The Answer for Schools Is Not More Technology. It’s Teachers and Human Connection.
"It is human interaction that truly engages children and inspires them. In the same way that we want our doctors and lawyers to take time to help us, children need real teachers to connect with and trust."
Danielle Arnold-Schwartz
Danielle’s article is part of the guide A Decade in Review: Reflections on 10 Years in Education Technology.
Waldorf schools have a particular take on “technology”. The word comes from two Greek words: Techne and logia. As human beings we need to establish a direct relationship with the world, with nature, with other human beings. We learn how things work by doing, feeling and thinking.
The effect of looking at reality through a filter (screen) separates us from the experience, and children need direct experiences for a healthy development.
Rudolf Steiner said in a lecture in 1922 that “To use modern technology with no knowledge of how things work or how they were made is like being a prisoner in a cell without windows through which one could at least look into nature and to freedom.”
This video below is from Steiner alumna, Sky Dylan-Robbins for NBC Left Field. She explored our school culture in the Lower and Upper Schools and how excessive media is diminishing our social skills and our capacities to learn and imagine.
