The following is an extract from a paper given by Deborah Whitford at the Inter-Disciplinary.Net 2^nd Global Conference held at Oxford University in July 2005.  The project title was Creative Engagements: Thinking with Children.

During the last century there has been an intensifying interest in the ways in which we teach children to learn.  In that time a transformation has taken place and there are many people and movements who have contributed to this change.

In the process of educating young children in a human-centred school each child is helped to realise his or her potential in a way that continues to develop beyond their school years and broadens abilities of mind, soul and body as a dynamic unity. While the unfolding abilities of each human being constitute a unique configuration, there must be a balance between this individuality and the child’s place in the class and the community that envelop and support the child.

Therefore teachers work with the natural interests and abilities of the children in their class but also attempt to harmonise these in an approach that balances ease with challenge. The children are encouraged to play, explore, discover and light their way towards their own sense of the sacred nature of life which grows from their intuition and does not rest on religion or ideology.

In a human-centred school, children benefit from play, time to day dream and a slower start to formal teaching. One of our basic principles is the involvement of creativity in all activities and at all levels of learning. Different subjects are interwoven and artistic expression is part of the learning process throughout, thus retaining the sense of wonderment that is in every child and is a most precious human gift.

At this stage I would like to clarify the relationship between human-centred education and the Steiner education system.  We share many aims with the latter:

• An acknowledgment of the spiritual nature of everything and the need to work in harmony and with reverence for whatever engages us;

• Our relationship to the natural and built world and the natural rhythms of life, both internal and external;

• An awareness of truth, beauty and goodness;

• Our regard for the evolution of consciousness and its importance for our teaching methods which include an unhurried introduction to formal learning through play;

• An emphasis on human relationships which necessitates children and teachers staying together over some years, as well as parental involvement;  

• The main lesson structure fostering concentration and activities which integrate formal and artistic work;

• All children are taught music, poetry, art and craft, and other subjects are elevated to an art and interwoven;

• A balanced approach addressing all modes of learning which honours the whole child; and

• Children are encouraged to reach their potential with a view of contributing to a changed and better social order.