Science and Math Education
CONTENTS
Facilitating Experiential Learning
Martin Wagenschein
Being on Earth
Computers and Education
We believe that science education is all about helping students develop their capacities of observation and thinking as tools for understanding and participating in the world. It is not primarily about conveying a body of past knowledge.
Since much science today is theory-driven, students often end up taking theories for the phenomena themselves. In the worst case, science becomes a theoretical edifice that one adheres to and everything is subsumed within its categories. It becomes a kind of world unto itself.
Embryologist Lewis Wolpert embraces the idea that science is a practice that drives toward abstraction: “The ideas that science generates and the way in which science is carried out are entirely counter-intuitive and against common sense... If something fits in with common sense it is almost certainly not science.” From this view, the more rigorous and true to its mission science becomes, the further away it takes us from immediate lived experience. Paradoxically, science then arrives at explanations of the world that are utterly disconnected from the world we inhabit.
From our perspective, science education needs to begin with immersion in the phenomenal world and out of this immersion questions arise that guide further inquiry. Science education should be discovery-based and open ended. It’s not about memorizing facts or theories. In this approach, nature is the expert, the teacher is the guide, and students are the apprentices helped by the guide to learn from the expert. The knowledge that arises is not knowledge disconnected from human experience; rather, it enhances our ability to understand the world we live in.
In our publications we present a phenomena-based approach to science that can provide food for thought and concrete examples for educators to work with. See also our resources on Educating for Sustainability.
Facilitating Experiential Learning
The World of Matter and The Education of Man
By Frits H. Julius
This is a pdf copy of a foundational text for Waldorf high school science teachers and students, offering lessons in “Chemistry Presented By Simple Phenomena.”
In Dialogue With Nature — Podcast from The Nature Institute
Hosted by John Gouldthorpe
Episodes of our podcast are intended for a general audience and highlight content from our archives or conversations with our staff and special guests about phenomenological practice and experiences in the natural world.
“Why Is the Sky Blue”
By Henrike Holdrege (2022)
Centuries-long philosophical and natural scientific debate and reasoning seem to deny that the world we perceive and experience is real. But there is a glaring inconsistency in the reasoning.
“Being With the World: A Path to Qualitative Insight”
By Craig Holdrege (2022)
Distilled from a keynote talk by Craig Holdrege given in February for an international Biodynamic Agriculture Conference on Qualities and Quality, this article illuminates the shift we can exercise from merely noticing and registering various natural phenomena to actively participating in their dynamic weaving. (For an audio version, this podcast episode features much of Craig’s talk at the conference.)
“Qualities of Number in Relation to Nature”
By Gopi Krishna Vijaya (2022)
Numbers are embedded in contexts that can reveal additional qualities — such as inwardness, fixedness, flexibility, or disconnectedness — if we can train ourselves to see them.
Seeing the Animal Whole — And Why It Matters
By Craig Holdrege
In this book published in 2021 by Lindisfarne Books, Craig creates vivid portrayals of nine different animals that show how an organism’s features are interconnected and a revelation of the animal as a whole.
“Atomism — An Outline of Discoveries and Theories”
By Gopi Krishna Vijaya (2021)
In this technical paper, Gopi Krishna Vijaya traces the development of the ideas about the atom from the 17th century until today. He considers the changing models of the atom and how the idea increased in complexity as scientists implemented different methods and made new discoveries about the properties of matter.
“Encounter-Based Science: From Learning About to Learning Through”
By Craig Holdrege (2020)
Craig’s article for Renewal magazine highlights science education as a process of discernment and discovery. Rather than offer students pre-packaged concepts about science and phenomena, Craig demonstrates how educators can create lesson plans that allow students the opportunity to be engaged through exploration, where they make decisions and encounter questions. Such a process encourages a deeper and broader understanding of the world. The author draws on his own high-school teaching classroom experience to highlight the difference between learning about and learning through a topic.
To the Infinite and Back Again: A Two-Volume Workbook in Projective Geometry
By Henrike Holdrege (2019 & 2021)
A unique resource in the English language, this richly illustrated workbook is a practice-oriented introduction to projective geometry. Intended for self-study by lay persons and as a resource for high school and college mathematics teachers, it takes a synthetic approach to projective geometry that does not include analytic measurements and calculations, and therefore is independent from numbers and algebra. The author’s approach helps the reader to think transformatively and thereby learn to see the more encompassing connections and relationships between ideas.
Diversity In Human Fossil History
By Craig Holdrege (2017)
A hands-on teaching kit on human evolution, designed to bring evolutionary teaching into closer correspondence with the available evidences, which are never as neat as the textbook theories might suggest.
“An Environmental Science Curriculum for Middle School: Plants and Human Interactions”
By Craig Holdrege (2011)
One of three courses in a curriculum-development project commissioned by the Detroit Waldorf School that weaves together a phenomenological approach to science, environmental and social justice awareness, and service learning opportunities. This course presents detailed ideas and methods for teaching about and experiencing plants, food, and agriculture over the course of three one-week units for grades 6, 7, and 8.
Do Frogs Come From Tadpoles? Rethinking Origins in Development and Evolution
By Craig Holdrege (2017)
Through closely attending to the phenomena of amphibian development, author Craig Holdrege shows that evolution is in reality a creative process, and not simply the inevitable product of lifeless mechanisms. The result is a concrete example of how one can begin to understand, as well as teach, natural science in a truly holistic and living way.
