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The first Waldorf school opened in 1919 in [[Stuttgart]], Germany.<ref>{{Cite book|title=An Introduction to Steiner Education: The Waldorf School|last=Edmunds|first=Francis|date=2004|publisher=Sophia Books|isbn=9781855841727|location=Forest Row|pages=86}}</ref> A century later, it has become the largest independent school movement in the world,<ref name="Zdrazil2018">{{cite book |last1=Zdrazil |first1=Tomas |title=Lehrerbildung in der Waldorfschule|chapter=Theorie-Praxis Verhältnis in der Waldorfpädagogik |editor1-last=Kern |editor1-first=Holger|editor2-last=Zdrazil |editor2-first=Tomas |editor3-last= Götte|editor3-first=Wenzel Michael|date=2018 |publisher=Juventa |location=Weinheim, DE |isbn=9783779938293 |page=34}}</ref> with more than 1,200 independent schools and nearly 2,000 kindergartens in 75 countries,<ref name=schulliste>{{cite web|url=http://www.freunde-waldorf.de/fileadmin/user_upload/images/Waldorf_World_List/Waldorf_World_List.pdf|title=Statistics for Waldorf schools worldwide|access-date=2 May 2013|archive-date=12 December 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191212024849/https://www.freunde-waldorf.de/fileadmin/user_upload/images/Waldorf_World_List/Waldorf_World_List.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref> as well as more than 500 centers for [[special education]] in more than 40 countries.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.freunde-waldorf.de/die-freunde/buecher-und-magazine/waldorfpaedagogik-weltweit/teil-1/heilpaedagogik-und-sozialtherapie/ |title=Freunde der Erziehungskunst Rudolf Steiners |access-date=10 February 2021 |archive-date=10 February 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210210082908/https://www.freunde-waldorf.de/die-freunde/buecher-und-magazine/waldorfpaedagogik-weltweit/teil-1/heilpaedagogik-und-sozialtherapie/ |url-status=live }}</ref> There are also numerous Waldorf-based [[public education|public schools]],<ref>J. Vasagard, [https://www.theguardian.com/education/2012/may/25/steiner-state-funded-free-schools "A different class: the expansion of Steiner schools"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170202140045/https://www.theguardian.com/education/2012/may/25/steiner-state-funded-free-schools |date=2 February 2017 }}, Guardian 25 May 2012</ref> [[charter school]]s, and [[Academy (English school)|academies]], as well as a [[homeschooling]] movement.<ref>M. L. Stevens, "The Normalisation of Homeschooling in the USA", ''Evaluation & Research in Education'' Volume 17, Issue 2–3, 2003, pp. 90–100</ref> [[Germany]], the [[United States]], and the [[Netherlands]] have the most Waldorf schools.<ref name=schulliste/>
Many Waldorf schools have faced controversy due to [[Rudolf Steiner and race|Steiner's connections to racist ideology]]<ref name=BBC/><ref name="Capital-Star 2020 s288">{{cite web | author=Special to the Capital-Star | title=Concerned parents speak up about racism, discrimination at Waldorf School of Philadelphia • Pennsylvania Capital-Star | website=Pennsylvania Capital-Star | date=16 August 2020 | url=https://penncapital-star.com/education/concerned-parents-speak-up-about-racism-discrimination-at-waldorf-school-of-philadelphia/ | access-date=12 March 2024 | archive-date=12 March 2024 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240312010625/https://penncapital-star.com/education/concerned-parents-speak-up-about-racism-discrimination-at-waldorf-school-of-philadelphia/ | url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Staufenberg 2020 t657">{{cite web | last=Staufenberg | first=Jess | title=Steiner schools chief: what my time in prisons taught me about the UK's education mistakes | website=the Guardian | date=23 June 2020 | url=https://www.theguardian.com/education/2020/jun/23/steiner-chief-what-my-time-in-prisons-taught-me-about-the-uks-education-mistakes | access-date=12 March 2024 | archive-date=31 May 2024 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240531093738/https://www.theguardian.com/education/2020/jun/23/steiner-chief-what-my-time-in-prisons-taught-me-about-the-uks-education-mistakes | url-status=live }}</ref> and [[magical thinking]].{{discuss}} Others have faced regulatory audits and closure due to concerns over substandard treatment of children with special educational needs.<ref name="Bellano 2015 r453">{{cite web | last=Bellano | first=Anthony | title=Waldorf School in Princeton Must Pay $58,000 in Discrimination Suit: AG | website=Princeton, NJ Patch | date=21 December 2015 | url=https://patch.com/new-jersey/princeton/waldorf-school-princeton-must-pay-58000-discrimination-suit-ag-0 | access-date=8 April 2024 | archive-date=8 April 2024 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240408210210/https://patch.com/new-jersey/princeton/waldorf-school-princeton-must-pay-58000-discrimination-suit-ag-0 | url-status=live }}</ref> Critics of Waldorf education point out the mystical nature of [[anthroposophy]] and the incorporation of Steiner's esoteric ideas into the curriculum.<ref name="Quackwatch">{{cite web |last1=Rawlings |first1=Roger |title=My Experience As a Waldorf Student |url=https://quackwatch.org/consumer-education/waldorf/ |access-date=9 August 2022 |date=14 February 2007 |archive-date=9 August 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220809221728/https://quackwatch.org/consumer-education/waldorf/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Beckner |first1=Chrisianne |title=SN&R |url=https://www.newsreview.com/sacramento/content/schooled-in-spirituality/33641/ |access-date=9 August 2022 |work=Sacramento News & Review |date=7 July 2005 |language=en |archive-date=9 August 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220809221728/https://www.newsreview.com/sacramento/content/schooled-in-spirituality/33641/ |url-status=live }}</ref> Waldorf schools have also been linked to the outbreak of infectious diseases due to the vaccine hesitancy of many Waldorf parents.