Waldorf education: Difference between revisions
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A Swedish study comparing several hundred Waldorf students (grade 9 and 12) to corresponding students in Swedish public schools reported that the majority of the pupils in both types of school repudiated Nazism and racism. However, the proportion of pupils who suggested anti-Nazi and anti-racist solutions, i.e. solutions that involved counteracting or stopping Nazism and racism was considerably greater among the Waldorf pupils (93%) than among pupils at municipal schools (72%). <ref>Bo Dahlin et al: [http://www.kau.se/forskning/forskdb/index.lasso?to_do=show_result&id=2586 ''Waldorfskolor och medborgerligt-moralisk kompetens. En jämförelse mellan waldorfelever och elever i den kommunala skolan''] (''Waldorf schools and civic moral competency. A comparison of Waldorf pupils with pupils in public schools''. [Report 2004:2] Karlstad: Institution for educational science, University of Karlstad.)</ref> |
A Swedish study comparing several hundred Waldorf students (grade 9 and 12) to corresponding students in Swedish public schools reported that the majority of the pupils in both types of school repudiated Nazism and racism. However, the proportion of pupils who suggested anti-Nazi and anti-racist solutions, i.e. solutions that involved counteracting or stopping Nazism and racism was considerably greater among the Waldorf pupils (93%) than among pupils at municipal schools (72%). <ref>Bo Dahlin et al: [http://www.kau.se/forskning/forskdb/index.lasso?to_do=show_result&id=2586 ''Waldorfskolor och medborgerligt-moralisk kompetens. En jämförelse mellan waldorfelever och elever i den kommunala skolan''] (''Waldorf schools and civic moral competency. A comparison of Waldorf pupils with pupils in public schools''. [Report 2004:2] Karlstad: Institution for educational science, University of Karlstad.)</ref> |
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=== German media debate === |
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A broadcast on German television on February 28, 2000, the "Report from Mainz" discussed Waldorf education's relationship to racism. According to the broadcast, experts see that with parts of the Waldorf curriculum "the children are being taught mythology as historical fact and that a development theory placing special emphasis on Aryans is pedagogically untenable." According to Klaus Prange, educational specialist at the University of Tübingen: "This construction serves to create a consciousness in the individual that all of history, as Steiner reads it, with all it peculiarities, is present in every human being. With a clear advantage to our belonging, or supposed belonging, one must say, to the Aryan race, which Waldorf continues to treat as something that really existed." <ref>[http://www.akdh.ch/ps/ps_report-E.html#Mainz Aktion Kinder der Holocaust] Quote from Report Mainz broadcast]</ref> |
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After the broadcast, the daughter of a former chairperson of the Central Jewish Council in Germany and former Waldorf pupil, Evelyn Hecht-Galinski, published a protest in the Allgemeine Jüdische Wochenzeitung (General Jewish Weekly) against the broadcast. <ref>Allgemeine Jüdische Wochenzeitung, 30.3.2000 (General Jewish Weekly, March 3, 2000)</ref> |
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<blockquote>Appeal to solidarity against the targeted defamation and smear of the Waldorf schools. I can't stand the defamation of them for being racist and anti-Semitic! |
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I, a former Berliner Waldorf pupil and daughter of an Auschwitz-survivor and Chairman for many years of the Central Jewish Council in Germany, who very consciously and deliberately sent me to a Waldorf school, appeal to all former and present pupils of the Jewish faith to contact and tell me about their experiences. I personally have only had good experiences during my school time; it was liberal, antiracist, tolerant of every faith and not missionary. |
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It was not without reason that the Waldorf schools were prohibited during the Nazitime! |
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That makes it even worse to now verbally defame the Waldorf schools without presenting concrete proofs and names, as for example is being done by Report Mainz ...</blockquote> |
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==U.S. Waldorf methods public schools== |
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In 1998, a lawsuit was filed in federal district court by a small group in California, [[PLANS]], against two public school districts that supported the use of Waldorf methods at two charter schools in, charging that publicly-financed Waldorf methods schools are in violation of the "church and state" [[establishment clause]] of the [[First Amendment]]. When the case was tried in 2005, the district court decided for the Waldorf methods schools, finding that the plaintiffs had no admissible witnesses or evidence to support their claim that anthroposophy is a religion. The plaintiffs are appealing the decision. The defendants are disputing the validity of the appeal. |
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==U.S. Waldorf methods public schools== |
==U.S. Waldorf methods public schools== |
Revision as of 17:56, 14 January 2007
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Waldorf education (also called Steiner education) is based upon the educational philosophy of Rudolf Steiner, and stems from his spiritual/religious philosophy anthroposophy. [1] [2] This sees child development as a process of the child's soul and spirit incarnating into a developing living, physical organism.[3] Waldorf education emphasizes an imaginative and holistic approach to education.[4] Spiritual values are central both to the curriculum and to the training of teachers.[citation needed]
Waldorf education is practiced in more than 900 established independent private Waldorf schools located in about sixty different countries, in "Waldorf-method" government-funded schools, in homeschooling environments; and in special education.
