Waldorf Education

Waldorf education is a humanistic approach to education that was developed by Rudolph Steiner, an Austrian philosopher, in 1919.  The approach advocates creativity and stresses the role of the imagination in learning.  According to Why Waldorf Works, the approach helps students to gain a greater level of confidence than an ordinary school, as the students are encouraged to think independently, and are always rewarded to see their artwork hanging around the room.  Steiner proposed that there should be both a creative and an analytical side to learning, and believed that students needed to be taught in both ways at equal rates to help the children remain interested in what they were learning as they continued to learn and develop.

I completely agree that the Waldorf approach creates a more well rounded student, as each child is given a multidisciplinary style of learning.  Kids are required to take classes including drama, art, music, and other sorts of crafts in addition to the usual science, math, english, and social studies.  I believe that this approach can be closely tied to the idea of multiple intellligences, and the idea that every child is unique and that they are bound to be smart in different ways.  Everybody has their strong suits and their weaknesses, but it is important to let a child explore everything so that they can find out for themselves.  The teachers at schools that advocate for the Waldorf approach also seem to be happier, as they are given more leeway to decide upon the curriculum.  Lessons are more uniquely crafted to suit both the teacher and the students.  It seems as if the Waldorf approach provides a much more enthusiastic style of learning, and provides just what every student needs: encouragement.