Faculty Meetings with Rudolf Steiner
GA 300c
3 July 1923, Stuttgart
Fifty-Sixth Meeting
Dr. Steiner: We need to speak about the class you complained about. I haven’t looked at the ninth grade, yet. What I say to the children must be in harmony with the teachers. I couldn’t have done that today because I did not have a clear picture from our last meeting about what the problem really is. I’m having difficulty understanding what I should tell the children is wrong, and I need to be careful about that. In such discussions it is possible to make things worse than they already are. I would like you to explain things very concretely, so that I can say something to the children in such a way that their replies will not be an accusation against the teachers. The children should not be able to answer by accusing the teachers. This problem is not easy to solve. Today, the children were quite well-behaved. I would particularly like to hear what is bothering K.F. The children are generally well behaved. There are also some slower students. F. has some physical problems, and he does certain things because of that. I must be able to tell the children some things are wrong without them coming back with a report that such and such occurred. We need a good understanding of what happened. Today and the last time I was there, they were very well-behaved.
The teachers report that a group of ninth graders wanted to have F.R. removed. G.T. spoke for the group.
Dr. Steiner: A grudge may be involved here. After it becomes known that students were thrown out because of statements made by other students, then a group may decide they want to get another student thrown out. This conspiracy has gone a little too far. You also said that during other periods they were screaming like wild savages.
A teacher tells about students spitting out cherry pits.
Dr. Steiner: Today, such things will change only as the students gradually become accustomed to the teacher. We cannot change them overnight. The class was not like that before. They did not do such things. Before, some students were simply not very attentive, or disturbed the class by chattering. The children now know that there are some complaints against them. However, they will know we have talked about them in our meeting only when I call them to me tomorrow. Before that, they will know nothing.
Why are they making so much noise in eurythmy? Something must be bothering them. Aren’t these the things you can best cure with humor? F.R. is such a difficult boy because he is treated so poorly at home. T.L. is very gifted.
You also have some complaints about both eighth-grade classes. We should not be surprised by their attitude. It’s not necessarily the children, but it is surprising that it is so strong during class. They seemed very sneaky as they sat there today.
The ninth-grade children should not feel that their teacher is uncertain, that he is not absolutely certain about what he is teaching. They may not have that feeling. I would advise you not to say, “I do not know that.” You should avoid saying you do not know something, especially when you do not know it. You need to be particularly careful when you do not know something. You can bring about that feeling even at an age when children are so critical. At that age, it is very important that they never look at you skeptically. You need to have some humor about such things. I will speak with the children about it; however, I fear it will not go well and they will become still more inwardly critical instead. I find it very difficult that the children will feel that you complained about them to me. Had you not complained, I would have nothing against them. Except that they know nothing about punctuation, we could say they are generally moving along well. They are about fourteen years old. The things you are doing with them assume a level of concentration of which they are capable, so that laziness is only a secondary problem. That cannot be the main problem. Throughout the class, the children are doing things that it is not particularly easy to imagine a fourteen-yearold child doing. So much for the ninth grade.
I will take a look at the young men you mentioned, but I want nothing to do with the group who complained. That is simply the beginning of the same goings-on as last year. I will have a look for myself to see what can be done with those young men.
I had a brief look at the eighth grade. I think the children should not paint when their paper is not properly stretched; their work will be messy. They need to learn how to properly stretch and secure their paper. Allow them to work with paint only on stretched paper. It will hurt nothing if some time is needed for such preparation. The children will learn a great deal if you do it properly with them. The children in the 8a class do things much too quickly. They also paint too hastily. Their notebooks look as if they would give the children terrible ideas.
A teacher comments about B.B.
Dr. Steiner: If he develops some trust, things will improve. He still has quite a number of classes ahead of him, so if he develops some trust, things will change. A particular way to treat him? You would have to give him private instruction. He will sometimes run wild. A teacher asks about German and history in the eleventh grade.
Dr. Steiner: Now you need to give them an overview of literature. You cannot leave everything for the twelfth grade. Why don’t you simply continue? You can do what needs to be done in literary history in a few sentences.
The plan for history is that you continue with what you have already begun. In those periods where you have nothing to teach about history, you should try to move on to the next section through a transition. The tenth grade closes with the Battle of Charonia. In the eleventh grade, you need to cover medieval history. You will not be able to give the boys an understanding of Parzival if you do not give them an overview of history. You will need to make a connection with the historical time.
A teacher: That means I would have to finish the history of the Middle Ages now?
Dr. Steiner: Actually, history should come first. Today, you spoke about Barbarosa, so you are already speaking about the history of the Middle Ages. The curriculum even says that you should handle such literary-historical questions with a historical overview. There are also literary themes that point back to history, for example, Alexanderlied (Song of Alexander), or Lied von Troye (Song of Troy). There is a great deal of historical material from this period.
The main problem now is that if the children go to their final examinations with the punctuation they now know, it could be very bad. They use no punctuation at all in the 9b class. Teaching them punctuation depends upon discussing the structure of a sentence in an interesting way. That is something you can do well in the course of teaching them literature.
For example, if you begin with older German language forms, you can show them in an intriguing way how relative clauses arose slowly through the transformation of writing into Latin structure. That could provide the basis for studying commas. You can teach the use of commas when you first show the children that they need to enclose every relative clause within commas. It is interesting to discuss relative clauses because they did not exist in older German. They also do not exist in dialect. You could go back to the Song of the Niebelungs and so forth and show how relative clauses began to come into the language and how it then became necessary to bring this logic into the language. After you have shown how relative clauses are enclosed with commas, you can go into a more thorough discussion of the concept of clauses. The children then need to learn that every kind of clause is set off by some sort of punctuation. The other things are not so terribly important.
From there, you can go on to show how elements of thought developed in language, and thus arrive at the semicolon, which is simply a stronger comma and indicates a greater break. They already use periods.
There is certainly sufficient time to begin that in the ninth grade. You need to develop it through a positive structuring of language, by going into the intent. It is something that you especially need to do with some excitement; you cannot do it in a boring way. Grammar alone is one of the most boring things.
