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This article on the History of Waldorf schools includes descriptions of the schools' historical foundations, geographical distribution and internal governance structures.
In the chaotic circumstances of post-World War I Germany, Rudolf Steiner had been giving lectures on his ideas for a societal transformation in the direction of independence of the economic, governmental and cultural realms, known as Social Threefolding, to the workers of various factories. On April 23, 1919, he held such a lecture for the workers of the Waldorf-Astoria cigarette factory in Stuttgart, Germany; in this lecture he mentioned the need for a new kind of comprehensive school. On the following day, the workers approached Herbert Hahn, one of Steiner's close co-workers, and asked him whether their children could be given such a school. Independently of this request, the owner and managing director of the factory, Emil Molt, announced his decision to set up such a school for his factory workers' children to the company's board of directors and asked Steiner to be the school's pedagogical consultant. The name Waldorf thus comes from the factory which hosted the first school. [1]
The original Waldorf school was formed as an independent institution licensed by the local government as an exploratory model school with special freedoms. Steiner specified four conditions: [2]
On May 13, 1919, Molt, Steiner and E.A. Karl Stockmeyer had a preliminary discussion with the Education Ministry with the aim of finding a legal structure that would allow for an independent school. Stockmeyer was then given the task of finding teachers as a foundation for the future school. At the end of August, seventeen candidates for teaching positions attended what would be the first of many pedagogical courses sponsored by the school; twelve of these candidates were chosen to be the school's first teachers. The school opened on September 7, 1919, with 256 pupils in eight grades; 191 of the pupils were from factory families, the other 65 came from interested families from Stuttgart, many of whom were already engaged in the anthroposophical movement in that city. In the following years, a numerical balance between the factory workers' and outside children was achieved; it had been an explicit goal of the social threefolding movement to create a school that bridged social classes in this way. For the first year, the school was a company school and all teachers were listed as workers at Waldorf-Astoria, by the second year the school had become an independent entity.
The Stuttgart school grew quickly, adding a grade each year of secondary education, which thus by the 1923/4 school year included grades 9–12, and adding parallel classes in all grades. By 1926 there were more than 1,000 pupils in 28 classes. Already, in 1922, Steiner had brought his educational ideas to an English-speaking audience when he delivered twelve lectures at Manchester College at the Oxford Conference [3] on the philosophy and practice of education and the imperative for a moral component. [4] This was followed up in 1924 with a course by Steiner for teachers held at Torquay during Steiner's final visit to Britain. [5]
Schools founded in the first decade after the Stuttgart school include:
A 1928 attempt to found a Waldorf school in Nuremberg met with resistance from the Bavarian Education Ministry, which stated that there was the "no need in Bavaria for independent schools employing novel ideas, especially when they had no religious ties." [6]
The Stuttgart school grew rapidly, opening parallel classes, and by 1938 schools inspired by the original school or its pedagogical principles had been founded in the United States, UK, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Norway, Austria, Hungary, and in other towns in Germany. Political interference from the Nazi regime limited and ultimately closed most Waldorf schools in Europe; the affected schools, including the original school, were reopened after the Second World War. [7]
Three-quarters of the Waldorf schools today are located in Europe; schools are now being established in Eastern Europe, where communist regimes forbade Waldorf schools until their overthrow in 1989. In the English-speaking world, there are about 200 schools in the United States, 70 in Australia and New Zealand, 40 in Great Britain, and 30 in Canada; there are also many schools in New Zealand and South Africa. [9]
Germany, the United States and the Netherlands have the largest number of schools, while Norway, Switzerland and the Netherlands have the greatest concentration of schools per population.[ citation needed ]
All independent schools in Australia receive partial government funding, [10] including the currently approximately 40 independent Steiner-Waldorf schools. In addition, 10 schools administered by the state are currently operating Steiner programs. [11] 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. [12]
A detailed. History of the Australian Waldorf schools has been written. [13]
There are more than 30 independent Waldorf schools in Canada; for a current list see here Archived 2015-09-01 at the Wayback Machine .
