Conference Agenda

Looking back on a tradition of more than 100 years, Waldorf or Steiner schools (and to a lesser extent kindergartens) are one of the most persistent organizations in the education system. However, their reputation and popularity vary between different societies. Even more remarkable is the often strong controversy over the ideological foundation, methods and other aspects of Waldorf education. Examples and triggers for these public controversies and discussions are numerous: the publication and discussion of “What they don’t tell us” of two Waldorf-estranged parents in Norway in 2010, proximity to right-wing extremist ideas of Waldorf teachers in Germany in 2015, the failed Ofsted inspections of Waldorf schools in the UK in 2019. Most recently, at the end of 2020, the discussion around French philosophy teacher Grégoire Perra’s critique of Anthroposophists’ proximity to conspiracy theorists was in the news as well as the partly close connection between Waldorf schools and teachers and the deniers and conspiracy theorists around Covid-19, especially, but not limited to Germany.

Meanwhile, Waldorf education is only a marginal topic in the academic discourse. Sometimes it is part of historical discussions on progressive education around 1900 or in relation to other reformers (mainly Maria Montessori), sometimes it is used as a typical case for private schools today. This anthology gathers perspectives around the world to discover how Waldorf education is perceived and discussed in both the public and academic discourses. Education systems are one of the last national refuges in a globalized and interconnected world (due to national or state-based legislation and curricula), thus they are a rational starting point for global research on this very topic. Moreover, local, regional or national languages are important reference points for discourses and the adoption and translation of Steiner’s ideas alike.

In terms of content and contributors, the panel is docked to a international research project with 15 case studies from European, Asian, African and American countries. The aim of this panel is to give first insights in identified and reconstructed places, structures and modes of discourses about Waldorf education based on the examples of Germany, Austria, France and Poland. With the panel and the project in general we will also serve as preliminary work on further research within the field of international Waldorf movement, e.g. on actors and actor networks, discourse sovereignty etc. One of the unique features of this work is the internationalization of academic Waldorf research, which until now has been chiefly limited to singular phenomena or countries. This contribution fosters comparative studies of a seemingly uniform pedagogy and its discussion and addresses the question of continuity and change of ideas and practices of Waldorf education in different constellations. Therein, it recurs, on the one hand, to the global dissemination of ideas and, on the other, to the historical concept of ‘progressive education’ as an international movement.

This contribution and the related compilation is the first international comparative attempt to analyse the Waldorf movement and its diverse appearance. The international cases have different methodological approaches regarding different research states and levels of public or academic discussions. The common bond of the contributions are mainly two guiding questions: First, (how) Waldorf education is perceived and discussed a) in the public and b) in academia, so if it is a concept that is accepted/respected/canonized and/or part of (public) teacher training or vocational training; second, what the differences and similarities between “public” and “academic” discourses are and if there are influences between the two.