Waldorf education

Waldorf education (also known as Steiner education) is a humanistic approach to pedagogy based on the educational philosophy of the Austrian philosopher Rudolf Steiner, the founder of anthroposophy. Learning is interdisciplinary, integrating practical, artistic, and conceptual elements.^[1] The approach emphasizes the role of the imagination in learning,^{[2][3][4][5]:69} developing thinking that includes a creative as well as an analytic component.^[6][7] The educational philosophy's overarching goals are to provide young people the basis on which to develop into free, morally responsible^[8][9] and integrated individuals,^[2][10][11] and to help every child fulfill his or her unique destiny, the existence of which anthroposophy posits.^[12][13] Schools and teachers are given considerable freedom to define curricula within collegial structures.^[14]

The first Waldorf school was founded in 1919 to serve the children of employees at the Waldorf-Astoria cigarette factory in Stuttgart, Germany. As of 2011, there were 1,003 independent Waldorf schools,^[15] 2,000 kindergartens^[16] and 629 institutions for special education,^[17] located in 60 countries. There are also Waldorf-based public (state) schools, charter schools, and homeschooling environments;^[2] in addition, other state and private schools are increasingly using methods drawn from Waldorf education.^[18][19]

Pedagogy and theory of child development

The structure of the education follows Steiner's theories of child development, which describe three major developmental stages of childhood, each having its own learning requirements, as well as a number of sub-stages.^[20] These stages are broadly similar to those described by Piaget.^[21]

• In early childhood learning is largely experiential, imitative and sensory-based.^[22] The education emphasizes learning through practical activities.^[23]
• During the Elementary school years (age 7–14), learning is artistic and imaginative, and is guided and stimulated by the creative authority of teachers. In these years, the approach emphasizes developing children's emotional life and artistic expression across a wide variety of performing and visual arts.^[20][24]
• During adolescence, to meet the developing capacity for abstract thought and conceptual judgment^[23] the emphasis is on developing intellectual understanding and ethical ideals such as social responsibility.^[20]

Waldorf education realizes an unusually and perhaps uniquely "complete articulation of an evolutionary developmental K-12 curriculum and creative teaching methodology."^[25] its underlying principles continue a pedagogical tradition initiated by Comenius, Pestalozzi,^{[26]:p. 31} and Herder^{[5]:p. 58} Its methodology encourages collaborative learning.^[27]

Pre-school and kindergarten: birth to age 6 or 7

Waldorf schools approach learning in early childhood through imitation and example.^[28][29] Extensive time is given for guided free play in a classroom environment that is homelike, includes natural materials and provides examples of productive work in which children can take part;^[20] such an environment is considered by Waldorf pedagogues to be supportive of the physical, emotional and intellectual growth of the child through assimilative learning.^[29] Outdoor play periods are also generally incorporated into the school day, with the intention of providing children with experiences of nature, weather and the seasons of the year. Oral language development is addressed through songs, poems and movement games. These include daily story time when a teacher usually tells a fairytale, often by heart.^[21]

Aids to development via play generally consist of simple materials drawn from natural sources that can be transformed imaginatively to fit a wide variety of purposes. Waldorf dolls are intentionally made simple in order to allow playing children to employ and strengthen their imagination and creativity. Waldorf schools generally discourage kindergarten and lower grade pupils being exposed to media influences such as television, computers and recorded music, as they believe these to be harmful to children's development in the early years;^[22][30] this is consistent with the UK National Literacy Trust^[31]

The education emphasizes early experiences of daily, weekly and annual rhythms, including seasonal festivals drawn from a variety of traditions. Though Waldorf schools in the Western Hemisphere have traditionally celebrated Michaelmas and Martinmas in the autumn, Christmas in winter, Easter and May Day in the spring, and St. John's Day in summer,^[32] such schools are now incorporating an increasingly wide range of cultural and religious traditions,^[33] and schools located where Jewish, Buddhist, or Islamic traditions are dominant celebrate festivals drawn from these traditions.

Elementary education: age 6/7 to 14

In Waldorf schools a child normally enters elementary education when she or he is nearing or already seven years of age.^[34] The elementary school centers around a multi-disciplinary arts-based curriculum that includes visual arts, drama, artistic movement (eurythmy), vocal and instrumental music, and crafts.^[35] Throughout the elementary years, students learn two foreign languages (in English-speaking countries often German and either Spanish or French).

