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Waldorf education (also known as Steiner education) is the largest independent alternative educational movement in the world. It is based on the ideas of Rudolf Steiner, the founder of anthroposophy. Learning is interdisciplinary, integrating practical, artistic, and conceptual elements. The approach emphasizes the role of the imagination in learning, developing thinking that includes a creative as well as an analytic component. The educational philosophy's overarching goals are to provide young people the basis on which to develop into free, morally responsible and integrated individuals, and to help every child fulfill his or her unique destiny, the existence of which anthroposophy posits. Schools and teachers are given considerable freedom to define curricula within collegial structures.

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 2012, there were 1,025 independent Waldorf schools, 2,000 kindergartens and 530 centers for special education, located in 60 countries. There are also Waldorf-based public (state) schools, charter schools, and homeschooling environments. In 2000, American state and private schools were described as drawing on Waldorf education – "less in whole than in part" – in expanding numbers.

Waldorf education is controversial. Among educationalists, debate has centered on Waldorf schools' practice of not teaching reading and computer technology skills as early as in mainstream education. Waldorf education has been accused of discouraging immunization and harboring unacceptable views on race; the Waldorf movement has denied both accusations. Waldorf schools have been criticized for their teaching of pseudoscience and their promotion of homeopathy; Waldorf spokespeople have responded that Waldorf schools do not promote any single approach to science or medicine. In the United States there has been opposition to Waldorf education gaining public funding, on the grounds that it is a "religious" education. The Waldorf movement has denied it is religious, and successfully defended that position in court.

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. 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.

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. There are currently over 1,000 independent Waldorf Schools worldwide.

For a long period, most Waldorf schools were in Europe. The number of non-European schools has been slowly increasing, however, leading to a trend toward reinterpreting a formerly Euro-centric curriculum.

Pedagogy and ideas of child development

Anthroposophical basis

Anthroposophic educationalists assert, according to Ullrich, that "all the norms and forms of their educational practice are systematically deduced from the cosmic anthropology of the master" (i.e. Rudolf Steiner). Anthroposophy underpins the school organisation, curriculum and pedagogy (and frequently, the design of the school buildings, as well as pupil and teacher health and diet). Oppenheimer writes that at one Californian teacher training center (at which students are expected to have undergraduate degrees), virtually every text used was written by Steiner or another anthroposophist.

Steiner says that each person has an innate spirit coming from the ocean of God, which develops according to that person's destiny (or 'karma'). After death, the soul lives on via reincarnation. Human beings are regarded as having four main parts: physical body, etheric body, astral body and Ego. With appropriate teaching the etheric body will develop during milddle childhood, the astral body during adolescence. Waldorf pedagogy views the teacher as having "a sacred task in helping each child's soul and spirit grow".

Oberski states that Anthroposophy itself is explicitly not part of the Waldorf curriculum. Whedon (2007) takes a different view. She writes that parents of Waldorf children often feel they are being deceived as to some true secret basis of Waldorf education, evidenced by an email list for parents who feel they were misled, and so left the system. She notes that the International Cultic Studies Association (ICSA) has treated Anthroposophy and Waldorf as "cults" and published articles accordingly in the International Journal of Cultic Studies, and asserts that Waldorf teachers hide anthroposophy by adopting secular language to describe it, and by falsely claiming it is not taught. Waldorf teachers say they hide anthroposophy not because they see anything evil or dangerous in it but because they don't want to push their philosophy onto the students. The pedagogy's reliance on a single view of child development has been questioned and some Waldorf teachers' uncritical attitude toward anthroposophy criticized. Ullrich questioned what he called Steiner's "extra-sensory anthropology" while affirming the soundness of Waldorf education's approach, based firmly in "modern common sense educational theory."

Spirituality

Waldorf education is infused with spirituality throughout the curriculum, which includes a wide range of religious traditions without favoring any single tradition. Waldorf theories and practices are modified from their European and Christian roots to meet the historical and cultural traditions of the local community. 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. Such festivals, as well as assemblies generally, play an important role in Waldorf schools and are generally celebrated by showing students' work.

Four temperaments

Unlike in mainstream schools, Waldorf teachers categorize their pupils' character and behavior according to the four temperaments, adapted from ancient Greek notions: melancholic, sanguine, phlegmatic and choleric. According to Steiner, children's temperament partially determines their behavior; sanguines may complete work quickly, phlegmatics more slowly, melancholics hesitantly, cholerics emphatically; or a choleric child is likely to hit others, a sanguine one to fidget, and so on. Steiner believed that teachers must correct any swing toward any one temperament: "At first a temperament must be accepted in all its manifestations, but left to itself its one-sidedness bars the gate to experience of the world." Steiner further described each of these four temperaments as having a characteristic body shape and behavior patterns, being receptive to different kinds of stimuli, and being dominated by one of four cosmic forces (physical, ethereal, astral, spiritual). Waldorf education aims to harmonize and balance out the one-sided tendencies of each temperament; Steiner's suggestions as to how to do so ranged from specific activities to dietary measures; for example, a child exhibiting poor reading skills could be placed on a diet which avoided eggs and pastry so as to harmonize his or her temperament.

Classroom seating in Waldorf schools is arranged according to an assessment of each child's balance of temperaments.

Structure

The structure of the education follows Steiner's ideas about child development, whereby children are regarded as threefold beings (spirit, soul and body), who unfold in three developmental stages of seven years each. Each stage has its own learning requirements, as well as a number of sub-stages. These stages are broadly similar to those described by Piaget.

• The journalist Todd Oppenheimer has described early childhood learning in the Waldorf system as largely experiential, imitative and sensory-based. The education emphasizes learning through practical activities.
• 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.
• During adolescence (age 14-19), the emphasis is on developing intellectual understanding and ethical ideals such as social responsibility to meet the developing capacity for abstract thought and conceptual judgment

In Waldorf education, there is an emphasis on festivals and ceremonies that provide the backdrop for many activities.

Waldorf education's underlying principles have been described as continuing a pedagogical tradition initiated by Comenius, Pestalozzi, and – to some extent – Herder A study of Steiner schools in Sweden reported that the role of the imagination was central to Waldorf education. According to Chen, Waldorf education encourages collaborative reasoning.

Looping

In the elementary schools, the homeroom teacher normally is expected to teach a group of children for several years. 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. Such stability also requires all parties to maintain sustainable relationships, a frequently challenging task.

An increasing number of Waldorf schools are reducing the duration of the loop from the traditional eight years to a shorter period.

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

Waldorf schools approach learning in early childhood through imitation and example. 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; such an environment is considered by Waldorf pedagogues to be supportive of the physical, emotional and intellectual growth of the child through assimilative learning. 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.