<ref>{{Cite news|last=de Freytas-Tamura|first=Kimiko|date=2019-06-13|title=Bastion of Anti-Vaccine Fervor: Progressive Waldorf Schools|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/13/nyregion/measles-outbreak-new-york.html|access-date=2022-01-28|issn=0362-4331|archive-date=28 January 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220128195748/https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/13/nyregion/measles-outbreak-new-york.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=Francisco|first=Carol Pogash in San|date=2019-05-28|title=As anti-vaxx dispute rages, attention turns to California's Waldorf schools|url=http://www.theguardian.com/society/2019/may/28/anti-vaxx-california-waldorf-schools-immunisation|access-date=2022-01-28|website=The Guardian|archive-date=31 May 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240531093739/https://www.theguardian.com/society/2019/may/28/anti-vaxx-california-waldorf-schools-immunisation|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="riskfac">{{Cite journal |last=Ernst |first=Edzard |date=March 2011 |title=Anthroposophy: A Risk Factor for Noncompliance With Measles Immunization |url=https://journals.lww.com/pidj/Fulltext/2011/03000/Anthroposophy__A_Risk_Factor_for_Noncompliance.2.aspx |journal=The Pediatric Infectious Disease Journal |volume=30 |issue=3 |pages=187–189 |doi=10.1097/INF.0b013e3182024274 |pmid=21102363 |issn=0891-3668 |access-date=28 January 2022 |archive-date=28 January 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220128200734/https://journals.lww.com/pidj/Fulltext/2011/03000/Anthroposophy__A_Risk_Factor_for_Noncompliance.2.aspx |url-status=live }}</ref>
==Origins and history==
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As the co-educational school also served children from outside the factory, it included children from a diverse social spectrum. It was also the first [[comprehensive school]] in Germany, serving children of all genders, abilities, and social classes.<ref name="Hemleben">{{cite book |last1=Hemleben |first1=Johannes |title=Rudolf Steiner : a documentary biography |date=1975 |publisher=Henry Goulden Ltd |location=East Grinstead |isbn=0-904822-02-8 |pages=121–126}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=Basiswissen Pädagogik. Reformpädagogische Schulkonzepte Band 6: Waldorf-Pädagogik|year=2002|publisher=Schneider Verlag Hohengehren|location=Baltmannsweiler|isbn=978-3-89676503-1|author=Heiner Ullrich|author-link=Reformpädagogische Schulkultur mit weltanschaulicher Prägung – Pädagogische Prinzipien und Formen der Waldorfschule|editor=[[Inge Hansen-Schaberg]], Bruno Schonig}}</ref><ref name=Barnes>{{cite journal|last=Barnes|first=Henry|title=An Introduction to Waldorf Education|journal=Teachers College Record|year=1980|volume=81|issue=3|pages=323–336|doi=10.1177/016146818008100301|s2cid=246490715}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last=Reinsmith|first=William A.|title=The Whole in Every Part: Steiner and Waldorf Schooling|journal=The Educational Forum|date=31 March 1990|volume=54|issue=1|pages=79–91|doi=10.1080/00131728909335521}}</ref> At Steiner's behest, the early Waldorf schools were "open to all students, regardless of income. If the parents were unable to pay the full tuition, the remaining amount would be subsidized."<ref name=Priestman/>
Waldorf education became more widely known in 1922 through lectures Steiner gave at a conference at [[Oxford University]].<ref>{{cite journal |last= Paull |first= John |date= 2016 |title= The Anthroposophic Art of Ernesto Genoni, Goetheanum, 1924 |url= https://orgprints.org/id/eprint/30695/1/Paull2016.AnthroArt.JO3(2).pdf |journal= Journal of Organics |volume= 3 |issue= 2 |pages= 1–24 |accessdate= 2023-03-01 |archive-date= 1 March 2023 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20230301124055/https://orgprints.org/id/eprint/30695/1/Paull2016.AnthroArt.JO3(2).pdf |url-status= live }}</ref> Two years later, on his final trip to Britain at [[Torquay]] in 1924, Steiner delivered a Waldorf teacher training course.<ref name="Torquay">{{cite journal |last1=Paull |first1=John |title=Torquay: In the footsteps of Rudolf Steiner |journal=Journal of Biodynamics Tasmania |date=15 March 2018 |volume=125 |pages=26–31 |url=https://orgprints.org/id/eprint/33056/ |access-date=22 August 2022 |language=en |archive-date=22 August 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220822213149/https://orgprints.org/id/eprint/33056/ |url-status=live }}</ref> The first school in England ([[Michael Hall (school)|Michael Hall]]) was founded in 1925; the first in the United States (the Rudolf Steiner School in New York City) in 1928. By the 1930s, numerous schools inspired by Steiner's pedagogical principles had opened in Germany, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Norway, Austria, Hungary, the United States, and England.<ref>{{cite web |title=Waldorf Schools' Expansion |url=http://www.freunde-waldorf.de/en/the-friends/publications/waldorf-education-worldwide/teil-1/waldorf-education-expansion-in-the-twentieth-century.html |archive-date=14 August 2021|publisher=Friends of Waldorf education|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210814081920/https://www.freunde-waldorf.de/en/the-friends/publications/waldorf-education-worldwide/teil-1/waldorf-education-expansion-in-the-twentieth-century/}}</ref>