Thinking Like a Plant
By Craig Holdrege (2013)
A plant opens itself to its environment as a prerequisite for unfolding its life. It puts itself out into the environment and lives in transformation. By studying the plant’s ongoing becoming and its active receptivity to the place it inhabits, we learn not only about the plant as a dynamic being, but also how to think and interact with the world differently. With plants as master teachers, we learn to engage our perception actively and willfully. With practice, our thinking becomes more fluid and dynamic; we realize how we are embedded in the world; we become sensitive and responsive to the contexts we meet; and we learn to thrive within a changing world.
“Exploring the Exploratorium in San Francisco”
By Henrike Holdrege (2014)
Reflections on what a developmentally appropriate curriculum to effectively nourish children’s lifelong love of science learning would really look like, based on the author’s experiential observations at the Exploratorium, a highly-acclaimed “Museum for Science, Art, and Perception.”
“Light in the Dark: A Classroom Demonstration”
By Henrike Holdrege (2013)
Description of a simple demonstration for the classroom that can spark students’ reflections upon light, two types of darkness, and the dual role of matter as both that which appears and that which can block appearance.
“Education and the Presence of the Unknown”
By Craig Holdrege (2012)
Every student has an unknown future, full of potential. How can a teacher prepare individual students for this unknown? It requires that what they do not yet know play a positive role in the life of both teacher and student as they work together to encourage a mutual unfolding of potential.
“Phenomenon Illuminates Phenomenon”
By Craig Holdrege (2011)
A guide for mediating discovery and surprise in science education through the powerful tool of comparison. This article shifts attention from the molecular level to that of common observation of the similarities and differences between phenomena — in this case, comparative observations of trees, and in particular the sugar maple and white oak.
“Reality-Based Education in a Hyperreal Culture”
By Craig Holdrege (2015)
This article, based on a talk given at the 2014 Techno-Utopia Teach-In in New York City, links to a video.
“The Forming Tree”
By Craig Holdrege (2005)
A tree does not have a predestined shape that it has to achieve. Rather, it develops in relation to a specific constellation of organisms and qualities (light, water, soil, exposure) in its environment.
“Learning to See Life: Developing the Goethean Approach to Science”
By Craig Holdrege (2005)
This article gives a brief introduction to the Goethean approach in relation to science education.
“Doing Goethean Science”
By Craig Holdrege (2005)
Practicing the Goethean approach to science involves heightened methodological awareness and sensitivity to the way we engage in the phenomenal world.
The Dynamic Heart and Circulation
Edited by Craig Holdrege (2002)
Written by doctors, scientists, and teachers, the essays in this book present a dynamic picture of the circulatory system that both balances and puts into perspective the prevailing one-sided mechanical explanations that dominate science and medical education. The intricacies of the circulatory system and its place within the whole human being come into view.
“The Art of Thinking”
By Craig Holdrege (2002)
Questions are the driving force of any thought process; they give direction, focus, and energy. This article addresses different ways of thinking and how they can be practiced in high school science classes.
“Metamorphosis and Metamorphic Thinking”
By Craig Holdrege (2002)
This essay is a summary of the introductory talk given at a Waldorf high school biology and environmental science colloquium (March 2002) on the theme “Metamorphosis.”
Genetics and the Manipulation of Life: The Forgotten Factor of Context
By Craig Holdrege (1996)
A ground-breaking book that views heredity in the context of the dynamics of life. It is a valuable resource for anyone who teaches genetics and wants to give students a broader view of the nature of heredity and how human thought influences the way we see the world.
“Addressing Contemporary Issues in the High School: The Example of Human Cloning”
By Craig Holdrege (2000)
When we learn about physiological processes such as spine development, we build living concepts that illuminate the truly inhuman nature of most of the notions concerning human cloning.
“Science as Process or Dogma? The Case of the Peppered Moth”
By Craig Holdrege (1999)
Questioning the classic textbook example of evolution — the peppered moth — the author makes the case for science teaching that serves the ongoing exploration and continual renewal of ideas rather than the codification of a body of knowledge.
“The Farm in the Landscape: A Place-Based Ecology Course”
By Craig Holdrege (2000)
An ecologically-oriented farm is an example of how the human being can interact with nature to support environmental richness and diversity.
“Impressing the Science out of Children”
By Steve Talbott (1995)
The ideal of science teaching is not that the child receive maximal impact from some display, but rather that she actively discover within herself a connection to the phenomena she is observing.
“The Flaming Candle: Experiential Learning in the Fourth Grade”
By Ueli Aeschlimann (2009)
Aeschlimann, a professor of physics and physics education for lower school grades at the Bern Pedagogical University in Switzerland, describes here an example of teaching in the spirit of Martin Wagenschein (see below) that is designed especially with the developmental needs of fourth-graders in mind. The goal here is “not to teach chemistry in the fourth grade, but rather for the students to learn to observe closely, to ask questions, and to ponder these questions within a class discussion.”
The Work of Martin Wagenschein
The German physicist and educator Martin Wagenschein made an original and incisive contribution to science education. We have translated some of his writings. Visit our page Experience-Based Science Education: The Work of Martin Wagenschein to learn about Wagenschein and find links to our translations.
Being on Earth
You will find on our website the full text of Being on Earth, published in 2006 by two physicists (Georg Maier and Stephen Edelglass) and a philosopher (Ronald Brady). This extremely valuable work explores the epistemological, aesthetic, social, moral, and educational aspects of a qualitative science — that is, a science grounded in the irreducibly participative relation between the human being and the world.
Computers and Education
For a critical look at the role of computers in education, see our Information, Computers, and Education page. For a more extensive set of commentaries, you can check out the “Education and Computers” entry in the topical index of our online NetFuture newsletter. There you will find a list of commentaries and articles by senior researcher, Stephen L. Talbott.