No, I am not referring to grumpy old puppets that fill the role of the peanut gallery on The Muppets. You may have heard of these occasionally in the media. You may have seen The Simpsons feature one of these schools in a somewhat recent episode. They tend to be associated with the "hippy" culture and are associated with teaching kids anything but English, Maths and Science.
Well, this post should hopefully take some of the myths and facts around the Waldorf system (from here on out, I'll refer to them as Steiner schools/streams to avoid confusion with some schools that have similar names i.e. Walford Anglican School) and take a good look at them.
First off, what the Steiner system actually is all about:
The Steiner system of education is probably a good example of an "alternative education" method and may also be the one likely people will think of when they hear "alternative school". The system is in theory, meant to be more actively tailored towards child development based on a combination of actual research and the theories of Rudolf Steiner, the creator of the system. As kids grow, there are certain behaviours that they will exhibit and thus, the curriculum for that age group is tailored towards those certain behaviours or allows children to relate to other individuals with those behaviours (An example of this would be the tendency for 11-12 year old kids to want to "conquer" everything, so they will study the Roman empire). Steiner schools and streams aim for a more holistic approach compared to the mainstream (this does not mean that the mainstream system is not holistic) and their methods are more imaginative and play-based. This does not necessarily mean that the child is missing out on things that a child in the mainstream would have, but rather that the child in a Steiner system works towards the same goal in a different way. For example, basic maths functions (addition, subtraction and so on) are taught through stories and they are given a chance to practice it through play. Quite a few schools have adopted some play-based elements, but they are not necessarily Steiner schools or using Steiner teachings. The curriculum is also quite broad and does cover a few things that might be skipped over in the mainstream, however, there are also some things that the mainstream will cover that are skipped over in the Steiner system (usually for good reason).
And when I say holistic, children are not necessarily receiving a religious education per se. Rather, holistic is more about covering the physical, intellectual, emotional and spiritual aspects of the child.
So why are they called Waldorf Schools? Is there a difference?
No. The name came about because Rudolf Steiner (a philosopher, architect and author among other things) in the mid 1900's developed his own ideas on education, based on observations of children and their development. Between the 1900's and 1920's, he then travelled around lecturing on these ideas in universities, mostly centred around a more holistic approach to education (instead of just focusing on cramming their heads full of knowledge) In the late 1910's, the owner of the Waldorf-Astoria Cigarette Company in Stuttgart, Germany approached Steiner and asked him about opening up a school in his factory for the children of his employees, based on Steiner's teachings. Steiner agreed and thus the first Steiner school was founded. This is where the Waldorf school name comes from: after the cigarette company.
For consistency's sake, I'll be referring to the schools, system and streams with the Steiner name. This is also partially because the governing body in Australia for the Steiner system is known as Steiner Education Australia. Schools running under the Steiner system either in its entirety or simply offering it as a stream alongside the mainstream children tend to use the terms interchangably, but they're all otherwise the same.
What are Steiner's theories on child development?
See
here. It should also be noted that Steiner had four main criteria for his schools, some of which I'll cover a little further below. These criteria are:
-The school is open to all children.
-The school must be coeducational
-The school is a twelve-year school
-The teachers have primary control over what is taught, rather than the state or other funding sources.
Apart from the last two points (not all schools have the funding to run classes up to Year 12 and most, if not all, Steiner schools take on some funding in exchange for certain requirements, but the funding is minimal [25% govt, 75% parents/school] and the requirements relate to NAPLAN, statistical data and following the curriculum set by Steiner Ed. Australia)
What are the main differences between the Steiner and mainstream systems?
There are quite a few huge differences, aside from the play-based nature in the younger years.
- Perhaps the biggest one is that the children don't actually start formal education until age 7. This is roughly in line with Steiner's theories on child development, some of which seem a little old-fashioned, but are in line with countries such as Finland, who also delay starting school until the age of 7. To cope with schooling law, children from ages 4-7 (they need to have turned 7 before the school year starts) will attend Kindergarten, which is often segregated from the main school for a variety of reasons (this is not uncommon with other schools who have daycares/preschools on site, but Steiner's reasoning on this is to encourage the kindy children to grow at the pace needed, rather than being "corrupted" so to speak by older children). The kindergarten program incorporates circle games, free play, songs, stories and practical activities that still encourage kids to learn, without the formalities behind it. For example, cooking is a common activity in Steiner schools and children will learn about the different grains, fruit, vegetables and so on during this process. This is no different to a preschool or the first few years of primary school.