Throughout the elementary years, concepts are first introduced through stories and images, and academic instruction is integrated with the visual and plastic arts, music and movement.^[36] There is little reliance on standardized textbooks;^[26] instead, each child creates his or her own illustrated summary of coursework in book form.^[37] The school day generally starts with a one-and-a-half to two-hour academic lesson that focuses on a single theme over the course of about a month's time^[7] and generally begins with an introduction that may include singing, instrumental music, recitations of poetry, including a verse written by Steiner for the start of a school day,^[32] and practice in mathematics and language arts.

An objective of most Waldorf schools is to have a single teacher loop with a class throughout the elementary school years, teaching at least the principal academic lessons;^[7] Waldorf teachers have been cited for their level of personal commitment to their pupils.^[38]

Waldorf teachers use the concept of the four temperaments to help interpret, understand and relate to the behaviour and personalities of children under their tutelage. The temperaments, choleric, phlegmatic, melancholic, and sanguine,^[26] are thought to express four basic personality types, each possessing its own fundamental way of regarding and interacting with the world.

Waldorf elementary education allows for individual variations in the pace of learning, based upon the expectation that a child will grasp a concept or achieve a skill when he or she is ready.^[13] Cooperation takes priority over competition.^[12][38] This approach also extends to physical education; competitive team sports are introduced in upper grades.^[22]

Secondary education

In most of the Waldorf schools, pupils enter secondary education when they are about fourteen years old. Secondary education is provided by specialist teachers for each subject. The education now focuses much more strongly on academic subjects,^[39] though students normally continue to take courses in art, music, and crafts.

Pupils are encouraged to develop their own independent and creative thinking processes.^[39] The curriculum is structured to help students develop a sense of competence, responsibility and purpose,^[6]:144 to foster an understanding of ethical principles, and to build a sense of social responsibility.^[20]

Curriculum

Though most Waldorf schools are autonomous institutions not required to follow a prescribed curriculum, there are widely-agreed guidelines for the Waldorf curriculum,^[40][41][42] supported by the schools' common principles. Government-funded schools may be required to incorporate aspects of state curricula.

The Waldorf curriculum has from its inception organically incorporated multiple intelligences.^[43] There are thus a few subjects largely unique to the Waldorf schools. Foremost among these is Eurythmy, a movement art usually accompanying spoken texts or music which includes elements of role play and dance and is designed to provide individuals and classes with a "sense of integration and harmony".^[12] The arts generally play a significant role throughout the pedagogy and Waldorf education's unique integration of the arts into traditional content has been cited as a model for other schools.^[44]

Waldorf schools generally introduce computers into the curriculum in adolescence.^[45]

Looping

In the elementary schools, the homeroom teacher normally is expected to teach a group of children for several years. Traditionally teachers are expected to remain with a class from first through eighth grade, though an increasing number of schools are significantly reducing the duration of the loop. Looping has both advantages in the long-term relationships thus established and disadvantages in the challenge to teachers, who face a new curriculum each year.^[46] Such stability also requires all parties to maintain sustainable relationships, a frequently challenging task.

Origins and history

Rudolf Steiner wrote his first book on education, The Education of the Child, in 1907. The first school based upon these principles was opened in 1919 in response to a request by Emil Molt, the owner and managing director of the Waldorf-Astoria Cigarette Company in Stuttgart, Germany, to serve the children of employees of the factory. This is the source of the name Waldorf, which is now trademarked for use in association with the educational method. The Stuttgart school grew rapidly and soon the majority of pupils were from families not connected with the company.

At the invitation of Professor Millicent Mackenzie, Steiner presented his ideas on education at Oxford in the summer of 1922.^[16] Steiner gave twelve lectures at Oxford's Harris Manchester College and other lectures of the Oxford Conference occurred at Oxford's Keble College. The Oxford Conference from 15 to 29 August led directly to the proliferation of Waldorf education in Britain.^[16]

In the next few years schools began to open in many other locations (Hamburg, The Hague, Basel). The first school in England, now Michael Hall school, was founded in 1925; the first in the USA, the Rudolf Steiner School in New York City, in 1928. By the late 1930s, numerous schools inspired by the original school or its pedagogical principles had been founded in Germany, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Norway, Austria, Hungary, the USA, and the UK. Political interference from the Nazi regime limited and ultimately closed most Waldorf schools in Europe, with the exception of the British and some Dutch schools; the affected schools were reopened after the Second World War.^[47] There are currently 998 independent Waldorf Schools worldwide.^[15]