Description
Waldorf education was founded in the early 20th Century out of the ideas of Rudolf Steiner and has been developed through the research and work of Waldorf pedagogues since.[5][6] The Waldorf school curriculum focuses on perceived developmental stages in a child's life. Steiner believed that childhood was divided into three distinct seven-year phases:
- Early childhood, when Steiner believed a) that children's consciousness was divided between the spiritual and physical realms [citation needed] and that b) learning (language and skill acquisition) is largely experiential, imitative and sensory-based;
- During the elementary school years, Steiner believed learning naturally occured through the imagination and feelings. He believed learning at this stage was best conducted by creative (especially artistic) activity and movement, and;
- Adolescence, when Steiner believed the capacity for abstract thought and conceptual judgment developed. [citation needed]
The Waldorf movement often refers to itself as "education of head, heart and hands;" this refers respectively to intellect, feelings and practical activities.
The Waldorf approach to early childhood education (through age 6/7) emphasizes learning through doing (imitation of practical activities);[citation needed]. The approach to the elementary years (ages 7-12 or 7-14) emphasizes learning through artistic expression, movement and the creation of forms.[citation needed]. The Waldorf approach to the middle (12-14 years) and high school (14-18 years) emphasizes learning through intellectual understanding.[citation needed] (Schools vary in how distinctly they differentiate a middle school and some Waldorf schools go directly from elementary to high school.)[citation needed]) Waldorf education attempts to integrate practical, artistic and intellectual approaches into the teaching of all subjects. This usually takes the form providing artistic and practical experiences of academic subjects (cf. main lesson books, below). Children are also taught about gnomes, fairies,[7] and stories from the Old Testament of the Bible, in addition to other religious stories pertaining to Saint Michael, Saint Martin and Lucifer.[8]
There are coordinating bodies for Waldorf education at both the national level (e.g. the Association of Waldorf Schools of North America and the Steiner/Waldorf Schools Fellowship in Great Britain) and the international level. These organizations certify schools to use the registered names Waldorf and Steiner school and offer accreditations[citation needed], often in conjunction with regional independent school associations[9]; some schools are also accredited by governmental authorities[10]. Within these restrictions, the schools are essentially self-governing. It is also a central tenet of the Waldorf Method that within the school itself, the classroom teacher (or Main Lesson teacher) has almost complete autonomy within his or her own classroom. [citation needed]
Pedagogy
Steiner developed a 3-stage pedagogical model of child development that views a child's physical, emotional, and cognitive development as expressions of the process of incarnation of an immortal soul and spirit in its gradual embodiment in the human body which will be its temporal earthly vehicle. Childhood thus includes but three of the many seven-year cycles of development that Steiner believed define human biography.[11]
Pre-school and kindergarten: birth to age 6 or 7
Steiner believed that children in the early stages of life learn through imitation and example,[12]. Steiner also believed that the child was still transitioning from the spirit realm to the physical realm, so as in any school, it is considered best to surround him with caring, practically active adults to emulate.[13] The teacher has the responsibility for providing an environment that he or she believes will stimulate imitation. In Waldorf, much of kindergarten class time allows children to play freely. It is believed by Waldorf practitioners, that such an environment supports the physical and spiritual growth of the child. [citation needed] Formal instruction is loosely structured or absent, and any learning that takes place, happens imitatively. Oral language development is addressed through circle games (songs, poems and games in movement), daily story time (normally recited from memory) and a range of other activities. [citation needed]
Waldorf early childhood education emphasizes the importance of children experiencing the rhythms of the year and seasons, including seasonal festivals that have roots in both pagan and Christian traditions. These include festivals at the Winter Solstice (Advent Spiral), as well as celebrations of Sts. Michael and Martin (Michaelmas and Martinmas) and Spring Solstice (in March). Some children also learn the rhythmic experience of the course of each day.[14][15].
Many Waldorf kindergartens and lower grades ask or require that children be sheltered from media and popular cultural influences, including television and recorded music (see "What Waldorf Discourages" below).
Elementary education: age 6 or 7 to puberty
In Waldorf schools, elementary education generally begins when the child is nearing or already seven years of age; this is up to one year older than the entrance age for most schools in English-speaking countries. The curriculum includes two foreign languages from age 6/7 - though not every Waldorf school achieves this - and an unusual emphasis on arts and crafts.[citation needed]
The objective of Waldorf schools is to have a single teacher accompany a class throughout the elementary school years from Grade 1 through Grade 8.[citation needed] This teacher, usually referred to as the "Main Lesson" teacher, is responsible for teaching the principal academic lessons to a class. S/He may also have responsibilities for some of the artistic and/or practical lessons, however specialist teachers generally teach the latter. Academic instruction is integrated with arts, craft (handwork, woodwork, etc.), music and movement. [citation needed]
Throughout the elementary years, an imaginative approach is encouraged; [citation needed] new material is introduced through stories and images rather than abstractly, and the children create their own "textbooks", known as "main lesson books".[16] The school day generally starts with the children reciting a religious verse written by Steiner for the start of a school day. The rest of the day then includes:
- The "Main Lesson," which is a one-and-a-half to two hour daily lesson, devoted to a single academic subject that is conducted over the course of about a month's time.[citation needed]
- Singing and/or playing musical instruments
- Reciting poetry
- Movement, gym, recess or other exercise
- Language
- Handwork using natural materials such as yarn and beeswax[citation needed]
Science education in the early years
Until the child is 9-10, nature stories and outdoor experiences are the only "science education". A third grade (9-10 year olds) block introduces the human being, animal, plant and mineral world in their interrelationship on a farm. Only after this (11-14 year olds) are biology, botany and mineralogy introduced as separate subjects in successive years. Many Waldorf schools introduce a "building" block at this time which generally involves the students in building a structure of some kind. Steiner recommended introducing animals as what he referred to as "a one-sided development of the unspecialized human being" and plants in relation to the earth's varied climatic zones, as well as the soil in which they grow.[citation needed]
Middle school years (12-14)
In the middle school years, when the child is twelve to fourteen years old, many schools employ specialist teachers for academic subjects including mathematics, science, and literature. These are seen as transitional years[citation needed] when the pupils still need the support of a central teacher, but also the in-depth education possible only through teachers with special competencies in these subjects. The approach to teaching these years is changing in some schools, including shortening the class teacher cycle from the traditional eight years to six or seven years.
