What is Waldorf?
Waldorf education, established by Rudolf Steiner and Emil Molt in 1919, has its foundations in Anthroposophy. At the heart of Anthroposophy is the belief that humanity has the wisdom to transform itself and the world, through one’s own spiritual development. To that end, Waldorf education holds as its primary intention the ideal of bringing forth—in every child—his or her unique potential in a way that serves the further development of humanity. The curriculum, pedagogy, and teaching methods are designed to nurture this potential.
So what exactly makes Waldorf Education distinctive?
Waldorf supports a threefold view of the growing human being.
1. Body, soul and spirit.
Honoring the rhythms of the body and brain-based research on learning readiness, outdoor-nature-based-learning is balanced with with contained classroom learning.
Honoring the need for the student to learn ‘with heartfelt connection’ to the material… through story and art, they are “carried along” through picture and imagination to a ‘feel-for’ the meaning of the subject (all core subjects).
Honoring the unique qualities in each student… the interests, learning styles, intelligences and ‘bloom-time’ for learning honors the human spirit in each person.
2. The Curriculum is thoroughly researched and designed to serve “Learning to become a Global Citizen.” The teachers learn the basic philosophies of all cultures and the dynamics of human consciousness. Through story-telling, the teacher imparts a respect for the guiding ethics of every human culture.
Starting with fairytales from throughout the world, moving through mythologies, to stories of cultural organization in for example: Greece, Italy, Japan, China, Africa, South America… and on into the History of each of these cultures seen through the lives of the leaders and principles for which they stood. The Waldorf Language Curriculum is based in these ideas.
Learning science from the Phenomenological Approach to Learning (which the Next Generation Science Standards are based upon). This means: encounter through the senses, form and idea (hypothesis) about what you experience, test or truth, and form a concept (thesis). The Waldorf Science Curriculum starts with wonder, and love for the environment… it imparts a sense of love and a feeling of security in being on Earth… it slowly dawns that we are in the web of life and share responsibility for all health, ours and Earth’s. An attitude that Earth is a living being who we all love and care for, no matter where we live.
Waldorf Science Curriculum is based upon these attitudes: Math and Engineering exist so that we have a firm basis for ethical activity. Data exists to help us imagine outcome… We need to rely on accuracy and universality as the basic principles of mathematical working. Numbers are a way of expressing basic viewpoints that fuel our values — The Waldorf Math Curriculum is based on these key principles.
3. The child is taught by an active, interested human being who exemplifies the honoring of “Right Action”, Thus the child wishes to model him/herself on this example of a noble human being.
A teacher teaches first and foremost to the cognitive level of each individual child. Asking a child to understand abstract knowledge before they can incorporate it is a violence against human nature. Likewise, asking too late is a way of belittling the growing human consciousness.
A teacher loves the arts as a way of expressing deeper human philosophical grounding. Storytelling, drawing, painting, drama, poetry, opinion articles in major newspapers, best-sellers, etcetera… all inform the teacher in his/her choice of presenting the classroom learning material.
The Waldorf Teacher never looses sight of the seven philosophical core principles on which the Waldorf educational system was built. In doing so, the active learning child grows up feeling seen and honored throughout all his/her growth under the tutelage of his/her teacher.