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. Followers of Waldorf education take the position that in early childhood, children should play only with 'natural, non-manufactured materials' and maintain that play should not involve computerized or electrically-powered devices or items made of plastic, such as Lego. The Steiner belief system is, however, illogical since some manufactured items, such as woolen cloth, are permitted for play purposes. Television viewing is discouraged in the early years because it discourages the growth of the imagination.

The education emphasizes early experiences of daily, weekly and annual rhythms, including seasonal festivals drawn from a variety of traditions, with attention placed on the traditions brought forth from the community. Waldorf schools in the Western Hemisphere have traditionally celebrated Christian festivals.

Elementary education: age 6/7 to 14

In Waldorf schools a child normally enters elementary education when near or at seven years of age. 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. Beginning from first grade, students learn two foreign languages from complementary language families (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. There is little reliance on standardized textbooks; instead, each child creates his or her own illustrated summary of coursework in book form. 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 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, and practice in mathematics and language arts.

An objective of most Waldorf schools is to have a single teacher loop with a class for a number of years, teaching at least the principal academic lessons; Waldorf teachers have been cited for their level of personal commitment to their pupils.

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. Cooperation takes priority over competition. This approach also extends to physical education; competitive team sports are introduced in upper grades.

Secondary education

In most 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 focuses much more strongly on academic subjects, though students normally continue to take courses in art, music, and crafts.

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

Curriculum

It has been suggested that Curriculum of the Waldorf schools be merged into this article. (Discuss) Proposed since December 2012.

Though most Waldorf schools are autonomous institutions not required to follow a prescribed curriculum, there are widely agreed guidelines for the Waldorf curriculum, 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 incorporated multiple intelligences.

There are 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". 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.

Information technology

In Steiner schools computers are viewed as being first useful to children in the teen years, and after they have mastered "fundamental, time-honoured ways of discovering information and learning, such as practical experiments and books".

In the United Kingdom, Steiner Schools are granted an exemption by the Department for Education from the requirement to teach ICT as part of Foundation Stage education (ages 3–5). According to Siraj-Blatchford and Whitebread, this is because proponents of Steiner Waldorf education object to children at this stage being exposed to 'manufactured' and 'mechanical' artefacts — an objection that they state is "more a reaction against aspects of nineteenth-century industrialization than it is a reasoned assessment of twenty-first century children's needs."

Pseudoscience

Robert Todd Carroll has written "it is likely that some of anthroposophy's weirder notions about such things as astral bodies or Atlantis will be passed-on in Waldorf education."

In the United Kingdom there has been controversy over Steiner schools' stance on pseudoscience.

Edzard Ernst has stated, "Steiner schools seem to have an anti-science agenda which is detrimental to progress... the government makes a grave mistake allowing pseudoscience and anti-science in our education."

In September 2012, the British Humanist Association issued a document that was strongly critical of the existence of pseudoscience in the curriculum of British Steiner Schools. They raised particular concerns over the content of the book, used at the Steiner Academy Hereford, entitled The Educational Tasks and Content of the Steiner Waldorf Curriculum, listing as examples of concern the book's downplaying of the theory of evolution, its claim that homeopathy has an effect, its description of the heart as not merely a pump but also a sense organ, its omission of a discussion of the immune system in the context of germs, and its teaching surrounding "counter space", an "anthroposophical construction that allows links to Steiner's spirit world".

A spokesman from the Steiner Waldorf Schools Fellowship UK responded that it was not the place of any school to "promote" an approach to medicine, either conventional or complementary, and that the book in question was only one of many teaching resources used. The acting principal of the Steiner Academy Hereford said "it is not our aim to promote scientific orthodoxy, but rather to enable pupils to think and engage in independent verification of reality."

In 2008, Stockholm University terminated its Waldorf teacher training courses. In a statement the university said "the courses did not encompass sufficient subject theory and a large part of the subject theory that is included is not founded on any scientific base". The dean, Stefan Nordlund, stated "the syllabus contains literature which conveys scientific inaccuracies that are worse than woolly; they are downright dangerous."

Religious education

Religious classes are a mandatory school offering in some German federal states, 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.

Science

Influenced by Goethe's phenomenological approach to nature, Waldorf schools teach nature so that students sense it as a meaningful whole, from which the human being is not alienated. It emphasizes letting the "phenomena themselves speak", using both a genetic method that starts with personal knowledge, out of which conceptual understanding is developed, and a exemplary method that focuses on in-depth investigation of key examples. A common thread throughout the approach is its "aesthetically rich knowledge formation".

According to the European PISA studies, Waldorf pupils' ability in science is "far above average" ("weit überdurchschnittliche naturwissenschaftliche Kompetenz").

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; this is based upon the conviction that a holistic approach to education aiming at the development of free individuals can only be successful when based on a school form that expresses these same principles. 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. Waldorf schools have been cited for having a high level of teacher collegiality.
• 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. Waldorf schools have been found to create effective adult learning communities.

Reviewing Joseph Kahne's book, Reframing Educational Policy: Democracy, Community and the Individual, Holmes (2000) contrasts the communities formed by supporters of Waldorf education with those formed in mainstream education, which Kahne sees merely as "residential areas partitioned by bureaucratic authorities for educational purposes" — in contrast, supporters of Steiner's Waldorf ideas are listed as a "genuine community" alongside fundamentalist Christians and Orthodox Jews.

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. Some Waldorf schools are independently accredited by governmental authorities.

Social engagement

Waldorf schools seek to cultivate pupils' sense of social responsibility, respect, and compassion; to develop their cooperative capacities; and to enable them to contribute to societal and cultural renewal; studies have found the schools' pupils to be unusually oriented towards improving social conditions and having more positive visions of the future. 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. Steiner schools have been described as good examples of schools that follow a philosophy based on peace and tolerance.

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 .”
• In Israel, the Harduf Kibbutz Waldorf school includes both Jewish and Arab faculty and students and has extensive contact with the surrounding Arab communities; it also runs an Arab-language Waldorf teacher training. In addition, a joint Arab-Jewish Waldorf kindergarten, the first Arab-Jewish, bilingual and bicultural kindergarten in Israel, was founded in Hilf (near Haifa) in 2005.
• 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.
• In Nepal, the Tashi Waldorf School in the outskirts of Kathmandu teaches mainly disadvantaged children from a wide variety of cultural backgrounds. It was founded in 1999 and is run by Nepalese staff. In addition, in the southwest Kathmandu Valley a foundation founded by Krishna Gurung provides underprivileged, disabled and poor adults with work on a biodynamic farm and provides a Waldorf school for their children.

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.

In 2001, 16 Waldorf schools in 14 countries were members of the UNESCO Associated Schools Project Network, 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.

