Waldorf Schools are private, equivocal and non-denominational programs with an art-based curriculum. In 1919, the first Waldorf school was founded by Philosopher Rudolf Steiner in response to the trauma gripping Central European youth following World War 1 (Regeneration, 2017). Due to its unique curriculum, Waldorf schools remain relatively ambiguous to the general public. When first making contact with this pedagogy, people tend to find certain peculiarities within the school that may provoke either admiration or incredulity, as well as sometimes doubts. However, in reality, Steiner’s idiosyncratic approach to education imparts students with an aptitude for learning, and cultivates their intellectual, physical and emotional capacities, including:
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Steiner was devoted to the practice of eurythmy— a system of rhythmical physical movements used for therapeutic purposes. Eurythmy can also be defined as visible music or visible speech, as it aims to animate stationary forms of art like drawing and music. In his book The Balance in Teaching, Steiner states: “When you begin to have the children draw eurythmic forms and then see that drawing, and also writing, are formed out of the will that lives in gesture, you have something that human nature really wants, something linked with its being and becoming” (27). Steiner believed that eurythmy is essentially a series of motions derived from what the etheric body tends to do of itself; therefore, when children participate in eurythmy, they are affected in a curative-therapeutic way, as well as in an educational sense. In addition to the therapeutic benefits of eurythmy, studies suggest that physical activities like eurythmy “Have been shown to stimulate the birth of new neurons in the hippocampus and to pump more oxygen through the brain, stimulating capillary growth and frontal-lobe plasticity” (Cozolino, 2013). Brain plasticity refers to the anatomical phenomenon in which the brain modifies its own structure based on external environmental factors (Society for Neuroscience, 2012). In this case, fluidity, balance and self-awareness …show more content…
In order to foster these internal forces, the Waldorf community disallows any type of hierarchical system. In her book The Symbolic Order of School: Waldorf and College Prep, Mary E. Henry highlights the dissimilarity between the hierarchies of public and Waldorf schools. She writes, “There is no hierarchy and virtually no division of labor in the [Waldorf] school. Teachers and parents and board members act cooperatively. Parents take on administrative roles, and one sometimes finds those administrators acting as teachers; in turn, teachers take on administrative roles” (6). The concept of community at a Waldorf school is understood in terms of cyclic, holistic and personal interconnections, and authority is distributed in order to foster childhood innocence and amenity. Psychologist Rebecca Marcon states: “Learning progress may actually be slowed by overly academic preschool experiences that introduce formalized learning experiences too early for a child’s developmental status” (2007). Non-Waldorf preschool programs utilize skill-based and extensive rote-learning tasks and that are intended to promote brain development; however, these comprehensive methods can actually distort and stunt normal brain growth (Healy, 2007). Waldorf preschools, on the other hand, are strictly play-based and have a calm, uncluttered classroom environment to encourage
Steiner was devoted to the practice of eurythmy— a system of rhythmical physical movements used for therapeutic purposes. Eurythmy can also be defined as visible music or visible speech, as it aims to animate stationary forms of art like drawing and music. In his book The Balance in Teaching, Steiner states: “When you begin to have the children draw eurythmic forms and then see that drawing, and also writing, are formed out of the will that lives in gesture, you have something that human nature really wants, something linked with its being and becoming” (27). Steiner believed that eurythmy is essentially a series of motions derived from what the etheric body tends to do of itself; therefore, when children participate in eurythmy, they are affected in a curative-therapeutic way, as well as in an educational sense. In addition to the therapeutic benefits of eurythmy, studies suggest that physical activities like eurythmy “Have been shown to stimulate the birth of new neurons in the hippocampus and to pump more oxygen through the brain, stimulating capillary growth and frontal-lobe plasticity” (Cozolino, 2013). Brain plasticity refers to the anatomical phenomenon in which the brain modifies its own structure based on external environmental factors (Society for Neuroscience, 2012). In this case, fluidity, balance and self-awareness …show more content…
In order to foster these internal forces, the Waldorf community disallows any type of hierarchical system. In her book The Symbolic Order of School: Waldorf and College Prep, Mary E. Henry highlights the dissimilarity between the hierarchies of public and Waldorf schools. She writes, “There is no hierarchy and virtually no division of labor in the [Waldorf] school. Teachers and parents and board members act cooperatively. Parents take on administrative roles, and one sometimes finds those administrators acting as teachers; in turn, teachers take on administrative roles” (6). The concept of community at a Waldorf school is understood in terms of cyclic, holistic and personal interconnections, and authority is distributed in order to foster childhood innocence and amenity. Psychologist Rebecca Marcon states: “Learning progress may actually be slowed by overly academic preschool experiences that introduce formalized learning experiences too early for a child’s developmental status” (2007). Non-Waldorf preschool programs utilize skill-based and extensive rote-learning tasks and that are intended to promote brain development; however, these comprehensive methods can actually distort and stunt normal brain growth (Healy, 2007). Waldorf preschools, on the other hand, are strictly play-based and have a calm, uncluttered classroom environment to encourage