Originally posted by MarinkatombThe square root of 841 is 29.
Does anyone have any experience of Steiner education? I am thinking about training to become a Steiner teacher and am wondering if anyone has any useful information/experiences. 🙂
Don't ask serious questions in the GF.
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Originally posted by MarinkatombFirst of all, why are you thinking of it, and what do you expect? While I am not a Steiner teacher, I have had quite a lot of contact with anthroposophy (both the philosophy behind it and various implementations). Personally I have very mixed feelings about it. I could tell you more if I'd know what you already know and what you want to know.
Does anyone have any experience of Steiner education? I am thinking about training to become a Steiner teacher and am wondering if anyone has any useful information/experiences. 🙂
Originally posted by NordlysWell my experience is somewhat limited. I have thought of teaching for some years now but my experiences of the education system in the UK has left me very apathetic, as my personal experiences as a student are somewhat bitter at being groomed for failure over many years.
First of all, why are you thinking of it, and what do you expect? While I am not a Steiner teacher, I have had quite a lot of contact with anthroposophy (both the philosophy behind it and various implementations). Personally I have very mixed feelings about it. I could tell you more if I'd know what you already know and what you want to know.
I spent a day with a friends family over the weekend and their little girl attends a Steiner School. I spent some time speaking with her mother and was quite taken with her enthusiasm for this approach. He daughter is only ten, but she is really grounded and genuinely enjoys school.
It struck me that she is being taught things that i have only a fleeting knowledge of, but have taken an interest in as an adult. She was taught to juggle for example. I learned this as an adult well into my 20's, but my spacial awareness has been greatly improved as a result, i rarely let something hit the floor if i knock it over by accident these days. This might seem trivial to some, but i feel this is fundamental. I know so many people who have failed to achieve basic coordination, it is just assumed that the only important things we need to learn as children is how to pass exams.
I passed a maths GCSE exam paper aged 13 with a C grade, but my school would not enter me into the top exam paper 3 years later, so the maximum grade i could achieve aged 16 was a C and for that i needed a really high grade. I left school with a D, mainly because my self esteem was shot to pieces after the total lack of acknowledgement, kids need encouragement and i got less than none. I could have excelled at school, but my school continually focused on the lowest common denominator. If i was to become a teacher in this system, i would rile against this sort of mediocrity. Education is there to develop children into fully realised adults, Steiner education, at least on the surface, appears to try and achieve this. However, i have only really spoken to people who like it, i'd like to get some balance... 🙂
Originally posted by MarinkatombThe wiki was interesting. I'm getting the impression, though, that you're thinking school is the only learning outlet and that home, family, and free time are irrelevant. I'm saying that because you would have had plenty of time growing up to learn to juggle (or whatever else interests you). As for the other part, there are plenty of good and bad teachers/schools/education systems, but you can be a beacon of bright light in any school setting. You can give the encouragement when the parents don't; you can take your lunch time to do enriching things (I've done book club and chess club); you can find ways to work interesting things into the curriculum.
Well my experience is somewhat limited. I have thought of teaching for some years now but my experiences of the education system in the UK has left me very apathetic, as my personal experiences as a student are somewhat bitter at being groomed for failure over many years.
I spent a day with a friends family over the weekend and their little girl atten ...[text shortened]... . However, i have only really spoken to people who like it, i'd like to get some balance... 🙂
I'm interested in hearing more when you hear from teachers who've taught in this method.
Originally posted by MarinkatombOkay, this helps. 🙂 I think the education system in the UK is a lot more conservative than here in Norway, which makes things different. Here I would say that a lot of the good things in Steiner education have found their way into "normal" schools (interestingly, that has apparently made alternative schools more popular because they seem less exotic now).
Well my experience is somewhat limited. I have thought of teaching for some years now but my experiences of the education system in the UK has left me very apathetic, as my personal experiences as a student are somewhat bitter at being groomed for failure over many years.
