What makes Waldorf education so enduring and relevant more than 100 years after its inception?
“We shouldn’t ask: what does a person need to know or be able to do in order to fit into the existing social order? Instead we should ask: what lives in each human being and what can be developed in him or her? Only then will it be possible to direct the new quality of each emerging generation into society. The society will become what young people, as whole human beings, make out of the existing social conditions. The new generation should not just be made to be what the present society wants it to become.” Rudolph Steiner (Founder of Waldorf Education)
Steiner’s life work led to contributions in many fields including: architecture, biodynamic gardening, painting, eurythmy, curative education, esoteric teachings, and economics. The connecting link between all of these endeavors is the mission of cultural renewal. The first Waldorf school opened in 1919 which was close to the end of Steiner’s life in 1925. Waldorf education was the crown of Steiner’s life work and addresses the mission of cultural renewal at the most causal level.
If we look at education reforms over past decades, we see that various trends come and go, reflecting shifting perceived needs and values of the times. Often, economic and or political influences play an oversized role. What makes Waldorf education so enduring and relevant 100 years after it’s inception is that the goal is, in the words of the Waldorf educator, Rahima Baldwin Dancy, “not to inculcate any particular ideology or particular point of view, but rather to make children so healthy, strong, and inwardly free that they would become a kind of tonic for society as a whole.” The wonderful holistic, art’s integrated and developmentally appropriate Waldorf teaching methods and curriculum are valuable in themselves, but they take on deeper meaning in the context of this wider purpose.
One of the important reasons for teachers staying with the same group of children for multiple years is to enable the teacher to truly penetrate into “what lives in each human being.” As parents, what lives most especially in our heart is that our child’s teacher really knows our child on the level of his or her core essence. Penetrating beyond outer or superficial personality traits to the deeper essence of the child is an acknowledged and important mandate for Waldorf teachers.
A critical point in the Steiner quote above is that it is as “whole human beings” that the emerging generation is able to bring healthy new impulses into society. It makes a big difference if a child’s strength— be it of head, heart, or will—is fostered in a one-sided way or in a balanced way. It makes a big difference if a talent or gift is fostered in a spirit of gaining a competitive edge or in a spirit of contributing to the good of the whole.
Written by Gesine Abraham 2024
