School without stress
Pegasus help
On the southern wall of our living room a surprise lurks in the plaster. Sized about 40 x 27 centimetres, a half-relief is rises above the grainy substrate showing a winged horse. [more]
Waldorf sustainability
How sustainable is the Waldorf curriculum?
Book fair in Leipzig: on occasion of the hundredth anniversary of the Waldorf school movement in 2019, there was a large stand at which, among other things, a short presentation was given each day on the subject: “What does Waldorf education mean today”. On one of the days I fell into conversation with some people attending the fair on the question as to what extent the current topic of sustainability comes up in the Waldorf curriculum, and if it does, how Waldorf goes about getting its pupils to live and act accordingly. [more]
Waldorf sustainability
Still some room for improvement. Snap poll on the subject of sustainability
We used a snap poll to get a picture of what the German Waldorf schools are (already) doing with regard to sustainability. That includes aspects of the running of the school, energy management, nutrition, architecture (conversions/new builds/building materials), lessons (subjects and practice placements) and public relations work (guiding principles). The questionnaire went to all German Waldorf schools and they only had just under four weeks to respond to twenty-one questions. Twenty-nine Waldorf schools responded – thank you. Here is a provisional result which makes no claim to being representative. [more]
Waldorf sustainability
Maschsee European environmental school
The Hanover-Maschsee free Waldorf school is one of the oldest Waldorf schools in Germany. Sustainability was a principle guiding its actions from the beginning, long before the concept became a political buzzword. But what does sustainability mean in 2020? What are the expectations of pupils, teachers and parents when they look at the subject in the time of Greta and the “climate crisis”? [more]
Waldorf worldwide, Waldorf sustainability
Doing change – the story of Sonomotors
Former Waldorf pupils develop an innovative electric car, set up a startup company and seek a new way of community funding. [more]
Spotlight, Waldorf sustainability
The virus: war and peace. Notes on corona
“Nous sommes en guerre!” We are at war – the words of the French president in his address to the nation summon up resistance, literally. What we need now is empathy, solidarity and responsibility says the German chancellor in her speech. Both are probably true. Yet the enemy is invisible, lives within us. [more]
Transhumanism
If we could do what we wanted. The challenges of transhumanism
Transhumanism is a spreading philosophical and cultural movement and worldview which has set itself the goal of transcending the human being. This is to be done with the help of modern technology which is developing so rapidly today that it is difficult to predict how much it will soon allow us to do. [more]
Transhumanism
Thinking and artificial intelligence
Computer programs attempt to map the laws of human logic. Artificial neural networks go deeper: they imitate the brain processes when a person thinks. Although the programs are written by humans, the networks are trained by them until they run by themselves. Much human thinking has flowed into artificial intelligence but it is frozen in the latter. What, then, distinguishes real human thinking? [more]
Transhumanism
Steiner’s surprising assignment
The inhabitants of coastal areas in the eastern Indian Ocean learnt the lesson from the great flood disaster of Christmas 2004. In Thailand and Indonesia, reliable tsunami warning systems were installed with German assistance by 2008 and the way that houses were constructed was adapted in such a way that the water masses were able to flow through below the now firmly anchored raised buildings without causing major damage. Emergency ladders and bridges were built everywhere. [more]
Bund der Freien Waldorfschulen e.V.