When you speak in dictations, you must make it clear when sentences end and begin. You should not dictate the punctuation to them. The children will have more when they become accustomed to learning punctuation by working with sentences. It would be erroneous to dictate punctuation. I would never dictate punctuation, but instead have them hear it through my speaking. It would be much better, however, if we could do something else. It would be better if we could divide things as was done in old German, but is no longer done in our more Latin writing—they wrote sentence per sentence, that is, one sentence on each line.
You can discuss the artistic structure of a sentence with the children in an unpedantic way. You can give them a feeling for what a sentence is. You can make them aware of what a sentence is. You should also make them aware that well-formed sentences are something positive. You could, for instance, do something like using Herman Grimm’s style to show them the form of a sentence, how a sentence is pictorially formed. Now, he really writes sentences. You do not find sentences in the things most people read, just a string of words. Sentences are completely missing. Give them a feeling for well-formed sentences. Herman Grimm writes sentences. They must learn to see the difference between Grimm’s style and the things we normally read, for instance, normal history books. You can do that in the ninth grade by giving them a certain kind of feeling for the difference between a complete sentence and an interjection.
The curriculum contains something else that would be very helpful, which is poetics. That is completely missing. You are not taking it into account at all. I have noticed that the children have no feeling for metaphor. They should know metaphors, metonyms, and synecdoches. The result will be wonderful. That is all in the curriculum, but you haven’t done it. Teaching the children about metaphors helps them learn how to construct a sentence. When you bring metaphors and figures of speech into the picture, the children will learn something about sentence structure. You can explain these with some examples. You could explain, for example, the meaning of, “Oh, water lily, you blooming swan! Oh, swan, you swimming lily!” That is a double metaphor. Through such examples, young people gain a clear feeling for where the sentence ends, due to the metaphoric expressions.
With those who have good style, it would not be at all bad to try to frame the sentences rather than using commas and semicolons. You can do this well with Herman Grimm’s sentences and a red pencil. Circle the sentences and then circle twice the things that are less necessary for content, once with red and then with blue. In that way, you will have a nicely colored picture of an artistically formed sentence. You could then compare such sentences with those that are normally written, for instance, in newspapers. The weekly Anthroposophie was no exception to this. It used to go on and on just like some boring German, but now it is better.
This is something we most definitely need to do. You should teach the children punctuation to give them some feeling for logic. Such things can also be quite exciting. If you first get the children used to enclosing relative clauses with commas, then everything else will fall into place. You need to go far enough that they understand that a relative clause is basically an adjective. You could say, “a red rose.” You need no punctuation there. But, if you say, “a rose, red,” then you need to place a comma following rose because red is an appositive. If you say, “a rose that is red,” it is quite clearly an adjective.
If you give them such enlivened examples, learning will not be so boring. In dialect, people say, “the father what can write.” The relative clause is an adjective, that is, the clause as a whole is an adjective. This view of relative clauses is also very important for learning foreign languages.
A teacher mentions Philipp Wegener’s opinion that relative clauses developed from interrogative clauses.
Dr. Steiner: The interrogative could be the basis. Every adjective is actually an answer to a question. However, with “Here are some beautiful apples, give me some,” there can hardly be any talk of a question.
Researchers in languages are sometimes curious. I know of a number of papers about it—“it is thundering,” “it is lightning.” Miclosich wrote long papers about it. That is interesting, but the German it is nothing more than a shortened form of Zeus. It has the same meaning as Zeus, the god: Zeus thunders, Zeus lightnings. It is a stunted form. Many German words need to be traced back to their Greek origins. The German word for it is actually Zeus. The English word it needs to be sought also. It is based, in fact, on something lying in the spiritual. Hopefully, Wegener did not want to say that the relative clause is an interrogatory clause.
Well, that is what we want to do, to begin with the relative clause and go from there into clauses that are abbreviations or indications of an adjective. Beginning with that, which is something we need to emphasize, we can then go on to the semicolon, and finally arrive at the period, which is simply an emphasis or a pause. It is easy to convey a feeling for colons. The colon represents something not said, that is, instead of saying, “the following,” or instead of forming a boring relative clause, we use a colon. We express it in speech through tone. For instance, the way every student should name the animals is, “The animals are: the lion, the goose, the dog, the Bölsche,” and so on. The teacher asks, “What is that, a Bölsche?” “It says here on the book, ‘Bölsche, Das Urtier.’”
The school doctor speaks about some medical cases.
Dr. Steiner: That little girl L.K. in the first grade must have something really very wrong inside. There is not much we can do. Such cases are increasing in which children are born with a human form, but are not really human beings in relation to their highest I; instead, they are filled with beings that do not belong to the human class. Quite a number of people have been born since the nineties without an I, that is, they are not reincarnated, but are human forms filled with a sort of natural demon. There are quite a large number of older people going around who are actually not human beings, but are only natural; they are human beings only in regard to their form. We cannot, however, create a school for demons.
A teacher: How is that possible?
Dr. Steiner: Cosmic error is certainly not impossible. The relationships of individuals coming into earthly existence have long been determined. There are also generations in which individuals have no desire to come into earthly existence and be connected with physicality, or immediately leave at the very beginning. In such cases, other beings that are not quite suited step in. This is something that is now quite common, that human beings go around without an I; they are actually not human beings, but have only a human form. They are beings like nature spirits, which we do not recognize as such because they go around in a human form. They are also quite different from human beings in regard to everything spiritual. They can, for example, never remember such things as sentences; they have a memory only for words, not for sentences. The riddle of life is not so simple. When such a being dies, it returns to nature from which it came. The corpse decays, but there is no real dissolution of the etheric body, and the natural being returns to nature.
It is also possible that something like an automaton could occur. The entire human organism exists, and it might be possible to automate the brain and develop a kind of pseudo-morality.
I do not like to talk about such things since we have often been attacked even without them. Imagine what people would say if they heard that we say there are people who are not human beings. Nevertheless, these are facts. Our culture would not be in such a decline if people felt more strongly that a number of people are going around who, because they are completely ruthless, have become something that is not human, but instead are demons in human form.
