#steiner school

Happy Michaelmas!

What makes Waldorf education different from other forms of alternative education?  One word: Anthroposophy.  The first Waldorf school was founded by a highly-educated teacher and esoteric philosopher named Rudolf Steiner.  The purpose of Waldorf education (according to Rudolf Steiner) is to give children an education that helps them become truly free, whole human beings in mind and spirit.  Steiner’s Anthroposophy is an esoteric philosophy (not a religion) that has its basis in the spiritual revelations of the Christian faith as well as ancient spiritual knowledge that includes concepts like Reincarnation and the lost island of Atlantis.  Many people today confuse Anthroposophy with a cult or with the New Age movement.  While there are certainly overlapping themes when it comes to New Age ideas and Anthroposophy, they are by no means the same, and I believe Steiner would scoff (for lack of a better word) at most of the New Age teachings if he were alive today. Of course, he would do this with the utmost equanimity.  ;)

Anthroposophy is not explicitly taught in Waldorf schools, which are essentially humanitarian, secular schools.  However, Waldorf teachers must be trained in the basics of Anthroposphy and many of them consider themselves to be Anthroposophists.  Anywhere that you find a healthy Waldorf school, you will also find a local branch of the Anthroposophical Society.  What Anthroposophy does provide for Waldorf schools is the understanding of child development as both a physical and spiritual process.  While conventional schools look at child development only in terms of brain (physical) development, Waldorf schools look at the whole child and design their curriculum around a deep, spiritual understanding of child development.  In addition, Waldorf teachers are instructed to learn from the students, taking into account each individual child, and create lessons and schedules that will appeal and work for the whole class. 

The arts are a means of free human expression, so it is no surprise that Steiner’s “philosophy of freedom” led to a school that uses the arts so profusely throughout the curriculum from early childhood through high school.  If you have ever walked down the halls of a Waldorf High School, you will think that you are in the Visual Arts Department of a college!  The art work that Waldorf students produce is truly beautiful.  Each Waldorf teacher is considered an artist, and their students become talented artists as well.

Finally, one of the primary ways that Waldorf schools differ from conventional schools and other alternative schools is that they are run by the faculty in conjunction with administrators and board members. The entire school is faculty-run and they use consensus to make decisions, only using majority vote when absolutely necessary.