Steiner founded the largest international educational movement in the world – Steiner Waldorf Schools. In Europe he was also the fore-runner of the organic farming movement and was ahead of his time with his ideas on sustainability and innovative social ideas.
The fact that Steiner Waldorf schools still exist, are still changing and developing, and that they are noticeably different from other schools, is a testament to the drive and originality of Rudolf Steiner’s educational initiative.
The 21st century calls for certain changes – we feel this is a task for educationalists, like those of us developing the Fullfledge Vision. We have developed an educational vision based on Steiner’s psychology and the most relevant aspects of the Steiner curriculum. Our attitude is to cultivate a modern and exciting approach to education which serves the child. We will use best practice from mainstream and other educational inspirers, without losing the essence of what Rudolf Steiner brought to the world of education and child development.
A Definition of Steiner Waldorf Education
Rudolf Steiner believed that education should be designed to meet the changing needs of a child as they develop physically, mentally and emotionally. He believed that it should help a child to fulfil their full potential but he did not believe in pushing children towards goals that adults, or society in general, believed to be desirable.
Here are some key points:
- Up to the age of 6 encourage play, drawing, story-telling, being at home, nature study and natural things rather than academic subjects such as reading.
- Teach a child to write before you teach them to read.
- Do not keep changing a child’s teacher: allow one teacher to carry on teaching the same class for several years, to enhance the child’s security.
- Allow children to concentrate on the main cultural subjects one subject at a time – do history two hours per day for several weeks and then do geography for two hours per day etc.
- Find links between art and science.
- Engage with the child and make sure that they are enthusiastic about the material being covered.
- Give a moral lead but do not teach a particular set of beliefs.
- Encourage learning for its own sake, not just work for tests or exams.
It is important to remember that although committed to his beliefs, Rudolf Steiner was also a pragmatist. He made an agreement with the authorities in Stuttgart that his school would not follow the same curriculum as the state schools but that its pupils would be able to transfer from one to the other at certain key stages. He was very rigorous in ensuring that this promise was fulfilled, and modified the work done in the school to ensure that the children had covered the same subject matter, and attained the same skills, as children in other schools at the appropriate ages.
Biography
Steiner was born in 1861 in a small village in an area which is now part of Croatia but which, at the time, was part of the Austro-Hungarian empire. His father was the village stationmaster. He worked his way through the Austrian educational system and by the time he was in his twenties had become an accomplished linguist, classical scholar, mathematician, scientist and historian.
In addition to his academic studies Rudolf Steiner worked as a private tutor, which is perhaps where he formed his ideas about the methods most appropriate for the teaching of children.
He was a prolific writer and lecturer and became a major figure in the German-speaking world of that time.
