From Imitation to Illumination

What we do in the classroom must arise from an education of who we are, rather than from a system of what we impose.  —study from The Study of Man

When I first decided to become a teacher, I believed passing on other people's ideas was enough. I thought that if I loved children, if I enjoyed story telling, and if I gathered enough ideas (and presented them well), surely that was teaching. But I underestimated the value of my own original ideas and understanding. And it took time to understand that something deeper was being asked in the service of an education that is founded in truth, beauty, and goodness.

Steiner acknowledged that true education arises from a true knowledge of the human being (not from borrowed ideas or established methods) but from an inner schooling of perception. This means that teaching is "an art" that requires careful training. It requires someone who is capable of developing their thinking beyond passive thought and entering into active thinking. This sort of thinking is an act of freedom and this matters greatly in education.

Yes, an untrained teacher can copy a lesson, repeat a rhythm, or mirror a tone, but this is still merely copying the book without having understood the principles behind each basic idea. If the goal is to educate the hands, head, and heart, then studying the surface is not enough.

In teacher training, the study is fully digested. It is questioned. And more importantly, it is tested inwardly becoming part of one's own understanding and moral imagination. Yes, ideas are truly beautiful! They are the fruit of someone else's labor and inner insight. But to teach these ideas without understanding their original truth is to server them from their spiritual origins. Because when we passively copy what we do not know and understand, in the name of education, we miss the living truth (and children have a sense for authenticity). They can usually distinguish between appearances and reality (and they are very good at playing along). And even though they may not articulate it yet, most children sense when an adult is performing a lesson from a borrowed certainty verses from an experience ground in original founded truth.

This is why, in training, a teacher is taught to remain inwardly mobile, instead of clinging to popular forms. The teacher learns to become more willing to question and to think again, allowing ideas to grow beyond what they first received. This becomes the responsibility of the teacher. For if we, ourselves, are not practicing thinking as teachers, we cannot call it forth in the child.
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Perhaps the question is not, "Can I teach this lesson?" But rather, "Have I earned my authority to carry it forward clearly in my own way?" or "Have I become worthy of it?" And may our training never end—for the sake of the child and for the sake of freedom.

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AND

Enjoy this original main lesson presentation on vimeo.

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Read from other blog post below.

When Lessons Become Life

The Wonder of Childhood

When the Invisible Becomes Visible