Studies

2012 German study

A 2012 study of Waldorf pupils in Germany concluded that, in comparison to state school pupils, Waldorf students are significantly more enthusiastic about learning, report having more fun and being less bored in school, more often feel individually met, and learn more from school about their personal academic strengths. 85% of the Waldorf students reported that their school environment was pleasant and supportive, compared to 60% of the state school students. More than twice as many Waldorf students report having good relationships with teachers. Waldorf pupils also have significantly less physical ailments such as headaches, stomach aches, or disrupted sleep. There was no statistically significant difference between the state and Waldorf pupils’ achievement on state examinations; this is also true when test scores are compared based on the type of high school diploma granted.

2009 study of later introduction of reading

A 2009 study comparing Waldorf and public school students in New Zealand found that the Waldorf students, who had no formal instruction in reading in pre-school or kindergarten, caught up in reading ability by around age 10, at which point there was "no difference in reading achievement between children who had been given early instruction in reading and those who had not".

A 2008 report by the Cambridge-based Primary Review, found that "educational alternatives, including Steiner-Waldorf schools and home schooling, produce better academic results."

2009 PISA study

A 2009 PISA study found that, compared to state school students, European Waldorf students are significantly more capable in the sciences, slightly less capable in mathematics; and comparable in reading ability.

2007 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.

2007 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. Waldorf students also tended to wait longer before attending university.

2006 Austrian study

A 2006 PISA study of Austrian students found that Austrian Waldorf students are above average in science. The Waldorf students did best in understanding the questions raised by science and the ability to solve scientific problems and were also above the OECD average for their joy and interest in science. The authors concluded "The relatively high expertise in science among Waldorf students, in combination with their very high motivation and interest in these subjects, as well as the various pedagogical principles, suggest that regular schools can learn from the Waldorf schools, particularly with regard to concrete application to the sciences."

2006 Health study

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, and antipyretics.

2005 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 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.

1998-2008 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. 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. The findings as summarised below contrasted markedly in some areas with the research from mainstream students at the time.

• 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.

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". A bibliography of all the studies that were identified is also available online as is the extended project data.

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," while another study found that Waldorf pupils average higher scores on the Torrance Test of Creative Thinking Ability than state-school students.

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 alternative ways of resolving the moral dilemmas raised in the survey.

1999 study of Waldorf methods for 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." 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.

1995 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.

Standardized testing

USA and Germany

Waldorf students are less exposed to standardized testing; such tests are generally absent in the elementary school years. Despite this, U.S. Waldorf pupils' SAT scores have usually come above the national average, especially on verbal measures. 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, 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. Educational successes of private Waldorf schools may partially reflect the social status of their students.

Reception

A number of educationalists have commented positively on Waldorf education:

• Andreas Schlecicher, international coordinator of the PISA studies, commented on the "high degree of congruence between what the world demands of people, and what Waldorf schools develop in their pupils", placing a high value on creatively and productively applying knowledge to new realms. This enables "deep learning" that goes beyond studying for the next test.
• Robert Peterkin, Director of the Urban Superintendents Program at Harvard's Graduate School of Education and former Superintendent of Milwaukee Public Schools during a period when Milwaukee funded a public Waldorf school, considers Waldorf education a healing education whose underlying principles are appropriate for educating all children.
• Thomas W. Nielsen of the University of Canberra's Education Department, who wrote his dissertation on "Rudolf Steiner’s pedagogy of imagination", 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.
• Deborah Meier, principal of Mission Hill School and MacArthur grant recipient, whilst having some "quibbles" about the Waldorf schools, stated: "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."

In 2000 American state and private schools were described as drawing on Waldorf education – "less in whole than in part" – in expanding numbers. One researcher studying an urban Waldorf school in Milwaukee criticized the lack of wider efforts to implement Waldorf methods in public education. Many elements of Waldorf pedagogy have been used in all Finnish schools for many years.

Concerns have been raised in Victoria, Australia about the performance of Waldorf schools and efforts have been made to try to strengthen the regulatory framework around them.

Reading and literacy

Steiner-Waldorf early childhood education emphasizes oral language skills fostered by storytelling and engaging in fantasy play; formal teaching of reading and writing is deferred until age 7.

In preliteracy research, the topic of best teaching practice is controversial.

David Elkind, who examined the Waldorf schools focus on hands-on exploration and conceptualization in early childhood education, suggests that developmental principles justify delaying formal instruction in reading and math and cites longitudinal studies that have found that any early gains from early childhood instruction in reading and other subjects in are eventually lost. In response, Grover Whitehurst took strong issue with Elkind, characterizing him as somebody who did not " empirical evidence get in the way of his argument" and who "when does appeal to research, does so anecdotally and without attention to obvious contradictions".

Sebastian Suggate led a study published in 2011 that compared three groups of children – at the beginning of state schooling (age 5), the beginning of Waldorf schooling (age 7) and children who attended state schooling, but were of a similar age to the Waldorf sample (age 7). The results suggested that "children beginning school around age five years show similar long-term reading achievement as children who start later, at seven years." Suggate has also performed analysis of the PISA 2007 OECD data from 54 countries and found "no association between school entry age ... and reading achievement at age 15". He also cites a German study of 50 kindergartens that compared children who, at age 5, had spent a year either "academically-focused", or "play-arts focused" — in time the two groups became inseparable in reading skill. Suggate concludes that the effects of early reading are like "watering a garden before a rainstorm; the earlier watering is rendered undetectable by the rainstorm, the watering wastes precious water, and the watering detracts the gardener from other important preparatory groundwork."

A study of the performance of 6,600 students found that the children who had experienced an earlier introduction to academic learning had poorer results in fourth grade than students who had not had early academics.

Journalist Todd Oppenheimer has contrasted the Waldorf schools' approach to reading with early learning approaches, concluding that "the technique seems to work", but that it "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. In conversation with Oppenheimer, a literacy specialist at Teachers College (Columbia University), Lucy Calkins, responded that "in most public schools the students who start reading later tend to do worse" but that "Waldorf students might benefit slightly from starting earlier" even though she "would not necessarily be worried in a Waldorf school. The foundation of literacy is talk and play."

Publicly-funded schools

The examples and perspective in this article may not represent a worldwide view of the subject. You may improve this article, discuss the issue on the talk page, or create a new article, as appropriate. (September 2011) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

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.

Australia

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

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. 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.

Canada

Public schools using Waldorf-based methods include:

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

Finland

In Finland there are 24 Steiner schools operating with 95 - 100% state financing.

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.

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

Concerns that Waldorf education is religious

Some have claimed Waldorf education is spiritually oriented and based on a generally Christian perspective, others that it has a humanistic approach to pedagogy.

