Steiner schools Education
Te hippy chick hatches a golden egg
In spite of being tainted as a “new age” educational system, Annabel Heseltine finds that Steiner schools have not only survived but are flourishing
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ootball is banned because it uses the head as a limb, which subverts the development of a child. Reading is not encouraged until a
child has turned seven. Schoolrooms have old-fashioned blackboards, instead of the modern white boards, and text books are not supplied as the children make their own. Tis is Steiner, a word which conjures up an education synonymous with the hippy, flower-power age of the late sixties and seventies but in spite of its reputation, it is flourishing in the early 21st-century world of gadgets and IT. In 2007, there were 833 schools globally but now there are over 1,200 signed-up members. Te number of Steiner independent schools in the UK which, it has to be said, has not overly embraced Steiner, has grown from 31 to 33. Significantly, in 2008, Tony Blair granted the first Steiner school in Much Dewchurch, Herefordshire “academy” status with a grant of over £10 million in recognition of its “diversity”. Dr Rudolf Steiner was an innovative academic and philosopher born in Austria, in 1861, who founded Anthroposophy a philosophy, which postulates the existence
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of an objective, intellectually comprehensive spiritual world, which could be accessed through inner development. Central to the core of Steiner education philosophy is the holistic development of the child. Steiner developed his own curriculum using a multi sensory and multi disciplinary approach with a strong emphasis on poetry, music with opera and drama, handiwork and craftwork, dance and a physical movement called eurythmy, unique to Steiner schools. Children are not encouraged to read or write, or do maths until they are six or seven and passing exams is not the be-all and end-all, as Steiner did not believe in placing children under stress. Te success of the school is measured instead on turning out well balanced, all rounded confident individuals with a strong sense of self and self-esteem, with the skills required to concentrate, research and learn. Steiner’s first school was set up for the
children of workers in the Waldorf-Astoria cigarette factory in 1919, but not everybody welcomed his ideas which encouraged independence, freedom of thought and criticised nationalism. During the Hitler, regime his schools were closed and, even today, the Steiner Waldorf Schools
Fellowship, while acknowledging, Rudolf Steiner as its inspiration, distances itself from Anthroposophy. For many, Steiner’s ideas would be too
extreme, with too much emphasis placed on the spiritual. But his proponents argue strongly, that in spite, of not starting a formal education until they are six or seven, and the schools not being “academically selective” , Steiner children grow up “happy children” with a well-balanced education and grounded attitude to life. And most of them will progress to tertiary education and successful careers. Steiner children retain their childhood and “innocence” for longer and some say are a little unworldly, but their “happiness” is especially relevant in the current climate where educationalists are starting to question the value of beginning formal education so young. A 2007 UNICEF report entitled An overview of child well-being in rich countries found that the UK ranked bottom for well-being among the world’s 21 richest countries, using 41 indicators. Although there is no correlation between the UK and the Scandinavian countries who came top of the list, it is interesting to note that these are the countries, Netherlands, Sweden,
Summer 2011 FirstEleven 13
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