Waldorf schools have traditionally been numerically clustered and culturally centered in Europe; the number of non-European schools has been slowly increasing, however, leading to a trend toward reinterpreting the formerly Euro-centric curriculum.^[48]

Governance

One of Waldorf education's central premises is that all educational and cultural institutions should be self-governing and should grant teachers a high degree of creative autonomy within the school;^{[5]:81[36][49]} this is based upon the conviction that a holistic approach to education that aiming at the development of free individuals can only be successful when based on a school form that expresses these same principles.^[35] Most Waldorf schools are not directed by a principal or head teacher, but rather by a number of groups, including:

• The college of teachers, who decide on pedagogical issues, normally on the basis of consensus. This group is usually open to full-time teachers who have been with the school for a prescribed period of time. Each school is accordingly unique in its approach, as it may act solely on the basis of the decisions of the college of teachers to set policy or other actions pertaining to the school and its students.^[32] Waldorf schools have been cited for having a high level of teacher collegiality.^[38]
• The board of trustees, who decide on governance issues, especially those relating to school finances and legal issues.

Parents are encouraged to take an active part in non-curricular aspects of school life.^[12] Waldorf schools have been found to create effective adult learning communities.^[50]

There are coordinating bodies for Waldorf education at both the national (e.g. the Association of Waldorf Schools of North America and the Steiner Waldorf Schools Fellowship in the UK and Ireland) and international level (e.g. International Association for Waldorf Education and The European Council for Steiner Waldorf Education (ECSWE)). These organizations certify the use of the registered names "Waldorf" and "Steiner school" and offer accreditations, often in conjunction with regional independent school associations.^[51] Some Waldorf schools are independently accredited by governmental authorities.^[52]

Social engagement

Waldorf schools seek to cultivate pupils' sense of social responsibility,^[53] respect, and compassion; to develop their cooperative capacities; and to enable them to contribute to societal and cultural renewal;^[54] studies have found the schools' pupils to be unusually oriented towards improving social conditions and having more positive visions of the future.^[5]:65[55] Studies done in Germany and Sweden have found Waldorf pupils to be less xenophobic and less likely to be attracted to extreme right-wing political groups than pupils in other types of schools.^[56][57] The underlying educational philosophy has been commended for being based upon peace and tolerance.^[58]

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 one of the few schools in which children of both races attended the same classes, despite the ensuing loss of state aid. A Waldorf training college in Cape Town, the Novalis Institute, was described by UNESCO as an organization which had a great consequence in the conquest of apartheid: "It has prepared the way and laid the foundations for a new and integrated [community].”^[58][59]
• In Israel, the Harduf Kibbutz Waldorf school includes both Jewish and Arab faculty and students and has extensive contact with the surrounding Arab communities;^[60] it also runs an Arab-language Waldorf teacher training.^[61] In addition, a joint Arab-Jewish Waldorf kindergarten, the first Arab-Jewish, bilingual and bicultural kindergarten in Israel,^[62] was founded in Hilf (near Haifa) in 2005.^[63]
• In Brazil, a Waldorf teacher, Ute Craemer, founded a community service organization providing childcare, vocational training and work, social services including health care, and Waldorf education to more than 1,000 residents of poverty-stricken areas (Favelas) of São Paulo.^[64]
• In Nepal, the Tashi Waldorf School in the outskirts of Kathmandu teaches mainly disadvantaged children from a wide variety of cultural backgrounds.^[65] It was founded in 1999 and is run by Nepalese staff.

UNESCO

The "Friends of Waldorf Education," a foundation whose main purpose is to support, develop infrastructure, finance and provide advice to the Waldorf movement world-wide, has developed contacts with the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. During UNESCO's International Conference on Education in 1994 in Geneva the foundation mounted an exhibition on its educational projects.^[66][67]

In 2001, 16 Waldorf schools in 14 countries were members of the UNESCO Associated Schools Project Network,^[68] and the Director-General decision was to allow admission to Official Relations under the Directives concerning UNESCO’s relations with foundations and similar institutions (1991), as a foundation.

