The Recovery of Man in Childhood

Quick Look

• Written by one of the founders of the first UK Waldorf school
• Clear and insightful on the unique approach that Steiner-Waldorf education takes
• Full of fresh ideas for parents and teachers

A classic and definitive presentation of Steiner-Waldorf education, still as fresh and insightful today as when first written.

Description

This book is one of the definitive accounts of Steiner-Waldorf education by the founder of the first Waldorf School in the UK. In clear and insightful terms, Cecil Harwood presents the heart of this unique approach to children's development, learning and wellbeing as a much-needed antidote to modern educational methods.

Harwood's book is full of still-fresh ideas for both parents and teachers, and is a must-read for anyone interested in Steiner-Waldorf education. The classic work has been edited for the modern age, with a contextualising introduction by Professor Douglas Sloan.

Reviews

'As an educator and a parent, I found A. C. Harwood's description of Waldorf education extraordinarily helpful, crystal clear and full of insight. The high imaginative approach to teaching and learning so conceretely spelled out here counters aggressive and reductionistic methods common today, as it offers a realistic but loving attitude toward children and childhood. I wish all educators would read it, not to be converted but to be enlightened.'
-- Thomas Moore, Psychotherapist and author of Care of the Soul and other books

'Cecil Harwood provides a now classic exposition of Waldorf education. Since its founding in 1919, this important educational movement has found no better spokesperson than Harwood. His treatment of Rudolf Steiner's philosophy of education is masterful, and his own insights into the growing child are profound. I recommend this book unreservedly to both educators and parents.'
-- Arthur Zajonc

'A. C. Harwood's writing is clear, his presentation of Steiner's insights, specific. Yet more, he quickens the imagination of the attentive reader to envision the world, and the possibilities for education, anew.'
-- Jeffrey Kane

Author

A. Cecil Harwood (1898-1975) was born in London and studied at Oxford, a contemporary of C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien and Owen Barfield, who was a life-long friend. He was one of the founders of the first Steiner-Waldorf school in England following a meeting with Rudolf Steiner (which became Michael Hall School in Sussex). He lectured widely on Waldorf education; The Recovery of Man in Childhood is one of the definitive works on Waldorf education.

Douglas Sloan is a professor at the Teacher's College, Columbia University, New York.