State schools using Waldorf-based methods include:
The Chengdu Waldorf School was the first of its kind opened in China, in 2004, teaching about 500 students between the ages of three and eighteen. [14] In total China has about 70 Waldorf schools located in its big cities. [14]
In Finland there are 24 Steiner schools operating with 95 - 100% state financing. [15]
In the mid-1930s, the Nazi government began to pressure independent schools in Germany to conform to National Socialist social and educational principles or else face closure. By 1937, most of the German Waldorf schools had decided to cease operation rather than compromise their approach. In 1941, the last Waldorf school operating in Germany (in Dresden) was closed by the Gestapo, as was the school in The Hague, in the occupied Netherlands. [16]
After the Second World War, many of the earlier schools were re-established, and new schools founded at a rapid pace. A second boom in school foundation took place beginning in the 1970s.
There are now close to 200 schools in Germany.
Milestones in the development of Waldorf education include:
There are 18 Waldorf schools in Russia and 30 kindergartens. [17] There are five Waldorf schools in Moscow, as well as Waldorf schools in Saint Petersburg, Irkutsk, Jaroslawl, Kaluga, Samara, Schukowski, Smolensk, Tomsk, Ufa, Vladimir, Voronezh, and Zelenograd. [17] Some are funded by the government and some are privately funded. The Association of Waldorf Schools of Russia now has 21 members. [17]
Various headmasters, teachers, and schools in Great Britain showed an early interest in the new educational methods; as a result Rudolf Steiner held a series of three lectures - in August, 1922 (Oxford), 1923 (Ilkley) and 1924 (Torquay) - introducing Waldorf principles. A number of groups then formed either seeking to transform their existing schools along Waldorf lines (e.g. The New School, Kings Langley in Hertfordshire) or to found new institutions.
In 1938, a small group of refugees from the Nazis, led by Karl Konig, founded the first school (in Britain) providing special education on Waldorf principles. These Steiner special schools, part of the Camphill movement of communities for the handicapped, spread widely throughout Britain and, later, in many other countries in the world.
From the 1940s to the 1970s, further schools were founded, including
An increase in new schools occurred in the 1990s, continuing today. After repeated initiatives to open a school in London; there are now three such schools:
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. [18]
There are now about 40 Waldorf schools in the United Kingdom, which together make up Waldorf UK, formally the Steiner Waldorf Schools Fellowship.
Milestones in the early years of Waldorf education include:
Three more Waldorf schools were founded in the 1950s, and five in the 1960s. In 1968 the original Association of Waldorf Schools was founded with these twelve schools. Thirty-seven new high schools have been started in the last decade. The growth of Waldorf schools in the U.S. has followed a smooth curve, roughly doubling every ten years. [19]
In the 1990s, the first public Waldorf school was established when a principal of an inner-city public school in Milwaukee became interested in using Waldorf methods. The school is now known as the Urban Waldorf Elementary School of Milwaukee. The next public school to incorporate Waldorf methodology was the John Morse Waldorf Method Magnet School in Sacramento, California. A number of public school systems in other cities, including Los Angeles, have also established public Waldorf schools.
Waldorf charter schools have been established in California and Arizona.
In the 1990s, a Waldorf school was established in the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota as a bridge between the traditional spirituality of Native Americans and modern American society.
The U.S., Canadian and Mexican schools are represented by the Association of Waldorf Schools of North America. Waldorf and Steiner are registered and protected names, and in the United States, the Association of Waldorf Schools of North America (AWSNA) protects this usage. Schools that use substantial portions of the methodology of Waldorf education but are not independent enough to apply all of the latter's principles refer to themselves as Waldorf-method, or "Waldorf Inspired" schools; these are primarily found as charter schools which are part of the public school system in the United States and, as government schools, are not included in the above figures.