Nevertheless, we do not want to shout that to the world. Our opposition is already large enough. Such things are really shocking to people. I caused enough shock when I needed to say that a very famous university professor, after a very short period between death and rebirth, was reincarnated as a black scientist. We do not want to shout such things out into the world.
Sechsundfünfzigste Konferenz
Vorsitz: Rudolf Steiner
RUDOLF STEINER: [Wir werden zu sprechen haben] über die leidigen angeklagten Klassen. Ich konnte die Kinder [der 9. Klasse] noch nicht anschauen. Das, was ich mit den Kindern zu sprechen haben werde, muss in Harmonie stehen mit den Lehrern. Das wäre heute kaum möglich gewesen, weil ich aus der letzten Konferenz kein deutliches Bild bekommen habe, worauf die eigentlichen Klagen gehen. Es ist so schwer zu bemerken, was man den Kindern vorwerfen soll, und da muss man furchtbar achtgeben; man kann durch solche Dinge auch vieles schlechter machen, a1s es ist. Daher möchte ich bitten, sich ganz konkret auszudrücken, sodass dann etwas bleibt, was man den Kindern sagen kann, ohne dass der Lehrer durch die Antwort der Kinder zu kurz kommt. Es darf nicht möglich sein, dass die Kinder antworten können in einer Weise, wobei der Lehrer zu kurz kommt.
Die Sache ist nicht leicht zu lösen. Heute sind die Kinder brav gewesen. Im Besonderen würde ich hören über den G. B., was der ausfrisst. Im Ganzen sind die Kinder brav gewesen. Es gibt auch schwache Schüler. Beim G. B. ist das der Fall, dass er physische Störungen hat, dass er aus physischen Störungen heraus gewisse Dinge macht. Es müssen solche Dinge da sein, die man den Kindern vorwerfen kann, ohne dass sie kommen und sagen: Das ist geschehen. Man sollte sich genau verständigen, wie die Dinge laufen. Heute waren sie brav und das letzte Mal auch.
HERMANN VON BARAVALLE berichtet von der Deputation aus der Klasse 9b, die für Ordnung sorgen soll. Gegen R. M., den sie hinaus haben wollen. G. 0. war der Sprechen Hermann von Baravalle gab den Rat zum schriftlichen Antrag.
RUDOLF STEINER: Es kann eine Ranküne dabei mitspielen. Nachdem es bekannt geworden ist, dass durch Aussagen der Schüler Schüler herausgeworfen worden sind, ist es leicht möglich, dass sich eine Anzahl vornimmt: Wir werden den herausbeißen. Es ist ein Komplott gewesen, das ein bisschen ausartet. — Nun wird auch gesagt, dass sie in den anderen Stunden ein Indianergeheul ausführen.
FELICIA SCHWEBSCH berichtet über das Kirschenausspucken
RUDOLF STETNER: Diese Dinge, die sind heute so, dass sie nur durch langsames Sich-Gewöhnen an den Lehrer anders werden können. Die werden nicht von heute auf morgen anders. Die Klasse war [früher] nicht so, sie hat doch das nicht getan. Da waren die Dinge einfach so, dass einige unaufmerksam waren, durch Schwätzen den Unterricht gestört haben. Es wissen nun die Kinder, dass Klagen über sie geführt werden, Sie werden aber dies, dass in der Konferenz gesprochen wird, erst gewahr, wenn ich sie morgen rufe. Vorher wissen sie es nicht.
Warum machen die Kinder in der Eurythmic so ein Geheul? Es muss die Kinder etwas aufstacheln.
Dazu spricht ALICE FELS.
RUDOLF STETNER: Ich hätte ja gern — aber das geht nicht — den Lehrs, den Sie zu Hülfe gerufen haben. Der soll gesagt haben: Er muss sagen, die Sache wäre auf dem physischen Plan dämonisch gewesen, aber kosmisch außerordentlich ergreifend. Ob das nicht solche Dinge sind, die, wenn man mit Humor begegnet, am allerbesten zu kurieren wären? Der R. M. ist ein schwieriger Junge aus dem Grunde, weil er im Elternhaus etwas mäßig behandelt wird. Der R. W. ist ein sehr begabter Junge.
Dann wird ja auch über 8a und 8b geklagt.
PAUL BAUMANN berichtet über chaotische Zustände in 8b.
RUDOLF STEINER: Die Haltung als solche braucht einen nicht zu wundern; es müssten nicht Kinder sein. Aber dass es so stark während des Unterrichts hervortreten soll. Heute saßen alle wie Duckmäuser.
Mehrere Lehrer berichten über 9b.
RUDOLF STEINER: Die Kinder dürfen [in der 9. Klasse] nicht das Gefühl bekommen, dass der Lehrer in einer Sache unsicher ist, dass er nicht in einer absoluten Sicherheit sie lenkt. Dieses Gefühl dürfen sie nicht bekommen. Von dem möchte ich abraten, dass man sagt: «Das weiß ich nicht.» Die Tatsache, dass man sagt, ich weiß es nicht, ist zu vermeiden; gerade wenn man etwas nicht weiß. Furchtbar vermeiden, dass man es nicht weiß! Es lässt sich das auch erreichen in einem Alter, wo die Kinder so kritisch sind. In dem Alter ist es sehr wichtig, dass man ihnen nie mit einer Skepsis begegnet. Man muss die Dinge mit Humor behandeln. Ich werde mit den Kindern reden. Nur fürchte ich, wird es nicht so günstig abgehen, sondern innerlich werden sie noch kritischer werden. Was ich schwierig finde, das ist dies, dass die Kinder den Eindruck haben werden, sie sind bei mir verklagt worden. Wenn sie nicht verklagt worden wären, hätte ich nichts gegen sie. Mit Ausnahme dessen, dass sie keine Interpunktion haben, kann man doch sagen, dass die Kinder im Wesentlichen mit dem Unterricht mitgehen.
Jemand sagt über die Klasse 8b: B. B., mit dem kann man nichts machen.
RUDOLF STEINER: Ich glaube, Frau Leinhas hat die Philosophie der Freiheit liegen lassen, und der B. B. liest sie immer. Das ist ein bisschen psychopathisch. G. B. ist doch auch eine Weile gezähmt worden, und jetzt sinkt er wieder zurück.