A 1994 paper on the public funding of Waldorf schools in Milwaukee and Detroit is strongly critical of Waldorf education. The authors, Judy Daar and Dan Dugan, quote Sven Ove Hansson's description of the Anthroposophical Society as "the most successful occult religion in Europe" and describe Waldorf education as being designed to promote the teachings of Rudolf Steiner – teachings which are "indisputably religious". They further state that the schools use deliberate deception about their purpose and organization to attract the children of outsiders, in line with Rudolf Steiner's own injunction that "it is necessary to talk with the people, not because we want to, but because we have to, and inwardly make fools of them". In 1995, one of the authors, Dan Dugan, went on to found the anti-Waldorf campaigning group PLANS.

In 1997, the Association of Waldorf Schools of North America (AWSNA) published a position paper stating that "Waldorf schools are independent schools that are designed to educate all children, regardless of their cultural or religious backgrounds. The pedagogical method is comprehensive, and, as part of its task, seeks to bring recognition and understanding to any world culture or religion. The Waldorf School, founded in 1919 by Rudolf Steiner, is not part of any church."

In 1998, PLANS filed a lawsuit 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 the court once more dismissed the case on its merits in 2010: the judge's written decision found that plaintiffs had failed to prove anthroposophy is a religion. On a second appeal, in 2012 the higher court affirmed the decision for the public schools, judging that the plaintiff had failed to meet its burden of proof that anthroposophy was a religion, but that the court was expressing no view as to whether anthroposophy could be considered a religion on the basis of a fuller or more complete record.

In 2004, the Anthroposophical Society in America published a position statement regarding religion, stating that "the Society does not engage in religion, insist upon religion or interfere with religious practice. It consciously and emphatically stands apart from religion. Many members of the Society engage in traditional religions; many do not. Some practice non-theistic spirituality; many other members are connected to no religious practice. The Society honors each member’s own religion and the moral injunctions of that religion. The Statutes of the Society state that “Anyone can become a member, without regard to nationality, social standing, religion or scientific or artistic conviction… The Anthroposophical Society rejects any kind of sectarian activity.”

Racism controversy

In November 2012, BBC News broadcast an item about accusations that the establishment of a state-funded Steiner School in Frome was a misguided use of public money. The broadcast raised particular concerns about Rudolf Steiner's beliefs, since he "believed in reincarnation and said it was related to race, with black (schwarz) people being the least spiritually developed, and white (weiß) people the most."

In 2007, the European Council for Steiner Waldorf Education (ECSWE) issued a statement, Waldorf schools against discrimination, which said in part, "Waldorf schools do not select, stratify or discriminate amongst their pupils, but consider all human beings to be free and equal in dignity and rights, independent of ethnicity, national or social origin, gender, language, religion, and political or other convictions. Anthroposophy, upon which Waldorf education is founded, stands firmly against all forms of racism and nationalism."

In 1997, the Association of Waldorf Schools of North America (AWSNA) published a position paper stating that "Waldorf schools are independent schools committed to developing the human potential of each child to its fullest. Admission to the schools is open to everyone, without regard to race, sex, creed, religion, national origin, or ethnicity....It is a fundamental goal of our education to bring students to an understanding and experience of the common humanity of all the world’s peoples, transcending the stereotypes, prejudices, and divisive barriers of classification by sex, race and nationality. We most emphatically reject racism in all its forms, and embrace the principles of common humanity expresses by the founder of Waldorf education, Rudolf Steiner."

Immunization

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 or that schools have discouraged immunization.

In the United Kingdom the Health Protection Agency categorizes Steiner schools as "unvaccinated community".

In 2012 John Thomas, a law professor, suggested that Waldorf education's emphasis on individual rights is inconsistent with society's use of vaccination to escape from disease, and that the Waldorf school system " a 'strong cultural anti-immunization preference among thought-leaders' in its community". Thomas cited vaccination rates of 23% at a Waldorf school in the San Francisco Bay area, compared to 97% in the surrounding county. He stated that children may "emerge from their school to infect infants, immunocompromised adults, and people whose vaccinations didn't take or have waned, with potentially fatal diseases."

In 2001 the European Council for Steiner Waldorf Education agreed a consensus statement resolving that immunization per se – or resistance to national strategies for childhood immunization 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. The European Council represents Steiner schools in Europe – approximately 700 of the 1,000 schools world wide.

