Steiner education

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At the right age they will awaken their own free sense of religion and morality which will then become part of their very being. And they feel that only this can make them fully human. The great aim at the Waldorf School is to bring up free human beings who know how to direct their own lives.

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Rudolf Steiner A Modern Art of Education:12 [1923]

Steiner/Waldorf Schools

There are over 800 Steiner (or Waldorf) schools worldwide.

One of the important aspects of these schools is that each is independent and, except where local legislation dictates a commonality of curricula, independent of government school guidelines.

The administration of education, from which all culture develops, must be turned over to the educators. Economic and political considerations should be entirely excluded from this administration. Each teacher should arrange his or her time so that he can also be an administrator in his field. He should be just as much at home attending to administrative matters as he is in the classroom. No one should make decisions who is not directly engaged in the educational process. No parliament or congress, nor any individual who was perhaps once an educator, is to have anything to say.

Basic Issues of the Social Question

Steiner or Waldorf education cannot be, as should be obvious from the above quote, a 'system', so each school, and in fact each class level within each school, may do things in different ways. However, what is common is the educational underpinning of the education which is based on Rudolf Steiner's pedagogical and spiritual views of the human being.

As in other educational settings, these views are not taught to the students, but rather inform how, when and why certain things are introduced. An important consideration in the overall concern is reflected in Steiner's statement that

It is of prime importance that we develop an art of education that will permit us to emerge from the social chaos into which we have fallen. The only way to emerge from this social chaos is to bring spirituality to the souls of people by means of education, so that within the spirit itself they can find the path to progress and a better evolution of civilization.

Educational Philosophy

It should perhaps be obvious that the above reflects an educational philosophy that is fundamentally based on a view of the human being as spiritual. Further, it sees for education a task that is to serve the human being, rather than be at the service of the state or its economic development. These latter will, in any case, benefit and develop according to the proper development and education of individuals.

Practical applications of Steiner's pedagogical principles

The Pre-School Child - the 0-7 year old child and education:

When this time is not able to be spent within the family home, the kindergarten seeks to provide an environment that is rich in natural materials, simple and natural shapes, and that in many ways becomes an extension of the child's home.

No formal tuition is engaged in per se. Rather, the child emulates that presented by the engaged adult, whether this be preparing food and cleaning, working in the garden, creating rich imaginative stories, or repeating tales from the vast repertoire of humanity's creative genius.

guiding principle

A home-like environment in which the child imitates. Attention to details and an extremely healthy setting is therefore necessary.

Development of the limbs and a careful pre-natal care for the etheric or rhythmic body. Repetition and regularity of daily and weekly rhythm therefore carefully maintained.

The Class Teacher Period - the 7-14 year old child and education: teaching during the second phase of the incarnating child

Schooling begins with the child turning seven. There are of course small differences in development (properly speaking, the manner in which incarnation takes place), and some children will be ready for the independence and the active imagination required either a little earlier or later.

The teacher (and other adults) is here the authority for that which is presented to them.

There are general guidelines for each year level that reflects typical maturation and incarnation. For example, class one is typified by a world of fairy tales and a world animated by nature spirits; class two by the kingdoms of nature and people's direct relationship with it (hence the frequent inclusion of stories of St Francis of Assissi); class three by the creative authority of the divine, characterised by principally stories from Genesis and Moses in the Torah. It is also during class three that most children will experience a particular awakening to a sense of self different to the first usage of the self-referential 'I' that occured when three years old; class four by an outer expression that begins organised co-operation, and characterised by nordic and viking tales; class five by the vast episodic sagas in Indian, Egyptian and Greek ancient cultures; class six by a sense of complex formalised order in the Greco-Roman empires; class seven by the rich tapestry of European mediæval transformation and the chilvalry and courage of service; finally, class eight by an awakening to individuality and human endeavours transforming the world from the Renaissance to the industrial age.

guiding principle

Human history in its rich complexity is presented in ways appropriate to the developing child. A sense of beauty and richness enriches the pre-natal astral body.

The sense of adult authority provides for a world that is felt to be safe and in which one can grow. Choice is therefore either limited, or excluded, providing instead a rich basis for the development of imagination in both school-work and games.

The High School Period - the 14-18 year old adolescent and education: teaching during the third phase of the incarnating child

As for the previous developmental period, one may focus discussion on the adolescent, the teacher, and the materials covered: the more formal curricula.