Secondary education: after puberty
In most Waldorf schools, pupils enter secondary education (high school (USA) or upper school (UK)) in 9th grade/year nine, when they are about fourteen years old. The education is now wholly carried by specialist teachers. Though the education now focuses much more strongly on academic subjects, students normally continue to take courses in art, music, and crafts. Academic subjects are treated in parallel: three to five-week subject block courses (main lessons) explore the historical evolution, philosophical significance, and social consequences of special themes in depth while track classes focus more on traditional content. Pupils continue to create their own textbook ("main lesson book") in academic classes, depending strongly upon oral learning, while the use conventional textbooks is generally limited to math and English (in English-speaking countries). Some critics of Waldorf view the lack of textbooks as opportunities for non-conventional (Anthroposophical) ideas to enter the curriculum, particularly in the areas of history and science. [citation needed]
While the elementary education focuses the child's experience on the teacher as an authority, the child is now encouraged to begin a more independent development of knowledge, under the guidance of their teachers. Naturally, the nature of the "guiding" depends very much on the teachers doing the guiding. As stated in Education for Adolescents (1922), "The capacity for forming judgments is blossoming at this time and should be directed toward world-interrelationships in every field." [4] In Waldorf, idealism is central to these years.[citation needed]
Educational philosophy
Introduction of reading and writing
While in a traditional educational setting, reading is introduced as early as four or five and writing is introduced later, in Waldorf the written language is first introduced at age six or seven. Children also learn how to write first, it is believed that reading consequently evolves from the skill of writing.[17] Waldorf kindergartens also approach literacy through movement games, poetry and storytelling.
Main lesson books
In both the elementary school and secondary school, most academic subjects are taught in "main lesson" blocks. For these blocks, each pupil writes and illustrates a "main lesson book", a self-created 'textbook' based upon the content learned. Over time, children are encouraged to explore their own creativity in their main lesson book, so long as it supports the spirit of the lesson.[citation needed]
Foreign languages
Most Waldorf schools begin teaching two foreign languages from first grade/ class 1 (age six-seven) on. Foreign language instruction in the first years is purely oral; by the end of class 3, the written forms of the languages are introduced. When the pupils are about sixteen years old, exchanges with schools in other countries are encouraged.[citation needed]
Art
- Painting is normally a weekly experience in the early years. Art instruction continues through the high school for all students.
- In the elementary years, drawing is practiced daily and handwork [knitting] is practiced several times weekly, with projects which may include cushions, socks and gloves. For pedagogical reasons, full-color figures are usually drawn, not outlines. A special discipline called Form Drawing, created by the early Waldorf pedagogue Hermann von Baravalle, focuses on linear forms and is based on his belief that the form-drawing exercise creates a balance between mind and body.
- Sculpting with clay and/or woodworking is added to the art curriculum usually during 5th ot 6th grade.
- In high school, a wider variety of art is taught, including basketry, book-binding, silk painting, mosaics, oil painting, and other things, as well as all the art taught in the elementary grades.[citation needed]
Music
- The children sing daily with their class teacher. Generally, weekly singing lessons with a specialized music teacher begin at an early age and continue as choral instruction through to age 18. [citation needed]
- Pentatonic recorders are introduced in first grade/ class 1, the familiar diatonic recorder in third grade / class 3, when the children also take up a string instrument: either violin, viola or cello. Waldorf pupils are generally required to take private music lessons when a class orchestra is formed, usually at age 10. By age 11, the children may switch to (or add) other orchestral instruments such as the woodwind or brass. Orchestral instruction continues through to 18, though in many schools it becomes elective at some point.[citation needed]
- Waldorf children are discouraged from listening to recorded music, especially of their own practice, performance or voice.[citation needed]
Eurythmy
A movement art created by Steiner, Eurythmy, is required in most Waldorf schools, generally from kindergarten through twelfth grade. The movement is usually performed to poetry or music, and aims to create a marriage of movement, the performer's inner experience and the spiritual content of the piece.
- I speak in all humility when I say that within the Anthroposophical Movement there is a firm conviction that a spiritual impulse of this kind must now, at the present time, enter once more into human evolution. And this spiritual impulse must perforce, among its other means of expression, embody itself in a new form of art. It will increasingly be realised that this particular form of art has been given to the world in Eurythmy.
- It is the task of Anthroposophy to bring a greater depth, a wider vision and a more living spirit into the other forms of art. But the art of Eurythmy could only grow up out of the soul of Anthroposophy; could only receive its inspiration through a purely Anthroposophical conception.
- Rudolf Steiner, "Lecture on Eurythmy" [18]
While six or seven-year old children typically perform a nursery rhyme, folk tale or a simple melody in eurythmy, eighteen-year old students might perform large-scale musical and/or dramatic pieces to their own choreography.[citation needed]
Other forms of dance (ballet, modern, tap, urban) are often discouraged, while attending a Waldorf school.[citation needed]
Nature and science in the Waldorf School
Waldorf schools approach nature and the natural sciences through direct, personal experiences. Children play outside in all weather, preferably in gardens that show the seasons through the changing plant (and sometimes animal) life. Inside the classroom, natural materials are preferred for the room, its furnishings and all toys. Materials include wood, stone, clay (e.g. pottery), wool, cotton, silk, linen and beeswax. Dolls are also made of natural materials and have simple expressions or are faceless. The beings of nature, including gnomes and fairies, are personified and even anthropomorphized as active agents in day to day life.
