Waldorf education came to Taiwan with the founding of the Waldorf Kindergarten in 1996. Today there are about 20 Waldorf kindergartens. Most kindergartens take care of children from age 3 to 6, and some care for children from 2 to 3.
Waldorf kindergartens in Taiwan do not generally receive financial support from the government. This means a great degree of freedom from government regulation, but also brings financial and social challenges. The government funding policy has gradually changed in the last ten years due to the low Taiwanese birth rate. It is hard to say if this is beneficial for the development of Waldorf kindergartens, as funding from government is accompanied by more limits and interventions.
Working together: In addition to annual gatherings in different regions of Taiwan, Taiwanese teachers meet regularly every 2 years for a two-day conference attended by nearly 250 early childhood educators.
Taiwanese parents need kindergartens to be open all year long. Most kindergarten teachers only have national holidays off, with no winter vacations and only one week of summer vacations. Therefore the conference is a only two-day program, but it nevertheless really meet the needs of the kindergarten teachers.
In 2016, an Association of Steiner-Waldorf Kindergartens was founded and became a member of IASWECE. The administrative committee has undertaken organizing regional and national conferences, supporting new initiatives, and coordinating the development of the training.
Training: Preliminary meetings to form guidelines for Waldorf early childhood training took place in 2019 and 2020. Trainers from different training programs were working and learning together in the meetings. We are all striving for the description of the ideal quality for the program directors, tutors and for adult learning. Surprisingly, we felt the cohesion and high involvement among trainers. We look forward to more diverse, flexible and cross-regional cooperation with organizations.
Shy Tyng Kai is Taiwan’s representative on the IASWECE Council. She has been involved in Taiwan Waldorf Education movement for more than 24 years, in both legal areas and teaching.