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The concept of the four classical temperaments arose from an ancient theory about human nature. According to this ancient and false system of classification, there are four basic human types. Each type — each "temperament" — is dominated by a particular bodily fluid, and each is characterized by a particular bodily size and shape. The system was dreamt up centuries ago by people who had little real knowledge of the human brain or body. But Steiner embraced these errors and Waldorf schools often structure their programs around them. [See "Humouresque".]

Here is some guidance Waldorf teacher Roy Wilkinson gave to his colleagues: how to treat students on the basis of “temperament.” Some readers may be surprised that Waldorf schools often subscribe to an outmoded system of categorizing human beings, and some may consider the system perverse because it discriminates among children for no good reason. But this system, believe it or not, is central to the Waldorf view of human nature; it is central to the way many Waldorf teachers think about, and deal with, their students.

Waldorf teachers may want to treat students as individuals, but sorting kids according to "temperament" — as is common in Waldorf practice — means stereotyping them. Here are the stereotypes, as described by Wilkinson (who thought he was presenting truths, not hurtful falsehoods):

THE CHOLERIC CHILD:  Short, stocky; firm gait, walks on heels; alert, active eyes; given to abrupt gestures; speaks emphatically; friendly disposition, wanting to be recognized as the leader; feels the need to jolly others along; enjoys spicy foods; likes to wear individual, distinctive clothing; observes what is of interest, but tends to forget; focuses on the world, the self, and the future; strengths: dynamic, decisive, organizes well, risk-taker, must correct wrongs; weaknesses: bossy, impatient, quick-tempered, boastful; as a child, paints and draws volcanoes and precipices with self overcoming obstacles, uses strong colors

THE SANGUINE CHILD:  Slim, well-balanced; walks lightly on the toes; lively, dancing eyes; makes graceful gestures; speaks with flowery language; friendly, doesn't hold grudges; starts things quickly but doesn't follow through; nibbles at food, tries new things; likes new, colorful clothing; notices everything but forgets most of it; interested in the immediate present; strengths: enthusiastic, cheerful, volunteers for tasks, good on stage; weaknesses: dwells on trivia, is naive, undisciplined, easily distracted; as a child, paints and draws with many bright colors, showing movement and details

THE PHLEGMATIC CHILD:  Plump, comfortable body; ambles; quiet, sleepy eyes; makes deliberate gestures; speaks clearly, consistently; friendly but reserved, enjoys watching others; likes routines, has fixed habits; eats heartily, almost any kind of food; dresses conservatively; observant and retentive, when sufficiently interested; is interested in the present, standing back to observe; strengths: discerning, objective, faithful, stable, methodical, witty, fostering, relaxed; weaknesses: ducks responsibility, lacks self-motivation, indecisive, hard to energize; as a child, paints and draws pale, apparently unfinished images

THE MELANCHOLIC CHILD:  Thin, with bowed head; slow gait; sad, serious eyes; makes languorous gestures; speaks hesitantly; slow to make friends, but is faithful and devoted; likes solitary occupations; likes sweets, has strong food preferences; dresses in muted colors, has strong style preferences; observant down to small details, good memory, good imitator; interested in the self and the past; strengths: deep, thoughtful, idealistic, talented, artistic, helpful, self-sacrificing, conscientious; weaknesses: moody, low self-esteem, needs approval, critical of others, skeptical of compliments; as a child, paints and draws with strong, harmonious colors, attempts to depict details

[THE TEMPERAMENTS IN EDUCATION (Rudolf Steiner College Press, 2005), pp. 42-43.]* 

 [Rudolf Steiner College Press, 2005.]

The book remains in use by Waldorf teachers 

as I write this today, in 2021. 

The book will probably still be in use by Waldorf teachers

tomorrow, when you read this.

(Things change slowly, if at all, in

Waldorf education.)