From about age 9, nature is studied more abstractly. The curriculum includes blocks on farming (aged 10), Man and animal (aged 11), Plant and Earth (aged 12) and geology (aged 13). Children are taught that they are interdependently connected with nature and the environment around them. They are also taught that as a result of that interdependence, how they treat nature and the environment is at least as important as how they treat themselves and each other.[citation needed]
By twelve, an experimental approach to science is introduced, beginning with simple but systematic sensory explorations of phenomena of acoustics, light, mechanics and chemistry and progressing through ever more advanced physics, chemistry, biological and ecological studies:[citation needed]
- 11-12 years: Mineralogy, acoustics, optics, heat, natural magnetism and electricity.[citation needed]
- 12-13 years: Nutrition and hygiene, mechanics, acoustics, heat, optics, electricity and magnetism, chemistry.[citation needed]
- 13-14 years: Anatomy, hydrostatics and simple hydrodynamics, simple organic chemistry of starches, sugars and fats.[citation needed]
At the secondary school level (fourteen years of age and up), Waldorf schools tend to emphasize the historical origins, cultural background, and philosophical roots and consequences of scientific discoveries. By the end of their secondary school education, students are expected to have a grasp of modern science equivalent to that achieved in other schools. In particular, the following subjects are recommended:[citation needed]
- 14-15 years: Acoustics and thermodynamics, earth science, organic chemistry
- 15-16 years: Mechanics, mineralogy, anatomy and physiology, mechanics, acid-base reactions.
- 16-17 years: Cell biology and embryology, botany, atomic theory, electromagnetism and radiation, the periodic table, advanced chemistry
- 17-18 years: Zoology, optics, physiological chemistry
Standardized Testing
Waldorf schools rarely use standardized tests in the elementary grades.[citation needed] High school students take standard college entrance examinations: SAT in the USA, A-levels in England, Abitur in Germany, etc. It is now a requirement of all independent schools in NSW, Australia to use standardized tests in order to receive government funding.
Celebrations and Festivals
Most private Waldorf schools celebrate festivals.[citation needed]Festivals can be secular in character, combine elements of several religious traditions, as is frequently the case in multi-cultural settings, or represent the dominant local tradition, as is generally the case in parts of Europe (Christian festivals), Egypt (Islamic festivals), Israel (Jewish festivals, but see Intercultural links in socially polarized communities), and India and Thailand (Buddhist festivals). In the kindergarten and earliest elementary schools years, many Waldorf schools also have an advent spiral celebration.[citation needed]
What Waldorf Discourages
There are some things that for pedagogical reasons, are often discouraged at Waldorf schools, at least for certain ages of children. Among the more common [citation needed] are:
- Television viewing for younger children[citation needed]
- Media including movies, many types of recorded music, for younger children
- Cartoons, chartoon and other characters (Mickey Mouse, Sesame Street) especially on clothing
- Computer use in pre-high school (sometimes pre-middle school) grades
- Certain sports (primarily soccer and football)
- Many types of dance (ballet, modern, urban, tap)[citation needed]
- Martial Arts
- Open communication among parents[citation needed]
- Wearing of black clothing ("unrelieved black attire")[citation needed]
- Use of black art supplies [paint, crayon, dye, paper, cloth, yarn, etc.] [5]
- Wearing of synthetic fabrics for younger children
- Reading of books that have been made into movies [Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, Treasure Island, etc.][citation needed]
Social mission
Wider social purpose
Besides seeking to foster creative development of the "whole child", Steiner also started the Waldorf movement in order to help fulfill a social purpose: that education, while remaining fully accessible and available to all regardless of economic background, should eventually cease to be controlled by the State, and should instead come to depend on the free choices of families and teachers freely developing a highly pluralistic and diverse range of schools and educational options.[citation needed]
Steiner held that where the State administered education, culture was crippled in its ability to impartially distinguish good from bad in state action and in economic life. Without the capacity to make impartial, independently-based critiques, i.e., critiques not controlled by the state and economic interests, society would proceed relatively blindly. He also held that educators whose methods and work were determined by the State often had their competencies and creativity greatly weakened through the lack of full self-responsibility and independence. [citation needed]
Social health, he believed, required education to be a matter of freedom and pluralism. At the same time Steiner emphasized that compromises with the State would have to be made. [citation needed]
Intercultural links in socially polarized communities
Waldorf schools have linked polarized communities in a variety of settings.
- Under the apartheid regime in South Africa, the Waldorf school was the only school in which children of both races attended the same classes, and this despite the ensuing loss of state aid. The Waldorf training college in Cape Town, the Novalis Institute, was praised by UNESCO as "an organization of tremendous consequence in the conquest of apartheid".[19][20]
- In Ireland, the Holywood Rudolf Steiner School has accepted both Catholics and Protestants since its founding in 1975.
