Waldorf education

Waldorf education, sometimes called Steiner education, is a world-wide movement based on an educational philosophy first formulated by Austrian Rudolf Steiner and which grew out of his "spiritual science," Anthroposophy. With a goal of educating the "whole child", Waldorf educators place a strong emphasis on balancing the child's natural stages of development with creativity and academic excellence. There is a strong emphasis on the arts, social skills, and spiritual values.

Waldorf education is practiced in Waldorf schools, homeschools, and special education environments. There are now over 900 Waldorf schools throughout the world including Europe, North & South America, Africa, Australia, and Japan.

Description

Waldorf education is principally based on the work of Rudolf Steiner and was later developed by Hermann von Baravalle and Caroline von Heydebrand among others. Waldorf schools employ a curriculum that focuses on the developmental stages of childhood. In general, there are three larger phases: early childhood, when learning is experiential and sensory; the middle, elementary school years, when learning is imaginative and aided by creative, and especially by artistic activity; and adolescence, when learning can be supported by abstractions and intellectual rigor. Inside these three larger phases, many smaller stages of development can be defined.

The education addresses subjects on three levels:

• the head or the Intellect. The education claims to teach the students to think for themselves.
• the Heart. The education's stated aim is to instill a sense of feeling and spirit.
• the Hands. Waldorf schools work to involve arts and crafts, everything from painting to coppersmithing.

Though the emphasis in the early years is clearly on learning through doing (hands), in the middle phase on learning through feeling (heart) and in the middle and high school years on learning through understanding (head), all of these aspects are included in appropriate ways throughout the school years. This has social consequences as well; because of all the diverse subjects offered in a Waldorf school (two foreign languages, crafts, painting, drawing, singing and instrumental music, mathematics, language and literature, nature studies, and natural science), each student must exercise a wide variety of intellectual and artistic skills. The broad curriculum thus encourages a social environment of cooperation and mutual appreciation.

Often there is an attempt to integrate these three elements into the teaching of all subjects. A conscious effort to build a sense of community and environmental responsibility is fostered at every level, including parents, teachers/staff, students, and alumni. Movement, sport, and drama are employed throughout; in fact, a type of body movement called eurythmy is taught to every age group.

Further, Waldorf education makes no sharp division between theoretical and practical subjects, the arts, and logic subjects like math. Steiner repeatedly emphasized the unification of the three subjects of art, spirituality, and science, since he believed these had a common root in the human expression of culture, as stated in his The Arts and Their Mission lecture from 1923.

Waldorf Schools are co-educational, and predominantly comprehensive. Most are run co-operatively and are self-administered. Some public schools incorporate Waldorf education principles into their curriculum. In the United States this has been difficult because: "Steiner's concept is very spiritual in nature, which public education cannot totally embrace because of current law. Nevertheless, after making some modifications, a public school in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, is using the concept with good results." (Weary, 2000, p. 4) Similarly in both Australia and New Zealand some schools have successfully integrated with the state-funded school system, with some adaptation for state-prescribed curricula. Most have no school uniform.

The schooling is divided into 3 stages (see Pedagogy below) of Kindergarten (early years to 7), Middle (Elementary) school (7 to 14 ) and Upper (High) school (14 to 19).

Pedagogy

Steiner developed a 3-stage pedagogical model of child development that is utilised in Waldorf education. His description preceded but in some respects is analogous to the three stages of conceptual development observed and described by psychologist Jean Piaget in the 1960s. Steiner's approach, however, views a child's physical, emotional, and cognitive development as expressions of the process of incarnation of an immortal soul in its gradual embodiment in the human body which will be its temporary earthly vehicle. Childhood thus includes but three of the seven-year cycles of development that define human biography.

Stage 1: birth to age 7

The child at this early stage learns through imitation and example, so it is best to surround him with the goodness of the world and caring adults to emulate. Waldorf teachers work to support the amazing physical and spiritual growth the child experiences at this time.

Emphasis is placed on traditional household activities such as cooking, fingerknitting, helping with household duties, storytelling, rhyming, and movement games. Children are not taught specific academic subjects at this time, including reading and writing, and are sheltered from the media and even stories which include violence.