- Once children do start school at the age of 7, they will then stay with that teacher throughout the entirety of their primary schooling years (this practice is called "looping"). The class will also stay the same where possible. So rather at the end of the year, instead of the children scattering rooms and the teacher staying in the same place, the teacher and students will all move together. Usually composite classes do not exist, but logistics sometimes dictate otherwise and some schools do have composite classrooms (These are typically known as "Class 3/4"). How this works is another matter entirely. Some schools take the looping approach further by setting up entire buildings for each class and at the end of the year, the entire class and teacher simply move to the next building (extra classes not withstanding)
- The other big thing you will notice is that everything where possible is "natural" or organic. There are a few different reasons for this, one of which is encouraging imagination and creativity, but this does not necessarily mean that they are entirely anti-technology or anti-science. Schools are just as likely to have computers for students as they are to have wooden toys. They will use power tools alongside traditional farming tools. They will cook over campfires and also over fully-functional kitchens. Some of the reasons behind the natural/organic approach are also based on the ideal emphasised in children that the world is "beautiful." It is also done in a way that doesn't come across overly preachy, at least to the children. (For example, they may be taught to use chicken/horse poo as a natural fertiliser as it's readily available and decreases waste, rather than being taught that using chemicals is bad). Furthermore, safety is still paramount (so with the chicken/horse poo example, the kids will be wearing gloves). That said though, the classrooms do try and minimise the use of technology where possible (you'll still find an old-fashioned blackboard for instance) and in most cases, children are not introduced to computers until high school (that doesn't necessarily stop them from knowing about this stuff outside of school, but apart from a library search catalogue, most Steiner schools discourage or outright ban students from computer use until high school)
- There is a HUGE emphasis on the Arts across the school and I mean HUGE. Children will cover the entire spectrum of arts and crafts over the years, sometimes as a part of their Main Lesson block (which I will cover in more detail below), but to give you an idea of how this works, all students in Class 1 learn how to play the lyre and pentatonic (Five-note) recorder, Class 2 learn how to play the diatonic recorder (wooden recorder similar to the recorders we've grown up with), Classes 3-7 learn how to play the recorders that we all have grown up with somewhere along the way. but they will extend this to the alto, treble and bass recorders (basically larger/lower-pitched), Class 3 students will also learn the violin, viola or cello, while Class 4 students and beyond are encouraged to pick up other instruments. Older classes will form ensembles and all students participate in regular singing activities. All children will learn how to knit, crochet, weave, do cross stitch, spin wool, wet felt and more and there is no emphasis on it being a "gendered" activity.
- As the schools tend to be smaller, there is a huge community involvement. The school regularly comes together for various festivals to celebrate the seasons or other events (i.e. Solstices, Equinoxes, Easter, ANZAC Day etc.), parents will help out where possible and are encouraged to participate in their child's education. On the other end of the scale, teachers will conduct home visits for the students before they start school to get to know the families and students. Working bees are regularly offered and school fairs are typically held twice a year.
- The school day is also a little different. For the children actually in school, the day usually begins with a Main Lesson, which I will cover in a minute. Between recess and lunch, practice lessons in English and Maths occur (sometimes supplementing the main lesson), along with foreign languages (in some schools this is two languages, most schools in Australia do one foreign language), art and craft activities and generally more "creative" activities. After lunch, the more active classes are taught such as PE, gardening, woodwork and so on. This is usually a case of "where possible" rather than being strictly adhered to, as logistics sometimes dictate this doesn't happen.
- The classrooms are also VERY different, in that there are no smartboards, no iPads, in fact, no technology where possible. I will cover a bit about this in a minute.
- Finally, aside from the curriculum changes, there are two other units that are unique to Steiner education: Eurhythmy and Bothmer. The former starts from kindergarten, while the latter usually doesn't start until Class 4.
So what is the Main Lesson?
