Böcker av Stephen Keith Sagarin

Representing more than a decade of research, this book is the first account of the history and development of Waldorf education in America. Looking at the past and present with an eye to how the understanding of the term Waldorf education has changed over time, the author identifies key trends in education, both Waldorf and general education, to imagine the direction in which Waldorf education may move in the future.Part one shows how the number of Waldorf schools grew slowly and steadily and how they have evolved through four generations, changing gradually from "experiments" to "alternatives" and, in the process, forging and re-forging Waldorf education itself.Part two examines the methods and myths of Waldorf education, showing what is essential and what is extraneous. Peeling away layers of convention and even misunderstanding, the author reveals Waldorf education as what many believe Rudolf Steiner, its founder, intended it to be: a living method of education that may be employed by any teacher or any school.As Waldorf education comes increasingly into public view and into public schools, primarily through charter schools, questions about what Waldorf education is (and is not) are becoming increasingly relevant.The author concludes that Waldorf education is not a method that can be packaged and sold, but a living method that depends on insight for continual renewal.The Story of Waldorf Education in America is a fresh, insightful, analytical, and valuable resource for parents, teachers, and educators who would like to know more about Waldorf education--whether they have extensive experience in the Waldorf education or have only just heard of it.

"Education prepares us for an unknown, uncertain future. Conformity, convention, and a lack of creative thinking and action will not serve us fully to face this future. We cannot know, and can only guess, what the future will bring, and we educate truly when we educate for inspiration--for insight and creativity--in the face of the unknown. We aim not to define our students, not to pigeonhole them according to our own inevitably partial and too-narrow view of the world they will inhabit and make. We aim to educate them while leaving them free to rebel, not for no reason, but for a reason, for a cause." --Stephen Sagarin (from the introduction)In this book, Stephen Sagarin clears away a few cobwebs to reveal the art, the living heart, and profound hope contained in the educational impulse known as Waldorf education. With brisk and insightful essays--written by a man clearly working in the midst of his subject matter--he moves through seven core themes of youth education--growth, method, curriculum, terms, principles, governance, and administration--and ends with a hopeful look at the future. Employing pithy observations, bold myth-busting insights into key terms (what they mean and do not mean, including "math gnomes"), child development, and much more, How the Future Can Save Us is an engaging and exciting read for both new and experienced teachers, parents and caregivers, and any student of education. It offers a fresh, hopeful, unconventional, and reinvigorating take on Waldorf education--where it comes from, what it means today, and how it still holds promise for the future.