At approximately age seven, it is believed that the initial physical growth stage of the child is completed. Two signals that this stage is complete are the ability to reach over his head to touch the opposite ear, and the change of the teeth. As reprinted from the Foundations of Human Experience, Lecture 9: "...when their change of teeth is complete, it reflects the conclusion of the development of the head".

Stage 2: age 7 to puberty

Academic instruction is integrated with arts, spirituality, craft, and physical activity. As Steiner stated in The Education of the Child in the Light of Anthroposophy, "...the child should be laying up in his memory the treasures of thought on which mankind has pondered...".

The curriculum is highly challenging, structured, and creative. In Waldorf schools, one teacher often aims to stay with a class as it advances from its first year all the way through to year eight, teaching the main subject lessons. Specialist teachers are utilized for subjects such as foreign languages, handwork and crafts, eurythmy, games and gymnastics, and so on.

In the middle school years of seven and eight, some schools employ specialist teachers for mathematics, science, and/or literature as well. These are seen as transitional years when the pupils still need the support of a central teacher, but also the in-depth education possible only through more specialized support teachers. The approach to teaching these years is changing rapidly in Waldorf schools, and the combination of teachers employed in different schools for the academic subjects in the middle school runs the gamut from a central teacher teaching all of these to only using specialist teachers.

Stage 3: after puberty

The child is helped to begin a guided, but independent search for truth in himself and the world around him. 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." Idealism is central to these years, and the education constantly directs pupils to motivating impulses that can stimulate their enthusiasm. It is claimed a combination of highly analytic thinking with idealism is cultivated.

Instead of having one main teacher who teaches most subjects, the students in high school have many specialist teachers. They begin to grasp concepts and analyze the facts and knowledge they learned in the earlier stages. All students continue to take courses in art, music, and crafts on top of the full range of sciences, mathematics, language and literature, and history normal to most academically-oriented schools.

Learning not only mathematical formulas but the history behind the development of the formula and the biography of the person who came up with the formula is an example of how different disciplines are wound together.

Teacher education

Specialist Waldorf education teaching colleges are in operation throughout the world. 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 are normally central courses at any Waldorf teaching college. Further specialized courses may draw on the huge body of research since Steiner's day, possibly including work by (in alphabetical order, and without any pretense at comprehensiveness): 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. 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 teaching college, however, including through further seminars (such as those run by the national associations of Waldorf teachers) as well as the extensive publications on the subject (see the list of publishers below). The monthly magazine Erziehungskunst publishes the latest Waldorf research from Germany; to give an idea of the extensiveness of the source material now available — at least in German —, a collection of the best articles on elementary education from this magazine's 66-year history (Zum Unterricht des Klassenlehrers an der Waldorfschule) included more than one hundred authors and ran to more than a thousand pages. The English language source material is also extensive, and there are English language research magazines in several countries.

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.

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.

Social health, he believed, required education to be a matter of freedom and pluralism, such that teachers and parents should be permitted to make a thousand different educational flowers bloom, and then all families should be enabled to choose freely from the highly diverse and spontaneously evolving range of options. At the same time Steiner was flexible and pragmatic, and understood that compromises with the State would have to be made, and that even in an ideal system a few legal restrictions (such as health and safety laws), provided they were kept to a minimum, would be necessary and justified.

Intercultural links in socially polarized communities

Waldorf schools have linked polarized communities in a variety of settings.

• Even under Apartheid the Waldorf school in South Africa was open to children of every race, despite the ensuing loss of state aid.
• In Ireland, the Holywood Rudolf Steiner School may have been the first school to accept both Catholics and Protestants, which it has done 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.
• 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).

Spiritual Foundations

AWSNA, the organization that certifies all schools in North America with the trademarked name "Waldorf," says that to be certified it is "essential" that schools have a "strong foundation" in Rudolf Steiner's "spiritual science," Anthroposophy and that "it should be understood by any school or institution seeking affiliation with AWSNA that Waldorf Education is based on Anthroposophy." (AWSNA)

Anthroposophy, according to Steiner, investigates and describes spiritual phenomena with the same precision and clarity with which natural science investigates and describes the physical world. Steiner described his approach as "soul-observations using scientific methodology," which included trained clairvoyance, a source outside of the traditional view of scientific method. His ideas have their roots in the flowering of Germanic culture that resulted in the transcendent philosophy of Hegel, Fichte and Schelling, on the one hand, and the poetic and scientific works of Goethe, upon whom Steiner draws heavily, on the other.

