Handbook of Research on Waldorf Education

Description

Waldorf Education: An all-round, balanced approach to education that is equally concerned with intellectual-cognitive and artistic-creative learning. A practice- and experience-based pedagogy. Non-selective and open to all children and young people; offering a stress-free, secure learning environment across 12 grades; embedded in a community of students, teachers, and parents. An alternative education that has been successfully practiced for over a century. The first Waldorf School was founded in Stuttgart, Germany, in 1919. Today, Waldorf Education is practiced in all countries and cultures around the world: in over 1,000 schools, more than 2,000 kindergartens, and numerous centers for special needs education. This makes Waldorf Education the most prevalent alternative approach to teaching. And yet, despite the success and (now empirically validated) recognition that Waldorf schools enjoy, the theory underlying them remains controversial. Within the academic debate, Waldorf Education is seen as ideologic and unscientific. This publication sets out to bring clarity to this debate: Renowned researchers explain and discuss Waldorf Education’s foundations in relation to the current discourse on education and core disciplines such as theory of knowledge, anthropology, developmental psychology, learning theory, and the theory of professions. This scientific inquiry into Waldorf Education is breaking new ground, casting light on its fascinating humanistic ideal and holistic potential. Cover Half Title Title Page Copyright Page CONTENTS Introduction 1. Critique [academic criticism] from the perspective of educational science 2. Empirical turnaround 3. Waldorf education in academic context 4. Issues of reception 5. Research colloquium “Waldorf Education and Educational Science” CHAPTER 1: Epistemology Introduction Epistemological Foundations of Waldorf Education 1. Introduction 2. Background in the history of cognition and science 3. Rudolf Steiner’s epistemology 4. Relevance of Steiner’s epistemology in the philosophy of education CHAPTER 2: Anthropology Introduction Pedagogic Anthropology in Educational Science and Waldorf Education 1. On the concept of pedagogic anthropology 2. Problems of classical anthropologies illustrated in the example: “Sensualism” vs. “Rationalism” 3. Questioning the search for “The Human Being”: The emergence of historic pedagogic anthropology 4. Anthropologies in educational science and the study of the human being in Waldorf education: Differences and possible rapprochements Freedom as an Anthropological Perspective: On the Concept of Man in Waldorf Education 1. Historic pedagogic anthropology 2. Waldorf education 3. Soul observation in the work of Herbert Witzenmann 4. Perceiving and thinking 5. Terminology of Waldorf education 6. Summary and outlook The Study of Man and Educational Practice 1. Introduction: Good practice—Anachronistic ideology? 2. Rudolf Steiner’s pedagogic anthropology 3. On the transformation of Waldorf education’s pedagogic anthropology into teaching practice 4. The motif 5. Methodic consciousness 6. Conclusion CHAPTER 3: Developmental Psychology Introduction Attempts to Understand the Development of Children, Adolescents, and Adults 1. Fundamental aspects of an interdisciplinary discourse 2. Developmental psychology “insights” in historic review 3. Possibilities of a critical discourse on the topic “Waldorf education and developmental psychology”: Illustrated by the example of developmental theories Discussion of Rudolf Steiner’s Developmental Psychology 1. The 1980s 2. The 1990s 3. Newer publications 4. Conclusion Approaches to Substantiating the Concept of Seven-Year Cycles of Development in Waldorf Education 1. Introductory remarks 2. The development of the child as the basis for Waldorf education 3. The transition around the seventh year of life 4. Learning in the second seven-year cycle 5. Transition to the third seven-year cycle 6. Summary: The concept of the seven-year cycles as a foundation for education Waldorf Education and Developmental Psychology in Early Childhood 1. The concept of development in Waldorf education 2. The concept of “I” 3. Imitation and modeling 4. Surroundings and the formation of self 5. Connections among the development of body, soul, and spirit 6. The child as co-creator of his/her life world: Development as dialog 7. Attachment research 8. Conclusion The Rubicon as a Developmental Phenomenon in Middle Childhood 1. History of the term Rubicon 2. Child development in the light of spiritual science 3. The Rubicon as a watershed moment in the second seven-year cycle 4. Excursus: The Rubicon and Oevermann’s crisis typology 5. Rubicon—Middle childhood: Perspectives from developmental psychology and anthropology Adolescence and the Findings of Brain Research 1. Introduction 2. Remarks on problems in interpreting the results of neuroscience research 3. Neuroscience research findings relevant to pedagogy 4. Select examples from brain research 5. On the reception of neuroscientific studies 6. Areas of potential discourse 7. Conclusion and outlook CHAPTER 4: Learning Theory Introduction Learning from the Perspective of Educational Science 1. Our learning concept model is imported from psychology 2. Reasons for needing a new definition of the concept of learning from a perspective of educational sciences 3. Five approaches to a new definition of learning from the perspective of educational sciences 4. Reasons for learning: Motivation, interest, relevance 5. Learning—A cultural science perspective, illustrated by the example of learning resistance and equal opportunity 6. Learning and teaching 7. Learning in freedom 8. Learning with the group and against it 9. An educated state of being as a result of learning 10. Human learning: Independent of content or category-specific? 