Spiritual foundations

Anthroposophy's role

Both historically and philosophically, Waldorf education grows out of anthroposophy's view of child development, which stands as the basis for the educational theory, methodology of teaching and curriculum. This includes the belief that humans possess an innate spirit that, having passed through previous lives, in the current life develops in a karmically appropriate environment before returning to the spirit world where it will prepare for a future reincarnation.^[69] Waldorf pedagogy views the teacher as having "a sacred task in helping each child's soul and spirit grow".^[70]

While anthroposophy is not generally taught as a subject, the degree to which anthroposophy is described by the schools as the philosophical underpinning of Waldorf education typically varies from school to school. At times this has led to parents objecting that the role of anthroposophy in the educational method had not been disclosed to them, prior to enrollment.^[22] The pedagogy's reliance on a single theory of child development has also been questioned and some Waldorf teachers' uncritical attitude toward anthroposophy criticized.^[14] Ullrich put Steiner's "extra-sensory anthropology" in question: "Can any solution be found to this fundamental paradox of Steiner’s pedagogy — the creation of a beneficial practice on the foundation of a dubious theory?" His answer is to draw a distinction between Steiner's disputed "living logic of images... an attempt to rehabilitate mythical thinking and ritual life in a civilization ruled by science" and the "versatility of the related educational views, metaphors and maxims" which have a firm basis in "modern common sense educational theory."^[26]

Spirituality, religion and festivals

Waldorf education is implicitly infused with spirituality throughout the curriculum,^[12] which includes a wide range of religious traditions without favoring any single tradition.^[12][47] The extent to which Waldorf theories and practices have been modified from their traditionally European and Christian orientation to meet the historical and cultural traditions of their local communities varies widely.^[6] Examples of such adaptation include the Waldorf schools in Israel and Japan, which celebrate festivals of their particular spiritual heritage, and classes in the Milwaukee Urban Waldorf school, which have adopted traditions with African American and Native American heritages.^[12] Such festivals, as well as assemblies generally, play an important role in Waldorf schools and are generally celebrated by showing students' work.

Religious classes are a mandatory school offering in some German federal states,^[71] whereby each religious denomination provides its own teachers for the Waldorf schools' religion classes; such schools also offer a non-denominational religion class. Religion classes are universally absent from American Waldorf schools.^[72]

Studies

UK comparison with mainstream education

A UK Department for Education and Skills report noted significant differences in curriculum and pedagogical approach between Waldorf/Steiner and mainstream schools and suggested that each type of school could learn from the other type's strengths: in particular, that state schools could benefit from Waldorf education's^[73] early introduction and approach to modern foreign languages; combination of block (class) and subject teaching for younger children; development of speaking and listening through an emphasis on oral work; good pacing of lessons through an emphasis on rhythm; emphasis on child development guiding the curriculum and examinations; approach to art and creativity; attention given to teachers’ reflective activity and heightened awareness (in collective child study for example); and collegial structure of leadership and management, including collegial study. Aspects of mainstream practice which could inform good practice in Waldorf schools included: management skills and ways of improving organizational and administrative efficiency; classroom management; work with secondary-school age children; and assessment and record keeping.

A 2008 report by the Cambridge-based Primary Review found that Steiner/Waldorf schools achieved superior academic results to English state schools.^[74]

Swedish evaluation of schools

A 2007 study in Sweden comparing Waldorf and state schools reported that Waldorf pupils were more likely to have a positive learning attitude, less likely to have passing tests as the goal of their learning, and had a "more in-depth study style" in higher education. They also showed more tolerant attitudes to minority groups and less tolerance of racist ideologies, were more involved with social and moral questions and were more likely to believe in the social efficacy of love, solidarity, and civil courage as opposed to legislation or police control. In addition, Waldorf students tended to wait longer before attending university.^{[5]:pp. 60-61}

Report of the Dutch Inspectorate of Education

The Dutch Inspectorate of Education reported that a significantly higher percentage of Waldorf elementary schools than state elementary schools visited were judged weak or very weak in the following areas: providing differentiated instruction and lesson plans, the curriculum meeting primary goals in mathematics and language arts, and pupil assessment.^[75]

