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Waldorf education
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.
The first Waldorf school opened in 1919 in Stuttgart, Germany. A century later, it has become the largest independent school movement in the world, with more than 1,200 independent schools and nearly 2,000 kindergartens in 75 countries, as well as more than 500 centers for special education in more than 40 countries. There are also numerous Waldorf-based public schools, charter schools, and academies, as well as a homeschooling movement. Germany, the United States, and the Netherlands have the most Waldorf schools.
Many Waldorf schools have faced controversy due to Steiner's connections to racist ideology and magical thinking.[discuss] Others have faced regulatory audits and closure due to concerns over substandard treatment of children with special educational needs. Critics of Waldorf education point out the mystical nature of anthroposophy and the incorporation of Steiner's esoteric ideas into the curriculum. Waldorf schools have also been linked to the outbreak of infectious diseases due to the vaccine hesitancy of many Waldorf parents.
The first school based upon the ideas of Rudolf Steiner was opened in 1919 in response to a request from Emil Molt, owner and managing director of the Waldorf-Astoria Cigarette Company in Stuttgart, Germany. This is the source of the name Waldorf, which is now trademarked in the United States when used in connection with the educational method. Molt's proposed school would educate the children of employees of the factory. Molt was a follower of anthroposophy, an esoteric spiritual movement based on the notion that an objectively comprehensible spiritual realm exists and can be observed by humans, and of Rudolf Steiner, the movement's founder and spiritual leader. Many of Steiner's ideas influenced the pedagogy of the original Waldorf school and still play a central role in modern Waldorf classrooms: reincarnation, karma, the existence of spiritual beings, the idea that children are themselves spiritual beings, and eurythmy.
As the co-educational school also served children from outside the factory, it included children from a diverse social spectrum. It was also the first comprehensive school in Germany, serving children of all genders, abilities, and social classes. At Steiner's behest, the early Waldorf schools were "open to all students, regardless of income. If the parents were unable to pay the full tuition, the remaining amount would be subsidized."
Waldorf education became more widely known in 1922 through lectures Steiner gave at a conference at Oxford University. Two years later, on his final trip to Britain at Torquay in 1924, Steiner delivered a Waldorf teacher training course. The first school in England (Michael Hall) was founded in 1925; the first in the United States (the Rudolf Steiner School in New York City) in 1928. By the 1930s, numerous schools inspired by Steiner's pedagogical principles had opened in Germany, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Norway, Austria, Hungary, the United States, and England.
From 1933 to 1945, political interference from the Nazi regime limited and ultimately closed most Waldorf schools in Europe, with the exception of some British, Swiss, and Dutch schools; the United Kingdom and Switzerland were not occupied by Nazi Germany. A few schools elsewhere in Europe (e.g. in Norway) survived by going underground.
In general, Nazis did not like private schools; however, Rudolf Hess, the adjunct Führer, was a patron of Waldorf schools. According to Karen Priestman, "Although the Anthroposophy Society was prohibited in November 1935 and Reich Education Minister Bernhard Rust forbade all private schools from accepting new students in March 1936, the last Waldorf school was not closed until 1941." This was shortly after especially after Hess flew to England to negotiate peace. The affected schools reopened after the Second World War ended. Some schools in East Germany were re-closed a few years later by the Communist government.
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Waldorf education
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.
The first Waldorf school opened in 1919 in Stuttgart, Germany. A century later, it has become the largest independent school movement in the world, with more than 1,200 independent schools and nearly 2,000 kindergartens in 75 countries, as well as more than 500 centers for special education in more than 40 countries. There are also numerous Waldorf-based public schools, charter schools, and academies, as well as a homeschooling movement. Germany, the United States, and the Netherlands have the most Waldorf schools.
Many Waldorf schools have faced controversy due to Steiner's connections to racist ideology and magical thinking.[discuss] Others have faced regulatory audits and closure due to concerns over substandard treatment of children with special educational needs. Critics of Waldorf education point out the mystical nature of anthroposophy and the incorporation of Steiner's esoteric ideas into the curriculum. Waldorf schools have also been linked to the outbreak of infectious diseases due to the vaccine hesitancy of many Waldorf parents.
The first school based upon the ideas of Rudolf Steiner was opened in 1919 in response to a request from Emil Molt, owner and managing director of the Waldorf-Astoria Cigarette Company in Stuttgart, Germany. This is the source of the name Waldorf, which is now trademarked in the United States when used in connection with the educational method. Molt's proposed school would educate the children of employees of the factory. Molt was a follower of anthroposophy, an esoteric spiritual movement based on the notion that an objectively comprehensible spiritual realm exists and can be observed by humans, and of Rudolf Steiner, the movement's founder and spiritual leader. Many of Steiner's ideas influenced the pedagogy of the original Waldorf school and still play a central role in modern Waldorf classrooms: reincarnation, karma, the existence of spiritual beings, the idea that children are themselves spiritual beings, and eurythmy.
As the co-educational school also served children from outside the factory, it included children from a diverse social spectrum. It was also the first comprehensive school in Germany, serving children of all genders, abilities, and social classes. At Steiner's behest, the early Waldorf schools were "open to all students, regardless of income. If the parents were unable to pay the full tuition, the remaining amount would be subsidized."
Waldorf education became more widely known in 1922 through lectures Steiner gave at a conference at Oxford University. Two years later, on his final trip to Britain at Torquay in 1924, Steiner delivered a Waldorf teacher training course. The first school in England (Michael Hall) was founded in 1925; the first in the United States (the Rudolf Steiner School in New York City) in 1928. By the 1930s, numerous schools inspired by Steiner's pedagogical principles had opened in Germany, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Norway, Austria, Hungary, the United States, and England.
From 1933 to 1945, political interference from the Nazi regime limited and ultimately closed most Waldorf schools in Europe, with the exception of some British, Swiss, and Dutch schools; the United Kingdom and Switzerland were not occupied by Nazi Germany. A few schools elsewhere in Europe (e.g. in Norway) survived by going underground.
In general, Nazis did not like private schools; however, Rudolf Hess, the adjunct Führer, was a patron of Waldorf schools. According to Karen Priestman, "Although the Anthroposophy Society was prohibited in November 1935 and Reich Education Minister Bernhard Rust forbade all private schools from accepting new students in March 1936, the last Waldorf school was not closed until 1941." This was shortly after especially after Hess flew to England to negotiate peace. The affected schools reopened after the Second World War ended. Some schools in East Germany were re-closed a few years later by the Communist government.