Waldorf School

Waldorf school, school based on the educational philosophy of Rudolf Steiner, an Austrian educator and the formulator of anthroposophy. Steiner's first school opened in 1919 in Stuttgart, Germany, for the children of the Waldorf-Astoria Company's employees; his schools thereafter became known as Waldorf schools. Steiner's first school flourished, and by 1938 schools based on his philosophy had opened in Austria, Germany, Great Britain, Hungary, the Netherlands, Norway, and the United States. Political interference by the Nazi regime forced closure of most Waldorf schools in Europe until after the end of World War II. Afterward, Waldorf schools recovered, becoming the locus of one of the most widespread independent educational movements in the world.

Steiner's philosophy of education was formulated in opposition to conventional German educational practices of the early 20th century, which were teacher-centred and focused on basic literacy, mathematics, German history, and religion. Steiner also took issue with the exclusivity of the German system, which allowed only a small number of students to continue schooling past Volksschule, the 8-year elementary school. In contrast, Steiner sought a pedagogy that fostered the development of the whole child, eschewing a narrow focus on the intellect. He wanted his schools to be open to all children, coeducational, and designed as 12-year schools. Steiner also proposed that teachers maintain primary governance of the schools, a tradition upheld from the first school in 1919.

Steiner was particularly interested in matching school activities with children's learning tendencies at different points in childhood. He suggested that children's development passed through three stages. During the first stage, from birth to age 6 or 7, children learn by imitation, empathy, and experience, he argued, and so early childhood curricula should engage children in traditional life activities (e.g., baking, cleaning, gardening), cultivate feelings through the arts, and stimulate creativity and fantasy through imaginative play. The second stage of development, between ages 7 and 12 or 13, is marked by the child's need to learn through rhythm and images, according to Steiner. Students in the second stage therefore study visual and dramatic arts, movement, music, and foreign languages in Waldorf schools. Reading instruction begins at age 7; although Waldorf schools' literacy curriculum has been criticized by some educators as beginning this instruction late, Steiner adopted a wide definition of literacy that included not only reading and writing but experiences that allow students to derive meaning from music, the visual arts, and dance. During the third developmental stage posited by Steiner, which reaches from puberty through young adulthood, curricula at Waldorf schools are designed to develop students' capacities for abstract thought, conceptual judgment, ethical thinking, and social responsibility. This stage focuses on academics, with teachers who specialize in academic subject areas.

The educational method implemented in Waldorf schools is based on anthroposophy, a philosophy formulated by Steiner that held that through meditation and study individuals could achieve a higher consciousness and be brought into contact with spiritual worlds. Issues related to anthroposophy have been at the centre of most critiques of Waldorf schools, and Steiner's writings about the racial organization of culture and the evolution of consciousness have led to charges that racism is inherent in anthroposophy and in the Waldorf educational method. Other critics have contended that, although the spiritual foundation of Waldorf education may not be explicitly integrated into material taught in the classroom, it is implicitly present and that students are consistently exposed to anthroposophical values and concepts of spirituality. Such charges have been disputed by Waldorf educators and the Association of Waldorf Schools of North America, who point out that today's Waldorf schools are racially and culturally inclusive and that they are nondenominational.

Britannica

According to http://www.waldorfanswers.org...

Waldorf or Rudolf Steiner education is based on an anthroposophical view and understanding of the human being, that is, as a being of body, soul and spirit. The education mirrors the basic stages of a child's development from childhood to adulthood, which in general reflects the development of humanity through history from our origin, far back in past times up to the present.

The central focus for the Waldorf teacher is the development of that essence in every person that is independent of external appearance, by instilling in his/her pupils an understanding of and appreciation for their background and place in the world, not primarily as members of any specific nation, ethnic group or race, but as members of humanity and world citizens.

Thus, the Waldorf kindergarten cultivates and works in support of the pre-school child's deep, inborn natural attitude, belief and trust in and basic reverence for the world as an interesting and good place to live in.