See also

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

Notes

1. McGavin, Harvey (11 May 2008). "Making room for Rudolf". TES. Retrieved November, 2012. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
2. W. Edward Craighead; Charles B. Nemeroff (11 November 2002). The Corsini Encyclopedia of Psychology and Behavioral Science. John Wiley & Sons. p. 1755. ISBN 978-0-471-27083-6. Retrieved 28 November 2012.
3. "It is a view which engenders the holistic approach to the human being and an interdisciplinary approach to education". M. C. Richards, Toward Wholeness: Rudolf Steiner Education in America, University Press of New England, 1980. p. 38
4. ^ Rist and Schneider, Integrating Vocational and General Education: A Rudolf Steiner School, Unesco Institute for Education, Hamburg 1979, ISBN 92-820-1024-4, pp. 1, 4, 13, 150. Reprint.
5. Carrie Y. Nordlund, "Art Experiences in Waldorf Education", Ph.D. Dissertation, University of Missouri-Columbia, May 2006
6. Southworth, Cheryl Ridgeway, Geometry, fir trees and princes: Imaginative cognition in education, Ph.D. dissertation, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 1988, 294 pages; AAT 8823477
7. ^ Bo Dahlin, The Waldorf School - Cultivating Humanity. Karlstad University Studies, 2007:29
8. ^ Freda Easton, The Waldorf impulse in education:Schools as communities that educate the whole child by integrating artistic and academic work, Ph.D. thesis, Columbia University Teachers College, 1995
9. ^ Ogletree, Earl J., Creativity and Waldorf Education: A Study. Cite error: The named reference "EJO" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
10. ^ Hether, Christine Anne, The moral reasoning of high school seniors from diverse educational settings, Ph.D. dissertation, Saybrook Graduate School and Research Center, 2001, 209 pages; AAT 3044032 Cite error: The named reference "Hether" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
11. *"The overarching goal is to help children build a moral impulse within so they can choose in freedom what it means to live morally."—Armon, Joan, "The Waldorf Curriculum as a Framework for Moral Education: One Dimension of a Fourfold System.", (Abstract), Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association (Chicago, IL, March 24–28, 1997), p. 1
12. ^ Thomas William Nielsen, Rudolf Steiner's Pedagogy Of Imagination: A Case Study Of Holistic Education, Peter Lang Pub Inc 2004 ISBN 3-03910-342-3
13. Peter Schneider, Einführung in die Waldorfpädogogik, Klett-Cotta 1987, ISBN 3-608-93006-X
14. Ronald V. Iannone, Patricia A. Obenauf, "Toward Spirituality in Curriculum and Teaching", page 737, Education, Vol 119 Issue 4, 1999
15. "In anthroposophy, each child is understood to have a special destiny, and it is the school's business to make the most of it." Attention: This template ({{cite doi}}) is deprecated. To cite the publication identified by doi:10.1007/BF02354381, please use {{cite journal}} (if it was published in a bona fide academic journal, otherwise {{cite report}} with |doi=10.1007/BF02354381 instead.
16. ^ P. Bruce Uhrmacher, "Uncommon Schooling: A Historical Look at Rudolf Steiner, Anthroposophy, and Waldorf Education", Curriculum Inquiry, Vol. 25, No. 4 (Winter, 1995), pp. 381–406
17. ^ Mary Barr Sturbaum, Transformational Possibilities of Schooling: A Study of Waldorf Education, Ph.D. dissertation, Indiana University, 1997
18. ^ Statistics for Waldorf schools worldwide
19. ^ Paull, John (2011) Rudolf Steiner and the Oxford Conference: The Birth of Waldorf Education in Britain. European Journal of Educational Studies, 3(1): 53-66.
20. Anthroposophical centers for curative education Template:Language icon "Currently, there are about 530 international curative education and social therapy centers, more than 60 training centers and 30 associations in more than 40 countries."
21. ^ Malaika Costello-Dougherty, "Waldorf-Inspired Public Schools Are on the Rise"
22. J. Vasagard, "A different class: the expansion of Steiner schools", Guardian 25 May 2012
23. M. L. Stevens, "The Normalisation of Homeschooling in the USA", Evaluation & Research in Education Volume 17, Issue 2-3, 2003 , pp. 90-100
24. ^ Stephanie Luster Bravmann, Nancy Stewart Green, Pamela Bolotin Joseph, Edward R. Mikel, Mark A. Windschitl, Cultures of Curriculum, Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 2000. p81, " developed the Waldorf School system of education, is another whose ideas are reproduced, often less in whole than in part ... in an expanding number of American public and private schools today."
25. • Benn, Melissa (21 November 2011). School Wars: The Battle for Britain's Education. Verso Books. p. 26. ISBN 978-1-84467-736-8. Retrieved 5 December 2012. In January 2011, it was announced that 25 Steiner schools, whose curriculum has a humanistic, artistic emphasis, were in talks with the government about becoming free schools; but elements of the Steiner ideology remain highly controversial, and the decision was thus delayed
    • Turner, David (March 1, 2008). "Steiner school switches to city academy status". The Financial Times. p. 5. Hereford Waldorf School teaches the controversial Steiner method renowned for its holistic, co-educational approach {{cite news}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help)
    • Penczak, Christopher (1 March 2007). Ascension Magick: Ritual, Myth & Healing for the New Aeon. Llewellyn Worldwide. p. 39. ISBN 978-0-7387-1047-1. Retrieved 4 December 2012. is best known for his controversial contribution to children's education through the establishment of the Steiner Schools
    • Heiner Ullrich. "Rudolf Steiner — a neo-romantic thinker and reformer" (PDF). positions are highly controversial: they range from enthusiastic support to destructive criticism. One side emphasizes the meaningful practice of all-round education designed to meet the needs of the child and overlooks the extra-sensory anthropology of Steiner. The other side directs destructive criticism at this occult neo-mythology of education and warns against the risks of resulting indoctrination ...
26. ^ Cannon, Michelle L. (June 11, 2012). "Ninth Circuit Affirms Trial Court Decision In Waldorf Methods Case". martindale.com. Retrieved December, 2012. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
27. Johannes Hemleben, Rudolf Steiner: A documentary biography, Henry Goulden Ltd, ISBN 0-904822-02-8, pp. 121-126 (German edition Rowohlt Taschenbuch Verlag ISBN 3-499-50079-5).
28. ^ P. Bruce Uhrmacher, "Uncommon Schooling: A Historical Look at Rudolf Steiner, Anthroposophy and Waldorf Education", Curriculum Inquiry, Vol. 25, No. 4. Winter 1995
29. Alduino Mazzone, Waldorf Teacher Education (Ph.D. dissertation, University of Adelaide), p. 164
30. ^ Ullrich, Heiner, "Rudolf Steiner" "Prospects: the quarterly review of comparative education, UNESCO: International Bureau of education, vol XXIV, no. 3/4, 1994, pp. 555–572
31. Carroll, p. 26. "Some of the ideas of the Waldorf School are not Steiner's, but are in harmony with the master's spiritual insights."
32. ^ Oberski, Iddo (February 2011). "Rudolf Steiner's philosophy of freedom as a basis for spiritual education?". International Journal of Children's Spirituality. 16 (1): 5–17.
33. ^ Todd Oppenheimer, Schooling the Imagination, Atlantic Monthly, September 99