- In Israel, when the Harduf Waldorf school attempted to include the local Arab community, the educational authorities threatened to withdraw funding; the school responded by beginning a joint project with that community to run parallel schools with rich contacts. A joint Arab-Jewish Waldorf kindergarten has also been founded in Hilf (near Haifa).[21]
- In Brazil, a Waldorf teacher, Ute Craemer, founded a community service organization providing training and work, health care and Waldorf education in the Favelas (poverty-stricken areas of the city). [22]
- The Imhoff Waldorf School in Cape Town, South Africa has a programme which offers sponsored education to previously disadvantaged pupils.
Links to UNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, known as UNESCO, has chosen many Waldorf schools to be associated project schools, including at least seven UNESCO Waldorf schools in Germany (out of over 180 UNESCO schools in Germany), as well as schools in Africa and Asia.
UNESCO also sponsored an exhibit about the Waldorf schools at the 44th Session of their International Conference on Education in Geneva. An exhibition catalog was published by UNESCO under the title Waldorf Education Exhibition Catalog On Occasion of the 4th Session of the International Conference on Education of UNESCO in Geneva.
History
Waldorf education was developed by Rudolf Steiner as an attempt to establish a school system that would facilitate the inclusive, broadly based, balanced development of children. Though he had written a book on education, The Education of the Child in the Light of Anthroposophy, twelve years before, his first opportunity to open such a school came in 1919 in response to a request by Emil Molt, the owner and managing director of the Waldorf-Astoria Cigarette Company in Stuttgart, Germany. The name Waldorf thus comes from the factory which hosted the first school.
The resulting coeducational, comprehensive twelve-year school was open to all children. The teachers had primary control over the pedagogy of the school, with a minimum of interference from the state or from economic sources. For the first year the school was legally a company school and all teachers were listed as workers at Waldorf Astoria; by the second year the school had become an independent legal entity. The Stuttgart school grew rapidly, opening parallel classes, until political interference from the Nazi regime limited and ultimately closed the school:"Always a thorn in the side of the Nazis, the Waldorf school was harassed and plagued by constant injunctions. Soon the existence of the first grade was forbidden, in an attempt to throttle the school from below. When this proved too slow, the authorities closed down the school completely."[23]
As of 2005, there were over 900 independent Waldorf schools worldwide, including over 150 in the United States, and 31 in the UK and Ireland; in addition, there are about 1,500 Waldorf kindergartens in the world. In the United States there are a growing number [citation needed] of Waldorf methods based charter school and public school movements. Many teachers not working in schools committed to Waldorf education have brought aspects of Waldorf education into their classrooms, as well [citation needed]. In Europe, especially in Switzerland, there is much more integration of the Waldorf approach and government-funded education than in the USA or England. There is also a large homeschooling movement utilizing Waldorf pedagogy and methods. [citation needed]
School organization
Internal self-government
One of Waldorf education's central premises is that all schools should be self-governing; that the people who are practical experts on education, the teachers, should decide issues directly relating to pedagogy. Most Waldorf schools do not have a person acting as principal or headmaster, but rather a group of teachers who decide on pedagogical issues. This group is often known as the college of teachers. It is usually open to all full-time teachers who have been with the school for a certain period (often two years). Most colleges of teachers decide issues on the basis of consensus. Accordingly, each school is unique in its approach and may act solely on the basis of the decisions of the college of teachers, with respect to setting policy or other actions pertaining to the school and its students.
For more information about school organization and administration, see Waldorf schools' organization and administration
Teacher education
Waldorf education teaching programs are in operation throughout the world, both in specialized colleges and training centers and as courses in established universities. The course of study normally includes methodologies of teaching, academic training in specialized disciplines, artistic development, and familiarity with child development (especially as researched by Steiner and later Waldorf educators). It also generally aims to develop an understanding of the inner, or spiritual, basis of teaching; of the human being as composed of spirit, soul and body; and that an individual human being reincarnates in a series of lives. The latter implies that children bring certain gifts and challenges with them from previous Earth experiences, and have chosen a future destiny to develop in this life — a destiny which can be supported through the environment of family and school. This spiritual background is intended to enhance teachers' professional, personal and inner development. It is not intended to flow into the actual content taught to children.
Rudolf Steiner's "spiritual science" or Anthroposophy and developmental psychology [citation needed] are normally central courses at any Waldorf teaching college or training. Further specialized courses may draw on research done since Steiner's day by pedagogues such as George Adams, Hermann von Baravalle, Lawrence Edwards, Erich Gabert, Michaela Glöckler, Freya Jaffke, Dennis Klocek, Henning Köhler, Ernst Kranich, Georg Kuhlewind, Audrey McAllen, Martin Rawson, Wolfgang Schad, Ernst Schubert, Jörgen Smit and Olive Whicher. [citation needed]For elementary educators, artistic work will include painting, blackboard drawing, sculpture, singing, recorder playing, speech and drama work and movement (eurythmy and/or gymnastics). Practica in schools vary in length and will include opportunities for observation and for trial teaching.
Much of the education of any Waldorf teacher happens after graduation from the teaching program, however, including through further seminars and conferences (such as those run by the national associations of Waldorf teachers), publications, and on-the-job training in the classroom.
Private schools (including Waldorf schools) in the United States are generally exempt from meeting State licencing standards[24]. Most independent private schools request candidates with at least bachelor's degree in the subject they intend to teach.[25] The same is not necessarily true for Waldorf schools.[citation needed]
Spiritual Foundations
Anthroposophy's role in Waldorf education
Both historically and philosophically, Waldorf education grows out of anthroposophy's view of child development. Some Waldorf schools mention both Rudolf Steiner and anthroposophy in their websites but the extent of information schools provide to prospective parents about these particular topics varies widely. [citation needed]
Anthroposophy stands as the basis for Waldorf education's theory of child development, methodology of teaching and particularly affecting pupils, the curriculum.