The nature of the growing human being instructs how, when and why things are presented in particular ways. A key distinction between the former period and this one is in the nature of the authority of the teacher. Now, the subject matter presents its own richness via the engaged teacher who maintains a passion for the subject. A passion does not mean an animated presentation, but rather and simply a deep love for the areas in which a shared discovery is forever unfurled.

This is the time in which the developing individual will begin to make independent judgements. Insights gained are connected to the world around them, and the inquiring mind begins to make connections through understanding. Over the course of this period, beginning insights will lead to judgements, that will further lead to concepts increasingly generalised and abstracted, leading to wisdom-filled ideas that, enriched, become motivating ideals.

Some key curricula contents of a Steiner High School working with the suggested guiding principles will see class nine students engaged in spending some time with our communities' various needs, whether this be with nursing-home elderly, the destitute, or those in life's other nadir points, in addition to working on a farm; class ten students will engage in surveying, during which not only a mapping of the land's physical characteristics will be carefully observed, but also its biosphere; class eleven students will work not only with projective geometry, but also turbines and the art of paper making; and class twelve students will take on a major project and philosophy. All this whilst having maintained classes in Eurythmy, in History, in Chemistry, Physics and Biology, in English (or rather, the national tongue) and a foreign language, in Mathematics, in Geography, and in Art and Music.

guiding principle

An active engagement in one's thought-life and the development of different ways of seeing, feeling and doing. A care for the pre-natal 'I' or Ego of the student.

A school programme of instruction and engagement that actively seeks to engage every student in the seven liberal arts and sciences re-presented in their modern equivalent.

Main Lesson and structure of the day in the Class Teacher period and in the High School

The day itself is organised in ways still peculiar to Steiner education in which the Main Lesson, ideally the first two hours of the day, sees the same subject investigated in-depth over three consecutive weeks. Not all subjects have, however, a Main Lesson - some, such as the more practical ones such as Crafts, Farming, Music, Sports and Plays are ideally tabled during the afternoon.

Apart from the general welcoming or greetings and the morning verse, the educational day opens with the Main Lesson - no announcements, organisational or administrative duties, and certainly no other teaching or support/remedial reading or equivalent takes place prior to this important opening to the school day. In a sense, the beginning of the day spiritually germinates from the seeds obtained from the fruits that have blossomed through the night from the previous day's Main Lesson.

Steiner/Waldorf Teacher Education

Various parts of the world have distinct requirements for teaching in general, so the following is irrespective of other requirements that may need to be met. Specific Steiner/Waldorf teacher education takes a variety of forms, in part depending on the age of the students. As can be expected, this is divided into three sections: teaching the pre-7 y.o. or first stage of childhood; teaching the 7-14 y.o. or second stage of childhood; and teaching the 14-21 y.o. or third stage of childhood. Adult education for the post-21 y.o. has further distinct needs.

In every case, what is not only expected of the teacher-in-training, but also worked on within the course, is a combination of a deepening understanding of the anthroposophical view of the developing human being; a development of one's own meditative, imaginative and reflective life; and actively developing one's creative artistic engagements, whether this be in music, the visual arts, or movement.

Nevertheless, individual schools will employ (subject to local regulatory constraints) individuals who are considered to best fit both the class(es) they are to teach, and, other things being equal, those able to fit in and reflect the specific school 'being'. In the teaching of the 14-21 y.o., a deep passion for the subject to be taught becomes of primary importance.

Steiner/Waldorf Educational Resources

The books that follow are some amongst those that are considered essential in terms of, specifically, the pedagogical sphere. These are in addition to the three more general ones I mention on the Spiritual Science page.

essential Steiner/Waldorf education reading:

Steiner, Rudolf Study of Man (also re-translated as Foundations of Human Experience)

Steiner, Rudolf Education of the Child

Stockmeyer, E. A. Karl Rudolf Steiner's Curriculum for Waldorf Schools ← essential for teachers

recommended Steiner/Waldorf education sites:

Melbourne Rudolf Steiner Seminar (teacher training and adult education)

Mount Barker Waldorf School (near Adelaide, South Australia)

Steiner education in Australia (a list of schools and general information)

for other Anthroposophical pages within this site:

> Spiritual Science index (on the home page)