Pasadena Waldorf's website says: "A Waldorf school confidently dedicates its work to the whole human being as a physical body, dynamic soul, and enduring spirit. Waldorf teachers strive to transform education into an art that educates the whole child – the heart and the hands, as well as the head." |
There is much about Waldorf that I do not yet know, and have not fully researched. However, here are some things about it that jumped out at me:
Steiner's educational philosophy), certain ages just respond better to certain subjects. For example, in Grade 6 students study the Crusades and
King Arthur. "It's amazing," says Diane. "They respond to that. In Grade 6 they are at an age where they are transitioning from children to
independent pre-teens. Learning about the Dark Ages and the transition out of it is symbolic, and it appeals to them. I always know when they are
studying this topic, because suddenly all over the school students start opening doors for me and helping me with things. Chivalry comes alive."
- teachers stay with their class from first through eighth grade, learning a whole new curriculum each year. After 8 years of teaching the same class, the teacher takes a one year sabbatical and then starts over. Curriculum is created by the teacher each year to suit the individual class and students. Though based on certain outcomes, and adhering to certain prescribed subject matter, there are no textbooks or set curriculum to follow. "I have to admit," says Diane Lasalle, "our teachers work really, really hard and put in long hours. It's a labour of love."
- because of the 8 years together with one teacher, students and teacher become like a family. They know each other really well, and they learn to problem-solve, adapt, tolerate, and communicate.
- the environment in the school is about natural beauty. Every Waldorf school I've been to is like this. Gardens, natural playing equipment, natural materials in the classroom: wood, baskets, plants.
- there is an emphasis on skill, handwork, creativity, and doing things well instead of fast.
- each grade has a different emphasis of study (eg. middle ages, old testament bible stories, knights of the round table). Everything is centred around this theme. I always thought that was odd - what if a student isn't interested in the middle ages? what about other fields of study that they could be exposed to? why does it have to be those specific subjects?
Steiner's educational philosophy), certain ages just respond better to certain subjects. For example, in Grade 6 students study the Crusades and
King Arthur. "It's amazing," says Diane. "They respond to that. In Grade 6 they are at an age where they are transitioning from children to
independent pre-teens. Learning about the Dark Ages and the transition out of it is symbolic, and it appeals to them. I always know when they are
studying this topic, because suddenly all over the school students start opening doors for me and helping me with things. Chivalry comes alive."
- students do not have textbooks in Waldorf schools...they create their own. Teachers make meticulous and beautiful drawings, diagrams, and writing on blackboards, and students do the same in large art-paper notebooks - at their own speed, and based on what they have learned. They use these to study from, and they are a lasting and beautiful record of what they are learning. This is so contrary to how education is moving in the technological, research based, vastly spread out information society that we are now part of. I question what seems to be a 'handing down of information' style of teaching. And yet I cannot object to the beauty, the slowed down pace, and the love and care that are put into the work. I am interested to learn more about how Waldorf incorporates this style into the 21st century way of learning.
- there is no technology on the campus until highschool. "How do you find this working for students in this day and age?" I asked. "As much as I want to disengage myself from technology, I find that when I do, I am disengaged also from connecting with my peers and all the interesting learning experiences of modern day life. How do you deal with this?" Diane responded that they have found there to be no negative repercussions, but only positives. "The students all have computers at home," she said. "They are not computer illiterate by any means! When they get to highschool we use computers, iPads, and all kinds of technology, and they pick everything up quickly. Not having computers in school for the first 8 years does not seem to set them back. Rather, there has been research done which shows that certain areas of the brain are stimulated by writing things by hand. Children learn differently and are more creative. They think differently. We want to stimulate that in the early years."
Waldorf Education is based on educator and philosopher Rudolf Steiner’s (1861-1925) research on child development. The Waldorf approach recognizes the simple insight that children learn in distinctly different ways at different stages of their development.