I spent a day with a friends family over the weekend and their little girl atten . However, i have only really spoken to people who like it, i'd like to get some balance... 🙂
I didn't go to a Steiner school myself, but had several friends who did, and most of them liked to go to school, something which was almost unheard of at other schools. At least one of them was quite critical later though because he found that he was badly prepared for university. Still, I think they have a lot to offer for the students, and if I had kids and lived in a place with a Steiner school, I would probably consider sending them there.
However, while the students won't see much of the anthroposophic ideas that Steiner education is based upon (in fact, some complain that they aren't told anything about it even if they ask), I don't think you could avoid getting quite deeply into all that as a teacher, and that's something I would have a lot of problems with. Steiner had many good ideas, but also many totally weird ones (lots of it based on spirituality). I also have the impression that many (although not all) anthroposophists aren't very open to other ideas or new developments. In some ways Steiner education has become quite conservative and dogmatic, at least in some of the institutions.
So if I would want to become a teacher and avoid the public education system, I'd probably rather look into something like Montessori education (which I don't know all that much about, but what I have heard has been quite positive) that is not based on an ideology. But by all means get your own information, maybe you can go to some seminars or lectures, talk to Steiner teachers, visit schools... I went to eurythmy lessons as a teenager, worked in a Camphill Community (an anthroposophic community for disabled people, in this case both children and adults - I worked at the school there among other things) for three months, attended some lectures and seminars, read books etc., and I don't see this as a waste of time at all. I use bits and pieces that I find useful and that make sense to me, and the whole process helped me in learning how to think critically.
My children are all in a Steiner school right now and my wife is currently training as a teacher - she went through the Steiner system all the way through her schooling. I went through state school in the UK and the differences that I can see are huge.
First off, the parents tend to be engaged and that makes a big difference for the kids. There is a very strong sense of community around the whole Steiner / anthropop thing that help keep both the parents and the pupils engaged also.
I'd agree with Nordlys in that the teaching system is in some ways quite static - I'm not sure that the curriculum has changed much since the whole thing started, but it is also up to each teacher how to interpret that curriculum and what bits of it get focused on. So there is a general pattern that needs to be followed, but each class will weave their own way through it.
From class 1 (age 6/7) through to class 8 (age 14/15) the class teacher stays the same, providing the pupils with a huge amount of continuity. Specialist teachers are there to do the physics / maths / music etc. but the class teacher takes the main lesson everyday and covers a huge breadth of subjects.
The downsides - (in no particular order)
As a pupil if the class teacher is a rubbish one, you might get stuck for eight years with them.
As a teacher - Steiner parents are often quite .. well, "strong" - the smaller the school the more so (a big character in a small space will tend to dominate).
If you don't "get" the whole anthroposophic thing, a lot of the Steiner stuff (and people) can come across as quite weird.
I think both Steiner and Montessori schools suffer from a weird reputation in the UK - a lot of people have heard something odd about the system from some crazy source or another, that they then take as bold fact and will not listen to anything else.
"oh - those are the schools where the kids can do anything - smoke in class etc". Not true.
The upsides - (again, no particular order).
My kids get a lot out of school. Much more than I ever did.
The process of taking a class as a teacher through to the upper school is hugely rewarding. There's a real buzz from the teachers that I've met.
The community feeling engendered from the Steiner schools I've come across is very strong.
The aim seems to be on providing a well rounded education that focuses more on getting things out of the child than on forcing things in (if that makes sense).
There's quite a bit of colour and rhythm to the curriculum - things that I seem to remember as distinctly lacking from the state system (at least when I was at school).
On the whole, I wish I'd been able to go to one of these schools as a kid.
As a final note - If you do go down the route of becoming a teacher - go for a larger, more established school. The small ones can be quite a challenge. We've got direct experience of three schools in the UK - all very different.
Thank you both for the info, it's much appreciated. You've actually confirmed most of what i already suspected regarding Steiner. I think more research is needed, Wiki thankfully has a lot of info on Anthroposophy. Having spent many years in a Catholic school i'm very wary of Dogmatic institutions, though Anthroposophy does appear to lean more toward my 'beliefs' (if you can call them that) than Catholicism which, without wanting to offend anyone, i see as a complete fraud and if i was 'in charge' would be taken out of education all together.