In the lower grades in elementary school, this leads over to more of a stress on using artistic elements in different forms (rhythm, movement, color, form, recitation, song, music), not primarily as a means of personal self expression, but as a means to learn to understand and relate to the world, building an understanding for different subjects out of what is beautiful in the world in the broadest sense of the word.

And in the upper grades and high school, this leads in steps to an ever more conscious cultivation of an observing, reflecting and experimental scientific attitude to the world, focusing on building an understanding of what is true, based on personal experience, thinking and judgment.

The goal of Waldorf or Rudolf Steiner education is to enable students as fully as possible to choose and, in freedom, to realize their individual path through life as adults.

While anthroposophy forms the philosophical and theoretical basis of the teaching methods used in Waldorf schools and is reflected in the attitudes of many Waldorf teachers and in the general structuring and orientation of Waldorf education during the different stages of development, anthroposophy is not taught as such to the students in the overwhelming majority of Waldorf schools world wide.

If anthroposophy is taught in some form by an individual teacher, it is done against the basic Waldorf tradition and in complete contradiction of the intention of Waldorf education, as expressed by Rudolf Steiner as the founder of Waldorf education.

Most of the approx. 1.000 Waldorf schools world wide in different countries are non-profit, independent schools, starting with no public financial support. But an increasing number of Waldorf schools are supported by government funding in different countries. In the U.S., several schools have been established as Waldorf-methods charter schools within the public school system.

In the future Waldorf schools may increasingly be based on school vouchers. This will make a basic Waldorf oriented education freely available to all as one option among others, irrespective of the socioeconomic status of the parents.

What is unique about Waldorf education?

How is it different from other alternatives (public schooling, Montessori, unschooling, etc.)?

The best overall statement on what is unique about Waldorf education is to be found in the stated goals of the schooling: to produce individuals who are able, in and of themselves, to impart meaning to their lives.

The aim of Waldorf schooling is to educate the whole child, head, heart and hands. The curriculum is as broad as time will allow, and balances academics subjects with artistic and practical activities.

Waldorf teachers are dedicated to creating a genuine love of learning within each child. By freely using arts and activities in the service of teaching academics, an internal motivation to learn is developed in the students, doing away with the need for competitive testing and grading.

Some distinctive features of Waldorf education include the following:

Academics are de-emphasized in the early years of schooling. There is no academic content in the Waldorf kindergarten experience (although there is a good deal of cultivation of pre-academic skills), and minimal academics in first grade. Literacy readiness begins in kindergarten with formal reading instruction beginning in grade one. Most children are reading independently by the middle or end of second grade.
During the elementary school years (grades 1-8) the students have a class (or main lesson) teacher, who stays with the class for a number of consecutive years. Many teachers stay with their class from first to eighth grade. However, in a number of schools, teachers are likely to stay with a class for a shorter period: a class may have one class teacher for grades 1-5 and another for grades 6-8, for example.
Certain activities which are often considered frills at mainstream schools are central at Waldorf schools: art, music, gardening, and foreign languages (usually two in elementary grades), to name a few. In the younger grades, all subjects are introduced through artistic mediums, use the children respond better to this medium than to dry lecturing and rote learning. All children learn to play recorder and to knit.
There are no textbooks as such in the first through fifth grades. All children have main lesson books, which are their own workbooks which they fill in during the course of the year. They essentially produce their own textbooks which record their experiences and what they've learned. In some schools upper grades may use textbooks to supplement skills development, especially in math and grammar.
Learning in a Waldorf school is a noncompetitive activity. There are no grades given at the elementary level; the teacher writes a detailed evaluation of the child at the end of each school year.
The use of electronic media, particularly television, by young children is strongly discouraged in Waldorf schools.

What is the curriculum at a Waldorf school like?

The Waldorf curriculum is designed to be responsive to the various phases of a child's development. The relationship between student and teacher is, likewise, recognized to be both crucial and changing throughout the course of childhood and early adolescence.

The main subjects, such as history, language, arts, science and mathematics are, as mentioned, taught in main lesson blocks of two to three hours per day, with each block lasting from three to five weeks.

The total Waldorf curriculum has been likened to an ascending spiral: subjects are revisited several times, but each new exposure affords greater depth and new insights into the subject at hand.

