# Steiner-Waldorf Education



## Galaris (Sep 2, 2009)

Well, I'll copy from Wikipedia a brief explanation:

_*Waldorf education* (also known as *Steiner* or *Steiner-Waldorf education*) is a humanistic approach to pedagogy based upon the educational philosophy of the Austrian philosopher Rudolf Steiner, the founder of anthroposophy. Learning is interdisciplinary, integrating practical, artistic, and conceptual elements. The approach emphasizes the role of the imagination in learning, developing thinking that includes a creative as well as an analytic component.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waldorf_education#cite_note-Easton-5 The educational philosophy's overarching goals are to provide young people the basis on which to develop into free, morally responsiblehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waldorf_education#cite_note-Hether-7http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waldorf_education#cite_note-8 and integrated individuals,http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waldorf_education#cite_note-Nielsen-1 and to help every child fulfill his or her unique destiny, the existence of which anthroposophy posits.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waldorf_education#cite_note-McDermott_etal-11 Schools and teachers are given considerable freedom to define curricula within collegial structures.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waldorf_education#cite_note-Sturbaum-13_

What do you think about it?

Imho is absolutely awesome :crazy: , and I'll try as hard as I can to get enough money to take my daughter to one of these schools.

My INTP ex boyfriend said that_ it's not an appropiate way of educating children, because it doesn't allow them to keep in contact with the real world and makes them living in a "butterflies, unicorns and faeries" fake reality until they find out it was all a lie and that people sucks and they won't even be able to deffend themselves since they were educated to think and act like little and sweet creatures_ :crazy: 
I don't agree at all. I think that the point of this education is making the child think on his own, then he'll be able to know how to act, how to deal with people and how to deffend himself.


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## lymy (Jan 27, 2011)

I would have to actually speak to my kids about it if I decided to engage in this kind of education system. I cannot see a child who is skeptical, non-imaginative and concrete enjoying this kind of environment. I know I would've probably felt like a complete freak surrounded by those kinds of people growing up. I do agree however that this kind of environment emphasizes beliefs that are not commonly held in the real world, and I do agree that it would cause some integration issues after the child is through completing their education. They would be well-educated and moralistic, but they would also probably be very idealistic and have unreal expectations of how society should be. I could see a child leaving this education system and getting a job at McDonalds somewhere and being crushed by it. However that wouldn't stop me from allowing my child to enter that kind of school _if_ my child wanted to, and I would make a point of having their home-life be a kind of "guidebook" to reality so that any integration issues would be minimized.


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## Galaris (Sep 2, 2009)

lymy said:


> They would be well-educated and moralistic, but they would also probably be very idealistic and have unreal expectations of how society should be. I could see a child leaving this education system and getting a job at McDonalds somewhere and being crushed by it.


I agree, it actually may happen. But that's why I would try to make my daughter more realistic anyway, on my own, apart from the school. I think it's very important; then she'd be a _Waldorf kid_ but also a realistic one; because, in my honest opinion, Waldorf education sometimes takes children apart from the real society and just shows them the nice side, pure and natural humanity, not dirty and corrupted society... And I think that my daughter *has to know about it*, no way, if she finally goes to a Waldorf school or she doesn't, I'm very very very concerned about making her know what reality and society is. I don't want to make her a distrusting paranoid either, just that not everyone is nice and that people usually looks for their benefits, then maybe for someone else's. 



lymy said:


> However that wouldn't stop me from allowing my child to enter that kind of school _if_ my child wanted to, and I would make a point of having their home-life be a kind of "guidebook" to reality so that any integration issues would be minimized.


I think that my daughter would feel really comfortable in a Waldorf school, but of course, if she doesn't like it, I would never force her to do it. It's the worse way, then she'd hate it (Waldorf education, and everything that implies it) or feel insecure because she doesn't like something that I like and try her to like too, maybe she would just accept it, but wouldn't feel comfortable, and imho, feeling good is something absolutely essential for a kid to be in a Waldorf school.


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## Mutatio NOmenis (Jun 22, 2009)

It sounds too soft; like the sort of bunk the parents with the meanest kids seemingly always have their heads full of.


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## vellocent (Dec 18, 2010)

I'm a waldorf graduate. I don't think I could have survived any other education. It makes people well rounded & teaches critical thinking skills from a young age (even if most the critical thinking is directed towards the oddness of the education). It is a great school for creative kids who hate textbooks or other artistically inclined individuals. The only real concerns are needing to really study for ACTs and SATs and being socially awkward in the real world. Additionally, they are somewhat against technology, so any computer related information would need to be taught at home. I am ultimately incredibly grateful to have had such an education.


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