Waldorf teachers are dedicated to teaching in ways that profoundly meet the needs of the developing human being, and the curriculum fosters an unfolding of the student’s natural capacities. In classrooms filled with light and life, Waldorf students learn traditional academic subjects through distinctive and time-tested teaching methods that serve their intellectual, physical, emotional, and spiritual development. Engaging the hands, heart, and mind cultivates inner enthusiasm for learning.
Part of a worldwide educational movement that began over 90 years ago, Pasadena Waldorf School is a leading independent school in the San Gabriel Valley, which helps families raise well-balanced, multifaceted young people since 1979.
(taken from www.pasadenawaldorf.org)
The goals of the school are as follows: That students will...
- experience a rich, broad-based, deep course of studies, cohesively conceived, progressing purposefully from year to year, imparting significance, relevance, and meaning regarding humankind, the earth, and cosmos, in the past, in the present, and in anticipation of the future. By definition this includes a broad spectrum of history, literature, science, foreign language, arts, practical skills, and physical education;
- feel recognized as individuals, who are valued for their quality of character as well as their caliber of scholarship;
- feel confident in themselves as learners, accepting of both their strengths and limitations, working to the best of their own abilities;
- understand what it means to strive; to experience a sense of satisfaction in a job well done;
- develop sound habits for living, and by this continual practice, to strengthen their will. This includes classroom habits, work habits, rhythmic marking of seasonal festivals, completing all tasks they start, returning equipment they use, and cleaning up after themselves;
- experience reverence, appreciation, and gratitude to other people and to be a beneficent transcendent power, whatever they conceive that to be;
- conduct themselves with respect, cooperation, and courtesy towards self, others, and property;
- acquire positive attitudes of acceptance of difference of cultures, preferences, abilities, ideas, social status, race, gender, etc.;
- immerse themselves in experiences of nature without taking the trappings of urban life with them;
- value and practice compassion, honesty, courage, and trust, but also joy and humor;
- develop from imagination a foundation for flexible, sensitive, clear, and creative thinking, open to the ideas of others, and steeped in interest and a sense of inquiry;
- feel empowered to act, guided not by convention or peer pressure, but by their own convictions of right and wrong; to feel persuaded that individual human beings can make a difference;
- learn how to function within a group and take personal responsibility for its social well-being;
- practice service towards others and the natural world
- experience a rich, broad-based, deep course of studies, cohesively conceived, progressing purposefully from year to year, imparting significance, relevance, and meaning regarding humankind, the earth, and cosmos, in the past, in the present, and in anticipation of the future. By definition this includes a broad spectrum of history, literature, science, foreign language, arts, practical skills, and physical education;
- feel recognized as individuals, who are valued for their quality of character as well as their caliber of scholarship;
- feel confident in themselves as learners, accepting of both their strengths and limitations, working to the best of their own abilities;
- understand what it means to strive; to experience a sense of satisfaction in a job well done;
- develop sound habits for living, and by this continual practice, to strengthen their will. This includes classroom habits, work habits, rhythmic marking of seasonal festivals, completing all tasks they start, returning equipment they use, and cleaning up after themselves;
- experience reverence, appreciation, and gratitude to other people and to be a beneficent transcendent power, whatever they conceive that to be;
- conduct themselves with respect, cooperation, and courtesy towards self, others, and property;
- acquire positive attitudes of acceptance of difference of cultures, preferences, abilities, ideas, social status, race, gender, etc.;
- immerse themselves in experiences of nature without taking the trappings of urban life with them;
- value and practice compassion, honesty, courage, and trust, but also joy and humor;
- develop from imagination a foundation for flexible, sensitive, clear, and creative thinking, open to the ideas of others, and steeped in interest and a sense of inquiry;
- feel empowered to act, guided not by convention or peer pressure, but by their own convictions of right and wrong; to feel persuaded that individual human beings can make a difference;
- learn how to function within a group and take personal responsibility for its social well-being;
- practice service towards others and the natural world