A typical Lower School curriculum would likely look something like the following:

Primary Grades 1 - 3

Pictorial introduction to the alphabet, writing, reading, spelling, poetry and drama.
Folk and fairy tales, fables, legends, Old Testament stories.
Numbers, basic mathematical processes of addition, subtraction, multiplication and division.
Nature stories, house building and gardening.

Middle Grades 4 - 6

Writing, reading, spelling, grammar, poetry and drama.
Norse myths, history and stories of ancient civilizations.
Review of the four mathematical processes, fractions, percentages, and geometry.
Local and world geography, comparative zoology, botany and elementary physics.

Upper Grades 7 - 8

Creative writing, reading, spelling, grammar, poetry and drama.
Medieval history, Renaissance, world exploration, American history and biography.
Geography, physics, basic chemistry, astronomy, geology and physiology.

Special subjects also taught include:

Handwork: knitting, crochet, sewing, cross stitch, basic weaving, toy making and woodworking.
Music: singing, pentatonic flute, recorder, string instruments, wind, brass and percussion instruments.
Foreign Languages (varies by school): Spanish, French, Japanese and German.
Art: wet-on-wet water color painting, form drawing, beeswax and clay modeling, perspective drawing.
Movement: eurythmy, gymnastics, group games.

Why should I send my child to a Waldorf school?

The main reason is that Waldorf schools honor and protect the wonder of childhood. Every effort is expended to make Waldorf schools safe, secure and nurturing environments for the children, and to protect their childhood from harmful influences from the broader society.

Secondly, Waldorf education has a consistent philosophy of child development underlying the curriculum. All subjects are introduced in age appropriate fashion.

Finally, Waldorf schools produce graduates who are academically advantaged with respect to their public school counterparts, and who consistently gain admission to top universities.

How is reading taught in a Waldorf school?

Why do Waldorf students wait until 2nd grade to begin learning to read?

Waldorf education is deeply bound up with the oral tradition, typically beginning with the teacher telling the children fairy tales throughout kindergarten and first grade. The oral approach is used all through Waldorf education: mastery of oral communication is seen as being integral to all learning.

Reading instruction, as such, is deferred. Instead, writing is taught first. During the first grade year the children explore how our alphabet came about, discovering, as the ancients did, how each letter's form evolved out of a pictograph. Writing thus evolves out of the children's art, and their ability to read likewise evolves as a natural and, indeed, comparatively effortless stage of their mastery of language.

Why is so much emphasis put on festivals and ceremonies?

Seasonal festivals serve to connect humanity with the rhythms of nature and of the cosmos. The festivals originated in ancient cultures, yet have been adapted over time. To join the seasonal moods of the year, in a festive way, benefits the inner life of the soul. Celebrating is an art. There is joy in the anticipation, the preparation, the celebration itself, and the memories.

What are Michaelmas, St. John's Day, etc.?

The four seasonal festivals are Michaelmas (fall), Christmas (winter), Easter (spring), and St. John (summer).

Michaelmas, September 29: St. Michael is known as the conqueror of the dragon, the heavenly hero with his starry sword (cosmic iron) who gives strength to people.
Christmas: An ancient festival; celebrated when the sun sends the least power to the earth, as a festival which awakens in the human being an inkling of the very wellsprings of existence, of an eternal reality. It is a time when the soul withdraws into the innermost depths to experience within itself the inner spiritual light.
Easter: Easter derives its name from pre-Christian goddess symbols of rebirth, fertility and spring. The renewal of man's being is celebrated with that of the earth. Ancient symbols of the hare and egg are both known as signs of the return of life after winter's sleep.
St. John - June 24 - Midsummer Day: Ancient peoples, watching the sun reach its high point at this time, lit bonfires to encourage it to shine and ripen their crops. It is a time when the cosmos brings the spiritual to man - a time when the spiritual, which animates and weaves through everything in nature, is revealed.

Are Waldorf schools religious?

