Pre-school education against the destruction of our livelihoods
Work and free play to prevent greed, simplicity and versatile sensory perception to educate lively thinking, emotional warmth and the creation of astonishing «islands» in space and time. That would go a long way. A contribution by Philipp Reubke.
In June 2023, the newspaper «Le Monde» launched a long-term assignment on environmental destruction and global warming: «Extreme» was the only appropriate word to describe the extent of the destruction and imbalance, as well as the enormous acceleration of these phenomena.1 Humanity and nature are at their outermost limits, our current way of life can no longer be continued, the end of our resources is in sight.2
This is not a new observation. As early as 1972, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) published a study entitled, «Limits to Growth» on behalf of the Club of Rome.3 The seriousness of the situation is recognised, but we cannot and do not want to change our destructive way of life. What is new, however, is the awareness of the causes of evil in the human soul. The editor-in-chief of «Le Monde» does not say this quite so directly, but almost: «greed» and «cynicism» are the fatal tendencies of modern man4, it is a matter of rethinking our relationship to life5, not only our environment, but also our world view must be cultivated and further developed.6
Anyone who recognises that human will, feelings and thinking are responsible for the environmental catastrophe is not far from the realisation that education can contribute to a healthier relationship between humans, the earth and the cosmos. A «spiritual ecology» not only looks for new techniques to generate or save energy, but also tries to tackle the root of the climate crisis in the human mind and soul.
The «Hague Circle - International Council for Steiner Waldorf Education» took up this topic in November 2023. We began to focus on what can be done, through education and teaching, to counteract greed and cynicism, to learn to think differently about life and the living, and our relationship to the earth, humanity and cosmos. The following are some suggestions for pre-school education.
Free play as education for «spiritual ecology»
Young children have a particular advantage over adults in that their desire for physical movement and activity is much greater. They prefer running and jumping rather than sitting, they like to touch, try things out, build and break things rather than thinking. If this urge to be active is supported pedagogically, the child experiences the intense joy of doing things him or herself every day. Then, it is no longer the possession of fascinating objects that takes centre stage, but the satisfaction of having created something out of one's own initiative. Rather than explaining to young children that it is better to share something with others, it is more meaningful for them to grasp the daily experience in free play that forcefulness and greed lead to loneliness, while co-operation brings joy.
Of course, this is sometimes uncomfortable and worrying, even tedious for adults. The tendency to scratch and hit because you want something that the other person has doesn't stop overnight with young children and takes time to transform into positive energy. And then there is the further challenge for many adults of putting intellectual comfort aside and developing a burning desire for practical activity themselves. We know that young children learn a great deal by imitation.
An educator who digs up the garden, tends the compost heap and builds birdhouses, an educator who makes table puppets, sews doll clothes, cleans windows, and cooks soup has done more to educate children in spiritual ecology than someone who admonishes four-year-olds to separate out their recycling. It’s better to do than to own, to enjoy what you can do and not so much what you have, to be satisfied with what you are and place less value on how you appear. These values can be cultivated particularly well in early childhood through a pedagogy that emphasises free play and practical work for the young child.
Preventing cynicism
Young children are also in a better place when it comes to the intensity of their feelings and emotions. Even a daisy or a snail can send children into raptures. But without pedagogical attentiveness, awe and wonder are quickly lost, even in small children. What promotes depth of feeling is simplicity. For example, while a lot of sensational objects dull attention and joy, a few simple objects that are valued and treated well by adults can enhance these same responses.
Slowness and long-term preparation are also helpful. Surprises and celebrations, special events that are planned for a long time and practically prepared with the children increase the children's anticipation, their inner involvement and their emotions. Just as the wrapping paper increases the value of the gift in our eyes, the careful and caring preparation of festivals and social events increases joy.
We usually think that strong feelings are generated above all by speed, strong sensory impressions and sensations. This may be partly true for adults, but for children it leads to a dulling of emotions and an inability to build a relationship with the natural environment based on healthy feelings. For this to happen, a fundamentally different approach to nature is needed. Without joy, appreciation and amazement in response to bees and glaciers, we may not even be affected by their disappearance.