Steiner's Anthroposophic research and subsequent teachings placed Jesus Christ at the center of the spiritual history of Earth, seeing what he called the "Christ impulse" as living at the heart of every religion.

There is great debate about whether Anthroposophy is a religion, a science, or a philosophy or some combination of the three:

• Columbia University Professor Emeritus of Education Douglas Sloan, himself an anthroposophist, has testified that Anthroposophy is not a religion, but a "spiritual science" or philosophy.
• Reference books differ in their definitions of anthroposophy. The Merriam-Webster dictionary refers to it as a "religious system," the McGraw-Hill dictionary defines anthroposophy as "a movement that grew out of Theosophy, which emphasizes education and other practical means for spiritual development," and the Encyclopedia Britannica refers to it as a "philosophy based on the premise that the human intellect has the ability to contact spiritual worlds."

Relationship between Anthroposophy and Christianity

Steiner believed that the being referred to in Christianity as "Christ" is "for Anthroposophy, the central figure in the whole tableau of reincarnation, of the nature of man, of the survey of the cosmos." (Steiner, 1909) However, Steiner did not believe that Anthroposophy was a part of Christianity or a religion itself. He described Christianity as having evolved out of previous religions and believed that each religion is valid and true for the time and cultural context in which it was born. He also believed that the historical forms of Christianity need to be transformed considerably to meet the on-going evolution of humanity.

In a lecture on the relationship between Anthroposophy and Christianity, Rudolf Steiner explained: "Spiritual science does not want to usurp the place of Christianity; on the contrary it would like to be instrumental in making Christianity understood. Thus it becomes clear to us through spiritual science that the being whom we call Christ is to be recognized as the center of life on earth, that the Christian religion is the ultimate religion for the earth's whole future. Spiritual science shows us particularly that the pre-Christian religions outgrow their one-sidedness and come together in the Christian faith. It is not the desire of spiritual science to set something else in the place of Christianity; rather it wants to contribute to a deeper, more heartfelt understanding of Christianity." (Steiner, 1914)

Celebrations and Festivals

Most private Waldorf schools celebrate holidays and festivals that are an anthroposophic or simply school-specific interpretation of the local culture's holidays and festivals. 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 North America and Europe most private Waldorf schools celebrate several Christian-based holidays and festivals, often with an Anthroposophic interpretation, including Martinmas and the four seasonal festivals of Michaelmas (fall), Christmas (winter), Easter (spring), and St. John's (summer). Although a majority of the schools' celebrations in North America and Europe are Christian-based, most North American private and European Waldorf schools also celebrate celebrations and festivals drawn from other traditions.

In the kindergarten and earliest elementary schools years, most Waldorf schools also celebrate something known as the Advent Spiral. This festival, celebrated in the weeks prior to the winter solstice, is also called a Advent Garden, Winter Garden, or Spiral of Light. In this ceremonial celebration, children enter, one at a time, into a large spiral of lit candles. As the parents sing the child a song or music is played, each child lights a candle and as the ceremony progresses, the spiral becomes brighter and brighter. The entire ceremony is usually conducted without any narration or interpretation, but the spiral and the lighting of the candles symbolizes many things in Anthroposophy: the turning and renewal of the year, the path of incarnation on earth, etc.

Nature and science in the Waldorf School

Phases of science education

Waldorf schools' very distinctive phases of education show themselves clearly in the treatment of nature and the natural sciences. In the pre-school, kindergarten and first elementary years, rich, direct experiences of nature are encouraged. Children play outside in all weathers, 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: these include wood, stone, clay (e.g. pottery), wool, cotton, silk, and linen. The emphasis is on working with the materials of nature through planting and harvesting, craft work and creative play. The beings of nature are personified and even anthropomorphized as active agents. The first years are thus years of ‘nature experience’.

