The third key characteristic of the Steiner approach is the application of a rich and varied teaching practice. In the Steiner approach, the curriculum delivery does not rely on set textbooks. Instead, the teacher researches the lessons thoroughly before preparing for presentation to the children. This presentation is carried out in an artistic and age-appropriate manner, then recalled and deepened using a variety of methodologies which address the whole child. Thus, each child, irrespective of preferred learning modality, gains a strong feeling for each subject.
This approach is consistent with the defining features of the Primary School Curriculum and its focus on Learning:
"The curriculum is based on a philosophy and psychology of teaching and learning that incorporates the most advanced educational theory and practice. It accords equal importance to what the child learns and to the process by which he or she learns it. One of the essential features is a recognition of the principle that there are different kinds of learning and that individual children learn in different ways. The curriculum articulates therefore not only the content to be learned and the outcomes to be achieved, but a wide range of approaches to learning. The curriculum aims to ensure that children's experience of school will be such that they will come to value learning and will develop the ability to learn independently. Most importantly, it aims to enhance the enjoyment of learning and the motivation to learn" (Primary School Curriculum - Introduction - page 10).
In addressing the principles of learning the Steiner approach and the Primary School Curriculum stress the importance of nurturing the child's sense of wonder and natural curiosity:
"The impulse for such learning is the child's sense of wonder at the complexity of the world, the desire to understand it and the spontaneous impetus to explore it through play. The sense of wonder, together with the child's natural curiosity, is at the heart of the learning process and provides the purest and most valuable motivating factor in the child's learning" (Primary School Curriculum Introduction - page 14).
The view of the child as an active agent in his or her learning underpins both the Steiner approach and the Primary School Curriculum:
"It is an underlying principle of the curriculum that the child should be an active agent in his or her own learning. The structure and content of the curriculum are designed to provide opportunities for active engagement in a wide range of learning experiences and to encourage children to respond in a variety of ways to particular content and learning strategies" (Primary School Curriculum - Introduction - page 14).