Hi Andy,
I asked a similar question recently here. Please see this reference:
Oberman, I. & Sloan, D. (2008). The Waldorf movement from european
cradle
to american crucible, 1919-2008. Edwin Mellen Press.
and the attached paper.
As for their effectiveness, at least here in Chile, they seem to be
very
effective protecting children from early consumerism and early
competitiveness, which seems to be the case in other parts of the
world
according to communications I got from this list, on and off-line.
Again in Chile: since their emphasis is not on traditional skill
drilling,
their effect on standardized measures of learning depends more on the
capital background of the kids´parents and individual
characteristics of the
children they serve. My own kid goes to a school that adopts some
Waldorf
techniques, and I can attest that it works pretty well as regards the
prevention of bullying, emotional development and emphasis on the
human
dimension of learning.
If you google them, you will find very emotional pro and anti-Waldorf
advocates. I assume the positive or negative criticism of the Waldorf
movement depends on how it has settled in different countries and
schools.
In the USA, there is a concern about how secular they really are,
so it
seems. My own school here in Chile is very secular, although the
emphasis on
fantasy can be judged by some as "religious". In my view, fantasy
in early
childhood is not a bad thing and may help foster an imaginative mind.
Certainly, Waldorf schools seems to be mostly private and it biases
their
results. I am not aware of public Waldorf schools.
One of the things that I strongly value from a Waldorf education
these days
is that it protects kids from the overachievement mania that is
plaguing
elementary schools and preschool education worldwide because of the
misuse
of academic testing, a topic of concern for many in this list, and
from
pseudocientific applications of neuroscience. This attitude to a
humane
schooling has been as well advanced by constructivist scholars as
well such
as David Elkind in the USA. I would love to find a school where the
humane
dimension of Waldorf schooling meets a pedagogy inspired in
learning science
and cultural psychology, but this is a non-existing link.
Best,
DP
On Jan 9, 2010, at 10:59 AM, Leif Strandberg wrote:
Hi,
I recommend reading of
Peter Staudenmaier (Vermont USA) Antroposofi och ekofascism (I
only have
the Swedish version, perhaps the English title is "Antrophosofy and
Ekofascism"
We have a lot of Waldorf schools in Sweden, and there are some
interesting
estetichal features in their pedagogy, But their philosophical
backrground
(Steiner) is not as "green" as they say - more of a brown nuance
Leif Strandberg
9 jan 2010 kl. 12.46 skrev Andy Blunden:
I have been researching Goethe and his scientific ideas, and after
a long
time I came across a book which tells in detail of how his ideas
originated
and explains them very clearly and convincingly. The point I am
interested
in of course is the Urphaenomen, a.k.a., unit of analysis, and as
Goethe and
Davydov both insist, a unit of analysis which is given to the
senses.
The author of the book is *Rudolph Steiner*, the same Rudolph
Steiner who
started up Steiner Schools. I can get an idea of his life and
work from
Wikipedia and so on, and it certainly is way off the mainstream,
if I could
put it that way. However, I would be interested in a brief
response from
xmca-ers on the success or otherwise of his schools.
Andy
--
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hegel Summer School
http://www.ethicalpolitics.org/seminars/hss10.htm
Hegel, Goethe and the Planet: 13 February 2010.
_______________________________________________
xmca mailing list
xmca@weber.ucsd.edu
http://dss.ucsd.edu/mailman/listinfo/xmca
_______________________________________________
xmca mailing list
xmca@weber.ucsd.edu
http://dss.ucsd.edu/mailman/listinfo/xmca
David Preiss
http://web.mac.com/ddpreiss/
_______________________________________________
xmca mailing list
xmca@weber.ucsd.edu
http://dss.ucsd.edu/mailman/listinfo/xmca