At about nine years of age, children begin to become more conscious of their separation from their environment. From this age, nature is studied in an imaginative (rather than analytical) way, and still in relationship to the human being – but no longer anthropomorphized. The curriculum includes blocks on farming (grade 3), Man and animal (grade 4), Plant and Earth (grade 5) and geology (grade 6). A feeling connection to nature is aimed for, out of which a sense of stewardship can grow.

By twelve, children are entering a newly rational phase (cf. Piaget’s Theory of cognitive development). An experimental approach to science is introduced, beginning with simple but systematic sensory explorations of phenomena of acoustics, light, mechanics and chemistry in sixth grade and progressing through ever more advanced physics, chemistry, biological and ecological studies. In particular, the following subjects are recommended:

• 6th grade: Mineralogy, acoustics, optics, heat, natural magnetism and electricity.
• 7th grade: Nutrition and hygiene, mechanics, acoustics, heat, optics, electricity and magnetism, chemistry.
• 8th grade: Anatomy, hydrostatics and simple hydrodynamics, simple organic chemistry of starches, sugars and fats.
• 9th grade: Acoustics and thermodynamics, earth science, organic chemistry

10th grade: Mechanics, mineralogy, anatomy and physiology, mechanics, acid-base reactions 11th grade: Cell biology and embryology, botany, atomic theory, electromagnetism and radiation, the periodic table, advanced chemistry

• 12th grade: Zoology, optics, physiological chemistry

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. Waldorf schools tend to emphasize the historical origins, philosophical roots and consequences of scientific discoveries, however.

Use of Gnomes in Waldorf Schools

In most elementary and preschool Waldorf Schools, figurines of gnomes and other “non-perceptible” beings are present. Most students who attend Waldorf schools come away from the experience not believing that gnomes and other creatures are real: simply fun, imaginary characters of the same variety as found in most other elementary schools.

Rudolf Steiner, however, believed in the existence of gnomes and other “non- perceptible” beings and it is a component of his “spiritual science,” Anthroposophy. Steiner believed in various levels of consciousness and that gnomes and other beings are only perceptible to humans and other beings that have a higher consciousness. Steiner explained his view of such beings in his lecture “Man as Symphony of the Creative World,” in which he explained: “Invisibly and super-sensibly present behind what is physical and sense-perceptible, they participate in all the happenings of the world just as, or rather in a higher sense than do the physical, sense-perceptible beings.”

Steiner also believed that Gnomes were very wise beings that had a higher level of consciousness and understanding than man, explaining: "Because these gnomes have immediate understanding of what they see, their knowledge is actually of a similar nature to that of man. They are the compendium of understanding, they are entirely understanding. Everything about them is understanding, an understanding however, which is universal, and which really looks down upon human understanding as something incomplete. The gnomes laugh us to scorn on account of the groping, struggling understanding with which we manage to grasp one thing or another, whereas they have no need at all to make use of thought. They have direct perception of what is comprehensible in the world; and they are particularly ironical when they notice the efforts people have to make to come to this or that conclusion. Why should they do this? say the gnomes — why ever should people give themselves so much trouble to think things over? We know everything we look at. People are so stupid — say the gnomes — for they must first think things over." (Steiner, 1923)

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.

Steiner insisted upon four conditions before opening:

1. that the school be open to all children;
2. that it be coeducational;
3. that it be a unified twelve-year school;
4. that the teachers, those individuals actually in contact with the children, have primary control over the pedagogy of the school, with a minimum of interference from the state or from economic sources.

The first year the school was a company school and all teachers were listed as workers at Waldorf Astoria, but starting the second year the school became separate and independent.

Within a few years, many other Waldorf schools modeled on the Stuttgart school opened in other cities. Most of the European schools were closed down by the Nazis but after World War II were reopened. Today (2005) there are over 900 independent Waldorf schools worldwide, including over 150 in the United States, and 31 in the UK and Ireland. There is also a large homeschooling movement utilizing Waldorf pedagogy and methods.

In the United States there is a growing Waldorf charter school movement. Many public school teachers have brought aspects of Waldorf education into their classrooms, as well. In Europe, especially in Switzerland, there is much more integration of the Waldorf approach and public education than in the USA.