34. ^ Attention: This template ({{cite doi}}) is deprecated. To cite the publication identified by doi:10.1080/13502930085208551, please use {{cite journal}} (if it was published in a bona fide academic journal, otherwise {{cite report}} with |doi=10.1080/13502930085208551 instead..
35. p.84
36. ^ Whedon, Sarah W. (2007). Hands, Hearts, and Heads: Childhood and Esotericism in American Waldorf Education. ProQuest. p. 169. ISBN 978-0-549-26917-5. Retrieved 11 December 2012. Cite error: The named reference "Whedon2007" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
37. Whedon, p.170.
38. ^ Attention: This template ({{cite doi}}) is deprecated. To cite the publication identified by doi:10.1007/BF02354381, please use {{cite journal}} (if it was published in a bona fide academic journal, otherwise {{cite report}} with |doi=10.1007/BF02354381 instead.
39. ^ Grant, M. (1999). "Steiner and the Humours: The Survival of Ancient Greek Science". British Journal of Educational Studies. 47: 56–70. doi:10.1111/1467-8527.00103. It can be seen that the ancient Greek theories concerning the humours have been adapted, to shift their emphasis from the purely physical to include the spiritual. Nevertheless, the influence of these theories is strong throughout Steiner's writings ... {{cite journal}}: line feed character in |quote= at position 129 (help)
40. Thomas Armstrong, Ph.D. (1 December 2006). The Best Schools: How Human Development Research Should Inform Educational Practice. ASCD. p. 53. ISBN 978-1-4166-0457-0. Retrieved 29 November 2012.
41. ^ Carolyn Pope Edwards, "Three Approaches from Europe", Early Childhood Research and Practice, Spring 2002 Cite error: The named reference "Edwards" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
42. ^ Iona H. Ginsburg, "Jean Piaget and Rudolf Steiner: Stages of Child Development and Implications for Pedagogy", Teachers College Record Volume 84 Number 2, 1982, pp. 327–337.
43. ^ P. Bruce Uhrmacher, Making Contact: An Exploration of Focused Attention Between Teacher and Students", Curriculum Inquiry, Vol 23, No 4, Winter 1993, pp433–444.
44. Thomas William Nielsen, "Rudolf Steiner's Pedagogy of Imagination: A Phenomenological Case Study", Peter Lang Publisher 2004
45. ^ Attention: This template ({{cite doi}}) is deprecated. To cite the publication identified by doi:10.1044/1058-0360(2010/09-0038), please use {{cite journal}} (if it was published in a bona fide academic journal, otherwise {{cite report}} with |doi=10.1044/1058-0360(2010/09-0038) instead.
46. Grace Chen, How “Collaborative Reasoning” Could Be the Next Public School Trend, Public School Review, September 24, 2009
47. Oppenheim, "Schooling the Imagination," 1999, p.3>
48. Ginsburg and Opper, Piaget's Theory of Intellectual Development, ISBN 0-13-675140-7, pp. 39–40
49. ^ Rist and Schneider, Integrating Vocational and General Education: A Rudolf Steiner School, Unesco Institute for Education, Hamburg 1979, ISBN 92-820-1024-4, pp. 144–6
50. Earl J. Ogletree, Creativity and Waldorf Education: A Study 1991, ERIC #ED364440, op. cit., p14 ERIC #ED364440
51. ^ John Siraj-Blatchford; David Whitebread (1 October 2003). Supporting ICT in the Early Years. McGraw-Hill International. p. 16. ISBN 978-0-335-20942-2. Retrieved 28 November 2012.
52. ^ Robert Carroll (11 January 2011). The Skeptic's Dictionary: A Collection of Strange Beliefs, Amusing Deceptions, and Dangerous Delusions. John Wiley & Sons. p. 27. ISBN 978-1-118-04563-3. Retrieved 28 November 2012.
53. ^ Ida Oberman, "Waldorf History: Case Study of Institutional Memory", Paper presented to Annual Meeting of the American Education Research Association, March 24–28, 1997, published US Department of Education - Educational Resources Information Center (ERIC)
54. Criteria for school readiness often include the onset of primary tooth loss, which has been found to correlate strongly with somatic and psychological criteria of school readiness. Cf. Ernst-Michael Kranich, "Anthropologie", in F. Bohnsack and E-M Kranich (eds.), Erziehungswissenschaft und Waldorfpädagogik, Reihe Pädagogik Beltz, Weinheim 1990, p. 126, citing F. Ilg and L. Ames (Gesell Institute), School Readiness, p. 236ff and "...the loss of the first deciduous tooth can serve as a definite indicator of a male child's readiness for reading and schoolwork", Diss. Cornell U. Silvestro, John R. 1977. “Second Dentition and School Readiness.” New York State Dental Journal 43 (March): 155—8
55. ^ Carlo Willmann, Waldorfpädogogik, Kölner Veröffentlichungen zur Religionsgeschichte, v. 27. Böhlau Verlag, ISBN 3-412-16700-2. See "Ganzheitliche Erziehung", 2.3.3"
56. ^ Freda Easton, "Educating the Whole Child, 'Head, Heart and Hands': Learning from the Waldorf Experience", Theory into Practice by Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc., pp 87–94.
57. TRESD Waldorf-methods charter schools
58. ^ Gay Ward, "Education for the Human Journey", paper presented at Australian Association for Research in Education International Conference 2–6 December 2001, cited in DFES report
59. ^ Rist and Schneider, Integrating Vocational and General Education: A Rudolf Steiner School, Unesco Institute for Education, Hamburg 1979, ISBN 92-820-1024-4, pp. 146–8
60. Martyn Rawson and Tobias Richter, The Educational Tasks and Content of the Steiner Waldorf Curriculum,
61. E. A. Karl Stockmeyer, Rudolf Steiner's Curriculum for Waldorf Schools, Steiner Schools Fellowship, 1985
62. Rena Upitis, In praise of romance
63. Thomas Armstrong, cited in Boston Public Schools As Arts-Integrated Learning Organizations: Developing a High Standard of Culture for All, :"Waldorf education embodies in a truly organic sense all of Howard Gardner's seven intelligences. Rudolph Steiner's vision is a whole one, not simply an amalgam of the seven intelligences. Many schools are currently attempting to construct curricula based on Gardner's model simply through an additive process (what can we add to what we have already got?). Steiner's approach, however, was to begin with a deep inner vision of the child and the child's needs and build a curriculum around that vision."
64. Ernest Boyer, cited in Eric Oddleifson, Boston Public Schools As Arts-Integrated Learning Organizations: Developing a High Standard of Culture for All, Address of May 18, 1995: "One of the strengths of the Waldorf curriculum is its emphasis on the arts and the rich use of the spoken word through poetry and storytelling. The way the lessons integrate traditional subject matter is, to my knowledge, unparalleled. Those in the public school reform movement have some important things to learn from what Waldorf educators have been doing for many years. It is an enormously impressive effort toward quality education."
65. "Reading is a habit that we can't afford to lose", Sunday Herald, December 2, 2007
66. Jelinek, D., & Sun, L.-L. (2003). Does Waldorf offer a viable form of science education? Sacramento, CA: CSU College of Education.
67. ^ Barker, Irena (17 September 2012). "Homeopathy? Sorry, we're just not swallowing it". TES. Retrieved December, 2012. Richy Thompson, the BHA's education officer, said it was 'gravely concerning' that Steiner schools promoted homeopathy and based teaching on a book inconsistent with mainstream science. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
68. "State-funded Steiner schools teach science from book sceptical of evolution, give homeopathy to students". British Humanist Association. September 14, 2012. Retrieved December, 2012. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
