Educational methods
QUESTION: Masters, I am trying to decide what kind of school education I should guide my son into. There are currently two options open to me. One would be a Steiner education (known in large portions of the world as Waldorf instruction), which is wonderfully child-centered and spiritual. It is based on tenets with which I mostly agree, but which I fear may lack some of the academic punch that my son may require in later years. The other option is a more mainstream, traditional education which will no doubt be seen as CV-worthy later, but which I feel will not support him on a creative and spiritual level within a system that favours hierarchy, conformity, and academic exams at an age when a child should be playing and experiencing. Can you please advise me on what might best suit the needs of my son in this life? ~ Victoria, Switzerland
ANSWER: Your son is a very special child who has come down to be on Earth at this time to help out humanity. It will not assist him in his mission if he becomes fixated on competitiveness and judgment. These characteristics are the antithesis of the Steiner method and the basis of the standard educational model. While any soul’s journey is to learn to exercise its freedom of choice, at his age your child is unable to do that for himself at this time.
If you feel the school that you have chosen is able to meet the basic beginning educational needs for your son, then you cannot go wrong. It will take a number of years for a pattern to develop and for your son to establish his unique pathway of inquiry. You and he will be able to tell in a few years if he is getting what he needs from the school you place him in. Starting in one direction does not mean you can never change and go in another.
If at some time he chooses to try the other method, allow him to do so if he is able to articulate reasons for his choice. He will be absorbing material at an incredible rate as long as he is continually stimulated. He needs many various experiences to develop, not a patterned structure of memorization.
While curriculum vitae are considered by some to show the measure of a man, the personality will sink or obliterate an impression gathered from mere paperwork. The ultimate goal you seek is to mold and educate your son so that he takes full advantage of his entire essence.