In the sense of subscribing to the beliefs of a particular religious denomination or sect, no. Waldorf schools, however, tend to be spiritually oriented and are based out of a generally Christian perspective. The historic festivals of Christianity, and of other major religions as well, are observed in the class rooms and in school assemblies.

Classes in religious doctrine are not part of the Waldorf curriculum, and children of all religious backgrounds attend Waldorf schools. Spiritual guidance is aimed at awakening the child's natural reverence for the wonder and beauty of life.

The Waldorf Teacher

What kind of education do Waldorf teachers have?

While requirements within individual schools may vary, as a rule Class Teachers will have both a university degree and teaching certification from a recognized Waldorf teacher education college or institute. Some Waldorf education programs can also grant B.A. and M.A. degrees in conjunction with Waldorf teaching certification. Typically, the course of study for teachers is from two to three years and includes practice teaching in a Waldorf school under the supervision of experienced Waldorf teachers. Teachers must also satisfy whatever state credential and licensing requirements might apply.

Rudolf Steiner, speaking in Oxford in 1922, defined three golden rules for teachers:

to receive the child in gratitude from the world it comes from,
to educate the child with love, and
to lead the child into the true freedom which belongs to man.

Why do Waldorf students stay with (ideally) the same teacher for 8 years?

Between the ages of seven and fourteen, children learn best through acceptance and emulation of authority, just as in their earlier years they learned through imitation. In elementary school, particularly in the lower grades, the child is just beginning to expand his or her experience beyond home and family. The class becomes a type of family as well, with its own authority figure - the teacher - in a role analogous to parent.

With this approach, the students and teachers come to know each other very well, and the teacher is able to find over the years the best ways of helping individual children in their schooling. The class teacher also becomes like an additional family member for most of the families in his/her class.

How are personality conflicts between students and teachers handled?

This is a very common concern among parents when they first hear about the Class Teacher method. However, in practice, the situation seems to arise very rarely, especially so when the teacher has been able to establish a relationship with the class right from the first grade. Given the sort of person who is motivated to become a Waldorf teacher, incompatibility with a child is infrequent: understanding the child's needs and temperament is central to the teacher's role and training. If problems of this sort should occur, the faculty as a whole would work with the teacher and the family to determine and undertake whatever corrective action would be in the best interests of the child and of the class.

Waldorf Children

Why do Waldorf Schools discourage TV watching?

The reasons for this have as much to do with the physical effects of the medium on the developing child as with the (to say the least) questionable content of much of the programming. Electronic media are believed by Waldorf teachers to seriously hamper the development of the child's imagination - a faculty which is believed to be central to the healthy development of the individual. Computer use by young children is also discouraged.

Waldorf teachers are not, by the way, alone in this belief. Several books have been written in recent years expressing concern with the effect of television on young children. See, for instance, Endangered Minds by Jane Healy, Four Arguments for the Elimination of Television by Jerry Mander, or The Plug-In Drug by Marie Winn.

How do Waldorf children fare when they transfer to regular schools?

Is it true that once you start Waldorf schooling it is difficult to make it in public schools?

Generally, transitions to public schools, when they are anticipated, are not problematical. The most common transition is from an eight grade Waldorf school to a more traditional high school, and, from all reports, usually takes place without significant difficulties.

Transitions in the lower grades, particularly between the first and fourth grades, can potentially be more of a problem, because of the significant differences in the pacing of the various curriculums. A second grader from a traditional school will be further ahead in reading in comparison with a Waldorf schooled second grader; however, the Waldorf schooled child will be ahead in arithmetic.

How does Waldorf deal with kids that don't get it academically?

Waldorf schools hesitate to categorize children, particularly in terms such as slow or gifted. A given child's weaknesses in one area, whether cognitive, emotional or physical, will usually be balanced by strengths in another area. It is the teacher's job to try to bring the child's whole being into balance.

A child having difficulty with the material might be given extra help by the teacher or by parents; tutoring might also be arranged. Correspondingly, a child who picked up the material quickly might be given harder problems of the same sort to work on, or might be asked to help a child who was having trouble.

Is Waldorf education relevant to Special Needs children?