There is one occasional exception to the exclusion of anthroposophical content; some schools have seen the need to give their graduating twelfth-graders a clear picture of the basis for their education through a course on Child Development. Above and beyond presenting the anthroposophic view of child development, such a course may include a description of some other anthroposophic ideas, introduced to help the students understand the origin and nature of the school's educational approach: the human being as composed of body, soul and spirit; the value of integrating multiple points of view; reincarnation; etc. The purpose is to ensure that pupils understand the background of their educational experience and there is open discussion of the viability of these ideas. [citation needed]
Anthroposophical principles are the foundation of the curriculum itself. Steiner emphasized this connection in his public lectures about Waldorf education.[citation needed] For some people, these principles are interpreted as religious, and this reasoning has brought questions about whether public Waldorf methods charter schools should receive taxpayer funding.
Religious orientation
Independent Waldorf schools tend to celebrate festivals and otherwise incorporate content that draws on their community's cultural background. However, "no religion, including Christianity, is promulgated in a Waldorf school." [citation needed]In clearly Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Buddhist, or Hindu cultures, the religious traditions of the surrounding culture are often woven into the school's life, and this is generally one of the most appreciated aspects of school life. Challenges may arise in multicultural settings.
In traditionally Christian countries - Europe, the United States, and Australia - there is mixed anecdotal evidence, some individuals complaining that their children's Waldorf schools emphasized Christian festivals, values and/or theology; others emphasizing that they have not found such an emphasis in their school.[citation needed] Two factors seem to be at work here: the schools' tendency to embrace local religious traditions whatever their setting, which can be problematic for those not of the majority religion, and the schools' foundation in Anthroposophy, which, despite its conscious inclusion of all religions, has a strong esoteric Christian thread. Different schools clearly handle these tensions differently, and an engaged parent body or community input can awaken schools to the issue, as has happened on a large scale in various countries.
The Lucifer Connection
Lucifer and his counterpart Ahriman are central figures in Anthroposophy. The "Waldorf Teacher's Survival Guide" has this to say regarding Lucifer: "Most of that which contributes to our work as teachers, preparation work, artistic work, even meditative work, is under the guardianship of Lucifer. We can become great teachers under his supervision, for he is responsible for much that has blossomed in the unfolding of civilization and culture in the past." While a thorough understanding of Anthroposophy is required to comprehend Lucifer's significance and influence, it is through Luciferic influences (light) that Waldorf teachers are expected to work. [26]
Concerns of Racism in Waldorf Schools
Concerns have been raised that latent racism in anthroposophy persists today due to the unreserved adherence to the writings of Rudolf Steiner among some followers of anthroposophy:
"Given the origin of Waldorf in early-20th-century Germany and its present in a class-biased and color-racist America, Waldorf educators need to work incessantly to clean their approach of unsuspected biases. For instance, with regard to race, a naive version of the evolution of consciousness, a theory foundational to both Steiner's anthroposophy and Waldorf education, sometimes places one race below another in one or another dimension of development." [27]
The Anthroposophical Society in America, however, refutes this claim:
We explicitly reject any racial theory that may be construed to be part of Rudolf Steiner's writings. The Anthroposophical Society in America is an open, public society and it rejects any purported spiritual or scientific theory on the basis of which the alleged superiority of one race is justified at the expense of another race.[28]
American intercity study
In 1996, an independent report was published on an urban Waldorf school in Milwaukee, highlighting potential racism in both teachers and students: [29]
Many of the children seemed to have a distorted and negative picture of blackness, an internalized prejudice that runs deep ... Too often, we heard degrading terms such as "big-lipped," "nappy-headed," "big butt," and "black-faced bitch" both in the classroom and at play ... The staff and faculty at Urban Waldorf represented a wide gamut of opinions on race and the possible presence of racism at the school. Some were quick to point to what they thought were unquestionable cases of racism inherent in Waldorf philosophy and practice, and others were as quick to deny the possibility of racism at any level, in any practice.
Though the research noted that the school was attempting to combat racism:
They also understand that they must try. And so we found teacher study groups on African American culture (particularly on storytelling and folklore), and various individual projects on urban life ... the Urban Waldorf faculty has a commendable level of engagement with the difficulties of racism.
Swedish study
A Swedish study comparing several hundred Waldorf students (grade 9 and 12) to corresponding students in Swedish public schools reported that the majority of the pupils in both types of school repudiated Nazism and racism. However, the proportion of pupils who suggested anti-Nazi and anti-racist solutions, i.e. solutions that involved counteracting or stopping Nazism and racism was considerably greater among the Waldorf pupils (93%) than among pupils at municipal schools (72%). [30]
German media debate
A broadcast on German television on February 28, 2000, the "Report from Mainz" discussed Waldorf education's relationship to racism. According to the broadcast, experts see that with parts of the Waldorf curriculum "the children are being taught mythology as historical fact and that a development theory placing special emphasis on Aryans is pedagogically untenable." According to Klaus Prange, educational specialist at the University of Tübingen: "This construction serves to create a consciousness in the individual that all of history, as Steiner reads it, with all it peculiarities, is present in every human being. With a clear advantage to our belonging, or supposed belonging, one must say, to the Aryan race, which Waldorf continues to treat as something that really existed." [31]
After the broadcast, the daughter of a former chairperson of the Central Jewish Council in Germany and former Waldorf pupil, Evelyn Hecht-Galinski, published a protest in the Allgemeine Jüdische Wochenzeitung (General Jewish Weekly) against the broadcast. [32]
Appeal to solidarity against the targeted defamation and smear of the Waldorf schools. I can't stand the defamation of them for being racist and anti-Semitic!
