Steiner

“Creativity is inventing, experimenting, growing, taking risks, breaking rules, making mistakes and having fun” –Mary Lou Cook.

Steiner education was based on the educational philosophy of Rudolf Steiner. Steiner founded the philosophy of Anthroposophy which considers the human body is composed through the mind, soul and spirit. In regards to education, Steiner’s ideas had strong connections to the humanistic approach and a holistic view. Steiner education has a high value of autonomy which I believe would support and encourage creativity. Steiner believed that children in an early childhood stage should learn through a physical way such as through their senses and imitation (Santrock, 2011).

Teachers must ensure that children have a sensory world through sounds, sights, actions, gestures and feelings that are valuable for imitation. Learning through practical hands on activities will set up an environment that will encourage children to have daily opportunities for creative, imaginative play.

Creativity can be supported through many Steiner approaches such as:

• Having a large experimental and sensory based environment
• Providing practical activities for children to imitate allowing exploration through role models
• Environment is home like- natural materials, children will feel safe to explore and extend their learning
• Guided free play for self directed learning
• Simple materials that could fit wide ranges of activities to strengthen creativity and imagination (MacNaughton & Williams, 2009).

References:

 MacNaughton, G & Williams, G. (2009). Techniques for teaching young children (3^rd Ed).

               Australia: Pearson Education. 

 Santrock, J.W. (2010). Life-span development. (13^thed.). Boston: McGraw Hill 

Picture:

Google images. Retrieved from http://serabeena.com.au/static/files/assets/72b9a709/Encouraging_Creativity_in_Children2.jpg