The Anthroposophy-based Camphill Movement has a particular focus on special needs individuals. The social, cultural, and economic principles of the International Camphill Movement were developed by Dr. Karl König (1902 - 1966). In Pennsylvania, for example, Camphill Soltane attempts, to build healthy social relationships in an environment dedicated to personal and social renewal, healing, and caring for the land. In these activities, both independence and interdependence are fostered by recognizing the full potential of each individual. This enables each person to grow into the life of the community while allowing the community to grow within the individual.

Schooling the Imagination*

Applying Waldorf Methods in U.S.A. Public Schools

Independent versus publicly funded Waldorf schools

Waldorf education began in 1919 with the founding of an independent school in Stuttgart, Germany. Since then most Waldorf schools are likewise independent and non-profit institutions which operate almost exclusively from student tuitions and from donations. However, in the past decades in a number of countries, public (government) funding has become available to these independent Waldorf schools. This trend has been most prominent in different European countries, for example, in the Netherlands, Sweden and Germany.

Rudolf Steiner was concerned such government funding might produce conflicts with the ideal that Waldorf schools, that is, the teachers and administrators, be free to work out of their understanding of the spiritual nature of the developing child. Numerous pressures to conform to the requirements of the State might come with government funding, which would restrict or even eliminate that freedom. In some cases, Steiner's concerns were correct: Waldorf schools which receive government funding in some countries are under continual pressure to conform to government standards for curriculum, testing, assessment, and so on.

In the United States, the situation is somewhat different. The Association of Waldorf Schools of North America (AWSNA), which serves independent Waldorf schools in North America, recognizes that a public school (funded with tax dollars) could never be a bona fide Waldorf school, because its teachers and administrators would not have the freedom to work out of the view of the spiritual nature of the human being that is the essence of Waldorf education. However, the use of the forms and methods of Waldorf education which are derived from these insights could be applied in many different settings:

[AWSNA] is an association of independent schools working out of the pedagogical indications of Rudolf Steiner. Waldorf Education is devoted to contributing to spiritual, social, and economic renewal. It should be understood by any school or institution seeking affiliation with AWSNA that Waldorf Education is based on Anthroposophy, the philosophy initiated by Rudolf Steiner.

It is our belief that Waldorf methods can be applied in many different classroom settings. However, Waldorf education is only possible if its practitioners and administrators are free to work out of a clear recognition of and commitment to the development of the spiritual nature of the human being.

Rudolf Steiner agreed that the methods of Waldorf education could be used in any school but stressed that independent Waldorf schools should serve as models for how fruitful these methods are.

U.S. public Waldorf-methods charter schools

In the 1990s, a number of States in the U.S. adopted charter school programs whereby an independent group of parents and administrators may set up a publicly funded charter school which would have a certain degree of independence in terms of setting curriculum and educational philosophy. As a result, a number of Waldorf-oriented charter school programs have been established in the U.S.

These schools are charter public schools under the jurisdiction of a public school district and school board and must meet the criteria set by the district and State to operate. Furthermore, these Waldorf-oriented charter schools adopt the methods and forms of independent Waldorf schools. They are usually called Waldorf-methods schools or Waldorf-inspired schools. Typically a Waldorf-methods charter school retains certain aspects, such as the form of the Main Lesson block, the fact that the teacher follows the class from Grade 1 through 8, the use of the arts throughout the curriculum, and so on, but the curriculum and content are typically adjusted and the training of teachers is specifically oriented to public Waldorf-methods teachers.

Today there are at least 30 publicly funded schools in North America, from Alaska to Wisconsin, using Waldorf methods or Waldorf inspiration and serving perhaps 5,000 to 6,000 students.

What are Waldorf methods?

The methods of a Waldorf school derive from a pedagogical model that recognizes the specific developmental stages of the child. The Waldorf philosophy views education as an art, so each subject, be it arithmetic, biology or English, is presented in a living way that speaks to the child's developmental stage. Each subject is presented through direct experience and is usually augmented with art, poetry, music, drama and movement. The teacher's aim is to draw out the children's inherent capacities by creating an atmosphere in the classroom that fills the children with interest, wonder and enthusiasm.

