Anthroposophy by Rudolf Steiner.

Steiner founded the first school in 1919 Stuttgart Germany

to educate the children of the factory workers

from the Waldorf Astoria Zigaretten Fabrik

- hence the name.

All kids, independent of social status or talent

received the same instruction,

which made the school a pioneer of social justice in education.

The goal of a Waldorf education is to develop free,

but morally responsible individuals

equipped with a high degree of social competence

and creative capabilities.

Factual knowledge,

homework and tests scores receive less attention.

Storytelling and experimentation

are the main method of instruction,

Over the twelve-year curriculum,

students learn math,

literature,

history and science

as well as a wide variety of arts and hands-on skills.

Elementary students paint,

knit,

weave and sculpt with wax.

Older ones make patterns,

books,

pottery and sculpt in stone.

Everybody learns to do music.

First all play the flute,

then some play string instruments

and others join the choir.

Students play non-competitive games

and learn to dance eurhythmy.

They do organic farming

and learn two foreign languages,

which in the first years are taught through songs,

storytelling and conversations.

In grade 8 and 12

the entire class develops a classical drama

which they perform in front of their parents and friends.

Waldorf uses a unique

project based approach to almost

all main academic subjects.

Instead of repetitive schedules,

a specific subject,

such as history,

math,

science or even gardening

dominates the first two hours in the morning

for a period of 4-6 weeks.

After that, a new subject gets the main focus.

Steiner also invented an experiential approach to science

whereby students observe

and later describe scientific concepts

in their own words and drawings

rather than learning about them in a textbook first.

Waldorf schools therefore consider computers

useful to children only in their teens,

after they have mastered fundamental,

time-honored ways of discovering

information and learning.

In the spirit of personal development and empathy,

competition and grades are being avoided.

Teachers instead assess the student's individual

growth of character.

Tests scores and grades are only slowly introduced to

older students as they prepare for college

and entrance exams.

Today there are over

a thousand Waldorf schools in 60 countries,

making it one of the largest independent

school movements.

Waldorf has become a recognized

educational theory in Europe

and its schools have received state funding.

Famous Waldorf parents include Clint Eastwood,

Lenny Kravitz,

the Forbes family

and many parents from Silicon Valley's tech sector

despite Steiner's critical view of technology

and mass media.

Steve Jobs once told a tech journalist

who asked whether his children like the new iPad

that they haven't used it and continued:

“We limit how much technology our kids use at home.”

Acclaimed psychiatrist William Glasser famously said

that we learn 10% of what we read,

20% of what we hear,

30% of what we see,

but 80% of what we experience.

one could argue that despite their low-tech approach,

the experimental learning method of

Waldorf education is exceptionally contemporary.

What do you think?

Please share your thoughts in the comments below!