69. Simpson, Peter Vinthagen (29 August 2008). "Stockholm University ends Steiner teacher training". The Local. Retrieved December, 2012. Stockholm University has decided to wind up its Steiner-Waldorf teacher training. Steiner science literature is 'too much myth and too little fact', the university's teacher education committee has ruled. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
70. "Education and Social Cohesion--Religion in the Classroom", Institute for Cultural Diplomacy
71. Mark Riccio, Rudolf Steiner's Impulse in Education, dissertation, Columbia University Teachers College, 2000, p. 87
72. Østergaard, Edvin (1 September 2008). "Doing phenomenology in science education: a research review". Studies in Science Education. 44 (2): 93–121. doi:10.1080/03057260802264081. {{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
73. ^ Fanny Jiménez, "Wissenschaftler loben Waldorfschulen", Die Welt, 27 September 2012
74. Rist and Schneider, Integrating Vocational and General Education: A Rudolf Steiner School, Unesco Institute for Education, Hamburg 1979, ISBN 92-820-1024-4, pp.8–10
75. Tom Stehlik ("Parenting as a Vocation", International Journal of Lifelong Education 22 (4) pp. 367–79, 2003, cited in DFES report
76. Holmes, M. (2000). "How Should Educational Policymakers Address Conflicting Interests within a Diverse Society?". Curriculum Inquiry. 30: 129. doi:10.1111/0362-6784.00157. Genuine communities, such as a community of fundamentalist Christians, Orthodox Jews, or supporters of Steiner's Waldorf ideas
77. WASC Accrediting commission for schools
78. Rhode Island accreditation
79. Robert McDermott, The Essential Steiner, Harper San Francisco 1984 ISBN 0-06-065345-0
80. Christensen, Leah M., "Going Back to Kindergarten: Applying the Principles of Waldorf Education to Create Ethical Attorneys". Suffolk University Law Review, 2006
81. Gidley, J. (1998). "Prospective Youth Visions through Imaginative Education." Futures 30(5), pp395–408, cited in Gidley, Batemen, and Smith, Futures in Education, Australian Foresight Institute Monograph Series, 2004 Nr. 5
82. "Eingegangene Stellungnahmen zu der schriftlichen Anhörung zu dem Dringlichen Antrag der Fraktion BÜNDNIS 90/DIE GRÜNEN betreffend Bekämpfung des Rechtsextremismus in Hessen", p. 130
83. Bo Dahlin et al.: Waldorfskolor och medborgerligt-moralisk kompetens. En jämförelse mellan waldorfelever och elever i den kommunala skolan (Waldorf schools and civic moral competency. A comparison of Waldorf pupils with pupils in public schools. Report 2004:2 Karlstad: Institution for educational science, University of Karlstad, Sweden.)
84. ^ Tolerance: The Threshold of Peace., UNESCO, 1994.
85. Peter Normann Waage, Humanism and Polemical Populism, Humanist 3/2000
86. Salaam Shalom Educational Foundation
87. Salaam Shalom
88. "Garten des Friedens", Anthroposophie Weltweit, 8/07
89. When Ahmed met Avshalom, Israel21c, May 28, 2006.
90. Women of the Year nominee for 1997 (English translation). Accessed 2008-04-29.
91. Tashi Waldorf School. Accessed 2010-03-28.
92. Kevin Rohan Memorial Eco Foundation website
93. N. Gobel, Waldorf education: exhibition catalogue on occasion of the 44th session of the international conference on education of UNESCO in Geneva. UNESCO:Kathmandu 2004
94. UNESCO Kathmandu, 2004
95. UNESCO Associated Schools Project Network (ASPnet)
96. ^ Fanny Jiminez, "Namen tanzen, fit in Mathe - Waldorf im Vorteil". Die Welt Sept 26, 2012, citing Barz, et. al, Bildungserfahrungen an Waldorfschulen: Empirische Studie zu Schulqualität und Lernerfahrungen, 2012
97. Sebastian Suggate, "Response to reading instruction and age related development", unpublished doctoral dissertation. Dept. of Psychology, Univ. of Otago, New Zealand. (2009). See summary at Learning & Development: Reading - Willing and able? Template:Login required
98. "Primary schools exert unnecessary pressure on students"
99. "pisa belegt die naturwissenschaftliche kompetenz der waldorfschule"
100. Dutch Schools Inspectorate, "De Kwaliteit van het Onderwijs Op (Zeer Zwakke) Vrijescholen in het Basisonderwijs Periode 2003-2007" (2007)
101. "Section 9.6 Comparison of Skills and Individual Characteristics of Waldorf Students". PISA 2006: Austrian Report with a Focus on the Sciences. 2009. Retrieved 20121209. {{cite book}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |authors= ignored (help) Template:Language icon
102. Template:Language icon "Auf Grund der relativ hohen Naturwissenschafts-Kompetenz der Waldorfschüler/innen in Kombination mit äußerst hohen motivationalen Merkmalen und selbstbezogenen Kognitionen in diesen Fächern sowie den unterschiedlichen didaktischen Prinzipien liegt der Schluss nahe, dass die Regelschule von der Waldorfschule lernen kann, insbesondere was den konkreten Anwendungsbezug in der Naturwissenschaft betrifft."
103. "Allergic disease and sensitization in Steiner school children". 'Journal of Allergy & Clinical Immunology. January 11, 2006. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help); Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
104. 2005 report Steiner Schools in England by Philip Woods, Martin Ashley and Glenys Woods of the University of the West of England, Steiner Schools in England, University of West of England, Bristol: Research Report RR645
105. Gidley, J. (1998). "Prospective Youth Visions through Imaginative Education." Futures: The journal of policy, planning and futures studies 30(5): 395–408.
106. Gidley, J. (2002). Holistic Education and Visions of Rehumanized Futures. Youth Futures: Comparative Research and Transformative Visions. J. Gidley and S. Inayatullah. Westport, Connecticut, Praeger: 155-168.
107. Hutchinson, F. (1992). Futures consciousness and the school: Explorations of broad and narrow literacies for the 21st-century with particular reference to Australian young people. Armidale NSW, University of New England: 410.
108. Gidley, J. and G. Hampson (2005). "The Evolution of Futures in School Education." Futures: The journal of policy, planning and futures studies 37: 255–271.
109. "Sunday Night" broadcast of July 15, 2007
110. "Turning Tides: Creating Dialogue between Rudolf Steiner and 21st Century Academic Discourses"
111. Bibliography of Gidley Steiner Project
112. Including abstracts for many of the Steiner-related PhD and Masters dissertations and some academic articles. The project data has not been updated since 2008 and some of the 'in progress' theses are now complete.
113. Maureen Cox and Anna Rolands, "The Effect of Three Different Educational Approaches on Children's Drawing Ability", British Journal of Educational Psychology 70, pp. 485–503 (abstract)
114. Earl J. Ogletree, The Comparative Status of the Creative Thinking Ability of Waldorf Education Students
115. Arline Monks, "Breaking Down the Barriers to Learning: The Power of the Arts", Journal of Court, Community and Alternative Schools
116. ^ Babineaux, R., Evaluation report: Thomas E. Mathews Community School, Stanford University 1999, cited in Monks, op. cit.
117. Der Spiegel, December 14, 1981
