{"id":75199,"date":"2026-11-04T10:51:31","date_gmt":"2026-11-04T09:51:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dasgoetheanum.com\/?p=75199"},"modified":"2026-11-04T10:51:35","modified_gmt":"2026-11-04T09:51:35","slug":"we-only-learn-from-and-with-others","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dasgoetheanum.com\/en\/we-only-learn-from-and-with-others\/","title":{"rendered":"We Only Learn From and With Others"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Modern natural science emerged over the course of a century. First, Nicholas of Cusa presented a forward-looking, theological-philosophical conception of the infinite cosmos; then his conception scientifically verified through measurement. What was once seen through thinking was now viewed with the eyes and became subject to the laws of measure. And, as Rudolf Steiner pointed out, only \u201c[a] century lies between them.\u201d<\/span>1<\/sup><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It seems permissible to draw a parallel between what unfolded in the span between Cusanus\u2019s De docta ignorantia<\/em> [On learned ignorance] and Copernicus\u2019s De revolutionibus orbium coelestium<\/em> [On the revolutions of the heavenly spheres] and what is taking place today between descriptions of an education oriented toward the development\u2014the \u201cbecoming\u201d\u2014of the human being, on the one hand, and statistically validated surveys, on the other. More than a century later, insights that Steiner gained through what he called \u201cperceptive cognition\u201d [schauender Erkenntnis<\/em>] can become comprehensible to anyone in terms of the natural sciences.<\/span>2<\/sup><\/a><\/span> Reading the UNESCO study published in 2025, I was surprised\u2014and affected\u2014by this parallel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Closed Schools<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

School closures during the COVID-19 crisis were a global experiment. This is suggested by the UNESCO study An Ed-Tech Tragedy? Educational Technologies and School Closures in the Time of COVID-19<\/em>.<\/span>3<\/sup><\/a><\/span> The foreword explains the title of this analysis of what it calls \u201cthe largest global disruption to education in history,\u201d a period in which education, for the first time, \u201cbecame largely reliant on connected technology.\u201d<\/span>4<\/sup><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe global evidence [\u2026] exposes the ways unprecedented educational dependence on technology often resulted in unchecked exclusion, staggering inequality, inadvertent harm, and the elevation of learning models that put machines and profit before people. [\u2026] [T]his publication shows how technology-first modes of learning introduced novel health and safety risks, handed significant control of public education to for-profit companies, expanded invasive digital surveillance, and carried detrimental environmental repercussions, in addition to adversely impacting educational access, equity, quality, and outcomes in most contexts.\u201d<\/span>5<\/sup><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

On the surface, the findings describe how moving school activity into technological formats affected children and adolescents. They are referred to as \u201clearners\u201d\u2014and that goes to the heart of the question: Could the children and adolescents learn? What can we conclude from this event, which has now been plainly revealed, statistically documented, and laid open to scrutiny?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The students couldn\u2019t learn. The environment was lacking: other people were entirely missing, and there was thus no tangible interaction with others. The electronic medium was not conducive to sustained attention or creative approaches. For children and young people, learning takes place through human interaction. It requires human presence as well as the perception and incorporation of bodily reality. \u201c[E]ducation became less accessible, less effective, and less engaging when it pivoted away from physical schools and teachers and towards technology exclusively.\u201d<\/span>6<\/sup><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Human Witnesses<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The study highlights an anthropological fact: Human beings form themselves through learning from and with others and from the world they experience. Educators and teachers who observe, bear witness to, and take responsibility for learning are irreplaceable. As we grow into adulthood, we, as learners, increasingly take on the role of witness to our own learning. As a grown-up, I know that I myself am learning. But even then, \u201cthe presence of others who see what we see and hear what we hear\u201d (Hannah Arendt),<\/span>7<\/sup><\/a><\/span> is fundamental to the reality of my experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After Steiner gave a lecture course at the \u201cConference on Spiritual Values in Education and Social Life,\u201d held at Manchester College and Keble College, Oxford, in 1922,<\/span>8<\/sup><\/a><\/span> the Educational Union for the Realisation of Spiritual Values published a statement.<\/span>9<\/sup><\/a><\/span> In light of today\u2019s experiences, such as those highlighted in the UNESCO study, it could be called a \u201cManifesto for Human Values in Education\u201d\u2014for this is the real focus of the declaration. Herein lies the seed for a pedagogy that seeks to recognize and perceive the spiritual\u2014a pedagogy made possible by teachers who work autonomously and creatively out of a sense of responsibility toward children and young people. This groundbreaking statement declares that teachers \u201cmust be fully in touch with the world, autonomous in their profession, responsible to the conscience of humanity, working out of their own free spirit to pave the way for the unfolding spirit in their pupils.\u201d<\/span>10<\/sup><\/a><\/span> \u201c[Rudolf Steiner] has spoken to us of the kind of knowledge which the teacher needs\u2014a knowledge of man and of the world, not only scientific, but intimate, intuitive, artistic. [\u2026] We therefore feel that the impulse should go out from this conference, to form a worldwide association for the foundation and support of schools in which the teachers will work freely and co-operatively on the basis that has been indicated.\u201d<\/span>11<\/sup><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

A century later, the UNESCO study states: \u201cThis elevation of the technical over the human is contradictory to education\u2019s aim to further human development and cultivate humanistic values. It is human capacity, rather than technological capacity, that is central to ensuring greater resilience of education systems to withstand shocks and manage crises.\u201d<\/span>12<\/sup><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The absence of human beings creates a sense of emptiness and abandonment. For children and young people around the world, we must ensure that there are schools and places for learning and working together, where adults take responsibility for this unique process: growing into a shared world that depends on the contributions and presence of \u201cnewcomers.\u201d Welcoming them is society\u2019s responsibility. The lessons learned from school closures and the findings of the study call for wakefulness and the will to advocate for a humane learning environment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

Translation<\/strong> Joshua Kelberman
Photo <\/strong>Xue Li<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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