Holistic Development of the Young Child through an Integrated Curriculum: Rudolf Steiner’s Anthroposophical Research

ABSTRACT

Holistic development offers a view of the child that accounts for more than mereintellectual functioning. Rudolf Steiner, who designed the Waldorf curriculum,suggests that the development of the “whole” person, especially during early childhoodeducation, requires the recognition of a particular age-appropriate pattern ofdevelopment that can be described as a four-fold human being with twelve distinctsenses. The development of these senses is achieved primarily through an integratedcurriculum in kindergarten education. In this way, the deep, inner life of the childmeets the surrounding environment and causes the healthy unfolding of the “I”—thehighest expression of a person’s soul.