“The ideas and intentions which will shape civilization tomorrow must be awakened within children today.” - Nana Gobel
Waldorf education is a unique form of education from preschool through high school, which is based on the view that the human being is a being of body, emotions, mind, and soul. The central focus for the Waldorf teacher is the development of that essence in every person that is independent of external appearance, by instilling in his/her pupils an understanding of, and appreciation for, their background and place in the world, not primarily as members of any specific nation, ethnic group or race, but as members of humanity and world citizens. The specific methods used in Waldorf schools come from the view that the child develops through a number of basic stages from childhood to adulthood. The Waldorf curriculum is specifically designed to work with the child through these stages of development.
The approach has been termed “the most complete articulation of an evolutionary developmental K-12 curriculum and creative teaching methodology” - Joan Jaeckel, “Sparking Greater Innovation in K-12 Education”, Education Week, March 26, 2008
The Bitterroot School (TBS) was inspired by children and founded by Bitterroot Valley families and community members to support the wisdom behind Waldorf education, which produces creative, well-rounded and thoughtful young men and women, who ultimately are empowered to become better citizens.
Waldorf learning is interdisciplinary, integrates practical, artistic, and intellectual elements, and is coordinated with natural rhythms of everyday life. The Waldorf approach emphasizes the role of the imagination in learning, developing thinking that includes a creative as well as an analytic component. Studies of the education describe its overarching goal as providing young people the basis on which to develop into free, moral and integrated individuals. There are now about 1,000 independent Waldorf schools and 1,400 independent Waldorf kindergartens located in approximately sixty countries throughout the world, making up one of the world’s largest independent educational systems.
Waldorf education was developed by Rudolf Steiner (1861-1925) at the beginning of the 20th century. It is based on Steiner’s broader philosophy and teachings, called anthroposophy (literally, wisdom or knowledge of man).
The Waldorf kindergarten cultivates and works in support of the pre-school child’s deep, inborn natural attitude, belief and trust in and basic reverence for the world as an interesting and good place to live in.
For the Waldorf student, music, dance, and theater, writing, literature, legends and myths are not simply subjects to be read about, ingested and tested. They are experienced. Through these experiences, Waldorf students cultivate a lifelong love of learning as well as the intellectual, emotional, physical and spiritual capacities to be individuals certain of their paths and to be of service to the world.
In the lower grades in elementary school, this leads over to more of an emphasis on using artistic elements in different forms (rhythm, movement, color, form, recitation, song, music), not only as a means of personal self expression, but as a means to learn to understand and relate to the world, building an understanding for different subjects out of what is beautiful in the world in the broadest sense of the word.
And in the upper grades and high school, this leads in steps to an ever more conscious cultivation of an observing, reflecting and experimental scientific attitude to the world, focusing on building an understanding of what is true, based on personal experience, thinking and judgment.
“Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire.”
— William Butler Yeats
Waldorf teachers strive to transform education into an art that educates the whole child—the heart and the hands, as well as the head. They are dedicated to generating an inner enthusiasm for learning within every child. They achieve this in a variety of ways. Even seemingly dry and academic subjects are presented in a pictorial and dynamic manner. This eliminates the need for competitive testing, academic placement, and behavioral rewards to motivate learning. It allows motivation to arise from within and helps engender the capacity for joyful lifelong learning.
Teachers concern themselves with questions such as:
How do we establish within each child his or her own high level of academic excellence?
How do we call forth enthusiasm for learning and work, a healthy self-awareness, interest and concern for fellow human beings, and a respect for the world?
How can we help pupils find meaning in their lives?
Waldorf Facts:
An international study found that Waldorf pupils were more creative than state-school students, as judged by the Torrance Test of Creative Thinking Ability.
An Australian study found that Waldorf-educated adolescents were more oriented towards improving social conditions and had more positive visions of the future than those who attended state schools.
A study comparing the prevalence of xenophobic and right-extremist attitudes in pupils in various types of German schools found far fewer students in Waldorf schools who were intolerant of foreigners (2.8%) than in college-preparatory (8.4%) or other schools (16.4% - 24.7%); similarly strong differences were found in the numbers of right-extremist students (1.2% in Waldorf, 2.1%-9.5% in other schools. Similar results were found in a Swedish study which reported that the proportion of the Waldorf pupils who supported counteracting or stopping Nazism and racism was considerably greater (93%) than that of the pupils at municipal secondary schools (72%).
A study of 6,600 children from five European countries, ages 5 to 13, showed a lower incidence of allergies amongst children attending Waldorf schools, an effect which correlated with the extent to which they lived an “anthroposophic lifestyle” in terms of limited use of antibiotics, antipyretics, and measles, mumps and rubella vaccination. A second Swedish study found the incidence of atopy or allergy-like symptoms in pupils in Waldorf schools to be half (13%) of that in neighboring non-Waldorf schools (25%).
The Bitterroot School (TBS) plans to begin combined Kindergarten/1st grade this September. Tuition is $480 per month for 5 days/week, 9am-1pm, or $360 per month for 3 days/week, 9am-1pm.
This August, TBS/Waldorf Foundation Fund will perform community outreach and fundraising. Please help us reach our startup goal of $50,000. All donations are tax-deductible*.
To Contact Us:
E-mail: TheBitterrootSchool@yahoo.com
Website: www.TheBitterrootSchool.org
Phone: (406) 369-0213 or (406) 381-0145
Write: The Bitterroot School (TBS);
302 N. 1st St.; Hamilton, MT 59840
Donations to TBS/Waldorf Foundation Fund: (406) 369-1888
Other Resources:
Association of Waldorf Schools of North America (AWSNA): (612)870-8310
www.awsna.org
www.whywaldorfworks.org
- Waldorf Early Childhood Association (WECAN): (845)352-1690
www.waldorfearlychildhood.org
“The greatest scientists are artists as well. Imagination is more important than knowledge. Knowledge is limited. Imagination circles the world.”
- Albert Einstein