The Main Lesson is a block at the start of each school day for students in Classes 1-12. This is where the bulk of the more "traditional" subjects take place and the theory behind this is that the children's minds are most active in the morning. The content of the lesson will depend on a combination of the year level and the point of the year. The areas however, are English, Maths, Science, History, Geography and Civics (with some areas, such as Economics falling under the Maths/Science area). These blocks are taught for around 3-4 weeks at a time and will swap around regularly.
In Australia, as all schools are by law required to follow the Australian Curriculum where possible, Steiner schools were required to also set up a national curriculum that is followed by all Steiner schools or Steiner streams. This curriculum was also required to show where the link was between the Australian Curriculum and the Steiner one, with the main exemption being ICT (and even then, the exemption only applies until Class 8, at which point IT skills are taught)
http://www.steinereducation.edu.au/curriculum/steiner-curriculum/
The Main Lesson topics are listed below:
Class 1: Form drawing (2 main lessons on this), The Alphabet: letters, Letters to Texts, Stories from The Dreaming/Sentences, Ancient World Tales, Local Surroundings x 2, Numbers, Counting and Informal Processes: Grouping, Number Processes x 2.
Class 2: Celtic Narratives, Fables, Saintly Lives, World Legends, Local Surroundings x 2, Times Tables and Number Patterns, Place Value, Magic Numbers, Layout of Sums, Form Drawing.
Class 3: Literature of Creation and Tradition*, Literature of Authority/Rulership*, Grammar, Reading Program, Farming and Gardening, Building, Mathematics Processes and Strategies, Measurement: Length, Weight and Capacity; Measurement: Time; Measurement: Money; Form Drawing.
*-In schools in Australia, this typically manifests in Old Testament stories as it's an easy way to cover both of these areas. To keep the controversy to a minimum, this is covered from the Hebrew/Jewish perspective, God is referred to as "Yahweh" and so on. The children also participate in certain activities from a Jewish perspective i.e. making matzoh. Alternately, other creation stories may come into play.
Class 4: Myths of Northern Europe; Art Science and History of Writing: Pen and Ink**; The Arts of Language and Literacy; Spirituality of The Dreaming; Local Area Mapping; The Local Region; Human Being and the Animal Kingdom; Number Processes: Factors, Multiples, Long Division and Long Multiplication; Fractions x 2; Freehand Geometry and Form Drawing.
**-This is typically around the point that children will receive their first pen. Steiner kids will actually write with a fountain pen given to them where possible, although some teachers will allow students in Class 6/7 to swap out for a rollerball pen. Prior to this, the kids will move from block crayons to stick crayons to pencil.
Class 5: Ancient Cultures: India, Persia, Babylon, Egypt; Ancient Cultures; Greece;*** English Language and Literacy; Indigenous Life/History Geography of the Region and State; Botany; Decimals; Decimals and Fractions; The World of Mathematics; Geometry; Form Drawing.
***-Both of the Ancient Cultures units will be split up to incorporate a Geography and Science unit. In this case, the Science units look at the history of Science and the Geography is along similar lines.
Class 6: Ancient Cultures: History of Ancient Rome; Wonder and Wisdom of Words; English Language and Literacy; Australian History; Geology/Gardening and Horticulture****; Astronomy; Physics: Acoustics, Optics and Heat; Physics: Static Electricity and Magnetism; Business Maths: Percentages and Interest; Number and Algebra; Geometry and Measurement; Geography: Australia and Beyond.
****-This is split into two separate areas, but is counted as a Science unit. Some schools will split the students up for Woodwork as well during this time.
Classes 7-12: At this stage, I won't include them as the majority of schools across the country are K-6 at best, and the streams offered in some schools are K-6 only. If I do get requests to put in the 7-12 Main Lessons, I will.
What else do the students study?
Depending on the school, the other curriculum areas are covered fairly extensively. They are:
-Performing/Visual Arts:
very heavily covered. I've already touched on it above, but students will receive regular lessons in at least Art, Craft and Music, with some schools also taking Drama, Dance and Circus Skills as separate units. Eurhythmy technically falls in here, but I'll cover that separately.
Art is sometimes also covered by the class teacher, as are soft crafts. Some of the areas covered in Art and Craft are very unique to Steiner education or taught uniquely, so I'll briefly list a few below:
Art/Craft: Wet-on-wet painting (diluted paint on wet paper), beeswax modelling, felting (wet), wool spinning, weaving, knitting, crochet, cross stitch, doll making/dressing.