From 1933 to 1945, political interference from the [[Nazi]] regime limited and ultimately closed most Waldorf schools in Europe, with the exception of some British, Swiss, and Dutch schools (UK and Switzerland did not get occupied by Nazi Germany). [[Rudolf Hess]], the adjunct Führer, was a patron of Waldorf schools.<ref name="Douglas-Hamilton 2012 p. 106">{{cite book | last=Douglas-Hamilton | first=James | title=The Truth About Rudolf Hess | publisher=Mainstream Publishing | year=2012 | isbn=978-1-78057-791-3 | chapter=1 Turmoil at the Dictator’s Court: 11 May 1941 | chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=J5SyahCctVsC&pg=PT106 | access-date=2 October 2022 | page=unpaginated | quote=Organisations which Hess had supported, such as the Rudolf Steiner schools, were closed down. | archive-date=31 May 2024 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240531093739/https://books.google.com/books?id=J5SyahCctVsC&pg=PT106#v=onepage&q&f=false | url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Rieppel 2016 p. 246">{{cite book | last=Rieppel | first=Olivier | title=Phylogenetic Systematics: Haeckel to Hennig | publisher=CRC Press | year=2016 | isbn=978-1-4987-5489-7 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vgN-DwAAQBAJ&pg=PA246 | access-date=3 October 2022 | page=246 | quote=Although in his reply, Himmler pretended to share Astel's assessment of anthroposophy as a dangerous movement, he admitted to be unable to do anything about the school of Rudolf Steiner because Rudolf Hess supported and protected it. | archive-date=31 May 2024 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240531093740/https://books.google.com/books?id=vgN-DwAAQBAJ&pg=PA246#v=onepage&q&f=false | url-status=live }}</ref> Nazis did not like private schools,{{sfn|Staudenmaier|2014|p=111}} especially after Hess flew to England.<ref name="Douglas-Hamilton 2012 p. 106"/><ref name="Rieppel 2016 p. 246"/> According to Karen Priestman, "Although the Anthroposophy Society was prohibited in November 1935 and Reich Education Minister Bernhard Rust forbade all private schools from accepting new students in March 1936, the last Waldorf school was not closed until 1941."<ref name=Priestman>{{cite thesis |last1=Priestman |first1=Karen |date=2009 |title=Illusion of Coexistence: The Waldorf Schools in the Third Reich, 1933–1941 |type=PhD dissertation |publisher=Wilfrid Laurier University |url=https://scholars.wlu.ca/etd/1080/ |access-date=16 March 2023 |isbn=978-0-494-54260-6 |archive-date=16 March 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230316023639/https://scholars.wlu.ca/etd/1080/ |url-status=live }}</ref> The affected schools reopened after the [[Second World War]] ended.<ref name="Uncommon">{{cite journal|first=P. Bruce|last=Uhrmacher|year=1995|title=Uncommon Schooling: A Historical Look at Rudolf Steiner, Anthroposophy, and Waldorf Education|journal=Curriculum Inquiry|volume=25|issue=4|pages=381–406|jstor=1180016|doi=10.2307/1180016}}</ref> A few schools elsewhere in Europe (e.g. in Norway) survived by going underground.<ref>{{cite web |title=History of the Norwegian schools |url=http://www.freunde-waldorf.de/en/the-friends/publications/waldorf-education-worldwide/teil-2/norway.html |website=Freunde Waldorf|archive-date=24 September 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924015555/http://www.freunde-waldorf.de/en/the-friends/publications/waldorf-education-worldwide/teil-2/norway.html}}</ref> Some schools in [[East Germany]] were re-closed a few years later by the [[Communism|Communist]] [[Politics of East Germany|government]].<ref>E.g. Waldorf schools in East Germany were closed by the DDR educational authorities, who justified this as follows: the pedagogy was based on the needs of children, rather than on the needs of society, was too pacifistic, and had failed to structure itself according to pure Marxist-Leninist principles.[http://www.waldorfschule-dresden.de.srv1.bk-provider.de/Historie.14.0.html "Die Geschichte der Dresdner Waldorfschule"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171116030006/http://www.waldorfschule-dresden.de.srv1.bk-provider.de/Historie.14.0.html |date=16 November 2017 }}</ref>
In North America in 1967, there were nine schools in the United States and one in Canada.<ref>The schools founded by 1967 were: [[Detroit Waldorf School]], Green Meadow Waldorf School, High Mowing School, Highland Hall Waldorf School, Honolulu Waldorf School, Kimberton Waldorf School, Rudolf Steiner School of New York City, Sacramento Waldorf School, Waldorf School of Garden City.[http://www.whywaldorfworks.org/05_FindASchool/ AWSNA list of schools with dates of founding] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130321223002/http://www.whywaldorfworks.org/05_FindASchool/ |date=21 March 2013 }}</ref><ref>Founded in 1968, Toronto Waldorf School was the first Waldorf school in Canada.[http://www.torontowaldorfschool.com/about_TWS/TWS_history/index.php History of the Toronto Waldorf School] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141015055121/http://www.torontowaldorfschool.com/about_TWS/TWS_history/index.php |date=15 October 2014 }}</ref> As of 2021, that number had increased to more than 200 in the United States and over 20 in Canada.<ref name=schulliste/><ref name=charters/><ref name=NYT/><ref>[http://www.waldorf.ca/index.cfm?PAGEPATH=&ID=19487 Waldorf Schools in Canada | Waldorf ca] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140104054423/http://www.waldorf.ca/index.cfm?PAGEPATH=&ID=19487 |date=4 January 2014}}</ref> There are currently 29 Steiner schools in the United Kingdom and three in the [[Republic of Ireland]].<ref>Steiner Waldorf Schools Foundation, [http://www.steinerwaldorf.org/_listofsteinerschools.html List of Steiner schools] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140104211009/http://www.steinerwaldorf.org/_listofsteinerschools.html |date=4 January 2014 }}</ref>
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===Early childhood===
In Waldorf pedagogy, young children learn best through immersion in