As for Montessori Schools, i have never heard of these. I'll have to do some research. If anyone has anything to contribute in this regard it'd be much appreciated also. 🙂
Thanks again 😀
There are extensive offers which haven't been discussed with regard to the optional variants of a school's dogma, theological beliefs, nor curriculum here!
If you would like your child to be indoctrinated - go ahead!
Bloom's taxonomy is being highly re-evaluated in Asian teaching, and is being re-introduced as highly valuable - as a standard for TEACHERS!; and yet was kicked out of the UK 10 years ago as old hat! Because MANY teachers, i.e. the majority were/are just not qualified to teach to that level of understanding. Yet it worked well for 40 years prior! The measure here is the level and standard of the scholar, and their own ability to create freedom within your child!
Teaching is about love of the children, and encouraging their freedom of development. If you see a need to send a child to a school of teachers with possible limited outlooks and limited abilities - go ahead!
Bloom's taxonomy is still highly regarded in the USA as a standard benchmark, and as a measuring device of 'teachers' themselves.
What of Steiner? That's for you to investigate and make your own decision. A chess website isn't the exact place to ask for advice regarding your child!
From my experience, I would shy your child away away from a Steiner school!
That's all I have to say, unless you want to PM me.
-m.
Originally posted by MarinkatombSame here. I never heard about Montessori.
As for Montessori Schools, i have never heard of these. I'll have to do some research. If anyone has anything to contribute in this regard it'd be much appreciated also. 🙂
What tends to put me off from the Steiner education is the magnanimous and vague pseudo-philosophical wording which tends to make me immediately sceptic about the whole thing. I also find that there is a certain elitism that comes with the "community" sense, with respect to people who are not part of that community.
However, many elements of the educational method sound very appealing, especially for younger kids. Noodles, which elements found their way into "normal" schools in Norway? That sounds very appealing.
Originally posted by mikelomI imagine it's not the only place he asked for information. Nothing wrong with hearing some opinions from here and weighing them appropriately.
What of Steiner? That's for you to investigate and make your own decision. A chess website isn't the exact place to ask for advice regarding your child!
From my experience, I would shy your child away away from a Steiner school!
Why would you shy your child away from a Steiner School?
Originally posted by pawnhandlerI hear what you're saying, i don't see "school as the only learning outlet" at all. However, i do feel that the National Curriculum completely over looks the value of allowing teachers time to aid the development of children's self esteem and natural abilities. Kids are rail-roaded down narrow channels where knowledge is crammed into their brains to be regurgitated on demand without a second thought as to whether they truly understand it or not. To go even further, i feel it is self evident that the natural state of the World, or the Universe at large, is an environment that is in a constant state of change. Adaptability is a trait that should be honed, recitation of other peoples ideas does not serve children as a firm basis to become functional adults.
The wiki was interesting. I'm getting the impression, though, that you're thinking school is the only learning outlet and that home, family, and free time are irrelevant. I'm saying that because you would have had plenty of time growing up to learn to juggle (or whatever else interests you). As for the other part, there are plenty of good and bad teac ...[text shortened]...
I'm interested in hearing more when you hear from teachers who've taught in this method.
Obviously i am not suggesting that what kids learn in school is irrelevant, far from it! I just feel that fostering a love of learning and encouraging children to challenge themselves on their own terms and at their own pace would be much more effective.
Originally posted by mikelomI don't have a child, i'm thinking of becoming a teacher... 🙂
There are extensive offers which haven't been discussed with regard to the optional variants of a school's dogma, theological beliefs, nor curriculum here!
If you would like your child to be indoctrinated - go ahead!
Bloom's taxonomy is being highly re-evaluated in Asian teaching, and is being re-introduced as highly valuable - as a standard for TEACHE ...[text shortened]... ay from a Steiner school!
That's all I have to say, unless you want to PM me.
-m.