Obviously, some kids fit the stereotypes laid out by Wilkinson; but equally obviously, many kids do not. Wilkinson acknowledges the difficulty Waldorf teachers may face when trying to decide which kids fall into which category. Nonetheless, he insists this scheme of categorization is valid. His primary source is, of course, Rudolf Steiner — most of what Wilkinson says is based on Steiner’s teachings.

Here are specific recommendations Wilkinson made for Waldorf teachers, along with further observations concerning the kids in the four categories.

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GENERAL

Teachers should tell choleric children stories in which rashness is shown to become dangerous or ridiculous. These students need lots of different things to do, tasks presenting challenges for the kids to work through. Teachers should be firm, strong, direct.

Sanguines should be given lively stories full of exciting descriptions, pictures, and variations. These children need many varying activities. Teachers should be friendly but firm.

Phlegmatic kids should be given stories casually with messages of warmth and comfort. Assign a specific task and provide advice on getting on with it. Teachers should show calm strength.

Melancholic students need sad stories that lead to eventual triumph. Teachers should enter into these students’ sad moods and encourage the students to assist others who are less capable. Teachers should be sympathetic.

[Ibid., pp. 44-45.]

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STORYTELLING

When telling stories to the entire class, the teacher should make sure each story has passages that will appeal to each temperament. Cholerics like boisterous action; for melancholics, there should be a note of sadness and a drop in tone; for sanguines, include descriptions of quick, changing events; and for phlegmatics, include slow passages told in an indifferent tone.

[Ibid., pp. 26-27.]

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ARITHMETIC

Children with different temperaments have affinities for different mathematical processes and rules. By starting each child with the proper math activity for her/his temperament, a teacher can lead the child to learn all other parts of arithmetic. Cholerics have a feeling for division, sanguines for multiplication, phlegmatics for addition, and melancholics for subtraction.

[Ibid., pp. 12, 15, 19, 23, and 27-30.]

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MUSIC

Cholerics enjoy playing percussion instruments, and when using other instruments, they want to play solo. Sanguines are adapted to brass and reed instruments, and they enjoy being part of an orchestra. Phlegmatics are drawn to the piano; they enjoy choral singing. Melancholics have an affinity from stringed instruments; they want to sing solo.

[Ibid., pp. 12, 15, 19, 23.]

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PAINTING AND DRAWING

The pictures children create offer clues to temperament. Choleric kids make pictures of volcanoes, also precipices, with the self overcoming obstacles; they use strong colors. Sanguine kids use bright colors, depicting movements and details. Phlegmatic children make bland, uninteresting pictures, unfinished in appearance. Melancholic kids jam too many details into their pictures; they use strong, harmonious colors.

[Ibid., pp. 44-45.]

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PATTERN DRAWING

Pattern drawing or form drawing is the repetitive delineation of curved and angular geometric shapes; it is often a required activity in Waldorf schools.

Certain forms appeal to various temperaments, and they have a therapeutic effect. Drawing the appropriate forms will help children of each temperament to learn to write.

Cholerics should progress from simple angular shapes to controlled, involved, rounded shapes. Sanguines make repetitive forms, rhythmic pictures. Phlegmatic children will start with passive forms; they should be led to more active shapes. Melancholics should be encouraged to create shapes that require thought and observation, leading to metamorphoses or changes.

[Ibid., pp. 30-31.]

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MOTIVATION

Motivate cholerics by giving them challenges. Get sanguines to act by asking it as a personal favor. Show calm strength to phlegmatics. Be sympathetic with melancholics.

[Ibid., pp. 44-45.]

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SEATING ARRANGEMENTS

“Following the principle of ‘like cures like’, the children should be seated according to their temperaments. It will be found, for instance, that the phlegmatics [sitting with one another] get so bored with one another that they wake up; the cholerics will calm one another down since no-one [sic] will be allowed to be the leader.”

In general, phlegmatics should sit toward the rear of the classroom, where they can observe but not participate. Melancholics need a quiet corner. “The cholerics, best able to cope with any disturbance, should perhaps have a place near the door and the sanguines will not really mind where they are. The center might be a good place for them.”