Again, this type of early ecological education requires a special effort from us adults; an approach characterised by joy in the small and simple, and the ability to discover the exciting and interesting sides of life through our own mental activity, even at a «slow» pace. And, of course, we need to generate spiritual warmth to create special places and special festive times.
Learning how to think about living organisms
Living organisms are so different from machines. Living organisms have no individual parts that are identical to each other. To get to know them, we must first carefully observe every detail and the whole. In order to have a chance of possibly discovering their complex relationships one day, we have to get involved with what we can see, hear, smell and taste. Another feature is that the whole organism is constantly changing, growing and fading. What we perceive at any given time is only a partial aspect, many other aspects and manifestations were perceptible to the senses in the past or will be in the future. The whole or the essence of the organism remains invisible and can only be discovered through our own cognitive activity.
These two approaches to the living – a physical approach, through intensive, loving perception, and a mental approach, remembering past and anticipating future states, work together to build up a cognitive image that is not perceptible. These twin approaches can be intensively cultivated in early education.
As with wanting and feeling, children are often ahead of us, we just have to help them not to lose their abilities. Is there enough to see, touch, hear and smell? Do we go out into the garden, and the forest enough or, if that is not possible, do we bring enough varied and wonderful objects into the room from nature? Kapla and the same wooden cars don't help, but objects that we have found in nature or worked on ourselves, each with a different shape, support the development of differentiated and intensive perceptual skills. How do we counteract the widespread tendency among most children to immediately analyse, comment on and explain everything, instead of observing and experiencing?
Firstly, by immersing ourselves deeply in perception and experience and relying on the children's ability to imitate. Add to this organic play materials and a varied and colourful seasonal table on which there is a lot to see and which changes frequently, and, whenever possible, a garden that is not only aesthetically beautiful, but where, in addition to flower beds, all kinds of other plants, water, earth, wood, straw, stones and so on stimulate play and hone the ability to perceive. If small animals are also kept in the garden, as in some Norwegian kindergartens, and if a fire can be made from time to time, these are also effective means of educating a mind that is able to grasp living things.
Thoughtful access to the living can be particularly encouraged through simple play materials and play figures. The handkerchief doll and the figure made of cork, pinecones, wire or felt are unfinished and inconspicuous. They only become interesting play materials through the child's imaginative activity. Reality is not given from the outset, but only becomes accessible through mental activity and participation. For our understanding of living things, we can be thankful for well-prepared play materials that have a low impact on the environment and the climate, all manner of things found in the natural environment, materials that you have used for everyday life and then simply converted into playthings.
Less aesthetics, more work and gratitude
A certain tradition of Waldorf kindergartens emphasises, above all else, an aesthetically beautiful environment. However, this must take a back seat to the education of spiritual ecology. The essential learning ingredients in this realm are work and free play to prevent greed, simplicity and rich sensory perception to educate lively thinking, spiritual warmth and the creation of treasure «islands» in space and time (but not an aesthetic space that is always and everywhere the same).
However, perhaps the most powerful means of educating towards a «spiritual ecology» is completely invisible and cannot be represented in educational projects, or in the design of spaces or festivities. It is linked to our feelings and thoughts about our relationship to the world and to destiny. If I cultivate a feeling of gratitude for the environment that makes my life possible – the plants, the animals, the sun, the rain, my colleagues, the parents – then the children will also perceive this feeling, which shines through my face, my gestures and even my footsteps. And the children will also imitate this – the tendency to care for the foundations of life – the natural and the social environment – instead of destroying it.
Philipp Reubke
This text is a summary of a contribution at the meeting of the Hague Circle - International Council for Steiner Waldorf Education from November 16 to 19, 2023.
References
1: «Extreme» is the word that is needed not only to describe the seriousness of its damage, the scale of its disruption and the violence of its acceleration. «Le Monde», 16 June 2023, artículo de Jerôme Fenoglio
2: «This change confronts our species, and nature, with their last extremities; because it brings us close to the edge of our lifestyles, of our resources; because it pushes us to the very end of the contradictions of our consumer-centred economies.»
4: «... we must no longer allow ourselves to be dragged down the two fatal slopes of our modernity, greed and cynicism...»
5: «... our ways of conceiving our relationship with living things...»
6: «... to develop our territories and our visions of the world...»