Waldorf [[preschool]]s employ a regular daily routine that includes free play, artistic work (e.g. drawing, painting or modeling), [[circle time]] (songs, games, and stories), outdoor recess,<ref name=UllrichRS/>{{rp|125}} and practical tasks (e.g. cooking, cleaning, and gardening), with rhythmic variations.<ref>{{cite book|last=Taplin|first=Jill Tina|title=Theories and Approaches to Learning in the Early Years|year=2010|publisher=SAGE Publications|page=92|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eM4SQbEh7oMC|chapter=Steiner Waldorf Early Childhood Education: Offering a Curriculum for the 21st Century|editor=Linda Miller, Linda Pound|access-date=29 April 2013|isbn=9781849205788|archive-date=14 August 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210814081916/https://books.google.com/books?id=eM4SQbEh7oMC|url-status=live}}</ref> Rhythm and repetitive patterns are considered important in anthroposophy and are believed to hold spiritual significance.<ref name=Uhr/><ref>{{cite web |title=Eighteen year rhythm – Anthroposophy |url=https://anthroposophy.eu/Eighteen_year_rhythm |website=anthroposophy.eu |access-date=20 August 2022 |archive-date=20 August 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220820181039/https://anthroposophy.eu/Eighteen_year_rhythm |url-status=live }}</ref> The classroom is intended to resemble a home, with tools and toys usually sourced from simple, natural materials that lend themselves to imaginative play.<ref name="Edwards">{{cite journal|last1=Edwards|first1=Carolyn Pope|title=Three Approaches from Europe: Waldorf, Montessori, and Reggio Emilia|journal=Early Childhood Research & Practice|date=Spring 2002|volume=4|issue=1|url=http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1001&context=famconfacpub|access-date=19 January 2007|archive-date=24 March 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070324172802/http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1001&context=famconfacpub|url-status=live}}</ref> The use of natural materials has been praised as fulfilling children's aesthetic needs and reinforcing connections to nature,<ref name="Edwards"/><ref>{{cite book|last1=Hutchison|first1=David C.|title=A Natural History of Place in Education|url=https://archive.org/details/naturalhistorypl00hutc|url-access=limited|date=2004|publisher=Teachers College Press|location=New York, NY|isbn=978-0807744703|page=[https://archive.org/details/naturalhistorypl00hutc/page/n106 92]}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1=Nicol|first1=Janni|last2=Taplin| first2=Jill|title=Understanding the Steiner Waldorf Approach: Early Years Education in Practice|date=2012|publisher=Routledge|isbn=9780415597166|page=49}}</ref><ref>Ann Gordon and Kathryn Browne, ''Beginnings & Beyond: Foundations in Early Childhood Education''.</ref> though some scholars have questioned whether the preference for natural, non-manufactured materials is truly a "reasoned assessment of twenty-first century children's needs", rather than "a reaction against the dehumanizing aspects of nineteenth-century industrialization".<ref name="Siraj-BlatchfordWhitebread2003"/>
Pre-school and kindergarten programs generally include seasonal festivals drawn from a variety of traditions, with attention placed on traditions brought forth from the surrounding community.<ref>Henk van Oort (2011), "Religious education", ''Anthroposophy A-Z: A Glossary of Terms Relating to Rudolf Steiner's spiritual philosophy'' {{ISBN|9781855842649}}. p. 99.</ref> Waldorf schools in the [[Western Hemisphere]] have traditionally celebrated Christian festivals,<ref name="IO">Ida Oberman, [http://eric.ed.gov/ERICWebPortal/detail?accno=ED409108 "Waldorf History: Case Study of Institutional Memory"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210814081918/https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED409108 |date=14 August 2021 }}, Paper presented to Annual Meeting of the American Education Research Association, 24–28 March 1997, published US Department of Education – Educational Resources Information Center (ERIC).</ref> though one source states that some North American Waldorf schools also include Jewish holidays.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Willis |first1=Peter |last2=Neville |first2=Bernie |title=Qualitative Research Practice in Adult Education |date=1996 |publisher=University of South Australia, Centre for Research in Education Equity and Work |isbn=1-86355-056-9 |pages=103, 362 |url=https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED477245 |access-date=29 October 2021 |archive-date=29 October 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211029133119/https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED477245 |url-status=live }}</ref>
Waldorf kindergarten and lower grades generally discourage pupils' use of electronic media such as television and computers.<ref name=TheAtlantic/> There are a variety of reasons for this: Waldorf educators believe that use of these conflicts with young children's developmental needs,<ref name=woods_forum>{{cite journal|last=Woods|first=Philip A.|author2=Glenys J. Woods |title=In Harmony with the Child: the Steiner teacher as a co-leader in a pedagogical community|journal=FORUM |year=2006|volume=48|issue=3|page=319|doi=10.2304/forum.2006.48.3.317}}</ref> media users may be physically inactive, and media may be seen to contain inappropriate or undesirable content and to hamper the imagination.<ref name=Thomas>R. Murray Thomas, "Levels in education practice", In ''Encyclopedia of Education and Human Development'', Farenga and Ness (eds.). M. E. Sharpe 2005 {{ISBN|9780765621085}}. p. 624.</ref>
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| year = 1999
| quote =In individuals the temperaments are mixed in the most diverse ways, so that it is possible only to say that one temperament or another predominates in certain traits. Temperament inclines toward the individual, thus making people different, and on the other hand joins individuals together in a group so proving that it has something to do both with the innermost essence of the human being and with universal human nature.
