The Forum of Ideas Virtual Fair: Waldorf
The Forum of Ideas Virtual Fair
As Natural Teachers it is important to become familiar with the most notable child development theorists and philosophies. This practice is designed to strengthen your professional identity as a Natural Teacher.
The Assignment: You are eligible to win a million dollar grant to create your own school or childcare center. Explore the child development theorists and educational philosophies from the Forum of Ideas Virtual Fair. ( Reggio Emilia, Waldorf, and Montessori) Reflect and discover how important developmental theorists are in creating your own philosophy of education as a Natural Teacher.
Rudolf Steiner & Waldorf Education
WHO: Rudolf Steiner is the Australian philosopher, author, social reformer and architect that developed Waldorf Education.
WHAT: Waldorf Education was developed from a way of thinking. It is based on “what it means to be human and inner development”. This is what Steiner called, “Anthroposophy.”
The Curriculum (as described by the Association of Waldorf Schools in North America)
Preschool and Kindergarten children learn primarily through imitation and imagination. The goal of the kindergarten is to develop a sense of wonder in the young child and reverence for all living things. This creates an eagerness for the academics that follow in the grades. Preschool and Kindergarten activities include:
- storytelling, puppetry, creative play
- singing, eurythmy (movement)
- games and finger plays
- painting, drawing and beeswax modeling
- baking and cooking, nature walks
- foreign language and circle time for festival and seasonal celebrations
Elementary and middle-school children learn through the guidance of a class teacher who stays with the class ideally for eight years. The curriculum includes:
- English based on world literature, myths, and legends
- history that is chronological and inclusive of the world’s great civilizations
- science that surveys geography, astronomy, meteorology, physical and life sciences
- mathematics that develops competence in arithmetic, algebra, and geometry
- foreign languages; physical education; gardening
- arts including music, painting, sculpture, drama, eurythmy, sketching
- handwork such as knitting, weaving, and woodworking
HOW: Waldorf Educators “strive to transform education into an art.” Their teachings focus on the Whole Child and are guided by key essential elements.
The Essentials of Waldorf Education (from the International Association for Steiner/Waldorf Early Childhood Education)
- 1. Love and Warmth
- 2. An Environment that Nourishes the Senses
- 3. Creative and Artistic experiences
- 4. Meaningful Adult Activity to be imitated
- 5. Free and Imaginative Play
- 6. Protection of the Forces of childhood
- 7. Gratitude, Reverence and Wonder
- 8. Joy, Humor, and Happiness
- 9. Adult Care Givers pursuing the Path of Innate Developement
WHERE:The first Waldorf School was founded in 1919. Since then Waldorf Education has been widespread throughout the country.
REFLECTIONS: Begin now and explore how to infuse Waldorf philosophy and methods a into your Outdoor Classroom. Leave a comment below and share your insights.
Additional Resources:
- Comparing Preschool Philosophies
- International Association for Steiner/Waldorf Early Childhood Education
- On-line Waldorf Library
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10 Comments
Wow – a teacher who stays with the class ideally for eight years? That’s so interesting. Do Waldorf schools really do this? It must be amazing for that teacher to watch their students grow. How neat to get to know each student and understand their learning style. We had a teacher come teach at our school for a year who was previously at a Waldorf inspired school. She brought so many beautiful songs into our classroom. She would describe their love for nature and toys naturally made. The comment thread on the PBS article..is interesting. I think people need to consider how difficult it is to sum up a teaching philosophy into one or two paragraphs. Explaining each one of these teaching philosophies could become a never ending conversation. There’s so many similarities between the three, in my opinion. One comment on that PBS article stated that a school combining all three learning methods will lose the magic of each method. This is a quote from a commenter “What I learned on that journey was that when you take one part of the philosophy out, or try to merge it with other approaches, it loses its brilliance. Schools that have attempted some sort of hybrid model morph into something entirely different–what some people like to call “Montessomething” instead of “Montessori” schools. Those often look much more teacher directed or much more wild than environments holding true to the philosophy.” It’s interesting, and being in a Montessori/Reggio/Waldorf inspired school, I agree with this statement, but also disagree. It’s something my lead teacher and I have been trying to figure out.
Your reflections are beautiful and incredibly thoughtful. I love that you pulled out the feedback of merging all the approaches. I feel in some ways that I have done this. I do see the point if “losing the brilliance”, however, also give myself permission to allow the philosophy to morph into your own philosophy. I recognize where I am pulling from and am grateful for the educational leaders for their brilliance. As far as a philosophy for a school…that may be different. One might need to choose. Or do they? Great topics for deep conversations.
it seems if you provide a child with love and warmth a child will naturally be creative, use their imagination…I don’t think they need to develop a sense of wonder. It’s natural. Of course as teachers, we can nourish this sense of wonder.
I love this concept.
I think the emphasis on sensory learning is so valuable to our children today; parents are often unwilling/frightened or unable to let their children explore outdoors in a free and unfettered way – as a consequence children are not as able to enliven their senses through contact with the outdoors. A philosophy that puts sensory exploration front and center has to be considered worth exploring as we formulate our own outdoor classroom environments
In reading about Waldorf, it was interesting to learn about the controversial aspects. In terms of the key principles,they seem to me to be fairly universal values .They are close to many of my own. I don’t know that I would be inclined to follow the philosophy.
I love weeding out favorite principles from a variety of theorists and mixing and matching my own philosophy.
As children learn about the world around them and use their sense of wonder, the Waldorf philosophies teach respect and provide a curriculum of “love” which is lost in many children these day where there is a sense of entitlement. Using these philosophies in outdoor classrooms may spark a new outlook in children for the future.
Let me know if you find yourself using any Waldorf philosophies in your Outdoor Classroom experiences. That would be cool to track.
I agree that Preschool and Kindergarten children learn through wonder in living things. They learn through imagination and imitation. Story telling, singing and poetry are important.