Waldorf Education
The Waldorf schools, also referred to as Steiner schools, are schools based on the educational philosophy of Rudolf Steiner, an Austrian educator and formulator of anthroposophy. In 1919, Steiner established his first school in Stuttgart, Germany, which catered to the children of the Waldorf-Astoria Company's employees.
Today, there are more than 1,100 Waldorf schools and almost 2,000 Waldorf kindergartens spread across around 80 countries worldwide. This makes it the largest independent and non-denominational school system in existence. Over 100 years the Waldorf movement aims to enhance Waldorf education for modern times and pay more attention to its global aspects.
Waldorf Education is designed to guide and support children through the natural phases of development, fostering their growth into resourceful, warm-hearted, flexible, and practical adults. We recognize childhood as a journey that requires time for the unfolding of the three soul forces - thinking, feeling, and willing - in maturing children.
The need for imagination, a sense of truth, and a feeling of responsibility these are the three forces which are the nerve of education.”
- Rudolf Steiner
Our school is built on an innovative education approach with teachers united in the belief that education has the power to transform individuals, and we strive to cultivate students who are independent thinkers, compassionate, courageous, and purposeful, ready to tackle the challenges of their time.
Our curriculum content expands with the growing powers of each child, nourishing their inner life through stories from fairy tales, legends, myths, and history, and their outer life with the development of individual and social skills. By fostering a sense of wonder and beauty in the natural world and humanity, we believe we are laying the foundation for a healthy adult life.
Children enjoy an unhurried childhood
Visit any Waldorf school and watch the students play. You’ll see children who delight in being allowed to live in the moment, who are free to explore nature and to go where their wide-eyed sense of wonder and imagination takes them. In our frenetic world, where pushing children to “hurry up or fall behind” has become the norm, Waldorf Education takes the point of view that childhood is something to be savored. By being free to develop according to their own natural rhythms, Waldorf-educated children enjoy full and rich childhoods, gaining the experiences they need to become healthy, self-actualized individuals. Learning is hands-on and age-appropriate.
Computer free education
You won’t find young children hovering around a computer in a Waldorf school classroom or missing a walk in the woods or a trip to the farm in order to sit and cram for a standardized test. In Waldorf Education, learning is an experiential activity. It’s not a matter of doing without certain experiences, it’s a matter of introducing children to each experience at the right time in their development. When it’s time to teach the merits, uses, and hows of technology, Waldorf school teachers do so. And the knowledge, self-awareness, and problem-solving skills children develop through years of hands-on inquiry is of far greater value to them as learners and as human beings than anything they could have picked up by sitting at a screen.
In-depth study enriches learning experiences
The advantages of block learning have long been recognized in Waldorf Education. In their daily morning (or “main”) lesson, Waldorf students from first through twelfth grade spend up to two hours concentrating on one subject which rotates every 3-4 weeks among the academic disciplines. Students have the chance to study each subject thoroughly and from a number of vantage points, which contributes to their enjoyment—and their understanding—of the subject matter.
Students learn how to take an active role in their own education
From discovering the alphabet in the first grade to discovering anatomy, algebra, and history in the eighth grade, and all the way up through their high school studies, Waldorf students take part in the learning process by creating their own textbooks—beautifully-drawn journals containing stories, essays, poems, maps, illustrations, lab descriptions, and math equations. Rather than relying on pre-digested material presented to them in conventional textbooks, the act of creating their “main lesson” books allows children to absorb the lessons their teachers bring them and to make learning their own.
Waldorf schools produce well-rounded individuals
Waldorf educators strive to bring out what lives in each student, but are careful not to overemphasize one trait or skill over another. All students study math and science and learn foreign languages; they all play an instrument and sing in the chorus; they all learn handwork and take movement classes and perform in the class play. The goal in Waldorf Education is to expose children to a wide range of experiences and to develop within them many interests and capabilities. This, in turn, leads to well-balanced young people with high levels of confidence in their ability to apply skills developed in one area to another, and the knowledge that they can master anything.
Waldorf-educated individuals have a lifelong passion for learning
At a Waldorf school, education is not measured by competition and test scores, but is viewed as a life-long journey. And an educational approach that appropriately responds to a child’s natural interest in the world cannot help but result in an intrinsic desire to find out more.
Waldorf schools are sometimes erroneously seen as “art schools” because of the depth of the fine, practical, and performing arts curriculum you’ll find here, woven in an interdisciplinary fashion among all the subjects. Interestingly, however, it’s actually the sciences that have become a career choice for many Waldorf school alumni—an interest developed through years of exploration, invention, and discovery.
Why Waldorf?
Waldorf World List
The Waldorf World List is a comprehensive directory of Waldorf schools around the world. This resource provides valuable information on Waldorf schools in different countries and continents, making it an ideal tool for parents, students, educators, and anyone interested in Waldorf education. Explore the different schools, learn about their philosophies, and make informed decisions about Waldorf education options for yourself or your children. We hope that this directory will help to spread awareness and appreciation for Waldorf education worldwide.