Australian studies

A major quantitative and qualitative study of senior secondary students in the three largest Steiner schools in Australia was undertaken by Jennifer Gidley in the mid-1990s.^[76][77] It investigated the Steiner-educated students’ views and visions of the future, replicating a major study with a large cross-section of mainstream and other private school students undertaken a few years prior.^[78] The findings as summarised below contrasted markedly in some areas with the research from mainstream students at the time.^[79]

• Steiner-educated students were able to develop richer, more detailed images of their 'preferred futures' than mainstream students.
• About three-quarters were able to envision positive changes in both the environment and human development; almost two-thirds were able to imagine positive changes in the socio-economic area;
• They tended to focus on ‘social’ rather than ‘technological’ ways of solving problems;
• In envisioning futures without war, their visions primarily related to improvements in human relationships and communication through dialogue and conflict resolution rather than a 'passive peace' image;
• 75% had many ideas on what aspects of human development (including their own) needed to be changed to enable the fulfilment of their aspirations. These included more activism, value changes, spirituality, future care and better education;
• In spite of identifying many of the same concerns as other students – global-scale environmental destruction, social injustice and threats of war – most of the Steiner students seemed undaunted in terms of their own will to do something to create their 'preferred future';
• There were no gender differences found in the students’ preferred futures visions or in the richness and fluidity of their creative images.

An Australian study comparing the academic performance of students at university level found that students who had been at Waldorf schools significantly outperformed their peers from non-Waldorf schools in both the humanities and the sciences.^[80]

In 2008, the Rudolf Steiner Schools Association of Australia funded a research project to investigate the relationships between Steiner pedagogy and related 21st century academic discourses. The report on the project is called "Turning Tides: Creating Dialogue between Rudolf Steiner and 21st Century Academic Discourses".^[81] A bibliography^[82] of all the studies that were identified is also available online as is the extended project data.^[83]

Creativity and artistry

A study comparing the drawing ability of children in Steiner/Waldorf, Montessori and traditional schools concluded that "the approach to art education in Steiner schools is conducive not only to more highly rated imaginative drawings in terms of general drawing ability and use of color but also to more accurate and detailed observational drawings,"^[84] while another study found that Waldorf pupils average higher scores on the Torrance Test of Creative Thinking Ability than state-school students.^[85]

Comparative study of moral development

An American study found that Waldorf-educated students scored significantly higher on a test of moral reasoning than students in public high schools and students in a religiously-affiliated high school. Waldorf students were also far more likely to volunteer opinions about the survey and research in general, suggesting possible improvements in the survey technique and offering new possibilities to resolve the moral dilemmas raised in the survey.^[8]

U.S. Waldorf schools survey

A 1995 survey of U.S. Waldorf schools found that parents overall experienced the Waldorf schools as achieving their major aims for students, and described the education as one that "integrates the aesthetic, spiritual and interpersonal development of the child with rigorous intellectual development", preserving students' enthusiasm for learning so that they develop a better sense of self-confidence and self-direction. Some parents described upper grades teachers as overextended, without sufficient time to relate to parental needs and input, and wished for more open and reciprocal parent-school support. Both parents and students sometimes described colleges of teachers as being insular and unresponsive.

The students overall were positive about the school and its differences; experienced the school as a "community of friends"; and spoke of the opportunity to grow and develop through the broad range of activities offered, to learn when they were ready to learn, to develop imagination, and to come to understand the world as well as oneself. Many students spoke of the kindness of their peers and of learning to think things through clearly for themselves, not to jump to conclusions, and to remain positive in the face of problems and independent of pressure from others to think as they do. Improvements the students suggested included more after-school sports programs, more physical education classes, more preparation for standardized testing, a class in world politics and computer classes. Faculty, parents and students were united in expressing a desire to improve the diversity of the student body, especially by increasing representation of minority groups such as African-Americans and Hispanic Americans.^[6]

Approach to at-risk students

The T. E. Mathews Community School in Yuba County, California serves high-risk juvenile offenders, many of whom have learning disabilities. The school switched to Waldorf methods in the 1990s. A 1999 study of the school found that students had "improved attitudes toward learning, better social interaction and excellent academic progress."^[86][87] This study identified the integration of the arts "into every curriculum unit and almost every classroom activity" of the school as the most effective tool to help students overcome patterns of failure. The study also found significant improvements in reading and math scores, student participation, focus, openness and enthusiasm, as well as emotional stability, civility of interaction and tenacity.^[87]