}}</ref> Steiner indicated that teaching should be differentiated to accommodate the different needs that these "types" represent.<ref name=autogenerated4>{{cite book|last=Ullrich|first=Heiner|title=Rudolf Steiner|year=2008|publisher=Continuum|location=London}}</ref> For example, Anthroposophists believe "cholerics are risk takers, phlegmatics take things calmly, melancholics are sensitive or introverted, and sanguines take things lightly".<ref name=Woods/>{{rp|18}} Steiner also believed that teachers must consider their own temperament and be prepared to work with it positively in the classroom,<ref name="Stehlik">{{cite book|first=Tom|last=Stehlik|title=Thinking, Feeling, and Willing: How Waldorf Schools Provide a Creative Pedagogy That Nurtures and Develops Imagination. In Leonard, Timothy and Willis, Peter, ''Pedagogies of the Imagination: Mythopoetic Curriculum in Educational Practice''|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FBCnQx-kaK8C&pg=PA232|access-date=10 January 2013|year=2008|publisher=Springer|isbn=978-1-4020-8350-1|page=232|archive-date=17 January 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160117092450/https://books.google.com/books?id=FBCnQx-kaK8C&pg=PA232|url-status=live}}</ref> that temperament is emergent in children,<ref name=Uncommon /> and that most people express a combination of temperaments rather than a pure single type.<ref name="grant1999"/> No evidence exists for such "personality types" to be consistent in an individual across time or context,<ref name="SciencePseudosciencePersonality">{{cite book |last1=Lilienfeld |first1=Scott O. |last2=Lynn |first2=Steven Jay |last3=Lohr |first3=Jeffrey M. |title=Science and pseudoscience in clinical psychology |date=2015 |publisher=The Guilford Press |location=New York |isbn=978-1462517893 |pages=205–239 |edition=Second}}</ref><ref name="Discover">{{cite news |last1=Feerick |first1=Jack |title=Humoural [sic] Theory: Inside the Strange Pseudoscience That Dominated Western Medicine for 2,000 Years |url=https://www.discovermagazine.com/the-sciences/humoural-theory-inside-the-strange-pseudoscience-that-dominated-western |access-date=20 August 2022 |work=Discover Magazine |date=16 December 2020 |language=en |archive-date=12 August 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220812214803/https://www.discovermagazine.com/the-sciences/humoural-theory-inside-the-strange-pseudoscience-that-dominated-western |url-status=live }}</ref> nor that such "types" are useful in providing more effective education.<ref name="NeuroscienceinEducation">{{cite book |title=Neuroscience in Education: The good, the bad, and the ugly |chapter=12 Neuroscience, education and educational efficacy research
Today, Waldorf teachers may work with these pseudoscientific "temperaments" to design instruction for each student. Seating arrangements and class activities may take into account the supposed temperaments of students but this is often not described to parents, students, or observers.<ref name="Whedon2007">{{cite book|author=Sarah W. Whedon|title=Hands, Hearts, and Heads: Childhood and Esotericism in American Waldorf Education|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zC8rtOJjRp8C&pg=PP1|access-date=6 December 2012|year=2007|publisher=University of California, Santa Barbara |isbn=978-0-549-26917-5|archive-date=11 October 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131011093728/http://books.google.com/books?id=zC8rtOJjRp8C&pg=PP1|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Woods|first=Philip A.|title=Steiner Schools in England|year=2005|publisher=UK Department for Education and Skills (DfES)|author2=Martin Ashley |author3=Glenys Woods |pages=89–90|quote=For example, melancholic children like sitting together because they are unlikely to be annoyed or disturbed by their neighbors. Livelier temperaments such as sanguine or choleric are said to be likely to rub their liveliness off on each other and calm down of their own accord. Little evidence of this aspect of practice was immediately apparent to outside observers, and teachers did not readily volunteer to talk about it.}}</ref>
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===Curriculum===
{{Further|Curriculum of the Waldorf schools}}
Though Waldorf schools are autonomous institutions not required to follow a prescribed curriculum (beyond what is required by
Main academic subjects are introduced through two-hour morning lesson blocks that last for several weeks.<ref name=Woods/>{{rp|18}} These blocks are horizontally integrated at each grade level in that the topic of the block will be infused into many classroom activities and vertically integrated in that each subject will be revisited with increasing complexity as students develop their skills, reasoning capacities and individual sense of self. This has been described as a spiral curriculum.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Nicholson|first=David W.|s2cid=143537628|title=Layers of experience: Forms of representation in a Waldorf school classroom|journal=Journal of Curriculum Studies|year=2000|volume=32|issue=4|pages=575–587|doi=10.1080/00220270050033637}}</ref>
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Experts have called into question the quality of this phenomenological approach if it fails to educate Waldorf students on basic tenets of scientific fact.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Scott |first1=Eugenie C. |title=Waldorf Schools Teach Odd Science, Odd Evolution |journal=National Center for Science Education Reports |date=Winter 1994 |volume=14 |issue=4 |pages=20 |url=http://www.waldorfcritics.org/articles/Eugenie_Scott_94.html |access-date=30 November 2018 |archive-date=31 October 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181031131515/http://www.waldorfcritics.org/articles/Eugenie_Scott_94.html |url-status=live }}</ref> The Waldorf approach is said to cultivate students with "high motivation" but "average achievement" in the sciences.