118. Robert S. Peterkin, Director of Urban Superintendents Program, Harvard Graduate School of Education and former Superintendent of Milwaukee Public Schools, in Boston Public Schools As Arts-Integrated Learning Organizations: Developing a High Standard of Culture for All:"Waldorf is healing education . . . It is with a sense of adventure that the staff of Milwaukee Public Schools embraces the Waldorf concept in an urban multicultural setting. It is clear that Waldorf principles are in concert with our goals for educating all children."
119. "Rudolf Steiner's Pedagogy of Imagination: A Phenomenological Case Study"
120. Edgar Allen Beem, The Waldorf Way, Boston Globe, April 16, 2001
121. Phaizon Rhys Wood, Beyond Survival: A Case Study of the Milwaukee Urban Waldorf School, D.Ed. dissertation, Univ. of San Francisco, 1996, p. 135, 149, 154ff
122. Tomazin, Farrah (April 29, 2008). "Warning on state Steiner schools". The Age. Melbourne.
123. Janet Howard (1992). Literacy learning in a Waldorf school: A belief in the sense of structure and story. Ed.D. dissertation, State University of New York at Albany.
124. ^ Elkind, David (2001). "Much Too Early". Education Next., "Inasmuch as most young children do not attain this form of reasoning until the age of five or six, it makes little sense to introduce formal instruction in reading and math until then. The theory is borne out by a number of longitudinal studies that show that children who have been enrolled in early-childhood academic programs eventually lose whatever gains they made vis-à-vis control groups."
125. Suggate, Sebastian P. (March 15, 2011). "The contribution of age and reading instruction to oral narrative and pre-reading skills". First Language. 31 (4): 379–403. doi:10.1177/0142723710395165.
126. ^ Sebastian Suggate, "Watering the garden before a rainstorm: the case of early reading instruction" in Contemporary Debates in Childhood Education and Development, ed. Sebastian Suggate, Elaine Reese. pp. 181-190.
127. Attention: This template ({{cite doi}}) is deprecated. To cite the publication identified by doi:10.1016/j.ecresq.2012.04.004, please use {{cite journal}} (if it was published in a bona fide academic journal, otherwise {{cite report}} with |doi=10.1016/j.ecresq.2012.04.004 instead.
128. Rainer Dollase, "Die Fünfjährigen einschulen - Oder: Die Wiederbelebung einer gescheiterten Reform der 70er Jahre des vorigen Jahrhunderts" KITA Aktuell, Ausgabe Nordrhein Westfalen v. 15, January 2006, Nr. 1, pp. 11-12
129. Independent Schooling in Australia Snapshot 2010, study by Independent Schools Queensland
130. ^ Rout, Milanda (July 28, 2007). "Questions about Steiner's classroom". The Australian. Retrieved December 1, 2011.
131. aeufederal.org.au
132. Steiner education in state schools. ABC National Radio. 25 July 2007 Religion Report, I, 1 August 2007 Religion Report II
133. Finnish Steiner schools
134. Bowen, Mark (24 July 2008). "New academy to open in Hereford". Hereford Times. Retrieved 2008-07-25.
135. list of charter schools in the USA
136. Dr. Richard R. Doornek, Educational Curriculum specialist with the Milwaukee Public Schools quoted in Phaizon Rhys Wood, Beyond Survival: A Case Study of the Milwaukee Urban Waldorf School, dissertation, School of Education, University of San Francisco, 1996
137. ^ Pappano, Laura (2011). Harvard Education Letter. 27 (6). {{cite journal}}: Missing or empty |title= (help); Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
138. Boston, Bob (1996). "Are Waldorf schools religious?". Education Digest. 62 (3): 64. ISSN 0013-127X. {{cite journal}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help)
139. William A. Reinsmith, "The Whole in Every Part: Steiner and Waldorf Schooling". The Educational Forum Volume 54, Issue 1, 1990, pp 79-91. Reinsmith cites Waldorf education's "deeply humanistic philosophy"
140. "Steiner education can be firmly placed within the humanistic/holistic tradition" T. Stehlik, "Thinking, Feeling, and Willing: How Waldorf Schools Provide a Creative Pedagogy That Nurtures and Develops Imagination". In Leonard and Willis, Pedagogies of the Imagination, 2008, Springer. pp. 231-243. From p. 232
141. Daar, Judy; Dugan, Dan (1994). "Are Rudolf Steiner's Waldorf schools 'non-sectarian?'". Free Inquiry. 14 (2): 44. ISSN 0272-0701. {{cite journal}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help)
142. ^ Association of Waldorf Schools of North America, "Position Statement adopted by the Board of Trustees", June 25, 1997
143. Damrell, Frank C., Minute Order, November 27, 2007. Text of order. Accessed 2007-12-17.
144. "KMTG Attorneys Prevail in Long Standing Federal Suit Over the Use of Waldorf Methods in Public Schools" (Press release). Kronick, Moskovitz, Tiedemann & Girard. November 11, 2010. Retrieved December, 2012. On Friday, November 5, 2010, Judge Frank Damrell of the United States District Court, Eastern District of California, entered judgment in favor of Sacramento City Unified School District in a case originally filed in 1998. {{cite press release}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
145. "Amicus Curiae Brief of the Anthroposophical Society in America in Support of Defendants" (PDF). July 13, 2004. Retrieved 2012-12-03.
146. "Frome Steiner school causes controversy". BBC News. 19 November 2012. Retrieved 28 November 2012.
147. European Council for Steiner Waldorf Education (October 2007). "Waldorf schools against discrimination" (PDF). Retrieved 2012-11-29.
148. Seligman, Katherine (May 25, 2003). "Vaccination backlash". The San Francisco Chronicle.
149. White, Pamela (August 8, 2002). "A shot in the dark". Boulder Weekly.
150. DeGregori, Thomas R. (September 13, 2002). "The Deadly Perils of Rejected Knowledge". American Council on Science and Health.
151. "HPA National Measles Guidelines — Local & Regional Services". Health Protection Agency. October, 2010. p. 5. Retrieved December, 2012. membership or contact with an unvaccinated community (including Steiner schools, travelling families etc) increases the index of suspicion. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= and |date= (help)
152. Thomas, John (2012). "Autism, medicine, and the poison of enthusiasm and superstition". Journal of Health & Biomedical Law. 7 (3). ISSN 1556-052X.
153. Consensus statement, agreed by members of the ECSWE, meeting in Copenhagen, 21 January 2001.
154. European Council for Steiner Waldorf Education

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 1-84312-433-5
• Nobel, Agnes, Educating through Art: The Steiner School Approach Floris Books ISBN 0-86315-187-6
• Petrash, Jack, (2002): Understanding Waldorf Education: Teaching from the Inside Out Floris Books ISBN 0-86315-430-1
• Querido, René, The Esoteric Background of Waldorf Education Rudolf Steiner College Press ISBN 0-945803-25-7
• Wilkinson, R. (1996): The Spiritual Basis of Steiner Education. London: Sophia Books ISBN 1-85584-065-0

External links

General reference

• Online Waldorf Library
• 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

• What's Waldorf Salon.com Meagan Francis
• "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.
• "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.
• Elizabeth Daniels and Carmen Gamper. "The Yin and Yang of Waldorf and Montessori in Early Childhood Education" (comparison of the two systems). Common Ground part 1, part 2
• Cincinnati Enquirer Waldorf goes against school grain by Maggie Dons

Template:Link FA

• Articles to be merged from December 2012
• Alternative education
• Anthroposophy
• Philosophy of education
• Pedagogy
• School types
• Pseudoscience
• Waldorf schools