As of 2011 there are 44 publicly funded Waldorf schools in the United States; some of these are state-run public schools, while 18 [20] are charter schools.
The majority of Waldorf schools are independent, so each school may have different structures and policies.
As a general rule, however, independent Waldorf schools have been administered through the collaborative leadership of teachers. The primary governing body is thus a College or Council of Teachers working to provide at least the pedagogical direction. In some countries, including the United States, Boards of Trustees are responsible for other aspects of administration, particularly ensuring the schools' financial and legal soundness. A move towards shared responsibility of governance with the hiring of administrators, particularly an Administrative Chair and Finance Chair, who work in conjunction with the Faculty Chair to create the Leadership Team, has seen traction and schools are finding individual balances of structure and governance between the collaborative teachers groups and the administrators. Much of the compliance with legal frameworks and the traditional responsibilities of a Human Resources Department are being shifted to these administrators, along with traditional school needs such as Admissions/Enrollment, systems and protocols.
In the past decade an increasing number of independent US Waldorf schools have been developing more centralized leadership structures modeled along the lines of traditional independent schools, and aligned with NAIS effective practices.
A number of schools in the United States (Waldorf public and charter programs), England (Steiner Academies), New Zealand, and Australia (Steiner stream) have close links with or are overseen by State education authorities.
{{cite journal}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)Anthroposophy is a spiritual new religious movement which was founded in the early 20th century by the esotericist Rudolf Steiner that postulates the existence of an objective, intellectually comprehensible spiritual world, accessible to human experience. Followers of anthroposophy aim to engage in spiritual discovery through a mode of thought independent of sensory experience. Though proponents claim to present their ideas in a manner that is verifiable by rational discourse and say that they seek precision and clarity comparable to that obtained by scientists investigating the physical world, many of these ideas have been termed pseudoscientific by experts in epistemology and debunkers of pseudoscience.
Rudolf Joseph Lorenz Steiner was an Austrian occultist, social reformer, architect, esotericist, and claimed clairvoyant. Steiner gained initial recognition at the end of the nineteenth century as a literary critic and published works including The Philosophy of Freedom. At the beginning of the twentieth century he founded an esoteric spiritual movement, anthroposophy, with roots in German idealist philosophy and theosophy. His teachings are influenced by Christian Gnosticism. Many of his ideas are pseudoscientific. He was also prone to pseudohistory.
Alternative education encompasses educational philosophy differing from mainstream pedagogy and evidence-based education. Such alternative learning environments may be found within state, charter, and independent schools as well as home-based learning environments. Many educational alternatives emphasize small class sizes, close relationships between students and teachers and a sense of community.
People for Legal and Non-Sectarian Schools (PLANS) is an organization based in California in the United States which campaigns against the public funding of Waldorf methods charter schools alleging they violate the United States Constitution's separation of church and state. The group claims independent Waldorf schools and public Waldorf methods charter schools teach anthroposophical content, that this content is religious in nature, and that the schools disguise the anthroposophical content from the public. PLANS filed federal suit in 1998 against two California public school districts, Sacramento City Unified School District and Twin Ridges Elementary School District, to halt the Waldorf methods educational programs implemented in two of their schools. The case was ultimately dismissed on its merits in 2012.
Emil Molt was a German industrialist, social reformer and anthroposophist. He was the director of the Waldorf-Astoria-Zigarettenfabrik, and with Rudolf Steiner co-founded the first Waldorf school. Hence, Waldorf education was named after the company.
Waldorf education, also known as Steiner education, is based on the educational philosophy of Rudolf Steiner, the founder of anthroposophy. Its educational style is holistic, intended to develop pupils' intellectual, artistic, and practical skills, with a focus on imagination and creativity. Individual teachers have a great deal of autonomy in curriculum content, teaching methods, and governance. Qualitative assessments of student work are integrated into the daily life of the classroom, with standardized testing limited to what is required to enter post-secondary education.
