ABSTRACT
Since the beginnings of Western thought, there have been broad discussions in philosophy, psychology, pedagogy, and, most recently, brain research on the issue of the learning process and its significance for the human being. This chapter develops the epistemological foundations of Waldorf education's concept of learning and reiterates once again some core aspects of learning such as transformation, forgetting, abilities, wholistic orientation, truth, and meaningfulness. The learning concept of Waldorf education is based in Steiner's epistemology. In his early philosophical writings, Steiner took a basic epistemological position in regard to man's relationship with reality. He distances himself from a naïve-realistic notion of reality that takes the world phenomena as given and attributes mere mirroring functions to human cognitive processes. Disposition is the term that Witzenmann uses to describe this increased ability in man's encounter with the world. The learning environment created through the arrangement of the internship was an essential determinant for the benchmarked learning progress.
