The art of education for life

By Maggie Stanfield
Published on Sunday 15 January 2012 07:28

Some parents are not convinced of the merits of either the mainstream school system or the independent sector.

They are looking for something different that will engage their children’s creativity as well as academic abilities.

An alternative can be found in a small group of schools with radically different approaches to mainstream education. Parents who are weary of a constant emphasis on IT skills and exam results may choose to look more closely at these options.

Perhaps the most familiar name in this category is Rudolf Steiner, an Austrian philosopher, playwright and artist, who founded his first school in 1919 for children of the Waldorf-Astoria cigarette factory workers. He developed a spiritual movement called Anthroposophy, which works on the idea that children’s creative, spiritual and moral dimensions need as much attention as their intellectual ones.

Although there are only about 30 Steiner schools across the UK and Ireland, there are more than 880 worldwide and the distinctive ideology attracts parents who are keen to see their child’s creativity enhanced. The Steiner system follows its own curriculum but this does not mean children are cut off from traditional exam structures.

The curriculum caters from ages three and a half to 18. It places strong emphasis on integrating art, crafts, drama and music, with science also taught using a creative approach. It addresses what it describes as “all the multiple intelligences, including emotional literacy and kinaesthetic learning and brings into balance the attributes of the right and left hemispheres of the brain”.

Alistair Pugh is head teacher at the Edinburgh Steiner School on Spylaw Road: “If a parent is considering the happiness and well-being of a child, physically as well as mentally,” he says, “then we provide a holistic environment in which to maximise the potential in every child.

“In addition to developing analytical, logical and reasoning skills as education has always done, we also focus on the development of imagination, creativity, memory and flexible thinking skills – the so called ‘soft skills’ that are so much in demand in the 21st century.

“The curriculum is based on an in-depth understanding of the development of human nature and of how children learn at different stages in their lives – factors that have stayed relatively constant despite the rapid rate of change around us. As a result, the schools have not experienced the many radical changes that mainstream schools have undergone over the past 40 years and the approach in Steiner schools remains broadly similar to that found in the earliest schools.”

Although the Steiner School has a large nursery, children don’t move onto analytical learning until the age of six. By then, even the youngest children have developed the sense of community, commitment and motivation that Pugh explains is so crucial to the school ethos: “Though ultimately they do those same Highers as in traditional schools, and we were second-placed in Scotland for Highers this year, our approach is very different.

“Just that set of Highers isn’t necessarily enough. Confidence, self-belief, a sense of direction for yourself rather than for others are all important elements. These are confident, outgoing young people who are not suspicious of others; who mix easily across the entire age group at school and who form relationships that are solidly based.”

The school is small, with just 250 pupils and class sizes are around 20, allowing for close personal attention as required. Children are encouraged to develop their own skills and to share them with others. A strong sense of social responsibility, awareness of climate change and the importance of healthy eating are all integrated into daily life.

“Learning for young children is developed in much more subtle ways. Literacy and numeracy are being inculcated but in a less obvious way. Steiner said that play is the work of childhood. For a child to play in a structured way and to explore experiences will set down the foundations using meaningful human activities. For example, baking teaches measuring out of ingredients, how many eggs, where the eggs come from, so there is a structure built into the teaching,” says Pugh.

Maria Montessori was another education pioneer. As a doctor working with children then described as “subnormal”, she developed teaching apparatus to help children learn through movement and the development of their imagination. She started her first “Children’s House” in 1907 and spent the rest of her life developing her approach.

Scotland has a Montessori nursery school in Glasgow catering for ages two to five, and a recently established school in Edinburgh that will see children through until the end of primary school.

After a year in a church hall, the Montessori Arts School recently moved into new premises at Liberton Brae, Edinburgh. Montessori schools are not designed exclusively for special needs children, though some may find the atmosphere much more congenial than a traditional primary school.

Emma Wardell is principal of the Edinburgh school: “We have 50 nursery school children getting a grounding in being very self-directed, planning their own learning experience. Class members have work lists as individuals and group lessons, and they use materials that they manipulate as they learn. In a sense, they teach themselves because they enjoy it and they don’t wait to be told what to do.

“They are very good at working together, taking a non-competitive view that two heads are better than one, and they plan out projects on the strengths of the group so that each child can develop his or her own particular interests.”

To Wardell, the advantages are so huge and her personal enthusiasm so catching, it’s not surprising that parents are drawn: “There’s so much I could say to parents to explain why we’re better. Teachers never raise their voices but they are firm. This is the right environment for independence and self-discipline. The children do the laundry, prepare their snacks with supervision and spend a lot of time outside.

“This is education for life that takes in practical life skills alongside literature, dance, poetry and a sense of community. It’s an integrated package.”

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hywelowen

Monday, January 30, 2012 at 08:41 PM

For those who might be interested, here is a research study discussing low vaccination rates in Steiner schools, and how they act as sources of infective outbreak in the general population. http:www.ncbi.nlm.nih.govpubmed19678973 'A school-based retrospective cohort study in the anthroposophic school demonstrated a vaccine effectiveness of 97.3% in pupils who had received a single dose of measles-containing vaccine and 100% in those who had received two doses. The vaccination coverage of the cases in the anthroposophic community was 0.6%.' Steiner = anthroposophy, by the way.

