Experiments in Radical Pedagogy: the practice of art in the Waldorf education

In The Metamorphosis of Plants, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe brings an interesting comprehension of plants. Instead of the analytical description of independent parts, Goethe argues for a holistic observation of plants. For him, an intentional dimension of interdependence is present: a relational dimension where every part of the plant coexists as one single organism. On the one hand, our perception has been trained to compartmentalize. On the other hand, Goethe argues that another way of observation and comprehension is possible, based on the very concept of relation. This concept has been the cornerstone of process philosophy among main authors such as William James and Alfred North Whitehead. The interest of Goethe is to have developed a scientific method based on relation. What happens to philosophy when we bring it to the playground? Seven years old children naturally practice relationality as a state of being. This paper is the outcome of a teaching experience in the Waldorf School Imagine (Val-David, Canada). It articulates a perspective on the concept of art as closely related to relation. In the Waldorf education context, it becomes a practice anchored in the very act of teaching.