Das sind also vierzehnjährige Kinder. Die Dinge, die sie da machen, sind so, dass sie immerhin eine Konzentration voraussetzen, die sie fähig sind auszuüben, sodass also Nichtsnutzigkeiten sekundär sein können. Sie können nicht primär sein. Durch die Bank machen die Kinder die für ein vierzehnjähriges Kind nicht ganz leicht vorzustellenden Sachen. Das war [die Klasse] 9a,
Ich werde dann diese verschiedenen jungen Männer sehen vorzunehmen. Aber von der Deputation werde ich nichts wissen. Das ist der Anfang zu derselben Prozedur, die wir im vorigen Jahr gehabt haben, Dann werde ich [selbst] sehen, was ich mit diesen jungen Herren machen kann.
8a: Da habe ich mal hereingesehen. Da möchte ich sagen, dass die Notwendigkeit vorliegt, dass man die Kinder nicht mit Farben malen lässt, wenn. sie kein aufgespanntes Zeichenpapier haben. [Sonst] wird die Schlampigkeit gefördert. Sie müssen lernen, ihr Zeichenpapier [selbst] ordentlich aufzuspannen [mit Gummi]. Nur auf dem 'bespannten Papier mit Farbe arbeiten! [Wenn die Vorbereitungen hierzu auch Zeit in Anspruch nehmen, das schadet nichts. Die Kinder haben doch viel davon, wenn es ordentlich mit ihnen gemacht wird.] [Die Kinder in der 8a] machen die Dinge viel zu schnell. [Sie malen auch viel zu schnell.] Die Hefte schauen so aus, dass es im Kind unmöglich Gedanken hervorruft.
Nochmals wegen des Schülers B. B.
RUDOLF STEINER: Nicht wahr, es ist so, wenn er Zutrauen gewinnt, so wird es langsam anders werden. Er hat noch eine ganze Reihe von Klassen vor sich. Wenn er Zutrauen gewinnt, wird es anders werden. Besondere Behandlungsweise? Da müsste man ihn privat unterrichten. Das kommt manchmal vor, dass er sich auf der einen Seite austobt.
Nun ist noch die Frage, was für ein Urteil vorliegt über die Begabung von Dr. Lehrs für die Schule. Er sollte im Wesentlichen mithelfen.
HERMANN VON BARAVALLE: [Bei der] Physik in der 12. Klasse: Ich kann das Allerschönste und Beste sagen. Die Kinder freuen sich darüber.
Es wird gefragt wegen Deutsch und Geschichte in der 11. Klasse.
WALTER JOHANNES STEIN: Wir haben im Lehrplan doch keinen Abschnitt nach dem Parzival.
RUDOLF STEINER: Jetzt gab es eine Art Literaturübersicht. Sie können doch nicht alles für die 12. Klasse lassen. Warum fahren Sie nicht weiter fort? Das kann doch in ein paar Absätzen durchgemacht werden, was literarisch hineinfällt.
Aber im Geschichtsunterricht ist doch vorgesehen, dass man wieder anknüpft. Man muss für die Zeit, wo keine geistige Geschichte zu nehmen ist, versuchen, geschichtlich hinüberzuleiten. [Die 10. Klasse schließt mit der Schlacht von Chäronea; in der 11. Klasse muss man Geschichte des Mittelalters treiben.] Sie werden nicht erreichen, dass sich die jungen ein Verständnis vom Parzival aneignen, wenn Sie keinen geschichtlichen Überblick geben. Man muss doch an die Zeit historisch anknüpfen.
WALTER JOHANNES STEIN: Dann würde ich jetzt zu absolvieren haben die mittelalterliche Geschichte?
RUDOLF STEINER: Eigentlich hätte das geschichtliche Tableau vorausgehen müssen. Sie haben heute von Friedrich Barbarossa geredet. Sie reden doch über Geschichte des Mittelalters. Im Lehrplan steht sogar, dass man diese literaturgeschichtlichen Fragen im Zusammenhang mit einem Geschichtstableau behandeln soll. Es sind auch die literarischen Themen da, die historisch zurückweisen, [zum Beispiel das Alexanderlied des Pfaffen Lamprecht, oder der Trojanische Krieg]. Es sind viele historische Stoffe behandelt in der Periode.
Was die Hauptsorge jetzt macht, ist, wenn die Kinder mit einer solchen Interpunktion zum Examen kommen, kann es schlimm werden. In der 9b machen sie keine Interpunktion. Das Interpungieren hängt davon ab, dass man in einer anregenden Weise die Gestaltung des Satzes bespricht. Und das kann sehr gut geschehen im Verlaufe des Literaturunterrichts.
Nicht wahr, es ist zum Beispiel eine Möglichkeit, dass man, wenn man von älterer deutscher Sprachform ausgeht, in fesselnder Weise zeigt, wie allmählich durch das rein Lateinischwerden der Schrift, des Schrifttums, der Relativsatz erst heraufkommt. Der zunächst muss die Grundlage abgeben für das Studieren des Beistrichs [des Kommas]. Man kommt zu einer anderen Beistrichinterpunktion, wenn man zunächst den Kindern beibringt, dass sie jeden Relativsatz einschließen müssen durch Beistriche. Der Relativsatz lässt sich interessant besprechen, weil er im älteren deutschen Sprachschatz nicht enthalten ist. Es ist auch im Dialekt nicht enthalten, und da kann man zurückgehen auf das Nibelungenlied und so weiter und kann dies erörtern, wie die Relativsätze hereinkommen und damit die ersten Notwendigkeiten, diese Sprachlogik in die Sprache hineinzubringen. Denn hat man das, dass man den Relativsatz in die Beistriche hineingesetzt hat, dann kommt man von dort dazu, überhaupt den Begriff des Satzes genauer den Kindern zu erklären. Dann müssen sie lernen, dass jeder Satz durch irgendwelche Interpunktion abgetrennt ist. Die anderen Dinge sind nicht so furchtbar wichtig.
[Von da] geht man über zu den an der Sprache entwickelten Elementen des Denkens und bekommt schon den Strichpunkt, der [ein stärkerer Beistrich ist und] einen großen Einschnitt bedeutet. Punkte setzen sie ja.