Steiner's educational philosophy is continually being developed further. Journals of note publishing such material include the Erziehungskunst, the organ of the German Association of Waldorf Schools, the Research Bulletin of the Association of Waldorf Schools of North America and Paideia, the journal of the Steiner-Waldorf Schools Fellowship in Britain.

Critical debate surrounding the Waldorf teaching method

No academic subjects are taught in kindergarten

Waldorf education begins teaching writing, reading, and formal numeracy skills in first grade. The schools tend to accept that some pupils will only become fluent readers in second or even third grade and avoid pressuring slower learners, though remedial programs are normally available in situations where there is a perceived learning disability. Critics claim that a window of intellectual opportunity is lost and that the delay makes it difficult for a child to transfer to a public or non-Waldorf school after he or she has started their education in a Waldorf school. {{citation}}: Empty citation (help)

A government study of English Waldorf schools showed that Waldorf pupils' reading skills tend to lag behind state-educated pupils in the first few grades, but that by 5th grade (11 years of age) the Waldorf pupils have caught up and thereafter are ahead of children of the same age who are educated in state schools. Waldorf schools maintain that the literacy-building techniques Waldorf schools use during early childhood—storytelling, music and singing, games, speech, and movement exercises—help to nourish imagination and a love of language which will be carried long after the child learns to read. It is worth noting that Finland, which sends its children to school at a comparable or later age, is one of the most literate societies in the world. Research by Piaget and others also supports the view that early academic learning actually interferes with the development in early childhood of faculties that will enhance later learning capacity.

Standardized Testing

Waldorf schools rarely use standardized tests in the elementary grades. High school students take standard college entrance examinations: SAT in the USA, A-levels in England, Abitur in Germany, etc. Due to the lack of standardized comparisons in the elementary school, criticisms have been made of the difficulty in comparing the achievement level of elementary school pupils

Anthroposophy's Role in Waldorf Education

Some claim that some Waldorf schools have not adequately informed their parents of the schools' basis in Anthroposophy. (National Post, 2002) For an example of how the schools present their spiritual foundations, see here. In a survey of 234 Waldorf schools in 31 countries, 59% of teachers were Anthroposophists, 57% felt that the goal of Waldorf education is to "change society", and 70% of respondents thought that "...Waldorf education influenced students to be open to the spiritual world and Anthroposophy" (Ogletree, 1998, pp.1-2).

AWSNA, the accrediting organization for all Waldorf Schools in North America, is very open about anthroposophy in Waldorf schools, clearly stating on their web page:

• A Waldorf school is not just an alternative to public schools or another independent school; its curriculum and philosophy proceed from the worldview and the insights into the nature of the child that Rudolf Steiner has given us in Anthroposophy. If there is not a core community surrounding the school initiative that is thoroughly familiar with and committed to that philosophy and pedagogy, then it is unlikely that the initiative will prosper.
• The anthroposophical work in a community is very important because Waldorf Education arises out of the soil of Anthroposophy. It is into this soil that the roots of the school will grow and derive nourishment.
• The school itself needs to have a healthy fertile relationship with Anthroposophy if it is to grow and thrive as a Waldorf school. For more information about the study of Anthroposophy or to learn of anthroposophical study groups in your area, you may contact the Anthroposophical Society in America.

However, AWSNA also stress that although Anthroposophy is a central influence, and study of its teachings are encouraged, they are never compulsory part of an Waldorf education, stating, "There can be nothing compulsory about the study of Anthroposophy, for it must live in the realm of inner freedom."

"Church and State" Law Suit against the Waldorf Charter Schools

The non-profit group PLANS argued in a law suit that because of Waldorf education's basis in anthroposophy, publicly-financed Waldorf charter schools are in violation of the "church and state" establishment clause of the First Amendment. The California circuit court ruled against PLANS, stating they provided no "exhibits or witnesses on the issue of whether anthroposophy is a religion for Establishment Clause purposes," and ordered the plaintiffs (PLANS) to pay the defendants' (the public Waldorf schools') costs. See transcript of the trial. The sole expert witness called in the trial was Columbia University Professor Douglas Sloan, who testified that anthroposophy was not a religion.

