Waldorf Resources
Vertical Curriculum
Principles and general educational aims
Gardening is one of the subjects which can be regarded as having played a central and exemplary role in Waldorf education right from the beginning. The curriculum was conceived by the teachers of the first school, initially in consultation with Steiner, and has continued to be developed right up to the present.
The fundamental idea behind this subject is to engender in young people a deep understanding of the workings of nature through predominantly practical activity in the garden. Over a period of years of working in the school garden and observing the processes of nature, young people will ideally build up a store of experience, together with a sense of the immense cultural task they are involved in as human beings. This is nothing less than the care of the soil, the production of food and the responsibility for the earth. All these themes can be reflected in the more theoretical or observational parts of the lessons. Thus this subject can play its part in helping young people develop a sound sense of judgment.
On the one hand, they should acquire a well-founded feeling for the right way to treat the earth, plants and animals. On the other, they should develop a sharp eye for the things that are calling out to be done in the garden. It is a question, in other words, of having educated senses in conjunction with a habit of directly engaging the will. Of course, there are many points of contact between this and other subject areas, such as biology, history etc.
The curriculum which was developed early on envisaged gardening for classes 6 to 10. This was later expanded by some schools to include classes 1 to 5.
In many schools the scope of this subject is extended towards integrating the care of animals into the lessons.
It also often happens that the forestry and agricultural practicals are organised and run by the gardening teacher(s) (→ Projects and Practicals)
In relation to gardening it must be pointed out that conditions in individual schools as regards availability of land, classrooms and workshops vary considerably, and that what is pedagogically possible is largely dependent on them.
Methodological considerations for classes/grades 6 to 8
Gardening first appears on the timetable in grade 5 or 6. At this age the students are well able to sustain physical effort for an hour. It is desirable that they participate in as many of the various ongoing tasks as possible. Particularly in the middle of puberty, during which young people are unlikely to take up such tasks on their own initiative, this activity has a valuable contribution to make. In actively caring for the landscape, plants, and animals, teenagers can feel they have something positive and healing they can set against the insidiously advancing destruction of nature, which in turn can help give them courage to deal with changes of all kinds.
Class/grade 6
Work is mostly done in large groups: getting to know various practical aspects of gardening work, according to what is necessary in the particular garden, e.g.:
Sieving and mixing compost
Sowing and transplanting
Harvesting, processing the harvest (pressing, drying, making herb-salt, jam, syrup etc.). Hygiene regulations must be adhered to here.
Cooking and eating
Everyday maintenance work ((weeding, mowing with a sickle, clipping bushes and hedges, felling small trees)
Simple floral arrangements, making wreaths
Animal husbandry: caring for bees throughout the year (honey harvest, extraction, filling jars, wax processing, candle-making); feeding and caring for larger animals (grooming, milking, simple milk-processing)
Becoming familiar with key environmental factors (sun, water, wind, soil-quality) and their effects upon plant life
Exactly as in class 6, all necessary garden tasks are carried out. This can now be done in smaller groups working in parallel on different tasks. Moreover, the work can now be more demanding, e.g.:
Preparing the harvest produce in keeping with market standards; selling the produce
Looking after the bushes and hedges in the school garden
Sawing and splitting wood
Learning about humus, the activities of soil fauna, composting
Forestry practical possible
Just as in the previous two grades, attention is paid to the tasks needing to be done in the garden. In addition, the students can prepare plots of their own, which can be integrated into the crop rotation of the garden. Generally, they now work for longer and more independently, also taking on more complex tasks, e.g. mowing with a scythe, working under direction with simple machines (lawnmowers etc.), repairing equipment and buildings.
Production of creams, soaps and oils
Becoming familiar with the soil requirements for cultivated plants, and crop rotation
Drawing up a calendar of work
Preparation for the agriculture practical
Usually a fairly long gardening main lesson is done, involving projects in landscape design: for instance, making paths, steps and walls, erecting fences, long-term plantings (trees, shrubs, hedges), management of berry bushes and fruit trees, perhaps also pruning.
Agricultural practical.
Class/grade 10
In class 10 gardening usually culminates in a protracted main lesson block. Here the grafting of fruit trees and roses (or other locally cultivable plants) can be given in-depth treatment. It should begin by going into vegetative reproduction in plants. Grafting then appears as a kind of vegetative reproduction which does not occur in nature. Thus, from a combination of vigorous stock and a superior variety, the human being creates a new individual, which must be looked after for the rest of its life. In addition, the pruning of fruit trees and roses can also be dealt with in theory and practice.
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