I, a former Berliner Waldorf pupil and daughter of an Auschwitz-survivor and Chairman for many years of the Central Jewish Council in Germany, who very consciously and deliberately sent me to a Waldorf school, appeal to all former and present pupils of the Jewish faith to contact and tell me about their experiences. I personally have only had good experiences during my school time; it was liberal, antiracist, tolerant of every faith and not missionary.
It was not without reason that the Waldorf schools were prohibited during the Nazitime!
That makes it even worse to now verbally defame the Waldorf schools without presenting concrete proofs and names, as for example is being done by Report Mainz ...
U.S. Waldorf methods public schools
In 1998, a lawsuit was filed in federal district court by a small group in California, PLANS, against two public school districts that supported the use of Waldorf methods at two charter schools in, charging that publicly-financed Waldorf methods schools are in violation of the "church and state" establishment clause of the First Amendment. When the case was tried in 2005, the district court decided for the Waldorf methods schools, finding that the plaintiffs had no admissible witnesses or evidence to support their claim that anthroposophy is a religion. The plaintiffs are appealing the decision. The defendants are disputing the validity of the appeal.
U.S. Waldorf methods public schools
In 1998, a lawsuit was filed in federal district court by a small group in California, PLANS, against two public school districts that supported the use of Waldorf methods at two charter schools in, charging that publicly-financed Waldorf methods schools are in violation of the "church and state" establishment clause of the First Amendment. When the case was tried in 2005, the district court decided for the Waldorf methods schools, finding that the plaintiffs had no admissible witnesses or evidence to support their claim that anthroposophy is a religion. The plaintiffs are appealing the decision. The defendants are disputing the validity of the appeal.
U.K. Comparison with state-run education
In 2005, in a UK government-funded study[33] the independent authors of the study praised the schools' ability to develop students through closer human relationships rather than relying purely on tests, but reported that the state sector could provide guidance to Steiner schools in teacher training and classroom management skills.
Notes and References
- ^ - MSN Encarta Encyclopedia
- ^ "anthroposophy."Encyclopædia Britannica. 2007. Encyclopædia Britannica 2006 Ultimate Reference Suite DVD 10 Jan. 2007
- ^ Rudolf Steiner, Study of Man, Chapter 1
- ^ Thomas William Nielsen, Rudolf Steiner's Pedagogy Of Imagination: A Case Study Of Holistic Education, Peter Lang Pub Inc 2004 ISBN 3039103423
- ^ Freda Easton, The Waldorf impulse in education:Schools as communities that educate the whole child by integrating artistic and academic work, Ph.D. thesis, Columbia University Teachers College, 1995
- ^ Helmut Neuffer, Zum Unterricht des Klassenlehrers an der Waldorfschule, ISBN 3-7725-0271-7
- ^ Article - National Post
- ^ "Public schools teaching occult religion?" - World Net Daily
- ^ WASC Accrediting commission for schools
- ^ Rhode Island accreditation
- ^ Bernard Lievegoed, Phases, ISBN 0-85440-353-1. "The Course of Life", Chap. 2, pp. 43ff.
- ^ Ginsburg and Opper, Piaget's Theory of Intellectual Development, ISBN 0-13-675140-7, pp. 39-40
- ^ Bryant Furlow, "Reflections on Child's Play", pp. 13-17
- ^ Caroline von Heydebrand, Childhood, Garden City Press 1970, Chapter V, "Rhythm in the Child's Life" pp. 107ff
- ^ Roberto Trostli, Rhythms of Learning, ISBN 0-88010-451-1, Chap. 3, "The Waldorf kindergarten", esp. pp128f
- ^ TRESD Waldorf methods charter schools
- ^ Rudolf Steiner, "Teaching Children to Write", reprinted in Roberto Trostli, Rhythms of Learning, ISBN 0-88010-451-1, pp. 144ff
- ^ Lecture on Eurythmy
- ^ Tolerance: The Threshold of Peace., UNESCO, 1994.
- ^ Peter Normann Waage, Humanism and Polemical Populism, Humanist 3/2000
- ^ When Ahmed met Avshalom, Israel21c, May 28, 2006. See the online version of article.
- ^ Ute Craemer et. al, Rich in Spirit, EBook/Southern Cross Review, 2005
- ^ Murphy, 1991, cited in Sally Rogow, Hitler's Unwanted Children
- ^ Teacher accreditation in the USA
- ^ National Association of Independent Schools, Job Listings [1]
- ^ [2]
- ^ McDermott report published in Urban Review
- ^ The Anthroposophical Society in America. Position Statement on Diversity 1998
- ^ Ray McDermott et al: Waldorf education in an inner-city public school. The Urban Review, Volume 28, Number 2 / June, 1996, pp. 119-140
- ^ Bo Dahlin et al: Waldorfskolor och medborgerligt-moralisk kompetens. En jämförelse mellan waldorfelever och elever i den kommunala skolan (Waldorf schools and civic moral competency. A comparison of Waldorf pupils with pupils in public schools. [Report 2004:2] Karlstad: Institution for educational science, University of Karlstad.)