PLANS argues that they lost based on technical grounds (that they were unable to present any admissible evidence or witnesses) and not on the facts of the case, and that the only expert witness heard in the case -- Sloan-- is an anthroposophist.

Waldorf advocates argue that the case was won "with prejudice," that the plaintiffs had seven years to prepare their case, had requested numerous delays, yet were unable to present any evidence at the end of this time, and that the court would have ruled in their favor regardless of the content of PLANS legal presentation. Waldorf advocates contend that anthroposophy is never directly taught in Waldorf schools and does not meet any of the standards for "church and state" violations: a position that is reinforced by the fact that a Waldorf charter school has never been found by any U.S. court to violate "church and state" laws.

Relation to state education

In 2005, a UK government-funded 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 management skills.

External links

Waldorf Resources

• Association of Waldorf Schools of North America
• Steiner-Waldorf Schools Fellowship
• Bob and Nancy's Services with a link to various Waldorf resources
• Americans for Waldorf Education
• Waldorf Answers Waldorf teachers present Waldorf education
• Association of Waldorf Schools of North America
• Steiner Waldorf Schools Fellowship of the UK and Ireland
• Waldorf World website

Further Discussion and Reviews of Waldorf Schools

• British governmental Department for Education and Skills review of Waldorf schools
• OpenWaldorf.com - topics, tools, and community for curious Waldorf parents
• BBC News story on British government-funded study which reports that Waldorf education is a highly structured, disciplined educational model. The emphasis on arts and creativity complements a challenging curriculum.
• "Schooling the Imagination" by Todd Oppenheimer (a winner of the National Magazine Award for public interest reporting), from a September 1999 Atlantic Monthly article -- a picture of Waldorf education in practice, showing how some minority children do in Waldorf
• Positive Views of Waldorf: Comments on Waldorf and Steiner from Nobel Prize Winners, Scientists, Artists, Actors, Politicians & Professors of Education
• Waldorf Education - The International List of Famous Waldorf Alumni (...and Waldorf Parents) maintained by "theWaldorfs". Including, amongst others, the names of Jennifer Aniston, Kenneth Chennault, Michael Ende, Albert Watson and Veronica Webb.

Homeschooling

• Waldorf Resources reviews of Waldorf materials & resources
• Wonder Homeschool A parent-to-parent resource on Waldorf homeschooling and guide to available curriculum resources (formerly Wonder Ranch Homeschool)
• Therapeutic Homeschooling Resources for homeschooling children with bipolar disorder using Waldorf Education.
• Waldorf Homeschooling for Special Needs Children Discussion List

Special Education

• Camphill Communities Intentional communities of people with disabilities that recognize the potential, dignity, spiritual integrity, and contributions of each individual.

Teacher training programs

• Rudolf Steiner College in Fair Oaks, California
• Sunbridge College in Chestnut Ridge, New York
• Antioch New England Graduate School
• Center for Anthroposophy in Wilton, New Hampshire
• Emerson College in Forest Row, Sussex, England
• The University of Plymouth, England

Finding a Waldorf School

List of Waldorf Schools

• A list of Waldorf Schools Worldwide
• A list of Waldorf Schools in Germany
• A list of Waldorf Schools in the US
• Starting a Waldorf School
• eSchoolSearch Directory

Criticism of the Steiner approach

• The Skeptics Dictionary
• PLANS: People For Legal And Non-Sectarian Schools
• Americans for Waldorf Education comments on PLANS

Sources

Primary sources

Note: all of Steiner's lectures on Waldorf education are available in PDF form at this research site