In the curriculum of the Waldorf schools, much of the education in academic subjects takes place in blocks, usually of 3–5 weeks duration. Each pupil generally writes and illustrates a self-created textbook representing the material learned in the block. These blocks are supported by on-going classes in subjects such as music, art and crafts, and foreign languages that continue throughout the year.
Rudolf Steiner School Kings Langley was a Steiner School located in Kings Langley, Hertfordshire, England, formed in 1949.
Ernst Lehrs was a German anthroposophist, Waldorf teacher, lecturer and writer.
Titirangi Rudolf Steiner School (TRSS) is a privately funded school with a unique educational approach known as a Waldorf school, situated in Auckland, New Zealand.
Steiner Schools Australia refers to the independent, private body of kindergarten, primary and secondary schools based on the Waldorf education system across Australia. Steiner Education operates in over 50 locations across the various states and territories in Australia, providing educational playgroups, kindergartens, primary schools and comprehensive K-12 school programs. Steiner Education is recognised by the Australian Curriculum Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA) as an ‘alternative’ form of education and operates mainly within private independent schools with a small presence within public schools as Steiner streams. Steiner schools in Australia are represented by Steiner Education Australia, a not-for-profit organisation. Steiner Education has also attracted debate and criticism for its similarities to religious forms of education from the various states and territories.
A number of national, international and topic-based studies have been made of Waldorf education. In 2005, British educational researchers Philip Woods, Martin Ashley and Glenys Woods evaluated Steiner-Waldorf schools for the United Kingdom's Department for Education and Skills. As part of their study, the authors evaluated the state of research as of 2005 and said
Oslo Waldorf School is a Waldorf school located in the Vestre Holmen area in the Vestre Aker district of West End Oslo, Norway. It is an integrated primary, middle and high school with around 550 pupils. Founded in 1926, it is one of the oldest Waldorf schools worldwide. The school is an independent non-profit foundation, receives government funding and is officially recognized under the Private School Act as equivalent to public schools, its diplomas qualifying for entry into higher education and other schools. It is a member of the Norwegian Association of Waldorf Schools. Many of its alumni have been noted in the arts, politics and other areas of society, and include the current NATO secretary-general and former prime minister Jens Stoltenberg.
Wilhelm Ernst Barkhoff was a German solicitor, founder of anthroposophically oriented alternative banking, the GLS Bank, reformer of the German welfare system and inspirer of the movement for Ethical banking.
The Friends of Waldorf Education, referred to as the “Friends” below, is a charity association founded in 1971 registered in Stuttgart, Germany. The association fosters initiatives all over the world for a free education and organisations that work on the basis of Waldorf education.
Ernst Weissert, born 20 July 1905 in Mannheim Germany and died 2 January 1981 in Stuttgart was a teacher, general secretary of the Anthroposophical Society in Germany and co-founder and director of the Bund der Freien Waldorfschulen, the Hague Circle and the Friends of Waldorf Education.
Margaret Cross was a British educator and school principal, a pioneer of Co-education and of Steiner Waldorf education in Britain as well as of Biodynamic agriculture. Together with Hannah Clark she founded the Kings Langley Priory School, later the Rudolf Steiner School Kings Langley, which was closed in March 2019.
Millicent Hughes Mackenzie was a British professor of education at University College of South Wales and Monmouthshire, the first female professor in Wales and the first appointed to a fully chartered university in the United Kingdom. She wrote on the philosophy of education, founded the Cardiff Suffragette branch, became the only woman candidate in Wales in the 1918 general election, and was a key initiator of Steiner-Waldorf education in the United Kingdom.
Violetta Elsa Plincke was a Waldorf teacher and lecturer on education who contributed much to the establishment of Steiner education in Britain.
Johannes Tautz (30 September 1914 in Koblenz am Rhein to 13 March 2008 in Dortmund, was a historian, religious scholar, anthroposophist, author and Waldorf teacher. He concerned himself with a better understanding of National Socialism and with questions of education in the twentieth century.