Nun ist es in der 9. reichlich Zeit, dass sie doch eben anfangen. Man muss es an der positiven Sprachgestaltung herausarbeiten können, indem man etwas auf den Sinn eingeht. Das muss besonders an-regend gemacht werden, dies darf nicht langweilig gemacht werden. Grammatik allein langweilt sie am meisten.
Im Sprechen, [beim Diktieren], muss man bemerklich machen, wie die Sätze aufhören und anfangen. Man muss das bemerklich machen; die Kinder haben sehr viel davon, wenn man sie gewöhnt, dass sie an der Behandlung des Satzes die Interpunktion lernen. Die Interpunktion diktieren, das ist eine missliche Sache. Ich würde nicht die Interpunktion diktieren, sondern sie [beim Sprechen] hören las-sen. Es wäre viel schöner, wenn man etwas anderes machen könnte. Es wäre viel schöner, wenn man könnte so abteilen — bei der alten deutschen Sprache lässt es sich so machen, nicht mehr bei der dem Lateinischen nachgebildeten neuen —, dass man Satz für Satz ab-schreibt. Auf eine Zeile einen Satz.
Den künstlerischen Bau des Satzes kann man schon, ohne pedantisch zu werden, anregend mit den Kindern besprechen. Man kann ein Gefühl dafür hervorrufen, was ein Satz ist; dass man dem Kinde es zum Bewusstsein bringt, was ein Satz ist. Dass also Sätze gestalten etwas Positives ist, das sollte auch gepflegt werden. Man sollte solche Sachen machen, dass man [zum Beispiel] am Stile Herman Grimms [den gestalteten Satz zeigt], bildartig geformt. Der schreibt doch wirkliche Sätze. In dem, was man gewöhnlich liest, liest man nicht Sätze, sondern Bandwürmer; Sätze werden ganz vermisst. Gefühl hervorrufen für den gestalteten Satz! Herman Grimm schreibt Sätze. Es müsste ein Unterschied sein zwischen diesem Stil Herman Grimms und dein, was man sonst liest, zum Beispiel in den gewöhnlichen Geschichtsbüchern. Das kann so gemacht werden, dass man ein gewisses Gefühl für den geschlossenen Satz hervorruft in der 9. Klasse,
Etwas, was sehr helfen kann, haben wir auch im Lehrplan, eine Art Poetik. Das fehlt ganz, das wird gar nicht berücksichtigt. Ich merke, dass die Kinder nicht ein Gefühl bekommen, was eine Metapher ist. Die Kinder müssen wissen, was eine Metapher ist, Metonymie und Synekdoche. Das ist etwas Wunderbares, was sich da ergeben kann. Das steht im Lehrplan und ist nie gemacht worden. Diese Tropenlehre hilft dazu, die Kinder dazu zu kriegen, den Satz zu gestalten. Wenn sie ins Bild kommen, dann kriegt man die Satzgestaltung heraus. An Beispielen erörtert man es, Man sagt zum Beispiel, was das bedeutet: «O Wasserrose, du blühender Schwan; o Schwan, du schwimmende Rose.» [Das ist eine Doppelmetapher.] Dadurch bekommt [der junge Mensch] ein scharfes Gefühl, durch den metaphorischen Ausdruck, wo der Satz schließt auf künstlerische Art.
Es ist gar nicht so unkünstlerisch, einmal zu versuchen bei guten Stilisten, statt der Beistriche und Strichpunkte, die Sätze einzurahmen. Man kann ganz gut Herman Grimm'sche Sätze einrahmen mit rotem Bleistift; einrahmen und dann, wenn einer weniger notwendig ist für den Inhalt, könnte man ihn zweimal einrahmen, rot und blau. Dann bekommt man ein hübsches koloriertes Bild vom gestalteten Satz. Und dann vergleichen Sie solche Sätze mit dem, was man gewöhnlich schreibt, mit dem Stil von Zeitungen. Auch die «Anthroposophie» war früher nicht ausgenommen. Früher war sie so-so fortgehend, wie der deutsche Philister schreibt. Jetzt ist sie besser.
Dieses muss ganz entschieden gemacht werden. Und die Interpunktion muss dazu verwendet werden, etwas Gefühlslogik beizubringen. Diese Dinge können auch durchaus anregend sein. Wenn man die Kinder daran gewöhnt, dass sie die Relativsätze in Kommas einschließen, ergibt sich alles Übrige von selbst. Man muss so weit gehen, dass man begreiflich macht, wie ein Relativsatz im Grunde genommen ein Adjektiv ist. Man muss sagen:
«Ein rotes Röslein»; man macht kein Zeichen.
«Ein Röslein, rot»;
nun ist es so, dass man nach Röslein ein anreihendes Komma machen könnte.
«Ein Röslein, welches rot ist.» Es ist ganz klar, es ist ein Adjektiv.
Wenn man das an anregenden Beispielen erörtert, so ist es nicht langweilig. Im Dialekt sagt man: «Der Vater, wo schreiben kann.» Der Relativsatz ist ein Adjektiv. Der Relativsatz als Ganzes ist ein Adjektiv. [Dieser Ausgangspunkt für den Relativsatz ist auch für die Fremdsprachen sehr wichtig.]
MARTIN TITTMANN erwähnt die Auffassung von Wegener, dass der Relativsatz der Form nach aus dem Fragesatz entstanden ist.
RUDOLF STEINER: Die Frage kann zugrunde liegen. Das Adjektiv ist [eigentlich] die Antwort auf eine Frage. Aber: «Hier sind schöne Äpfel, gib mir welche!» Da ist gar nichts von einer Frage.