Music is also taught very uniquely. All students learn to sing in a choir and to play the recorder up until Class 7. Class 1 students learn how to play the lyre and pentatonic recorder, Class 2 students learn the wooden recorder, Class 3 students learn a stringed instrument while Class 4 students are able to continue on with that instrument or pick up another instrument. Students may be asked to join an ensemble.
-Design/Technology: This includes woodwork, sewing, metalwork, blacksmithing and bookbinding. Gardening also falls under this subject and is a HUGE part of the curriculum. If you think of the Stephanie Alexander program that a large number of schools run, the concept is pretty much the same.
-Outdoor Education: This is covered fairly extensively across the entire curriculum with camps becoming a requirement from around Class 2 or 3 onwards. More specifically, students may study Cycling, Geology, Oceanography, Botany and Zoology. Take note these are specifically separated from biology.
-Bothmer Gymnastics: This is not a unique form of gymnastics. Rather it's more a bunch of activities around spatial awareness and just developing more movement skills. There are a few other more anthroposophical reasons behind it, but I won't get into those here. The most common form I have seen of this consists of activities with staves and involving children passing the staves to one another or jumping around them. Typically this will start around Class 4 and continue on to Class 9. And yes, this takes up a day.
-Eurhythmy: Hoo boy, where do I start with this one? The simplest way I can describe this is "performance art" or "visual music." That is, it's a visual interpretation of a piece of music. Spoken word Eurhythmy is also performed, with every word, letter and rhythm having their own gesture or movement or similar. Typically, this is a compulsory subject, but due to logistics, this may not always be taught. To get a better view of what it is, have a look at this video
here.
Do they complete the Year 12 certificate?
Yes and no. Some schools do use the IB as an alternative for Year 12 students (as it requires students to have a well-rounded choice of learning areas), other schools prefer to go along the Steiner Year 12 certificate route. The schools in each state may have an agreement with the university/TAFE admissions centres in each state to recognise students who have completed the Year 12 Steiner certificate and grant them an ATAR score. The schools themselves may also provide the students with the option of if they wish to receive an ATAR score or if they just want credit for the subjects they've completed.
It should be noted that part of the Year 12 certificate for Steiner schools involves the student completing a year-long project in an area of interest. Bizarrely, this generates zero controversy compared to when the SACE (SA Year 12 Certificate) introduced this in Year 12!
Do they take the NAPLAN tests?
They are required to provide NAPLAN tests to students, but you'll find that the number of parents who pull their children out from NAPLAN tests at these schools tends to be much, much higher than other schools. The children that are given the OK to do NAPLAN tests are not singled out from their classmates (except for when they go to do the tests), nor is there any emphasis on them suddenly being taught extra skills for them to do "well" on the tests. You'll also find that those families that are OK with their kiddo sitting NAPLAN tend to recognise the value of NAPLAN as being simply a snapshot of where their kid is against the rest of the state/country, not as a tool in the great pissing contest known as parenting.
So if they are not teaching the Australian Curriculum as such, do they receive funding?
Yes they do. However, it is usually found that as the school is self-governed (compared to say, 92% of private schools that are governed by a religious body, 3-5% that are run by a corporate provider* and the remainder are self-governed), the schools tend to receive less funding from the government than say, an elite private school that is really struggling to get that extra bit of land for when they play games against other schools because the other sports ovals are too "weekly" for the away team.
This funding usually comes with the agreement that the school offers NAPLAN, submits various statistical data to the government and falls in line with the approved curriculum.
*-This is for example, a school that is run by a higher ed institution or company.
I noticed the mention of certain religions in the curriculum, is Steiner education religious at all?
No, it is not. While verses from religious texts are sometimes used as part of the morning ritual/circle, the verses in question always relate to the topic at hand (for example, a unit on light had a passage from Genesis read to the students each morning relating to light) and are not emphasised as gospel. The religious verses are usually also balanced out with verses, stories or songs from secular sources (with the light example mentioned above, another passage came from Martin Luther King Jr.).