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Salchegger |first1=Silvia |last2=Wallner-Paschon |first2=Christina |last3=Bertsch |first3=Christian |title=Explaining Waldorf students' high motivation but moderate achievement in science: is inquiry-based science education the key? |journal=Large-Scale Assessments in Education |date=December 2021 |volume=9 |issue=1 |pages=14 |doi=10.1186/s40536-021-00107-3|pmid=34178572 |pmc=8220126 |doi-access=free }}</ref> One study conducted by [[California State University, Sacramento|California State University at Sacramento]] researchers outlined numerous theories and ideas prevalent throughout Waldorf curricula that were patently [[pseudoscience|pseudoscientific]] and steeped in [[magical thinking]]. These included the idea that animals evolved from humans, that human spirits are physically incarnated into "soul qualities that manifested themselves into various animal forms", that the current geological formations on Earth have evolved through so-called "Lemurian" and "Atlantean" epochs, and that the four kingdoms of nature are "mineral, plant, animal, and man". All of these are directly contradicted by mainstream scientific knowledge and have no basis in any form of conventional scientific study. Contradictory notions found in Waldorf textbooks are distinct from factual inaccuracies occasionally found in modern public school textbooks, as the inaccuracies in the latter are of a specific and minute nature that results from the progress of science. The inaccuracies present in Waldorf textbooks, however, are the result of a mode of thinking that has no valid basis in reason or logic.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Jelinek |first1=David |last2=Sun |first2=Li-Ling |title=Does Waldorf Offer a Viable Form of Science Education? A Research Monograph |url=https://www.csus.edu/indiv/j/jelinekd/publications/waldorfscience.pdf |website=California State University College of Education |publisher=California State University Press |access-date=29 November 2018 |archive-date=12 December 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191212025031/https://www.csus.edu/indiv/j/jelinekd/publications/waldorfscience.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> This unscientific foundation has been blamed for the scarcity of systematic empirical research on Waldorf education as academic researchers hesitate in getting involved in studies of Waldorf schools lest it hamper their future career.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Rudolf Steiner: The Relevance of Waldorf Education|last=Dahlin|first=Bo|publisher=Springer|year=2017|isbn=9783319589060|location=Cham, Switzerland|pages=5}}</ref>
A Swedish parent wrote a book in 1990 stating that Waldorf schools do not allow questioning the historical accuracy of the [[Old Testament]].<ref>{{cite book | first1=Liselotte | last1=Frisk | editor-last1=Cusack | editor-first1=Carole M. | editor-last2=Norman | editor-first2=Alex | title=Handbook of New Religions and Cultural Production | publisher=Brill | series=Brill Handbooks on Contemporary Religion | year=2012 | isbn=978-90-04-22187-1 | chapter=The Anthroposophical movement and the Waldorf educational system | chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5aRyJ-vbrJsC&pg=PA204 | access-date=1 January 2024 | page=204 fn. 10, 208 | quote=Thus my conclusion is that it is quite uncontroversial to see Anthroposophy as a whole as a religious movement, in the conventional use of the term, although it is not an emic term used by Anthroposophists themselves. | archive-date=28 March 2024 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240328224136/https://books.google.com/books?id=5aRyJ-vbrJsC&pg=PA204 | url-status=live }}</ref>
One study of science curriculum compared a group of American Waldorf school students to American public school students on three different test variables.<ref name=PhenomScience>{{cite journal|last=Østergaard|first=Edvin|author2=Dahlin, Bo |author3=Hugo, Aksel |s2cid=59056009|title=Doing phenomenology in science education: a research review|journal=Studies in Science Education|date=1 September 2008|volume=44|issue=2|pages=93–121|doi=10.1080/03057260802264081|bibcode=2008SScEd..44...93O}}</ref> Two tests measured verbal and non-verbal logical reasoning and the third was an international [[Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study|TIMSS]] test. The TIMSS test covered scientific understanding of [[magnetism]]. The researchers found that Waldorf school students scored higher than both the public school students and the national average on the TIMSS test while scoring the same as public school students on the logical reasoning tests.<ref name=PhenomScience/>
In 2008, [[Stockholm University]] terminated its Waldorf teacher training courses. In a statement, the university said "the courses did not encompass sufficient subject theory and a large part of the subject theory that is included is not founded on any scientific base". The dean, Stefan Nordlund, stated "the syllabus contains literature which conveys scientific inaccuracies that are worse than woolly; they are downright dangerous".<ref>{{cite news | url=http://www.thelocal.se/20080826/13944 | title=Stockholm University ends Steiner teacher training | newspaper=The Local | author=Peter Vinthagen Simpson | date=29 August 2008 | quote=Stockholm University has decided to wind up its Steiner-Waldorf teacher training. Steiner science literature is 'too much myth and too little fact', the university's teacher education committee has ruled. | access-date=1 September 2015 | archive-date=17 January 2016 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160117092450/http://www.thelocal.se/20080826/13944 | url-status=live }}</ref>
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==Regional differences==
Some Waldorf schools in English-speaking countries have met opposition due to [[Vaccine controversies|vaccine hesitancy]] among parents.<ref>{{Cite news|title=Vaccine deniers: inside the dumb, dangerous new fad|work=The Verge|url=https://www.theverge.com/2013/10/21/4767530/vaccine-deniers-inside-the-dumb-dangerous-new-fad|url-status=live|access-date=2018-12-03|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181203152249/https://www.theverge.com/2013/10/21/4767530/vaccine-deniers-inside-the-dumb-dangerous-new-fad|archive-date=3 December 2018}}</ref> In a 2011 article, Waldorf schools were identified as a risk factor for noncompliance