- ^ Aktion Kinder der Holocaust Quote from Report Mainz broadcast]
- ^ Allgemeine Jüdische Wochenzeitung, 30.3.2000 (General Jewish Weekly, March 3, 2000)
- ^ [3] UK government-funded study (2005)
External links
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Waldorf Resources
Further Discussion, Outside Views and Reviews of Waldorf Schools
- "Schooling the Imagination" by Todd Oppenheimer (a winner of the National Magazine Award for public interest reporting). Atlantic Monthly, September 1999.
- "Steiner schools 'could help all" by Branwen Jeffreys. BBC News Report on British government-funded study on Waldorf education in the UK, 5july 2005.
- "Waldorf Succeeds in Public Schools" by Claudia M. Lenart. Conscious Choice, August 2000.
- "Contrarian finding: Computers are a drag on learning" by G. Jeffrey MacDonald, The Christian Science Monitor, 6 December, 2004.
- "Waldorf Education. Looking into the educational system developed by Rudolf Steiner" by Diane and Robert Gilman. In Context: A Quarterly of Humane Sustainable Culture, Summer 1984.
- "The Wisdom of Waldorf: Education for the Future" by Rahima Baldwin Dancy, Mothering Magazine, March/April 2004.
- "What is a Waldorf School?" Peterson's Guide to Waldorf schools.
- "Schooled in spirituality" by Chrisanne Beckner. Sacramento News and Review, February 03, 2005.
- "Diplomats tour `eco-campuses,' laud progress" by Mo Yan-chih, Taipei Times, January 23rd, 2005.
Critical Review
- "Rudolf Steiner (1861-1925)" by Robert Todd Carroll, editor of The Skeptics Dictionary.
Research journals
Steiner's educational philosophy is continually being developed further. Journals of note publishing such material include
- Erziehungskunst, the organ of the German Association of Waldorf Schools
- Paideia, the journal of the Steiner-Waldorf Schools Fellowship in Britain.
- Research Bulletin of the Association of Waldorf Schools of North America
Associations of Waldorf Schools
- Association of Waldorf Schools of North America
- Steiner Waldorf Schools Fellowship of the UK and Ireland
- Southern African Federation of Waldorf Schools
Finding a Waldorf School
- A list of Waldorf Schools worldwide (in pdf form)
- A list of Waldorf Schools in the US
- A list of Waldorf Schools in Germany
- Starting a Waldorf School
Teacher training programs
- Antioch New England Graduate School
- Center for Anthroposophy in Wilton, New Hampshire
- Emerson College in Forest Row, Sussex, England
- Rudolf Steiner Centre Toronto, Canada
- Rudolf Steiner College in Fair Oaks, California
- Sunbridge College in Chestnut Ridge, New York
- The University of Plymouth, England
- West Coast Institute for Studies in Anthroposophy, Vancouver, Canada
- Sound Circle Center for Art, Seattle, Washington
Homeschooling
Special Education
- Camphill Communities Intentional communities of people with disabilities that recognize the potential, dignity, spiritual integrity, and contributions of each individual.
Bibliography
Works by Rudolf Steiner
- Education: An Introductory Reader (Christopher Clouder, ed.), Sophia Books (March 2004), ISBN 1-85584-118-5. Collection of relevant works by Steiner on education.
- The Education of the Child, and early Lectures on Education (Foundations of Waldorf Education, 25), ISBN 0-88010-414-7. Includes Steiner's first descriptions of child development, originally published as a small booklet.
- The Foundations of Human Experience, ISBN 0-88010-392-2, these fundamental lectures on education were given to the teachers just before the opening of the first Waldorf school in Stuttgart in 1919.
Note: all of Steiner's lectures on Waldorf education are available in PDF form at this research site
Works by other authors
- Aeppli, W., The Developing Child ISBN 0-88010-491-0
- Armon J: The Waldorf Curriculum as a Framework for Moral Education: One dimension of a fourfold system. Annual Meeting of American Educational Research Association (AERA), Chicago, 1997.
- Bärtges, C. and Lyons, N.: Educating as an Art, NY 2003 ISBN 0-88010-531-3
- Clouder, C. and Rawson, M., Waldorf Education ISBN 0-86315-396-8
- Cusick, L, Waldorf Parenting Handbook ISBN 0-916786-75-7
- Edmonds, Francis, An Introduction to Steiner Education ISBN 1-85584-172-X
- Gardner, John F., Education in Search of the Spirit: Essays on American Education ISBN 0-88010-439-2
- Gloeckler, Michaela: A Healing Education, Rudolf Steiner College Press, Fair Oaks, 1989
- Harwood, A. C.: The Recovery of Man in Childhood ISBN 0-913098-53-1
- Masters, Brien, Adventures in Steiner Education ISBN 1-85584-153-3
- Thomas William Nielsen, Rudolf Steiner's Pedagogy Of Imagination: A Case Study Of Holistic Education, Peter Lang Pub Inc 2004 ISBN 3039103423
- Nobel, Agnes, Educating through Art: The Steiner School Approach
- Petrash, Jack, (2002): Understanding Waldorf Education: Teaching from the Inside Out ISBN 0-87659-246-9
- Querido, René, Creativity in Education ISBN 0-930420-05-5
- Querido, René, The Esoteric Background of Waldorf Education
- Spock, Marjorie, Teaching as a Lively Art ISBN 0-88010-127-X
- Wilkinson, R. (1996): The Spiritual Basis of Steiner Education. London: Sophia Books ISBN 1-85584-065-0