Waldorf Education

For me the greatest appeal to this approach is the holistic development of a person. The concept of Head - Heart- Hand speaks volumes about how we should learn. And this is certainly not limited to children's learning. As adults, I think the principles should ring true too.

For every part of the body described as a noun, there is a corresponding verb (action) and adjective (descriptive). Simply wonderful!

HEAD - thinking (verb), intellectual (adjective)
HEART - feeling (verb), artistic, (adjective)
HAND - doing (verb), practical (adjective)

Can you see where all the Head, Heart and Hand can work in tandem?

Next appeal for me is that the approach celebrates the right of children to childhood.

Now, more than ever before, would the Waldorf approach be the answer to addressing the needs of our 21st century learners.  In Waldorf's early learning, child development is nurtured through facilitation of creative, self-directed play, as it is believed that the initiative, imagination and flexibility awakened underpin later academic learning and are the basis for innovative thought in adult life.

Compare the hallmarks of a Steiner education to the following. It is not that hard to spot where the head, heart and hand overlap with knowledge, skills and value.