Die Sprachforscher sind manchmal drollig. Ich kenne viele Abhandlungen über das «es», es blitzt, es donnert. Miclosich hat lange Abhandlungen geschrieben über das «es». Das deutsche «es» ist nichts anderes als das — was interessant würde —, was die Verkürzungsform ist für Zeus. Es ist dieselbe Bedeutung da wie Zeus, der Gott; Zeus blitzt, Zeus donnert. Es ist nicht [Lücke in der Mitschrift], sondern eine Verkümmerungsform. Viele deutsche Wörter müssen bis zum Griechischen zurückgeleitet werden. Dieses deutsche Wörtchen «es» = Zeus, Englisch «it» müsste auch gesucht werden. Es bezieht sich auf das tatsächlich zugrunde liegende Göttlich-Geistige. Wegener wollte doch hoffentlich nicht beschreiben, dass der Relativsatz ein Fragesatz ist.
Dann wollen wir es so machen: vom Relativsatz ausgehen. Von da zu den Sätzen, die Verkürzungen sind und Bestimmungen von adjektivischer Natur, Und dann dasjenige, was stark herausgehoben werden muss, übergehend zum Strichpunkt. Den Punkt lediglich durch die Betonung oder Pause erreichen. Doppelpunkt, dafür ist leicht ein Gefühl hervorzurufen. Der Doppelpunkt steht für etwas, was man nicht sagt. Statt dass man sagt «das Folgende», oder statt dass man immer die langwierigen Relativsätze [sagt], macht man einen Doppelpunkt. Man drückt es aber [im Ton] der Sprache aus. [Wie jener Schüler, der Tiere nennen sollte.] Tiere sind: der Löwe, die Gans, der Hund, der Bölsche. [Der Lehrer fragt, was das ist, der Bölsche] — Auf dem Buch steht doch, Bölsche, das Urtier.
EUGEN KOLISKO spricht über besondere medizinische Fälle. Ein Schüler wird genannt.
RUDOLF STEINER: L. B. in der 1. Klasse, da wird irgendeine recht schlimme Verwicklung da sein mit dem ganzen Inneren. Da wird auch nicht viel zu machen sein. Das sind diese Fälle, wo Menschenformen da sind, die eigentlich in Bezug auf das höchste Ich keine Menschen sind, sondern [die] ausgefüllt sind mit nicht der Menschenklasse angehörigen Wesenheiten. Seit den Neunzigerjahren schon kommen sehr viele ichlose Menschen vor, wo keine Reinkarnation vorliegt, sondern wo die Menschenform ausgefüllt wird von einer Art Naturdämon, Es gehen schon [eine ganze Anzahl] alte Leute herum, die eigentlich nicht Menschen sind. Man kann nicht eine Dämonienschule errichten.
An sich ist nicht ausgeschlossen, dass im Kosmos ein Rechenfehler geschieht. Es sind doch lange füreinander determiniert die hin-untersteigenden Individualitäten. Es geschehen auch. Generationen, für die keine Individualität Lust hat hinunterzukommen [und sich mit der Leiblichkeit zu verbinden], oder auch solche, die sie gleich am Anfang verlassen. Aber dies ist wirklich jetzt sehr häufig, dass ichlose Menschen herumgehen, [die eigentlich keine Menschen sind], die nur menschliche Gestalt haben, naturgeistähnliche Wesen, was man nicht erkennt, weil sie in menschlicher Gestalt herumgehen. Sie unterscheiden sich auch sehr wesentlich von den Menschen in Bezug auf alles Geistige. Sie können es zum Beispiel nie zu einem Gedächtnis bringen in den Dingen, die Sätze sind. Sie haben eigentlich nur Wortgedächtnis, [kein Satzgedächtnis].
Die Rätsel des Lebens sind nicht so einfach. [Wenn eine solche Wesenheit durch den Tod geht, dann geht sie zurück in die Natur, woher sie gekommen ist.] Der Leichnam zerfällt; eine richtige Auflösung des Ätherleibes ist nicht da, und das Naturwesen geht in die Natur zurück.
Es könnte sein, dass irgendwie automatisch etwas geschehen könnte. Der ganze Apparat des menschlichen Organismus ist da. Man kann unter Umständen in den Gehirnautomatismen, in der Sexualität eine Pseudomoral züchten.
Man redet sehr ungern über diese Dinge, nachdem wir ohnedies vielfach gegnerisch angefallen werden. Denken Sie, was die Leute sagen, wenn sie hören, hier wird erklärt, dass es Menschen gibt, die keine Menschen sind. Aber es sind Tatsachen. Wir würden auch nicht solchen Niedergang der Kultur haben, wenn ein starkes Gefühl dafür vorhanden wäre, dass manche Leute herumgehen, die [gerade] dadurch, dass sie rücksichtslos sind, etwas werden, dass die keine Menschen sind, sondern Dämonen in Menschengestalt.
Aber wir wollen das nicht in die Welt hinausposaunen. Solche Dinge schockieren die Menschen furchtbar. Es hat einen furchtbaren Schock hervorgerufen, als ich genötigt war zu sagen, dass ein ganz berühmter Universitätsprofessor, der einen großen Ruf hat, dass der, nach einem sehr kurzen Leben zwischen Tod und neuer Geburt, ein wiederverkörperter Neger war, ein Forscher.
[Aber] diese Dinge wollen wir nicht der Welt verkünden.
Fifty-sixth Conference
Chair: Rudolf Steiner
RUDOLF STEINER: [We will have to talk] about the unfortunate accused classes. I have not yet been able to see the children [of the 9th grade]. What I will have to say to the children must be in harmony with the teachers. That would hardly have been possible today, because I did not get a clear picture from the last conference of what the actual complaints are about. It is so difficult to know what to reproach the children for, and one must be terribly careful; one can also make things much worse than they are by such things. Therefore, I would ask you to express yourselves very specifically so that there is something left that can be said to the children without the teacher being short-changed by the children's answers. It must not be possible for the children to answer in a way that short-changes the teacher.
The matter is not easy to resolve. The children were well-behaved today. In particular, I would like to hear about G. B., what he eats. Overall, the children were well-behaved. There are also weak students. In G. B.'s case, he has physical disorders that cause him to do certain things. There must be things that you can reproach the children for without them coming and saying, “That's what happened.” One should communicate clearly how things work. Today they were well-behaved, and last time too.
HERMANN VON BARAVALLE reports on the delegation from class 9b, which is supposed to maintain order. Against R. M., whom they want to expel. G. 0. was the speaker. Hermann von Baravalle advised them to submit a written request.