Where religion is discussed as part of a Main Lesson topic, while the Steiner curriculum does encourage the main lesson topic be integrated into all areas of learning (hence the "holistic" experience), it is made very clear that the students are learning "about" the religion and are not being taught "the religion." Taking Class 3 for example and the Old Testament stories-while at that stage, the students may write about the stories as though they are fact, they are then taught the actual facts relating to the topic in question as they get older (Class 6 covers the birth of Christianity and students in Grades 6 and up start covering science in more detail). Class 5 does delve into Hinduism, Buddhism and even Islam to a mild degree and Class 6 covers Islam in a little more detail (alongside Christianity).
Despite all of this, the school does not have a chaplain (some use the funding instead for a support worker), does not run scripture sessions (unless mandated by law or they have an exemption), does not rely on religious donations to do anything and students of a particular faith are not discriminated against within the schooling environment (given that some schools encourage vegetarianism, this actually eliminates some of the issues around whether a particular student can eat a particular meat or not).
What about public schools with Steiner streams?
Some (not all) primary schools will offer a Steiner stream for interested students. These are usually run in line with Steiner Education Australia (that is, the school is a member and they are bound by their bylaws). These typically only cover the same age groups as the mainstream primary school, but children are not segregated from one another. How schools manage the "Kindy" part of Steiner education varies, so check with the school first. The rules around technology, classrooms, curriculum and looping are all very much the same, however, there is some degree of relaxation to account for mainstreamed children (that is, there's no flat ban on technology across the entire school and all the students are encouraged to participate in all aspects of school life, not just Steiner-only or mainstream-only) and these schools typically network with full Steiner schools.
Some schools with Steiner streams also allow mainstream students to access the same opportunities as the Steiner students in regards to their music program, but this is not always the case, so check with the school first.
Unlike "full" steiner schools however, these students do wear a uniform and the rules around enrolment among other things still apply.
Is there anything else I need to know about Steiner Education before I enrol my child?
-As I mentioned above, students in Steiner schools (not streams) do not wear a uniform. Rather, they will have a dress code. This dress code tends to be the same among schools and is aimed around practicality and comfort, as well as a few extra rules. The main rules tend to be: sensible hair, minimal to no makeup (not even nail polish), minimal jewellery, shoulders need to be covered (that is, t-shirts minimum), the torso needs to be covered (no midriff tops), skirts and shorts are to be knee length and all items of clothing need to have either no logos, emblems, numbers or letters or logos etc. no bigger than a certain size (usually the child's fist). Black tends to be a colour that schools waver on, with schools either banning it altogether, discouraging it or asking that it be kept to a minimum (eg black pants or a black-striped outfit). There are various reasons behind this and I will not get into those reasons. Shoes are usually required to be closed-in (same as any other school). Hats are usually also another requirement, but as long as they're "sunsafe" they're deemed OK (so no baseball caps, but bucket hats etc. are OK). If you are planning on sending your child to such a school, I would strongly recommend stocking up on basic t-shirts at places like Kmart or Big W. They're usually available for around $5 each and come in many colours.
-While these schools have no issues with students who eat meat, to respect all students, most cooking activities are conducted with vegetarian/vegan diets in mind. You are welcome to pack meat dishes for your child's lunch, but please respect their right to conduct a vegetarian activity. Also note that if a school says "DO NOT PACK NUT PRODUCTS", they mean it! Food allergies will still crop up in Steiner schools.
-Your child will not learn to read right away in school. Please respect this, it does not mean that they will otherwise be "late" readers, "slow", "delayed" or anything else. Education is not a race, nor is it a pissing contest despite what so many people will have you believe. There are many famous people who have attended Steiner schools from the get go and have gone to have successful careers in their field.
-How these schools handle disabilities may seem a little off to you at first, but if your child does have a disability, ask the school which outside groups they liaison with (i.e. Novita, RIDBC, Deaf Can Do and so on) for support. Just be prepared though that teachers may not always pick up on a disability at first, so if you do notice something and the teacher does not, be prepared to get outside help.
-Behaviour problems can and do unfortunately occur within a Steiner school. Some schools are great with handling this, others aren't. Just keep this in mind and try not to assume that because it's an "alternative" school, that the kids will necessarily be better behaved. (That said, they do address major issues that occur directly within the school with some degree of grace and respect for both sides, rather than automatically writing off the student who has done wrong.)
-I've already mentioned this, but you will be asked to take a more active role within the school community. Please keep this in mind.
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