• Steiner, Rudolf: The Foundations of Human Experience, ISBN 0880103922 - these lectures were given to the teachers just before the opening of the first Waldorf school in Stuttgart in 1919.
• Steiner, Rudolf: Practical Advice to Teachers , ISBN 0880104678 - also held in Stuttgart in 1919.
• Steiner, Rudolf: Discussions with Teachers, ISBN 0880104082
• Steiner, Rudolf: Education As a Force for Social Change, ISBN 0880104112
• Steiner, Rudolf: The Spirit of the Waldorf School, ISBN 0880103949
• Steiner, Rudolf: Rudolf Steiner in the Waldorf School: Lectures and Addresses to Children, Parents, and Teachers, 1919–1924, ISBN 0880104333
• Steiner, Rudolf: The Genius of Language: Observations for Teachers, ISBN 0880103868
• Steiner, Rudolf: Faculty Meetings with Rudolf Steiner: 1919–1924, ISBN 0880104589
• Steiner, Rudolf: The renewal of education through the science of the spirit - these lectures were held in Basel in 1920, ISBN 0880104554
• Steiner, Rudolf: Education for Adolescents, ISBN 0880104058
• Steiner, Rudolf: Soul Economy: Body, Soul, and Spirit in Waldorf Education, ISBN 0880105178
• Steiner, Rudolf: Waldorf Education and Anthroposophy 1, ISBN 0880103876
• Steiner, Rudolf: Waldorf Education and Anthroposophy 2, ISBN 0880103884
• Steiner, Rudolf: The Spiritual Ground of Education, ISBN 0880105135
• Steiner, Rudolf: The Child's Changing Consciousness: As the Basis of Pedagogical Practice, ISBN 0880104104
• Steiner, Rudolf: A Modern Art of Education, ISBN 0880105119

Secondary sources

• Astley, K. and P. Jackson (2000): "Doubts on Spirituality: interpreting Waldorf ritual" in International Journal of Childrens Spirituality, Vol.5 Iss.2 pp.221 -227

• Bärtges, C. and Lyons, N.: Educating as an Art, NY 2003

• Blunt, Richard: Waldorf Education. Theory and Practice, Novalis Press, Cape Town 1995.

• Edwards, Carolyn Pope (2002): "Three Approaches from Europe: Waldorf, Montessori, and Reggio Emilia" in Early Childhood Research & Practice, Volume 4, No. 1

• Gilbert, Harlan: At the Source: the Incarnation of the Child and the Development of a Modern Pedagogy, Association of Waldorf Schools of North America, Fair Oaks 2005.

• Gloeckler, Michaela: A Healing Education, Rudolf Steiner College Press, Fair Oaks, 1989.

• Harwood, A. C.: The Recovery of Man in Childhood

• ____________ . : The Way of A Child

• Koepke, Hermann: Encountering the Self, Anthroposophic Press, Hudson, NY 1989

• McDermott, R., Henry, M.E. and Dillard, C.B. (1996): "Waldorf education in an inner-city public school." in The Urban Review, Vol. 28, pp. 119-40

• Nicholson, D.W. (2000)"Layers of Experience: forms of representation in a Waldorf school classroom" in Journal of Curriculum Studies, Vol. 32, Iss. 4

• Oberman, Ida, Ph.D (1999) Fidelity and flexibility in Waldorf education, 1919-1998 (Doctor of Philosophy Dissertation) Stanford University

• Ogletree, E.J. (1998): International Survey of the Status of Waldorf Schools. Education Resources Information Center (Link:[1]

• Ogletree, E.J. (1997): Waldorf Education: Theory of Child Development and Teaching Methods. Education Resources Information Center (Link:[2])

• Ogletree, E.J. (1996): The Comparative Status of the Creative Thinking Ability of Waldorf Education Students: A Survey Education Resources Information Center (Link[3]

• Okumoto, Yoko, M.A. (1999): An alternative possibility of identity development: A discussion of Rudolf Steiner and Waldorf Education (Master of Arts Thesis) McGill University (Canada)

• Ruenzel, David (2001): "The spirit of Waldorf education" in Education Week, Vol.20 Iss. 41 pp. 38 -45

• Uhrmacher, P. B. (1995): "Uncommon schooling: a historical look at Rudolf Steiner, anthroposophy, and Waldorf education." in Curriculum Inquiry, Vol. 25, pp. 381-406

• Weary, B.F. (2000): Perceptions of looping addressing the academic and social needs of children: Waldorf education and public schools (Doctor of Education Dissertation) Temple University

• Wilkinson, R. (1996): The Spiritual Basis of Steiner Education. London: Sophia Books

(Note: this is only a partial listing of the secondary sources available)