Standardized testing

USA and Germany

Waldorf students are less exposed to standardized testing; such tests are generally absent in the elementary school years, and this is sometimes controversial. Despite tihs, U.S. Waldorf pupils' SAT scores have usually come above the national average, especially on verbal measures.^[22] Studies comparing students' performance on college-entrance examinations in Germany found that as a group, Waldorf graduates passed the exam at double to triple the rate of students graduating from the state education system,^[22][26] and that students who had attended Waldorf schools for their entire education passed at a much higher rate (40% vs. 26%) than those who only had part of their education at a Waldorf school.^[88] Educational successes of private Waldorf schools may partially reflect the social status of their students.^[26]

Health

Studies have found Waldorf pupils to have a lower incidence of allergies and allergic-like symptoms, an effect which correlated with the extent to which they lived an "anthroposophic lifestyle" generally - in particular with reduced use of antibiotics, antipyretics, and measles, mumps and rubella vaccination.^[89][90]

Comparison with other contemporary philosophies

Jennifer Gidley has undertaken a hermeneutic comparative analysis of Steiner's educational approach and Ken Wilber's Integral Operating System.^[91][92]

Reception

Waldorf methodology has had a generally positive reception by educationalists:

• Professor Robert Peterkin considers Waldorf education a healing education whose underlying principles are appropriate for educating all children.^[93]
• Thomas W. Nielsen of the University of Canberra considers the imaginative teaching approaches used in Waldorf education (drama, exploration, storytelling, routine, arts, discussion and empathy) to be effective stimulators of spiritual-aesthetic, intellectual and physical development and recommends these to mainstream educators.^[94]
• Deborah Meier, principal of Mission Hill School and MacArthur grant recipient: "The adults I know who have come out of Waldorf schools are extraordinary people. That education leaves a strong mark of thoroughness, carefulness, and thoughtfulness."^[95]

Some Waldorf methods have also been adopted by teachers in both public/state and other private schools.^[18] One researcher studying an urban Waldorf school in Milwaukee criticized the lack of greater efforts to implement Waldorf methods in public education.^[96]

Reading and literacy

Steiner-Waldorf early childhood education emphasizes oral language; formal teaching of reading and writing is deferred until age 7.^[97] Todd Oppenheimer contrasted the Waldorf schools' approach to reading with early learning approaches:

Emphasis on the creative also guides the aspect of a Waldorf education that probably frightens parents more than any other: the relaxed way that children learn to read. Whereas students at more competitive schools are mastering texts in first grade, sometimes even in kindergarten, most Waldorf students aren't reading fully until the third grade. And if they're still struggling at that point, many Waldorf teachers don't worry. In combination with another Waldorf oddity -- sending children to first grade a year later than usual -- this means that students may not be reading until age nine or ten, several years after many of their peers. ... It's no surprise, then, that Waldorf parents occasionally panic. Others may distrust Waldorf education because they have heard tales of parents who pulled their children out of a Waldorf school in the third grade when the kids still couldn't read. "That's like a standing joke," [one parent], the mother of two graduates of the Rudolf Steiner School, told [Oppenheimer]. "People say, 'Oh, can your kids read?' There was no concerted effort to drum certain words into the kids. And that was the point." Before teaching sound and word recognition, Waldorf teachers concentrate on exercises to build up a child's love of language. The technique seems to work, even in public schools. Barbara Warren, a teacher at John Morse, a public school near Sacramento, says that two years after Waldorf methods were introduced in her fourth-grade class of mostly minority children, the number of students who read at grade level doubled, rising from 45 to 85 percent. "I didn't start by making them read more," Warren says. "I started telling stories, and getting them to recite poetry that they learned by listening, not by reading. They became incredible listeners." Many Waldorf parents recall that their children were behind their friends in non-Waldorf schools but somehow caught up in the third or fourth grade, and then suddenly read with unusual fervor.^[22]

Child psychologist David Elkind, who examined the Waldorf schools focus on hands-on exploration and conceptualization in early childhood education,^[98] cites evidence that late readers ultimately fare better at reading and other subjects than early readers.^[22][98]

According to Lucy Calkins, a reading specialist at the Teachers College of Columbia University, in most public schools the students who start reading later tend to do worse. Calkins also says that Waldorf students might also benefit slightly if they started earlier, but stated that she "would not necessarily be worried in a Waldorf school....The foundation of literacy is talk and play."^[22]