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David Colquhoun

Tuesday, January 24, 2012 at 12:10 AM

I'd like to add my support for the sensible comments from hywelowen and psy80195 It may be argued whether a parent has the right to endanger the life of their own children by refusing to protect them against measles etc. It is quite another thing to say they have the right to endanger other people's children. Yet that is precisely what Steiner schools encourage, because of their very curious beliefs in mystical forms of medicine (known as anthroposophiical medicine).

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psy80195

Monday, January 23, 2012 at 06:52 PM

Hi jea11cst "So far as I know, vaccination is a decision for parents..." This may be the case, but I think a case needs to be made as why this is necessarily a good thing. Have you any evidence that parents automatically know what's in the best health interests of their children, and if so, whenhow do they acquire this knowledge? I find it an odd sentiment that being a parent qualifies adults to make such weighty decisions on behalf of their children, which of course implies that vaccination is in some kids' interests but not others? If you're making the argument that parental autonomy is more important that children's health, then fine, but I can't agree with you when some more evidence-based draconian measures might have saved some kids from needless measles deaths following the MMR fraud...

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hywelowen

Sunday, January 22, 2012 at 11:30 PM

Dear jea11cst, I'm sorry if the link didn't work for you, but I can assure you that the Health Protection Agency, which exists as its name suggests to advise on the protection of the public against infectious diseases, has specifically warned about the dangers of measles infection from coming into contact with unvaccinated children, pointing specifically to children at Steiner schools as being a group that has statistically a very low vaccination uptake rate (around 20% I understand). You can read for yourself on Page 4 of the Guidelines document here: http:www.hpa.org.ukTopicsInfectiousDiseasesInfectionsAZMeaslesGuidelines As a parent of vaccinated children, I do not wish them to run the risk of dangerous diseases as a result of coming into contact with unvaccinated children. It is perhaps not as widely known as it should be that vaccination does not confer complete immunity, and that to prevent epidemics over 90% of people should be vaccinated. The well-meaning but misguided parents in my own school district have a worryingly-low vaccination rate of only 80%, so it matters to me (as it should do to all parents) which schools have unvaccinated children, and which schools do not. I don't want my kids to get sick. That is not social tyranny, it's social responsibility. As any teacher or lecturer will tell you (and I've been both), these diseases are mostly transmitted in the classroom. I catch all my colds during term-time! This isn't just theorising. Since the Andrew Wakefield MMR debacle caused a huge drop in vaccination rates, cases of measles are rocketing. See for example: http:www.bbc.co.uknewshealth-13561766 or http:www.bbc.co.uknewsuk-wales-13931091 It's simple. The risk of death from getting measles is far higher than the risk of death from getting the vaccine. You say it's a strange intervention, and tangential, to talk about risk of disease from attending a particular school. Actually, it's quite pertinent. It's not demonstrated that Steiner schools lead to happier or better-educated children, but it is demonstrable (see above) that there is a higher risk of disease if your kid is there. So why would you take the risk? I know and have taught plenty of people who went through either the state sector or private school of some variety (including Steiner), and most were happy as kids, as most kids are. Asserting 'parent choice' is fine too, but proper evidence of Steiner's educational benefits is needed to balance the health risks. Do you have some?

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jea11cst

Sunday, January 22, 2012 at 10:24 PM

"The NHS regard children in Steiner schools as being essentially unvaccinated" ("Essentially") No wonder the link include by "hywelowen" doesn't seem to exist. So far as I know, vaccination is a decision for parents & Steiner schools simply do not consider they should embark on the sort of social tyranny that exists in countries like France where the law prevents unvaccinated children from attending school. I do not believe that that is a correct role for the State, nor do I think it's a matter for schools. Altogether a strange intervention on tangential subject which calls for far more serious examination than there is space for here. I know a few former Steiner pupils who happen to be friends & wish my own children could have had what they evidently received from their education. .

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hywelowen

Saturday, January 21, 2012 at 12:03 AM

Steiner schools often try to contrast themselves with normal schools by stating they are 'child-centred', as if to imply that somehow normal schools are not focused on the teaching of children. But the baking example given is just the same as is done in any primary school up and down the UK, including the one my child goes to. So you have to wonder at the uncritical writing of this article. Be that as it may, what is perhaps more worrying about Steiner schools is that the NHS regards children from Steiner schools as being essentially unvaccinated (see HPA advice here: http:www.hpa.org.ukwebcHPAwebFileHPAweb_C1274088429847). Hence, sending your child to a Steiner school is a significant risk to their health, and thus to the health of others they come into contact with.

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Drochelle

Friday, January 20, 2012 at 08:06 PM

I don't understand why the moderator removed D Colquhoun's comment which I retrieved from google cache: "Despite the positive tone of this article, it's fair to warn parents that Steiner schools are not at all the same as Montessori. Rudolf Steiner's ideas are occult, cult-like and often just plain weird.. Faceless dolls, gnomes, karma and reincarnation feature in his teachings. Anthroposophical ideas about medicine are a positive danger to public health (and the health of your children). Steiner also had some pretty unpleasant views which would nowadays be classed as racist. There is a good description of Steiner education, written by people who know about it, to be found here: http:www.dcscience.net?s=Steiner+Waldorf"

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Taigh na Croiche

Sunday, January 15, 2012 at 04:50 PM

The curriculum at a Steiner school sounds a lot like the new Curriculum for Excellence minus the Steiner mumbo jumbo.

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David Colquhoun

Sunday, January 15, 2012 at 04:48 PM

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