Other controversies have centered on Waldorf schools' educational standards and the mystical and antiquated nature of some of Steiner's theories.<ref name="SupremeCourtReview">{{cite journal|last1=Morgan|first1=Richard E.|date=1973|title=The Establishment Clause and Sectarian Schools: A Final Installment?|journal=The Supreme Court Review|volume=1973|pages=57–97|doi=10.1086/scr.1973.3108801|jstor=3108801|s2cid=147590904}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last1=Cook|first1=Chris|date=4 August 2014|title=Why are Steiner schools so controversial?|work=BBC News|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/education-28646118|url-status=live|access-date=20 June 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180804153750/https://www.bbc.com/news/education-28646118|archive-date=4 August 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|date=17 May 2019|title=Steiner schools have some questionable lessons for today's children|work=The Independent|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/education/steiner-schools-have-some-questionable-lessons-for-todays-children-a7402911.html|url-status=live|access-date=31 August 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180813145132/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/education/steiner-schools-have-some-questionable-lessons-for-todays-children-a7402911.html|archive-date=13 August 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last1=Chertoff|first1=Emily|date=30 November 2012|title=Is This Grade School a 'Cult'? (And Do Parents Care?)|work=The Atlantic|url=https://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2012/11/is-this-grade-school-a-cult-and-do-parents-care/265620/|url-status=live|access-date=21 May 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190622032539/https://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2012/11/is-this-grade-school-a-cult-and-do-parents-care/265620/|archive-date=22 June 2019}}</ref>
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|newspaper=Chicago Tribune
|date=20 September 1999
|url=
|access-date=9 July 2013
|archive-date=10 July 2013
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===Russia===
The first Steiner school in Russia was established in 1992 in Moscow.<ref name=Moscow>{{cite journal|last=Paull |first=John |date=December 2017 |url=https://www.academia.edu/35563554 |title=The First Waldorf School in Russia: A Postcard from Moscow |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210814081918/https://www.academia.edu/35563554/The_First_Waldorf_School_in_Russia_A_Postcard_from_Moscow |archive-date=14 August 2021 |journal= Journal of Biodynamics Tasmania |issue= 124 |pages=14–17}}</ref> That school is now an award-winning government-funded school with over 650 students offering classes for [[kindergarten]] and years 1 to 11 (the Russian education system is an eleven-year system). There are 18 Waldorf schools in Russia and 30 kindergartens. Some are government funded (with no fees) and some are privately funded (with fees for students). As well as five Waldorf schools in Moscow, there are also Waldorf schools in [[Saint Petersburg]], [[Irkutsk]], [[
==Social engagement==
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Waldorf schools have linked polarized communities in a variety of settings.
* Under the [[apartheid]] regime in South Africa, the Waldorf school was one of the few schools in which children of all apartheid racial classifications attended the same classes.<ref name="EducationMagazine">{{cite news |last1=Chen |first1=Grace |title=Waldorf Education: Four Successes and Four Failures |url=https://www.education.com/magazine/article/waldorf-education-successes-failures/ |access-date=22 August 2022 |work=Education.com |agency=Public School Review |date=1 August 2012 |archive-date=22 August 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220822153735/https://www.education.com/magazine/article/waldorf-education-successes-failures/ |url-status=live }}</ref> A Waldorf training college in [[Cape Town]], the Novalis Institute, was referenced during UNESCO's ''Year of Tolerance'' for being an organization that was working towards reconciliation in South Africa.<ref name=Tolerance>''Tolerance: The Threshold of Peace.'', UNESCO, 1994.</ref><ref>[http://www.freunde-waldorf.de/en/the-friends/publications/waldorf-education-worldwide/teil-2/south-africa.html "Education as an Opportunity to Break Out of the Poverty Trap"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150616143542/http://www.freunde-waldorf.de/en/the-friends/publications/waldorf-education-worldwide/teil-2/south-africa.html |date=16 June 2015 }}, ''Freunde der Erziehungskunst Rudolf Steiners''</ref>
* The first Waldorf school in West Africa was founded in [[Sierra Leone]] to educate boys and girls orphaned by the country's [[Sierra Leone Civil War|civil war]].<ref>{{cite news|last=Mulderrig|first=Arnie|title=Teacher from Rudolf Steiner School to help disadvantaged students from Sierra Leone|url=http://www.watfordobserver.co.uk/news/8185750.Teacher_to_help_disadvantaged_students_in_Sierra_Leone/|access-date=14 May 2013|newspaper=The Watford Observer|date=26 May 2010|archive-date=27 March 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140327012739/http://www.watfordobserver.co.uk/news/8185750.Teacher_to_help_disadvantaged_students_in_Sierra_Leone/|url-status=live}}</ref> The school building is a [[Earthship|passive solar building]] built by the local community, including the students.<ref>{{cite news|last=Flynn|first=Liina|title=Earthships taking off|url=http://www.echonews.com.au/news/earthships-taking-off-over-australia/1305408/|access-date=14 May 2013|newspaper=Northern Rivers Echo|date=15 March 2012|archive-date=19 August 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130819193758/http://www.echonews.com.au/news/earthships-taking-off-over-australia/1305408/|url-status=live}}</ref>
