Extending boundaries – Empowering individuals
Extending boundaries – Empowering individuals
By Dr Michaela Glöckler.
InterActions. Publishing date 15 September 2020.
ISBN 978-0-9528364-3-8. Pb, 248pp, with colour photos and illustrations, £19.99.
‘Almost every day you can read somewhere that a fundamental change is needed in schools and the education system…’
These words of Dr. Michaela Glöckler stand out at the top of the back cover of her new book, Education for the Future: How to nurture health and human potential? They are words that will resonate with many readers, including those who have involvement in mainstream education. And not just with state funded schools: the push for standardisation of educational policy and curricula from government (here in the UK, the Department of Education) and inspection bodies (here principally Ofsted) makes itself increasingly felt across private and Steiner Waldorf schools as well. Additionally, the push is for increased schoolification of early years (in England), putting literacy and numeracy above all other subjects, with emphasis on tests, data gathering, competition, of holding that ‘education is for the economy’ (Gordon Brown, a former chancellor) – an industrial model with success measured in output test scores and income potential. UK children are amongst the most tested in the world, and with this whole attitude towards education, it is no wonder that England persistently ranks at near the bottom of child happiness surveys for Europe. The general outcry from most schools and teachers is that it’s going in the wrong direction!
‘The increase in mental disorders in children and adolescents and the growing number of teachers affected by burnout clearly indicate that the existing education system needs a new orientation,’ says Dr Glöckler further. It is, of course, not just in the UK, but is a trend world-wide.
But what is the orientation needed? Ask teachers and educators, whom governments seem to increasingly pay little attention to, and the general consensus will be something along the lines: listen to the children – pay attention to their needs and well-being, though there is still much discussion around what basis to judge the children’s needs on.
This is where Dr Glöckler’s book really comes into its own, in which she demonstrates quite clearly that Waldorf education at its core has a huge amount to offer in approaching these questions. From her 40 years of experience working with children as a paediatrician and as an anthroposophic doctor she brings an astonishing amount of detail to bear in elucidating the holistic approach which Rudolf Steiner brought in the first school 100 years ago, considering not just the physical but the soul, emotional and spiritual growth that children and young people undergo in their first 21 years. What does an age appropriate education look like – down to the details of why? What can we do to encourage, rather than work against, the child’s own process of development and discovery in its different stages? What are these stages? The author characterises them as ‘milestones of development’, and the middle part of the book is taken up with descriptions of these. And importantly, what are the consequences for health into adulthood if we do – or don’t – pay attention to these?
Dr. Glöckler doesn’t merely stay in ‘traditional’ anthroposophical educational and medical territory, but it is her endeavour throughout to show that ‘modern’ open-minded scientific and educational research and experience corroborates many of the indications Steiner gave for education for the different ages, giving numerous examples. It is Dr Glöckler’s insights into how these can be brought together which are particularly inspiring. She isn’t simply repeating or newly compiling statements from Steiner or others, but is speaking out of a thorough penetration of the subject, arriving at a newly enlivened and worked through holistic picture of Waldorf education, into the smallest elements and details. One senses in her presentation that, at 100 years Waldorf, we are really only at the start of discovering and applying the potential it has for the future.
The subjects which the book deals with don’t simply lie in school matters; the insights will be of value for parents and any who are working with children, for deepening your understanding of child development and ‘education’ in a broad sense of what home, school and society can bring, dealing also with elements in all of these which can affect health and development, positively and negatively. The author also doesn’t shy away from many issues which are questions today for adults and children alike, such as the very elucidating sections on sexuality and identity, including transgender, asexuality and homosexuality. Other sections range from technology and media in education, to safeguarding (a very topical issue in the UK), to why religion lessons and eurythmy truly are important subjects – in spite of being amongst the first to be reduced if a Waldorf school is under outside or financial pressures. Another important concept brought is that of ‘salutogenesis’ – what gives rise to health, as different from pathogenesis or what gives rise to illness – and practices we can take on as individuals to further this.
One of the last chapters is reserved for the teacher: how can we tackle issues of burnout and stress? What can we work on and nurture, as teacher and as school collegium, to give energy and strength, rather than deplete? The last chapter considers the role of the ‘school doctor’, one which we see less of today than earlier, and the need for all having to do with children to acquire a greater knowledge and feeling for the health issues involved. Hence also the book! Hence also the School Health Practitioner’s course which she and Dr Hedda Joyce initiated and carried out over three years (just recently completed) in the UK.
Education for the Future truly is a treasure chest and highly recommended for anyone working with children, whether as parent, carer, teacher or researcher exploring the deep-seated issues of education for nurturing health, well-being and human potential. It is packed with insights and information, but at the same time is well ordered and very readable. And it brings with it a challenge: for each of us to work on the insights as striving individuals, to help realise the great potential which perspectives from Waldorf education can offer for education in the 21st century.
Click here to view or download a PDF of the Table of Contents. With colour illustrations and photos, it is very reasonably priced. It is available through Wynstones Press, www.wynstonespress.com, as well as through other online sources and your local bookshops.
“This book is a plea for radically aligning upbringing and education with what is needed for healthy development and well-being of children and adolescents.” Dr Michaela Glöckler
Richard Brinton