RUDOLF STEINER: There may be some malice involved. Now that it has become known that students have been expelled as a result of statements made by other students, it is quite possible that a number of them will decide: We're going to get rid of him. It was a conspiracy that got a little out of hand. — Now it is also said that they perform Indian howls in other lessons.
FELICIA SCHWEBSCH reports on the cherry spitting
RUDOLF STETNER: These things are such today that they can only be changed by slowly getting used to the teacher. They will not change overnight. The class wasn't like that [before], they didn't do that. It was just that some of them were inattentive and disrupted the lesson by chatting. The children now know that complaints are being made about them, but they will only be aware of what is being said in the conference when I call them tomorrow. They don't know about it beforehand.
Why are the children making such a racket in eurythmy? Something must be provoking them.
ALICE FELS speaks on this.
RUDOLF STETNER: I would have liked to have the teacher you called for help, but that's not possible. He is said to have said: He must say that the matter was demonic on the physical plane, but cosmically extremely moving. Aren't these the kinds of things that are best cured with humor? R. M. is a difficult boy because he is treated somewhat harshly at home. R. W. is a very gifted boy.
Then there are also complaints about 8a and 8b.
PAUL BAUMANN reports on chaotic conditions in 8b.
RUDOLF STEINER: The attitude as such should not surprise us; it does not have to be children. But that it should be so prominent during class. Today, everyone sat there like mice.
Several teachers report on 9b.
RUDOLF STEINER: The children [in the 9th grade] must not get the feeling that the teacher is unsure about something, that he is not guiding them with absolute certainty. They must not get this feeling. I would advise against saying, “I don't know.” The fact that you say you don't know should be avoided, especially when you don't know something. Avoid admitting that you don't know at all costs! This can also be achieved at an age when children are so critical. At this age, it is very important never to treat them with skepticism. You have to treat things with humor. I will talk to the children. I'm just afraid that it won't go so well, but that they will become even more critical inside. What I find difficult is that the children will have the impression that they have been reported to me. If they hadn't been reported, I would have nothing against them. With the exception of their lack of punctuation, it can be said that the children are essentially keeping up with the lessons.
Someone says about class 8b: B. B., there's nothing you can do with him.
RUDOLF STEINER: I think Mrs. Leinhas has abandoned the Philosophy of Freedom, and B. B. always reads it. That's a bit psychopathic. G. B. was tamed for a while, and now he's slipping back again.
So these are fourteen-year-old children. The things they do require a level of concentration that they are capable of exercising, so that uselessness can be secondary. It cannot be primary. Across the board, the children do things that are not easy for a fourteen-year-old child to imagine. That was [class] 9a.
I will then see these various young men. But I will know nothing of the deputation. This is the beginning of the same procedure we had last year. Then I will see [for myself] what I can do with these young gentlemen.
8a: I took a look in there. I would like to say that it is necessary not to let the children paint with colors if they do not have stretched drawing paper. [Otherwise] sloppiness is encouraged. They must learn to stretch their drawing paper properly [themselves] [with rubber]. Only work with paint on stretched paper! [Even if the preparations for this take time, it doesn't matter. The children will benefit greatly if it is done properly with them.] [The children in 8a] do things far too quickly. [They also paint much too quickly.] The notebooks look such that it is impossible for the child to express their thoughts.
Once again about the student B. B.
RUDOLF STEINER: Isn't it true that when he gains confidence, things will slowly change? He still has a whole series of classes ahead of him. When he gains confidence, things will change. Special treatment? He would have to be taught privately. It sometimes happens that he lets off steam on one side.
Now the question remains as to what the verdict is on Dr. Lehrs' aptitude for school. He should essentially help out.
HERMANN VON BARAVALLE: [In] physics in 12th grade: I can say the most beautiful and best things. The children are happy about that.
There is a question about German and history in 11th grade.
WALTER JOHANNES STEIN: We don't have a section after Parzival in the curriculum.
RUDOLF STEINER: Now there was a kind of literature overview. You can't leave everything for the 12th grade. Why don't you continue? What falls under literature can be covered in a few paragraphs.
But in history lessons, it is intended that you pick up where you left off. For the period when there is no spiritual history to cover, you have to try to make the transition to history. [The 10th grade ends with the Battle of Chaeronea; in the 11th grade, you have to cover the history of the Middle Ages.] You will not succeed in getting young people to understand Parzival if you do not give them an overview of history. You have to tie in with the period historically.
WALTER JOHANNES STEIN: So now I would have to cover medieval history?
RUDOLF STEINER: Actually, the historical tableau should have come first. Today you talked about Frederick Barbarossa. You are talking about medieval history. The curriculum even states that these questions of literary history should be dealt with in connection with a historical tableau. There are also literary themes that refer back to history, [for example, the Alexanderlied by the priest Lamprecht, or the Trojan War]. There is a lot of historical material covered in this period.
The main concern now is that if the children take their exams with this kind of punctuation, it could be disastrous. In 9b, they don't do punctuation. Punctuation depends on discussing the structure of the sentence in a stimulating way. And that can be done very well in the course of literature lessons.
Isn't it true, for example, that if one starts from the older German language form, one can show in a captivating way how the relative clause gradually emerges through the purely Latinization of writing and literature? This must first provide the basis for studying the comma. One arrives at a different comma punctuation when one first teaches children that they must enclose every relative clause with commas. The relative clause is an interesting topic for discussion because it is not found in the older German vocabulary. It is also not found in dialect, and so one can go back to the Nibelungenlied and so on and discuss how relative clauses came into use and thus the first necessities of introducing this linguistic logic into the language. Once you have introduced relative clauses with commas, you can then move on to explaining the concept of the sentence to the children in more detail. They then have to learn that every sentence is separated by some form of punctuation. The other things are not so terribly important.
[From there] you move on to the elements of thought developed in language and already get the semicolon, which [is a stronger comma and] signifies a major break. They do use periods, after all.
Now, in the 9th grade, it is high time that they start. It must be worked out in positive language formation by going into the meaning of things. This must be done in a particularly stimulating way; it must not be made boring. Grammar alone bores them the most.
