Philosophy of Waldorf Education

No one can predict the exact nature of the challenges our children will face in the future. Yet it is clear that intellectual flexibility, independent judgement and moral courage will be essential to their success as creative and responsible human beings. The Waldorf curriculum carefully balances academic, artistic and practical activities to prepare the child as thoroughly as possible for life’s experiences. Waldorf schooling also focuses upon nurturing the child’s self-confidence and self-reliance, while fostering his or her personal integrity and a sense of social and environmental interdependency and responsibility.

Waldorf education is based on the profound insights of Rudolf Steiner, an Austrian educator, scientist and philosopher, regarding the nature of the developing child. The philosophy behind Waldorf Education recognizes that children have distinct, age-related educational and emotional needs according to their naturally unfolding stages of development. The subsequent findings of eminent child specialists such as Jean Piaget, David Elkind, Joseph Chilton Pearce, and members of the Gesell Institute confirm the soundness of Steiner’s approach. With more than 750 schools worldwide, including more than 150 in the United States, Waldorf education is the largest and fastest growing nonsectarian educational movement in the world.