Cork Steiner Waldorf School - Frequently Asked Questions

FAQ

Frequently Asked Questions

How do children fare when transferring from a Steiner class to a mainstream class?

Generally, transitions are not difficult. The most common transition is from primary to secondary school, and usually takes place without significant difficulties. This education releases capacities, keeps the mind and imagination fresh, and awakens life interests. These qualities the children take with them and mark them out as good students.

Transitions in the lower classes, particularly between the first and third classes can potentially be more of a problem because of the differences in the timing and approach to the curriculum. These issues can be discussed with the class teacher on an individual basis.

What if there are difficulties between the class teacher and the student?

This is a very common concern among parents when they first hear about the ‘Class Teacher’ method. However, in practice, the situation seems to arise very rarely, especially so when the teacher has been able to establish a relationship with the class right from the first class. Incompatibility with a child is infrequent, as understanding the child’s needs and temperament is central to the teacher’s role and training. When problems of this sort do occur, the faculty as a whole works with the teacher and the family to determine and undertake whatever corrective action would be in the best interests of the child and of the class.

How does the Steiner approach challenge the children who enter first class already knowing how to read? What will such children learn, won’t they be bored? How can we encourage a balanced development?

In working toward balanced development, it is necessary to consider more than intellectual achievements. What is the child like emotionally? Are they happy being a child? Do they relate well with other children, or almost exclusively with adults? Are they comfortable in their body and well-coordinated?

The approach to writing and reading involves the child’s mind, body and feelings, which provides a meaningful connection with the work that maintains the interest, involvement and delight of even the most intellectual of children.

Imaginative play and the arts can have a healing influence on the child’s life forces. Images from fairytales are deeply nurturing to the unconscious elements of the young child.

Early intellectual awakening can result in a weakening of the child’s vital forces, manifesting in frequent colds or other illnesses. The dreamy state of childhood is an essential element in the healthy formation of the physical body during the first seven years. Because the job of the intellect is to analyse and exercise critical judgement, very bright children may have difficulty relating emotionally with other children, a problem which can intensify as the child becomes older.

If parents want a child’s power of imagination to be nourished and cultivated, if they have faith that not learning to read as quickly as a neighbour or relative expects is fine, the child will retain the openness necessary to enjoy and benefit from the Steiner approach.

How does a play-oriented approach to the early years of schooling prepare children for the high-tech world in which we live? What about computer literacy? I want my child to have a competitive edge, not be behind the times.

There is no demonstrated advantage for a child starting to use computers at the age of five over a child who begins at age twelve or fourteen. Computers, as word processors and vehicles for logical thinking through programming, are suited to the realm of the adolescent, not the preschool age child! Computers as toys are inappropriate, because they present a two-dimensional abstraction of the world to the young child, who should be moving and playing and acquiring a broad base of experiences of the physical world and the world of imaginative play. The visual image on the computer screen is especially hard on the developing eyes of the young child.

Most of the educational programs for young children try to teach concepts at too young an age. The child needs to be addressed through movement and imitation. The fantasy and play of the young child transform into the artistic imagination of the primary school child, the questioning of the teenager and the rational thinking of the young adult. We should have confidence that fantasy and imagination, which are natural to the young child, form a better foundation for later creative thinking than early learning. Creative thinking is more needed in our highly technological world than five-year-olds who can push buttons on a computer.

Rudolf Steiner & Education

Rudolf Steiner (1864-1925) was an Austrian philosopher, scientist and humanitarian who has profoundly influenced Western culture. He worked with scientists, artists, doctors, ministers of religion, teachers and industrialists to help transform our civilisation. His work is best known through Steiner Education, BioDynamics, Anthroposophical Medicine and Architecture. His scientific investigations of the spiritual world led to the development of Anthroposophy, The Wisdom of Man.
His background in history and civilisations coupled with his observation in life gave the world the gift of Waldorf Education. It is a deeply insightful application of learning based on the Study of Humanity that helps develop consciousness of self and the surrounding world. Steiner’s perception that although external conditions in our time are changing as never before, the essential nature of humanity remains; in particular, the stages of human development through childhood follow a natural pattern unaffected by short term social change.

The task of educators remains to prepare children for an unpredictable future by nurturing healthy development ‘from the inside’, to provide the right nourishment at each stage of physical, emotional and spiritual growth. This kind of education had its origin in the first school established by Rudolf Steiner for the children of workers at the Waldorf cigarette factory in Stuttgart in 1919. He developed a flexible curriculum that has evolved with time and has been adapted to local conditions in the various countries where Steiner schools are found.

Steiner schools now form the largest and fastest growing group of independent private schools worldwide. There is an international group of over 800 schools and 1200 kindergartens in many countries including Australia, Britain, Sweden, Austria, Norway, Germany, Switzerland, Holland, U.S.A. and Canada.

Although Steiner education has already stood the test of time, many believe it will show its full promise in the 21st century. The significance of its rapid growth around the world indicates that it may well be an education coming into its own because it fosters a thinking appropriate for our age.