Culture, history, and the evolution of the Steiner early childhood education

A blog article written by Lily England from Christchurch

I feel so grateful to have attended the conference, Kindness, Strength, Love | Seeds for a Healthy Unfolding, at the Goetheanum earlier this year. One thousand participants from all over the world came to together to celebrate 100 years of Steiner/ Waldorf early childhood education. What a wonderfully rich and memorable occasion it was! As you might imagine, the overall organisation and hospitality were exceptional. However, being at the Goetheanum, the heart centre of Anthroposophy, took things to another level of awesomeness! The consideration given to each and every detail could be seen and felt throughout the structure and design of the building. It was such a privilege to have finally visited there.

The conference programme ran over five days and was made up of inspirational, uplifting and informative lectures, discussion groups, free initiatives & forums, workshops, and evening entertainment. There are so many aspects that could be shared about and I have chosen to focus on the workshop I attended, ‘Dialoguing with the Essence of Traditional Cultures in Building a Contemporary Community’. The presenters, Paula Levy and Glaucé Kalish, were from Brazil and looked in depth at culture, history, and the evolution needed for Steiner kindergarten education to be relevant and contemporary in all settings.

The workshop opened with the Mirror of Truth story reminding us that there are many different ways and perspectives in the world, and that if we are open and listen to others we will realise that the truth is made up of many parts or fragments.

We looked at what is universal and what is regional. For instance, the stages of development – walking, speaking, and thinking – are universal. Through the acquisition of language, the child takes the vital step of connecting and integrating with their wider community. Then through the development of objective thinking children move beyond their immediate community to become part of the universal human reality.

The social/ cultural sphere in which a child grows is regional and profoundly influences their identity and world view. This is because the child is deeply absorbed in the environment and culture through imitation. The significance of the regional is made clear when Rudolf Steiner points out, one can become an independent, free human being in adulthood ‘only if as a child one has been a most intensive imitator’.

The workshop then examined the essence of traditional cultures, with a particular focus on the indigenous people of Brazil: Their views on ancestry and the place of ancestors in everyday life; their festivals and celebrations incorporating music, theatre and dance; the importance of connection to the ground/ the earth through dance, prayer, food preparation and shared meals; the circular nature of life, time, destiny, and spiritual energy – nothing moves in straight line. From all this we concluded with the thought that we see and experience the world according to where we stand and our point of view: There are many points of view and all are valid.

From here we then considered the essence of the Steiner / Waldorf kindergarten and looked at history, current traditions, and the evolution of the education. Where have we come from and where are we going?

The first Waldorf kindergarten opened in the fall of 1926, 100 years ago. Rudolf Steiner asked Elizabeth von Grunelius – a student of Anthroposophy and state trained kindergarten teacher – if she would take charge of running and teaching in the kindergarten. There were many challenges and difficulties along the way but seven years later the impulse finally took hold and Elizabeth von Grunelius began the task. Rudolf Steiner gave only two indications for her to work out of, specifically, the strength of imitation in the child and her own inner meditative work.

Elizabeth von Grunelius was trained in a teaching approach based on the ideas of Friedrich Froebel, the pioneer of early childhood education and the kindergarten. He was very clear in his beliefs and understandings about the ideal conditions for children to learn, and in 1837, he established the first kindergarten. His philosophy and practices spread and were adopted throughout the world and continue to form the foundation for much of contemporary ECE including the Steiner/ Waldorf kindergarten approach. This came as quite a revelation: That our kindergartens have grown out of Froebel’s ideas; that much of what we do and believe about teaching and learning is not original.

Interestingly, Elizabeth von Grunelius expected that differences between kindergartens would develop ‘depending on the conditions of the country, the location of the garden, as well as the individuality if the teacher’. She also held the view that teachers did not have to follow a set programme or plan and that individual initiative and action were to be encouraged when done out of love for the work and love for the child. With these thoughts in mind, we then looked at numerous images taken from the presenters’ kindergarten showing how the environment, resources, and activities reflected their culture while at the same time remaining essentially ‘Steiner’. Further confirmation that the Steiner approach can be expressed in different ways.

Seeing the ways in which the education had been adapted to the Brazilian culture led onto a conversation about traditions. We were urged to be mindful of the tendency for teachers to become attached to practices that have become ‘the way things are done’ and how traditional practices foster inertia and resistance to innovation and new impulses. The importance of this became clear when considering the article by Neil Boland & Dirk Rohde, The development of Steiner/ Waldorf education: Looking through the lens of time.

Boland and Rohde look at time in terms of the past and our history, the present and current challenges, the future and needed evolution, and eternity where we find the core principles and essence of the Steiner/ Waldorf education. Regarding the need for evolution, Rudolf Steiner stated that ‘Teachers must understand the time in which they live, because they must understand the children entrusted to them in relation to that time.’ However, we need to recognise the need for evolution and renewal whilst also understanding and maintaining the essential, enduring elements of Steiner education as described in Anthroposophy.

For Steiner education to remain relevant, contemporary, and alive, we must accept that ‘What is right at one time, is not necessarily right at another time. What is right in one set of circumstances (one place or culture), is not necessarily right in another. Responsivity is constantly required. (Boland and Rohde).

As Rudolf Steiner points out, we are living in the age of consciousness soul which requires us to develop a personal inner world in order to achieve individual consciousness and freedom. A consequence of this process is increasing individualism and a sense of isolation and loneliness for many people. The challenge for humanity is then to consider the social skills we need to acquire to connect with others in a meaningful, trusting way and work towards building a better social future and contemporary community. In the words of Philipp Reubke from the Goetheanum, ‘A future where people empathise with others, find solutions together, tolerate differences, and view one’s own actions in connection with other people.’ Ultimately, these social skills require the capacity for all-inclusive love and the way to develop this is the practice of gratitude for all manifestations, insights, and experiences in our lives.

‘We only know that which we love’
Goethe