Oppenheimer also cautions "the system isn't fail-safe," noting that faith in the Waldorf system for reading instruction can lead teachers to overlook genuine learning disabilities in some students, including dyslexia.^[22]

Research by Sebastian Suggate for his doctorate in psychology at Otago University, New Zealand, found no difference between the reading ability of early readers (from age 5) and late readers (from age 7) by their last year at primary school (11 years). Suggate conducted one international and two New Zealand studies, each supporting the conclusions of the other. Comparing children from Rudolf Steiner schools, who usually started learning to read from age 7, and children in state-run schools, who started at 5, he found that the later learners caught up and matched the reading abilities of their earlier-reading counterparts by the time they were 11 (by Year 7). This raised the question: If there were could there be disadvantages to teaching children to read as early as 5? "We could be putting them off," he said. "This research emphasises to me the importance of early language and learning, while de-emphasising the importance of early reading." ^[99]

Concerns over immunizations

Steiner suggested that children's spirits benefited from "being tempered in the fires of a good inflammation".^[100] Concerns have been raised that unvaccinated students, some of whom attended Waldorf schools, may have been compromising public health by spreading disease, even among vaccinated populations^{[101][102][103]} or that schools have discouraged immunization.^[104]

In response, the European Council for Steiner Waldorf Education, representing approximately 700 of the 1,000 Waldorf schools world wide,^[105] has stated unequivocally that opposition to immunisation per se – or resistance to national strategies for childhood immunisation in general – forms no part of the goals of Waldorf education. It also stated that a matter such as whether or not to inoculate a child against communicable disease should be a matter for parental choice, and that insofar as schools have any role to play in these matters, it is in making available a range of balanced information both from the appropriate national agencies and from qualified health professionals with expertise in the field.^[106]

Publicly-funded schools

Note: the following only describes publicly funded schools in English-speaking countries. Many non-English speaking countries, especially countries in Northern and Eastern Europe, provide public funding to all independent schools (and thus also Waldorf schools) as a matter of course.

USA

As of 2011 there are 44 publicly-funded Waldorf schools in the United States; some of these are state-run public schools, while 18^[107] are charter schools.

• The first US public Waldorf school, the Milwaukee Urban Waldorf School, began using Waldorf methods in 1991; since switching to Waldorf methods, the school showed an increase in parental involvement, a reduction in suspensions, improvements in standardized test scores for both reading and writing (counter to the district trend), while expenditures per pupil were below many regular district programs.^[108]
• The country's first public Waldorf high school, the George Washington Carver School of Arts and Sciences, was founded in Sacramento, CA in 2008. Over the school's first three years, test scores rose dramatically; from 67% of 11th graders scoring below or far below basic standards to 12% doing so. The school's teachers also prefer the new approach.^[109]
• Waldorf students tend to score considerably below district peers in the early years of elementary education and equal to, or in some cases considerably above, district peers by eight grade. Some charter and public schools have responded to this data by increasing the schools' focus on academic learning in the early grades.^[109]

California

California has more publicly-funded Waldorf schools than any other US state.

In 1998, a lawsuit was filed in California against two school districts alleging that publicly-financed Waldorf-methods schools violated the establishment clause of the First Amendment to the United States Constitution. The court dismissed the case on its merits in 2005. After an appeal led to the case being remanded to trial^[110] the court once more dismissed the case on its merits in 2010, concluding that "the evidence suggests that anthroposophy is a method of learning which is available to anyone regardless of their religious or philosophical persuasion. Stated another way, anthroposophy is more akin to a methodology or approach to learning as opposed to a religious doctrine or organized set of beliefs.".^[111]

Canada

Public schools using Waldorf-based methods include:

• French speaking: Chambly, Montreal, Waterville, Victoriaville, and Ottawa
• English speaking: Edmonton, Calgary and Kelowna.

Australia

All independent schools in Australia receive partial government funding,^[112] including the currently approximately 40 independent Steiner-Waldorf schools. In addition, 10 schools administered by the state are currently operating Steiner programs.^[104]

A number of State-run schools in Victoria run "Steiner-influenced" programs in parallel with standard curricula. The first was East Bentleigh Primary School (formerly Moorabbin Heights Primary School), which commenced the program in 1990.^[113] Controversy over the Steiner stream has arisen at Footscray City Primary, a school in Footscray that introduced a Steiner program in 2001.