When speaking [during dictation], one must emphasize how sentences end and begin. One must emphasize this; children benefit greatly when they are accustomed to learning punctuation through the treatment of sentences. Dictating punctuation is a difficult thing. I would not dictate punctuation, but rather let them hear it [when speaking]. It would be much nicer if one could do something else. It would be much nicer if one could divide it up in such a way—this can be done with the old German language, but not with the new language modeled on Latin—that one writes down sentence by sentence. One sentence per line.
The artistic structure of the sentence can be discussed with children in a stimulating way without becoming pedantic. One can evoke a feeling for what a sentence is; one can make the child aware of what a sentence is. The fact that structuring sentences is something positive should also be cultivated. One should do things such as [for example] showing the structured sentence in the style of Herman Grimm, formed pictorially. He writes real sentences. In what one usually reads, one does not read sentences, but tapeworms; sentences are completely missing. Evoke a feeling for the structured sentence! Herman Grimm writes sentences. There should be a difference between Herman Grimm's style and what you usually read, for example in ordinary history books. This can be done by evoking a certain feeling for the closed sentence in the 9th grade.
We also have something in the curriculum that can be very helpful, a kind of poetics. That is completely missing, it is not taken into account at all. I notice that the children don't get a feel for what a metaphor is. Children need to know what a metaphor is, metonymy and synecdoche. It's something wonderful that can happen. It's in the curriculum and has never been done. This teaching of tropes helps to get the children to structure the sentence. When they get the picture, you can get the sentence structure out. You discuss it using examples. For example, you say what it means: “O water lily, you blooming swan; O swan, you swimming rose.” [This is a double metaphor.] This gives [the young person] a keen sense, through the metaphorical expression, of where the sentence ends in an artistic way.
It is not at all unartistic to try, with good stylists, to frame the sentences instead of using commas and semicolons. You can frame Herman Grimm's sentences quite well with a red pencil; frame them and then, if one is less necessary for the content, you could frame it twice, red and blue. Then you get a pretty colored picture of the designed sentence. And then compare such sentences with what is usually written, with the style of newspapers. Even “anthroposophy” was not exempt from this in the past. It used to be as mediocre as the German philistine writes. Now it is better.
This must be done decisively. And punctuation must be used to teach some emotional logic. These things can also be quite stimulating. If you get children used to enclosing relative clauses in commas, everything else will follow naturally. You have to go so far as to make it clear that a relative clause is basically an adjective. You have to say:
“A red rose”; you don't make a mark.
“A rose, red”;
now you could put a comma after rose.
“A rose, which is red.” It's quite clear that it's an adjective.
If you discuss this using stimulating examples, it is not boring. In dialect, you say: “The father who can write.” The relative clause is an adjective. The relative clause as a whole is an adjective. [This starting point for the relative clause is also very important for foreign languages.]
MARTIN TITTMANN mentions Wegener's view that the relative clause originated from the interrogative clause in terms of form.
RUDOLF STEINER: The question may be the basis. The adjective is [actually] the answer to a question. But: “Here are some beautiful apples, give me some!” There is no question at all.
Linguists are sometimes funny. I know of many treatises on “it,” it flashes, it thunders. Miclosich wrote long treatises on “it.” The German “it” is nothing other than — what would be interesting — the shortened form of Zeus. It has the same meaning as Zeus, the god; Zeus flashes, Zeus thunders. It is not [gap in the transcript], but a shortened form. Many German words can be traced back to Greek. This little German word “es” = Zeus, English “it” would also have to be looked up. It refers to the actual underlying divine-spiritual. Hopefully Wegener did not want to describe that the relative clause is an interrogative sentence.
Then let's do it this way: start with the relative clause. From there to the clauses that are abbreviations and determinations of an adjectival nature, and then what needs to be strongly emphasized, moving on to the semicolon. Achieve the point merely through emphasis or pause. Colon, it is easy to evoke a feeling for this. The colon stands for something that is not said. Instead of saying “the following,” or instead of always [saying] the lengthy relative clauses, you use a colon. But you express it [in the tone] of the language. [Like that student who was supposed to name animals.] Animals are: the lion, the goose, the dog, the Bölsche. [The teacher asks what that is, the Bölsche] — It says in the book, Bölsche, the primeval animal.
EUGEN KOLISKO talks about special medical cases. A student is mentioned.
RUDOLF STEINER: L. B. in the 1st grade, there will be some kind of really bad entanglement with the whole inner self. There won't be much that can be done. These are cases where human forms are present that are not actually human in relation to the highest self, but are filled with beings that do not belong to the human class. Since the 1990s, there have been many people without a self, where there is no reincarnation, but where the human form is filled with a kind of nature demon. There are already [quite a number] of old people walking around who are not actually human beings. You cannot establish a demon school.
In itself, it is not impossible that a calculation error occurs in the cosmos. The descending individualities are determined for each other long in advance. It also happens that there are generations for which no individuality has any desire to descend [and connect with physicality], or even those who leave right at the beginning. But it is really very common now for soulless people to walk around [who are not actually human], who only have human form, nature spirit-like beings, which one does not recognize because they walk around in human form. They also differ very significantly from humans in terms of everything spiritual. For example, they can never remember things that are sentences. They actually only have word memory, [no sentence memory].
The mysteries of life are not so simple. [When such a being dies, it returns to nature, from whence it came.] The corpse decays; there is no real dissolution of the etheric body, and the nature being returns to nature.
It could be that something could happen automatically somehow. The whole apparatus of the human organism is there. Under certain circumstances, one can cultivate a pseudo-morality in the automatisms of the brain, in sexuality.
People are very reluctant to talk about these things, since we are often attacked for doing so anyway. Think what people will say when they hear that there are people who are not human beings. But these are facts. We would not have such a decline in culture if there were a strong feeling that there are some people around who, precisely because they are ruthless, become something that is not human, but demons in human form.
But we don't want to trumpet this to the world. Such things shock people terribly. It caused a terrible shock when I was forced to say that a very famous university professor, who has a great reputation, was, after a very short life between death and rebirth, a reincarnated Negro, a researcher.
[But] we don't want to proclaim these things to the world.