[Ibid., pp. 25-26.]

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DISCIPLINE

For cholerics, punishment should not come immediately. “The cholerics must get the red flag removed from in front of their eyes before they can be reasonable.” Remind choleric children of their misdeeds later, and discuss these with them. Sanguines may not need punishment: “[A] friendly word...will probably be sufficient.” Give this friendly word immediately. Phlegmatics: “[I]f punishment is necessary, it should be immediate.” Melancholics: Be sympathetic but firm. "Correcting or admonishment should be given privately with empathy — soon, but not so soon as to shock."

[Ibid., pp. 12, 15, 19, 23, and 44-45.]

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REACTIONS

Kids with different temperaments will react differently to events. Here are examples:

A child falls in the playground: A choleric will blame others and takes pride in any injuries. A sanguine cries for a moment and then forgets it. A phlegmatic is stoical; s/he continues as if nothing happened. A melancholic is plunged into unbearable misery, as if the world is ending.

A class outing is canceled: A choleric calls a protest meeting. A sanguine enjoys the change and thinks of alternative activities. A phlegmatic doesn’t care, but s/he will also not forget. A melancholic knew this would happen, and s/he thinks it was done on purpose.

The class has a new teacher: The choleric sees the new teacher as a possible rival. The sanguine enjoys the situation. The phlegmatic doesn’t notice the change for several weeks — calls the new teacher by the old teacher’s name. The melancholic suffers deeply, considering the new teacher an enemy.

A task is assigned: The choleric charges in and completes it fast. The sanguine likes it and finds it interesting, but gives up if problems arise. The phlegmatic delays, ponders, plans, and has trouble completing the assignment. The melancholic sees the assignment as another great burden to bear.

[Ibid., pp. 44-45.]

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SUMMARY

Sanguines and melancholics are opposites; so are cholerics and phlegmatics. Any child may have a predominant temperament with, perhaps, traces of the other temperaments EXCEPT for the opposite temperament. So, for instance, a sanguine may have traces of phlegm and choler, but no traces of melancholy.

[Ibid., pp. 5-8.]

— Compilation and commentary by Roger Rawlings

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* Wilkinson presents much of his material in tabular form, which makes ordinary quotation almost impossible. For this reason, on this page I have used Wilkinson’s own words as much as possible, but without inserting quotation marks except around complete sentences.

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This chart appears in an earlier edition of Wilkson's booklet.

[Roy Wilkinson, THE TEMPERAMENTS IN EDUCATION

(Wilkinson, 1983), pp. 22-23.]

This older chart differs in some details from the one  

presented in the 2005 Rudolf Steiner College edition

of THE TEMPERAMENTS IN EDUCATION.

The following is from The Brief Waldorf / Steiner Encyclopedia:

The Waldorf belief in the four classical temperaments

leads to stereotyping children and segregating children

on the basis of a false system of categorization.

temperaments - also see humors; incarnation; choleric; melancholic; phlegmatic; sanguine

According to an ancient concept revived by Steiner, there are four primary psychological types to be found among human beings: phlegmatic, choleric, sanguine, and melancholic. [1] These four temperaments are supposedly associated with bodily fluids or humours as conceived by ancient physicians: phlegm, yellow bile (or choler), blood, and black bile. Moreover, the temperaments are expressed in four basic bodily types. In Waldorf belief, phlegmatic individuals are dull, slow, deliberate, and objective, and they tend to be fat; choleric individuals have short tempers, they are abrupt and enthusiastic, and they tend to be short and bull-necked; sanguine individuals are sunny and physically attractive, but they also are often shallow and flighty; melancholic individuals are sad and moody much of the time, they are loners but empathetic, and they tend to be big-boned.