* In Israel, the [[Harduf]] Kibbutz Waldorf school includes both [[Jewish]] and [[Arab]] faculty and students and has extensive contact with the surrounding Arab communities.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.sashedf.org/context.html|title=Salaam Shalom Educational Foundation : Community Development|date=28 September 2007}}{{dead link|date=February 2019|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref> It also runs an Arab-language Waldorf teacher training.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.sashedf.org/training.html|title=Salaam Shalom Educational Foundation : Arabic Waldorf Teaching Training|date=28 September 2007}}{{dead link|date=February 2019|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref> A joint Arab-Jewish Waldorf kindergarten (''Ein Bustan'') was founded in [[Basmat Tab'un|Hilf]] (near [[Haifa]]) in 2005.<ref>{{cite news |last=Frucht |first=Leora Eren |url=http://israel21c.org/culture/when-ahmed-met-avshalom/ |title=When Ahmed met Avshalom |publisher=Israel21c |date=28 May 2006 |access-date=10 May 2013 |archive-date=9 November 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131109140743/http://israel21c.org/culture/when-ahmed-met-avshalom/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news|first=Ma'ayan |last=Cohen |url=http://www.jewishjournal.com/giving/article/peace_in_the_middle_east_20091130 |title=Peace in the Middle East? Educational group brings tolerance and conflict resolution to Arab and Jewish kids' classrooms |newspaper=Jewish Journal |date=3 December 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160117092450/http://www.jewishjournal.com/giving/article/peace_in_the_middle_east_20091130 |archive-date=2016-01-17}}</ref> An Arabic language multi-cultural Druze/Christian/Muslim Waldorf school has operated in [[Shefa-'Amr]] since 2003.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.freunde-waldorf.de/en/waldorf-worldwide/projects/israel/shfaram.html | title=Waldorf Worldwide: Learning for peace | publisher=Freunde der Erziehungskunst Rudolf Steiners | access-date=10 May 2013 | archive-date=14 August 2021 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210814081922/https://www.freunde-waldorf.de/en/waldorf-worldwide/organisations-worldwide/asia/israel/shfaram/ | url-status=live }}</ref> In [[Lod, Israel|Lod]], a teacher training program brings together Israeli Arabs and Jews on an equal basis, with the goals of improving Arab education in Israel and offering new career paths to Arab women.<ref>Abigail Klein Leichman, [https://www.israel21c.org/israeli-arabs-and-jews-work-together-to-boost-arab-education/ Israeli Arabs and Jews work together to boost Arab education] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200207103400/https://www.israel21c.org/israeli-arabs-and-jews-work-together-to-boost-arab-education/ |date=7 February 2020 }}, ''Israel 21c'' 16 February 2020</ref>
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Racist attitudes and behaviour have been reported in particular Waldorf schools, and some teachers have reportedly expressed Steiner's view that individuals reincarnate through various races, however, Kevin Avison, senior advisor for the Steiner Waldorf Schools Fellowship in the UK and Ireland, calls the claim of belief in reincarnation through the races "a complete and utter misunderstanding" of Steiner's teachings.<ref name="Williams" />
"Steiner's collected works, moreover, totalling more than 350 volumes, contain pervasive internal contradictions and inconsistencies on racial and national questions."<ref>Peter Staudenmaier, [https://epublications.marquette.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1080&context=hist_fac "Rudolf Steiner and the Jewish Question"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170916050406/http://epublications.marquette.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1080&context=hist_fac |date=2017-09-16 }}, Leo Baeck Institute Yearbook, Vol. 50, No. 1 (2005): 127-147.</ref> Italian Fascism exploited "his racial and anti-democratic dogma."<ref>{{cite book | last1=Hill | first1=Chris | editor-last1=Pilkington | editor-first1=Mark | editor-last2=Sutcliffe | editor-first2=Jamie | title=Strange Attractor Journal Five | publisher=MIT Press | year=2023 | isbn=978-1-907222-52-8 | chapter='Gustavo Who?' — Notes Towards the Life and Times of Gustavo Rol; Putative Mage and Cosmic 'Drainpipe' | chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YMFNEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA194 | access-date=1 November 2023 | page=194 | archive-date=29 November 2023 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231129115204/https://books.google.com/books?id=YMFNEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA194 | url-status=live }}</ref> "It was a meeting of old acquaintances: Nazi leaders such as Rudolf Hess and Heinrich Himmler already recognized a kindred spirit in Rudolf Steiner, with his theories about racial purity, esoteric medicine and biodynamic agriculture."<ref>{{cite web | first=Tommy | last=Wieringa | title=Groene vingers | website=NRC | date=8 May 2021 | url=https://www.nrc.nl/nieuws/2021/05/08/groene-vingers-a4042900 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210507202917/https://www.nrc.nl/nieuws/2021/05/08/groene-vingers-a4042900 | archive-date=7 May 2021 | url-status=unfit | language=nl | access-date=7 February 2023 | quote=Het was een ontmoeting van oude bekenden: nazi-kopstukken als Rudolf Hess en Heinrich Himmler herkenden in Rudolf Steiner al een geestverwant, met zijn theorieën over raszuiverheid, esoterische geneeskunst en biologisch-dynamische landbouw. — It was a meeting of old acquaintances: Nazi leaders such as Rudolf Hess and Heinrich Himmler already recognized a kindred spirit in Rudolf Steiner, with his theories about racial purity, esoteric medicine and biodynamic agriculture.}}</ref> For people who do not believe in reincarnation Steiner is a racist, but for people who do, he is not so.<ref>{{cite thesis |last=Munoz |first=Joaquin |date=23 March 2016 |title=The Circle of Mind and Heart: Integrating Waldorf Education, Indigenous Epistemologies, and Critical Pedagogy |url=https://repository.arizona.edu/bitstream/handle/10150/621063/azu_etd_14891_sip1_m.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y |degree=PhD |chapter=CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSION AND IMPLICATIONS: THE CHALLENGE OF WALDORF EDUCATION FOR ALL YOUTH. Waldorf Education and Racism |publisher=The University of Arizona |docket= |oclc= |access-date=8 February 2024
==References==
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