The morning Main Lesson immerses the students in a particular academic subject of the curriculum, over three or four weeks, and each child produces a beautifully written and illustrated Main Lesson book for each subject. The class teacher works with each child through an eight-year relationship, where the teacher is able to draw out the child's strengths and focus more consistently and intensively on the weaker areas. The Waldorf-methods teacher will adjust the pedagogical approach year to year, to best address the way children learn at the different developmental stages.

Additional subjects augment the Main Lessons: a Waldorf-methods school will typically include handwork classes, woodworking and other practical arts, music classes, two foreign languages and eurythmy (movement) classes, in addition to physical education and on-going math and English classes.

Waldorf-methods teachers are Waldorf-trained or, if not, are sufficiently knowledgeable of Steiner's model of child development that they can successfully work within the curriculum. There are courses offered by Rudolf Steiner College in California which are specifically oriented to public Waldorf-methods teachers, and in-depth courses in Waldorf education are also available at a number of Waldorf teacher education centers.

With the Waldorf method of instruction, the class teacher involves the children in the subject through presentation, story telling, writing, reading, recitation, dramatic acting, painting, drawing, and movement. The teacher follows a rhythm, day to day, which begins with a review of the previous day's material, further development of the subject matter and then introduction of new material. Day by day throughout the block, the teacher builds up the subject matter and the students build up their Main Lesson books. The involvement of the students in the Main Lesson promotes and develops active listening, imagination, memory and verbal skills.

The Waldorf-methods curriculum follows the general outline of an independent Waldorf school. Writing is taught before reading and is experienced at first through stories and pictures. Nature stories are introduced in the early grades and develop in the later grades into more advanced investigations of zoology, geology, space science, botany, chemistry, physics, physiology, and anatomy. Math and English are taught in an imaginative way similar to independent Waldorf schools. The specific songs, stories, poems, and so on which the teacher brings to her class may differ somewhat in a Waldorf-methods school.

Summary

A public Waldorf-methods or Waldorf-inspired charter school typically takes the forms and methods which distinguish independent Waldorf schools and adapts them to the public school environment. The curriculum and content are usually adjusted, but the methods of teaching, such as the Main Lesson, the daily and weekly rhythms, the integration of artistic activity into every subject area, the inclusion of the fine arts, the performing arts and the practical arts, the inclusion of foreign languages and movement, and the class teacher from Grade 1 to 8, are all used.

In contrast, in an independent Waldorf school, teachers are trained not only in the methods of the curriculum, but are also trained in and work directly out of the philosophy that motivated the curriculum and methods.

Waldorf-methods instruction is a compromise which, in the view of many independent Waldorf teachers, gives up too much. An outcomes-based approach to education, measured by testing against government standards, results in a competitive atmosphere in the classroom and significantly restricts the teacher's freedom to formulate the curriculum and content for her specific students. An independent teacher working out of the Waldorf philosophy provides a moral education which is strengthened by the teacher's commitment to self-development. Whereas public education is currently committed to values-free or values neutral education, the independent Waldorf teacher strives to develop individual integrity in each student.

In light of these differences, U.S. public schools using Waldorf methods are not Waldorf schools. Even so, they provide a meaningful education to many children.

What is eurythmy?

Most simply put, eurythmy is a dance-like art form in which music or speech are expressed in bodily movement; specific movements correspond to particular notes or sounds. It has also been called visible speech or visible song.

Eurythmy is part of the curriculum of all Waldorf schools, and while it often puzzles parents new to Waldorf education, children respond to its simple rhythms and exercises which help them strengthen and harmonize their body and their life forces; later, the older students work out elaborate eurythmic representations of poetry, drama and music, thereby gaining a deeper perception of the compositions and writings.

Eurythmy enhances coordination and strengthens the ability to listen. When children experience themselves like an orchestra and have to keep a clear relationship in space with each other, a social strengthening also results.

Eurythmy is usually taught by a specialist who has been specifically trained in eurythmy, typically for at least four years. In addition to pedagogical eurythmy, there are also therapeutic (curative) and performance oriented forms of the art.