The Therapeutic Eye: How Rudolf Steiner Observed Children

Rudolf Steiner's extraordinary ability to perceive the inner nature and development of children provided insights at many levels and areas of the creative learning process. He spoke of this ability as a precondition for all forms of healthy childhood education--including special education--and suggested that teachers should develop such a capacity within themselves.

This process involves the recreation of the child within oneself, based on what we are able to observe in the child's physical appearance, temperament, ways of moving, and environment. In The Therapeutic Eye, Dr. Peter Selg discusses Steiner's views on childhood development, how teachers can look at children, and ways that these approaches can be used to develop lessons and classroom activities to deal with behavioral extremes and learning challenges.

The Therapeutic Eye is a valuable resource for teachers and parents.

C O N T E N T S

Preface

1. "A Look Deepened by Love"
2. "The Higher Learning in the Learning Experience"
3. From Typology to the Individual

Addenda: Ita Wegman Notebook Entries for a Lecture on Curative Education

Introduction
Facsimile of Handwritten Notes
Transcript of the Handwritten Notes
How Rudolf Steiner Observed Children

Notes
Literature Cited

This volume is a translation from German of Der therapeutische Blick: Rudolf Steiner sieht Kinder.

Born 1963, Stuttgart.

1986-1993 Study of human medicine at the University of Witten/Herdecke, in Berlin and Zurich. Doctoral thesis: Attempt to systematize Rudolf Steiner's human physiological ideas. An analysis of the entire lecture and written work (Witten/Herdecke 1995).

1993-2000 Further training as a specialist in child and adolescent psychiatry and psychotherapy. Senior physician in the psychiatric department for adolescents and young adults at the Herdecke Community Hospital.

2000-2002 Research associate at the Institute for Applied Epistemology and Medical Methodology (Freiburg).

2002-2006 Head physician at the Ita Wegman Clinic Arlesheim (adolescent psychiatry and psychotherapy); since 2006 establishment and management of the Ita Wegman Institute for Basic Anthroposophical Research

Since 2007 professorship for medical anthropology and ethics at the Alanus University of Arts and Social Sciences (Alfter near Bonn); teaching in the Studium fundamentale and in the accompanying studies in anthroposophic medicine at the University/Witten-Herdecke

Since 2020, co-leader of the Executive Council of the General Anthroposophical Section of the School of Spiritual Science (Goetheanum)