Waldorf Education Brings Out the Best in Children
By Cynthia Logan
We all know there is a crisis in the American public school system. While most of us struggle with a system created during the industrial revolution, thousands of proactive families have chosen an alternative known as "Waldorf" education. Founded in 1919 by Rudolf Steiner, an esoteric Austrian philosopher, the method is based on the premise that children are born with inherent gifts, talents and abilities which form a unique contribution to the world community. As the Latin root word "educere" (to draw out) indicates, true education "draws out" those inherent gifts. Rather than filling a student with facts, figures and test-taking strategies, the Waldorf approach encourages imagination, independent thinking and individuality, fostering a lifelong love of learning that fuels a desire to contribute rather than to compete.
Now the fastest growing nonsectarian educational movement in the
world, Waldorf has long been popular in Europe, and has existed
in the United States since 1928. Currently, there are over 150
Waldorf schools in America, four of which are located in the greater
Seattle area. Though the general public is unfamiliar with Waldorf
schools, graduates such as Paul Newman, Joe Namath and Mikhail
Baryshnikov are household names.
The "Waldorf" name came from a speech Steiner gave to
Waldorf-Astoria cigarette factory employees shortly after WWI;
inspired by Steiner's ideas about social ethics and conflict resolution,
the factory owner asked him to start a school for workers' children:
thus, the Waldorf concept of education was created. The movement's
mission has been to promote the peaceful evolution of humankind
by leading children away from narrow interests and toward a broad
worldview.
In addition to focusing on imagination, teaching methods center
around a sense of truth and a feeling of responsibility. Education
is directed not only to the physical being, but also to the emotional,
artistic and intellectual aspects of the soul. Students are personally
greeted each morning with a smile, direct eye-to-eye contact and
a handshake. Early school years focus on fairy tales, myths and
legends, music, art, physics demonstrations, class plays, seasonal
festivals and workbooks written and illustrated by the children
themselves. It is, according to Ronald Kotzsch, Ph.D. (author
of Waldorf Education: Schooling the Head, Hands and Heart) "a
world without exams, grades, computers or televisions." Indeed,
the materials found in a Waldorf classroom seem simple and reflect
a bygone era. Kindergartens typically have simple wooden toys
and plain dolls. "The only thing an intelligent child can
do with a complete toy," says one teacher, "is take
it apart; an incomplete toy lets the child develop his imagination."
Steiner believed in educating the senses, and recognized the sensitivity
of the hands and fingertips. Studies show that "finger sense"
develops overall brain capacity, which is one reason children
are taught to play recorders, stored in cases they have knit themselves.
Working with the hands continues throughout the higher grades,
sometimes at the "expense" of computer skills. But,
as Peter Nitze, global operations director of a high-tech company
and a graduate of Waldorf, Stanford and Harvard says, "If
you've had the experience of binding a book, knitting a sock,
playing a recorder-then you feel that you can build a rocket ship
or learn a software program you've never touched. There's nothing
you can't do. Why couldn't you? Why couldn't anyone?" This
is the spirit that Steiner hoped his schools would support.
Not everyone shares that spirit. Criticisms of the Waldorf method
have centered around the fact that early reading is not encouraged
(proficiency is not expected until third grade) and that students
are not geared towards SAT and other standardized tests. Yet,
when compared to public middle school peers, Waldorf students
soar, reading with a passion that stays with them for life. A
recent study was conducted by three independent scientists, paid
by the Bonn Department of Education. They interviewed 1,460 former
Waldorf students and found "an educational plateau well above
average." Students also consistently perform extremely well
on SAT's, and many enter prestigious universities. And Waldorf,
according to senior Ben Kloeck, "gives you very high emotional
intelligence."
Though some have expressed concern about an underlying "spiritual"
basis to Waldorf education, (teachers study Steiner's "anthroposophy,"
the name he gave to his theories about the evolution of human
consciousness, drawn from anthropology, philosophy, psychology,
science and a number of religions), a number of his beliefs are
now accepted-for example, the idea that all fields of study share
a foundation of explanation. And in the past decade, a dozen public
schools have adopted Waldorf methods in an effort to enliven classrooms
that many educators see as having become sterile job factories.1
In one particularly interesting experiment in Yuba County, California,
the local school for juvenile offenders switched entirely to the
Waldorf approach. Results have been so successful that Principal
Ruth Mikkelsen laughs when she recalls an outside evaluator's
visit; "I was told that my school program couldn't be fairly
judged since it was clear that I didn't have truly problem kids!"
It's these kinds of successes that are sparking the interest of
parents and educators everywhere, as they consider Steiner's succinct
advice, "Accept children with reverence; educate them with
love, and send them forth in freedom."
1. From Atlantic Monthly magazine's reprint "Schooling the
Imagination," by Todd Oppenheimer.
Readers who would like to know more about Waldorf schools may
contact the Association of Waldorf Schools of North America at
916.961.0927, or on the web at www.awsna.org; e-mail awsna@awsna.org.
Schools in the Seattle/Eastside area include:
Three Cedars School in Bellevue
Seattle Waldorf School
Whidbey Island Waldorf School
Brightwater School in Seattle