medium, palpable or impalpable and transforms it into something beautiful. A reality beyond the artist is created. Out of this experience also grows a deep respect for the materials used to create beauty, a selfless love for the world, and the desire to enrich the world through the beauty one can bring into it. The impulses developed in artistic artistry apply to the moral life.

#waldorfeducation #waxmodelling

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