Waldorf teachers often classify and segregate students according to these four categories. “Following the principle of ‘like cures like’, the children should be seated according to their temperaments. It will be found, for instance, that the phlegmatics get so bored with one another that they wake up; the cholerics will calm one another down since no-one [sic] will be allowed to be the leader.” — R. Wilkinson, THE TEMPERAMENTS IN EDUCATION (Roy Wilkinson, 1983), p. 9. So, seating arrangements should be made by separating the students on the basis of the four temperaments. Likewise, class work and even extracurricular activities may be geared to the four temperaments, with children assigned various activities based on temperament and/or body type. [2]

Like the nonphysical bodies that supposedly incarnate during childhood [3], the four temperaments are fundamental to the Waldorf view of human nature. Indeed, such concepts are interlinked in Waldorf belief: "The 'four temperaments'...may be understood as a solution to the challenge of integrating the etheric body [4] with its physical counterpart. [5] … [For instance] ‘Where the etheric…body predominates, we speak of the phlegmatic temperament.’” — E. Schwartz, MILLENNIAL CHILD (Anthroposophic Press, 1999), p. 185; Schwartz quotes Steiner.

Here are a few other characteristics of the four temperaments, according to various Anthroposophical sources. Phlegmatics: dark coloring, wispy hair, sleepy eyes; they dress conservatively; they need carefully defined assignments with clear paths to solution; in math, they are adept at addition; they are good stewards; they make good pianists; the pictures they draw are often bland and apparently unfinished; they should sit near windows or in the back of the classroom; if they need punishment, it should be meted out immediately; their auras are often green. Cholerics: husky, upright, with darting eyes; they prefer unusual, individualized costumes; they need challenging assignments; they are good at division; they are natural leaders; they have a feeling for percussion instruments; the pictures they create often depict crises such as volcanic eruptions; they should often sit near the door; if they need punishment, it should be postponed until their anger has subsided; their auras are often red. Sanguines: well-proportioned, slender, with dancing eyes; their dress is colorful and stylish; they need varied, quickly completed assignments; they are adept at multiplication; they are typified by movie stars; they are attracted to brass and reed instruments; the pictures they draw are bright and full of movement; they can sit anywhere, but the center of the room is often appropriate; they rarely need punishment — a word of caution may be sufficient; their auras are often yellow. Melancholics: thin, stooped, with mournful eyes; they dress in drab and dark colors; they should be given assignments that are sorrowful but, in the end, encouraging; they are good at subtraction; they have an affinity for stringed instruments; they may become thinkers or philosophers; the pictures they draw are bold but too busy; they should sit apart, in quiet corners; if they need punishment, it should be administered sympathetically but firmly; their auras tend to be blue. 

There are not countless human variations, according to standard Waldorf belief. We all fit into a few tight little boxes. Among these boxes are the four temperaments. Steiner indicated that we may not always fit neatly into the boxes. A person may be primarily sanguine, for instance, but s/he might also have some traces of the other temperaments. In this sense, s/he may be a unique individual. Undercutting this, however, is the Waldorf practice of dividing students into the four categories, a practice that effectively sweeps aside individual variation. We don’t truly honor human individuality if we pin false labels on people, no matter how much we refine, moderate, and sort the false labels.

[Rudolf Steiner Press, 1944.]

Anthroposophists believe that the truth about the four human temperaments (like the truth about most things) is bound up in occult mysteries that can be truly penetrated only through the use of clairvoyance. Ultimately this means — as the image above suggests — divining and heeding the will of the gods. The god depicted here is angelic and protective but also stern and commanding. Note that the "mystery of the human temperaments" is presented as fundamental to Waldorf education, i.e., Steiner pedagogy.

[1] See "Humouresque".

[2] See "Temperaments" and, e.g., the entry for "Olympics" in this encyclopedia.

[3] See "Incarnation".

[4] This is the first and lowest of the nonphysical bodies. Steiner taught that it incarnates around age seven. [See the entry for "etheric body" in this encyclopedia.]

[5] I.e., the physical body.

[R.R.]