In 2006, State-run Steiner schools in Victoria, Australia were challenged by parents and religious experts over concerns that the schools derive from a spiritual system (anthroposophy); parents and administrators, as well as Victorian Department of Education authorities, presented divergent views as to whether spiritual or religious dimensions influence pedagogical practice. If present, these would contravene the secular basis of the public education system.^[114]

U.K.

In July 2008, the Hereford Waldorf School in Much Dewchurch, Herefordshire, U.K. secured funding to become a state-funded "academy" specializing in the natural environment, to be known as The Steiner Academy Hereford.^[115]

See also

• Alternative education
• Camphill communities
• Holistic education
• Humanistic education
• Kodaly method
• Charlotte Mason
• Friedrich Froebel
• Montessori education
• School-at-home

Notes

References

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; also known as The Study of Man, 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

Selected works by other authors

• Aeppli, W., The Developing Child Anthroposophic Press ISBN 0-88010-491-0
• Clouder, C. and Rawson, M., Waldorf Education Floris Books ISBN 0-86315-396-8
• Cusick, L, Waldorf Parenting Handbook Mercury Press ISBN 0-916786-75-7
• Edmunds, Francis, An Introduction to Steiner Education Rudolf Steiner Press ISBN 1-85584-172-X
• Gardner, John F., Education in Search of the Spirit: Essays on American Education Anthroposophic Press ISBN 0-88010-439-2
• Masters, Brien, Adventures in Steiner Education Rudolf Steiner Press ISBN 1-85584-153-3
• Nicol, Janni, Bringing the Steiner Waldorf Approach to Your Early Years Practice, ISBN 1843124335
• Nobel, Agnes, Educating through Art: The Steiner School Approach Floris Books ISBN 0863151876
• Petrash, Jack, (2002): Understanding Waldorf Education: Teaching from the Inside Out Floris Books ISBN 0863154301
• Querido, René, The Esoteric Background of Waldorf Education Rudolf Steiner College Press ISBN 0-94580-325-7
• Wilkinson, R. (1996): The Spiritual Basis of Steiner Education. London: Sophia Books ISBN 1-85584-065-0

External links

General reference

• Online Waldorf Library
• List of journals
• Education Section at the Rudolf Steiner Archive, An Online Library

Studies

• 2008 overview of all Australian academic studies of Steiner education and Steiner philosophy by Jennifer Gidley: Turning Tides: Creating Dialogue between Rudolf Steiner and 21st Century Academic Discourses
• "Learning From Rudolf Steiner: The Relevance of Waldorf Education for Urban Public School Reform" by Ida Oberman (PDF)
• Association of Waldorf Schools of North America Study of Waldorf graduates in the USA, Part I, Part II

Articles

• Directory of news articles about Waldorf/Steiner education
• "Steiner schools' could help all" by Branwen Jeffreys. BBC News Report on British government-funded study on Waldorf education in the UK, July 5, 2005.
• Malaika Costello-Dougherty, "Waldorf-Inspired Public Schools Are on the Rise", Edutopia: What Works in Public Education
• "Waldorf Succeeds in Public Schools" by Claudia M. Lenart. Conscious Choice, August 2000.
• "Who was Rudolf Steiner and what were his revolutionary teaching ideas?" Richard Garner, Education Editor, The Independent
• "Schooled in spirituality" by Chrisanne Beckner. Sacramento News and Review, February 3, 2005.
• "Rudolf Steiner (1861-1925)" by Robert Todd Carroll, editor of The Skeptics Dictionary.
• The Future of Waldorf Homeschooling by Barbara Dewey
• Cincinnati Enquirer Waldorf goes against school grain by Maggie Dons

Teacher training programs

• Directory of teacher training programs in Australia
• Directory of US teacher training programs
• Directory of UK teacher training programs
• The Spacial Dynamics Institute - physical education teacher training
• Crafts teacher training

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
• Waldorf homeschooling resource directory by Waldorf Family Network

Directories of schools

• A list of Waldorf Schools worldwide (in pdf form)
• List of Waldorf kindergartens worldwide, by country
• AWSNA Affiliated Schools