11. Pedagogical consequence: Learning requires meaning and generates it Waldorf Education and Learning Research: Convergences and Differences 1. Waldorf education in the context of different learning theories 2. Learning in the context of Waldorf education 3. Summary and outlook Learning in Waldorf Education 1. Learning theories 2. Rudolf Steiner’s teachings on imagination 3. Disposition and condition 4. Imagination and will 5. Case study: Agricultural internship 6. Aspects of learning 7. “Mother Holle” 8. Summary CHAPTER 5: The Art of Teaching Teaching Approaches in Waldorf Education 1. Introduction 2. Connections and divisions in educational theory 3. The model of main lesson teaching in Waldorf schools 4. Main lesson teaching as performative education 5. Conclusion The Waldorf Curriculum: Curriculum, Teaching Plan, or Guideline? 1. Curriculum and teacher autonomy in Waldorf education 2. Concept continuity and heterogeneity 3. Attempt at defining the Waldorf curriculum in terms of education science 4. The future of the curriculum and of curriculum development in Waldorf schools CHAPTER 6: Theory of Professions Introduction The Professional Image of the Waldorf Grades Teacher 1. Outline of recent research 2. The Waldorf grades teacher from the point of view of professions theory 3. The grades teacher principle 4. The concept of authority in Waldorf education 5. Reflections from the point of view of professions theory 6. Outlook and conclusions Teacher Competencies and Professional Success: Ex-post Findings from Dirk Randoll’s Waldorf Teacher Study 1. Problem, goals, and method 2. General findings 3. Competences and professional success 4. The link between competences and resilience 5. Conclusion The Teacher’s Path of Development: Toward Mindfulness in Education 1. Introduction 2. Personal competences in the education science discourse 3. Anthroposophically oriented education as a path of development 4. Personal qualities and skills worth striving for 5. How to practice? 6. Conclusion CHAPTER 7: Education Science and Waldorf Education/Education Reform Introduction Challenges to Education Science Posed by Waldorf Education as Education Reform 1. Education science—The link among orientational, conditional, and transformative knowledge 2. School climate as a shared orientational pattern 3. Teachers’ mindfulness toward students in Waldorf schools 4. Waldorf education is more than and different from education reform Education Reform and Waldorf Education: Interpreting a Historically Difficult Relationship 1. Introduction 2. Waldorf education and education reform: What they have in common 3. Differences between Waldorf education and education reform 4. Five theses on the relationship between Waldorf education and education reform 5. Constructive forms of future cooperation Central Motifs in Education Reform and Waldorf Education 1. Education reform and Waldorf education: Common topics 2. Essential features of Waldorf education 3. Summary: Waldorf education—A searching movement CHAPTER 8: Waldorf Education and Anthroposophy Education Science and Waldorf Education 1. Waldorf education and anthroposophy 2. What is fascinating about Waldorf education? 3. Points of mutual rejection 4. Possible meeting points How Can Steiner’s Pedagogical Esotericism Be Open for Discussion?: Theses on Avoidable Obstacles to Discourse 1. Obstacles to discourse 2. Esotericism between public discourse and secret space 3. Helpful questions Anthroposophy and Waldorf Education: A Field of Tension 1. The worldview problem 2. Anthroposophy and science 3. Anthroposophy in Waldorf education 4. Epoché or the renunciation of anthroposophy 5. Worldview as a cognitive challenge 6. The teacher’s self-development 7. Conclusion The Anthroposophic Understanding of History from the Point of View of Waldorf Education, Education Science, and History Teaching 1. Problem description 2. The significance of cultural history in Steiner’s time 3. Steiner’s approach to cultural history 4. The importance of the history of culture and consciousness in anthroposophy 5. The background of Steiner’s historical theory 6. The self-location of anthroposophy and Waldorf education 7. History in the Waldorf school 8. History teaching in Waldorf schools CHAPTER 9: Individual Topics Intercultural Education and Waldorf Education: An Inspiring Encounter 1. Starting point and research questions 2. Intercultural versus transcultural education? 3. Objectives 4. Ways of dealing with cultural diversity 5. Goals 6. Interim observation 7. The Intercultural Waldorf School in Mannheim 8. Conclusion Religious Education in Waldorf Schools in the Context of the Current Pedagogical Discourse 1. Introduction 2. Religion between plurality and individualism 3. Current discussions on religious education 4. General religious education in Waldorf schools 5. Perspectives Waldorf Education and Media: Human and Technological Development in Contrast 1. Introduction 2. “A Silicon Valley school that doesn’t compute” 3. Basic questions 4. Definitions of media 5. A phenomenological approach to media 6. Side effects 7. Direct and indirect media education 8. Basic gestures of human development 9. Direct and indirect media education in childhood and youth 10. Direct media education 11. Curriculum for the media form “image” 12. Curriculum for the media form “sound” 13. Curriculum for the media form “script” 14. Curriculum “Understanding electronic devices” 15. Curriculum “Sensible media use” 16. Underlying paradigms 17. Anthropologic media education compared to other approaches 18. Transhumanism and the anthroposophic image of the human being School Autonomy and Collaborative Governance as Constitutive Elements of Waldorf Schools 1. Introduction 2. History of collaborative governance 3. Regional, national, and international collaboration of Waldorf institutions 4. The parents 5. The students 6. Quality assurance tools 7. Conferences 8. The function of internal publications 9. The Association of Waldorf Schools’ Research Institute 10. The funding challenge 11. Republican and democratic 12. Administrative structures 13. Faculty meetings 14. Outlook Epilogue Contributors Index