Rudolf Steiner...!!! my kinda guy... he's the founding father of the "Waldorf Educational System"... wow...!!! it will takes months... maybe even years to read and study all his books and lectures...

this was exactly what i was talking about... wonder why i never heard of it before... is it supposed to be a secret...??? i think maybe we should try to get the word out... so... i took the liberty of posting a section i found that will perhaps better explain the "Waldorf Educational System to those like me that were unfamiliar...

and thanks ((((((9th)))))) for the turn on...
lol...
;-)
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Waldorf Education

Waldorf education balances artistic, academic and practical work educating the whole child, hand and heart as well as mind. Its innovative methodology and developmentally-oriented curriculum, permeated with the arts, address the child's changing consciousness as it unfolds, stage by stage. Imagination and creativity are cultivated as well as cognitive growth and a sense of responsibility for the earth and its inhabitants. Under the warm and active instruction of their teachers, children are provided with a creative and nurturing environment in which to develop, grow and learn.

Since its founding by Rudolf Steiner in 1919, the Waldorf school movement has grown to over 800 schools throughout the world, over 150 of them in the United States and Canada. Increasing recognition from parents and educators has led to rapid expansion and, with it, a shortage of trained Waldorf teachers.

Steiner's detailed psychology of child development, described early in the 20th century, has been supported by modern research in education and neuropsychology. Through Waldorf education, Steiner hoped that young people would develop the capacities of soul and intellect and the strength of will that would prepare them to meet the challenges of their own time and the future.

"The Waldorf School I have observed (Princeton, New Jersey) celebrates the uniqueness of each child, blends a rich curriculum in creative ways and sensitively evaluates student progress along the full range of human talent. Waldorf students are encouraged to live with self-assurance, a reverence for life and a sense of service."

- Earnest Boyer, Former president,
Carnegie Institute for the Advancement of Teaching,
Former US Commissioner of Education



"My parents were looking for a school that would nurture the whole person. They also felt that the Waldorf school would be a far more open environment for African Americans, and that was focused on educating students with values, as well as the academic tools necessary to be constructive and contributing human beings. I am convinced that Waldorf schools deliver an essential alternative to our existing systems. A Waldorf education provides students with an approach to learning which successfully integrates the arts and sciences with the practical tools necessary to succeed in these challenging times. I am personally very grateful for the foundation that was laid during my formative years at Waldorf."

- Kenneth I. Chenault, President and CEO,
The American Express Company



I believe that Waldorf education possesses unique educational features that have considerable potential for improving public education in America. Waldorf schools provide a program that not only fosters conventional forms of academic achievement, but also puts a premium on the development of imagination and the refinement of the sensibilities.

- Elliot Eisner, Ph.D., Professor of Education and Art, Stanford University;
Past President, American Educational Research Association;
Author, Curriculum and Cognition: Educating Artistic Vision



Waldorf education addresses the child as no other education does. Learning, whether in chemistry, mathematics, history or geography, is imbued with life and so with joy, which is the only true basis for later study. The textures and colors of nature, the accomplishments and struggles of humankind fill the Waldorf students' imaginations and the pages of their beautiful books . Education grows into a union with life that serves them for decades. By the time they reach us at the college and university level, these students are grounded broadly and deeply and have a remarkable enthusiasm for learning. Such students possess the eye of the discoverer, and the compassionate heart of the reformer which, when joined to a task, can change the planet.

- Arthur Zajonc, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Physics,
Amherst College



Ideal for the child and society in the best of times, Rudolf Steiner's brilliant process of education is critically needed and profoundly relevant now at this time of childhood crisis and educational breakdown. Waldorf education nurtures the intellectual, psychological and spiritual unfolding of the child. The concerned parent and teacher will find a multitude of problems clearly addressed in this practical, artistic approach.

- Joseph Chilton Pearce, Author,
Magical Child and The Crack in the Cosmic Egg; Evolution’s End: Claiming the Potential of Our Intelligence



Many teachers have discovered that music can also be a powerful means of integrating other aspects of the curriculum. By tapping into the experiential and expressive aspects of music, teachers can add a distinctive dimension to instruction in other subjects. This insight has been used to develop interesting and productive pedagogical models like the Waldorf schools in Europe and the United States. In the Waldorf schools, for example, the goal is the education of the whole human being by paying attention to the needs of the human spirit. The arts particularly, are used as part of a theory of human development that helps children find nonverbal modes of expression and understanding.

- Growing Up Complete: The Imperative for Music Education,
The Report of the National Commission on Music Education, March 1991



Programs such as Montessori and the Waldorf Schools offer small classes, individualized instruction, and flexible, child-centered curricula which can accommodate the child and do not demand that the child do all of the accommodating . . . Rudolf Steiner was troubled by the overly academic emphasis of schools; he felt that the aesthetic side of children was being overlooked and that this should be developed along with the intellectual powers. Waldorf schools emphasize creativity in all aspects of children's work. The same teacher may stay with the same group of children for as many as eight grades. In so doing the teacher has to grow and learn with the children.

- Miseducation: Preschoolers at Risk, David Elkind,
Ph.D., Professor of Child Study, Tufts University Author,
The Hurried Child, All Grown Up and No Place to Go; Miseducation: Preschoolers at Risk



American schools are having a crisis in values. Half the children fail according to standard measures and the other half wonder why they are learning what they do. As is appropriate to life in a democracy, there are a handful of alternatives. Among the alternatives, the Waldorf school represents a chance for every child to grow and learn according to the most natural rhythms of life. For the early school child, this means a non-competitive, non-combative environment in which the wonders of science and literature fill the day without causing anxiety and confusion. For the older child, it offers a curriculum that addresses the question of why they are learning. I have sent two of my children to Waldorf schools and they have been wonderfully well served.

- Raymond McDermott,Ph.D.,
Professor of Education and Anthropology, Stanford University



Because my professional life focuses largely on preparing people for teacher education programs, I am particularly aware of how our work compares with that of Waldorf teacher training programs. I have been fascinated to observe how many of the educational theories and goals espoused by my colleagues in teacher education directly correlate with long-established tenets of Waldorf teacher training . . . For the past ten years my teaching responsibilities have compelled me to inform myself not just about what would-be teachers need to learn, but also about how and what children themselves need to learn. All of my instructionally-related research into childhood has pointed toward the superiority of Waldorf education over all other current educational methods.

- Jane W. Hipolito, Ph.D.,
Professor of English and Adjunct Professor of Liberal Studies,
California State University, Fullerton



With over 800 schools worldwide, and there are hundreds of job openings available for qualified teachers. Waldorf schools have doubled in number during each of the last three decades. There are over 100 Waldorf schools affiliated with AWSNA. You could be their teacher! For more information check out the links below.

Useful Links
Association of Waldorf Schools of North America
This site also has a searchable Directory of Waldorf Schools in North America.
List of Waldorf Schools worldwide
Collected and kept up-to-date by the Bund der Freien Waldorfschulen.
Waldorf World
For those looking for employment as a Waldorf teacher, administrators, biodynamic gardener, or artist. And much more!
Copyright 2005, Rudolf Steiner College