Germany

Europe, Germany

The German Association of Waldorf Kindergartens comprises 558 Waldorf kindergartens at this time, plus affiliated early childhood care in nurseries or  in-home daycare provider networks. There are approximately 24,881 children between birth and age 6 in their care.

The Waldorf kindergarten movement in Germany is subdivided into regional working coalitions according to the different German provinces. Indeed, there are different frameworks for the kindergartens in each province. However, the German Association of Waldorf Kindergartens is developing general agreements that will apply to all Waldorf kindergartens in Germany.

Its tasks are also to provide teacher training and strengthen collaboration across regional boundaries. Active collaboration in offering conferences; working together with the Association of German Waldorf Schools, the Association for Curative Education, and the Pedagogical Section in Dornach; as well as collaboration with IASWECE, are all tasks for this association of the German Waldorf Kindergarten movement.


One focal point for discussion in recent years, alongside the development of a teacher training for early childhood teachers, is the quality of Waldorf early education. In the last ten years of Waldorf pedagogical practice, many new themes have been taken up: full-time childcare for children in the first seven years, support for families, the tasks of educating the very young child, strengthening the Waldorf kindergarten as a place for the child’s free play, and many more themes…

In the last fifteen years, childcare has been developed for the very young child, and is now taking place on a widespread basis.

Although an attempt was made to lower the age of school entry to 5 years, the overall experience with that was so poor that children may now once again enter school at 6 years.  In certain provinces, it is also possible to start school at age 7 years.

The work of mentoring and accompanying colleges of teachers and boards of Waldorf kindergartens continues to grow in importance. Therefore, the German Association of Waldorf Kindergartens has given this mentoring and advising work its own place in the Association by establishing a new company; consultants (experienced Waldorf educators) work here to accompany and advise the kindergartens in their questions about pedagogy and self-administration.

The situation in Germany, with the generational change and growth in numbers of children through birth and immigration, requires many new Waldorf kindergartens and teachers.  There are 11 training seminars for Waldorf teachers and they will not meet the demand.  Here lies a task for the future!

Hartmut Beye, is responsible for public relations for the German Association of Waldorf Kindergartens

Website of the German Waldorf Kindergarten Association with the addresses of all German kindergartens and training centers

Norway

Europe, Norway

In Norway, a country with 5 million inhabitants, there are 45 Waldorf kindergartens with 1800 children from ages one to six.

In 1997 a new law was passed, requiring all six-year-olds to go to school. In Waldorf schools the curriculum for first grade is actually kindergarten activities, but most of the 30 Waldorf schools have their first grade classes organized as a kindergarten, but no longer with mixed-age groups of children from one to three years old or children from three to six years old.

All our programs are state-funded and Waldorf kindergartens are therefore under the same regulations as mainstream early childhood education regarding opening-times and group-size.

Many of our burning questions are concerned with the conditions of childhood in general and the ability of Waldorf-education to meet the needs of childhood today.

 


Working together.  All the Waldorf kindergartens are working together in the Norwegian Association for Steiner/Waldorf Early Childhood Education.  This Association has a national conference each year where 350 colleagues meet over a long weekend, with keynote speakers and workshops addressing burning questions such as the role of the adult, attachment theory, core values in Waldorf education, etc.

Training.  The Rudolf Steiner College University in Oslo www.rshoyskolen offers a three-year bachelor program and also a part-time education course over a period of five years for students who want  to become Waldorf early childhood educators. They also offer a masters degree in Waldorf Education; this program is in English and open for application from all over the world.

Birth to Three. In Norway children from birth to three are in separate groups with a few exceptions. Around 75% of one-year-old children in Norway spend long days in early childhood programs, and thus it may be understandable that educators are deeply concerned and struggle with questions and challenges regarding attachment and bonding in the early years.

Aurelia Udo de Haes, Kindergarten teacher and member of the IASWECE Council

Website of the Country Association
Rudolf Steiner College University

Poland

Europe, Poland

There are now 10 Waldorf kindergartens in Poland. They are owned by associations, foundations or private persons and are diverse in size, number of groups and opening hours. All are funded partially through state subsidies and partially through the parents.

There are also many Waldorf-inspired kindergartens in cities like Poznań, Grudziądz,  Bielsko Biała, Kraków, Wieliczka, Siemianowice and Wrocław. Some are interested in becoming Waldorf kindergartens.  In Warszawa there is a Waldorf-inspired state kindergarten, also for  children with disabilities.

Kindergartens do not offer day care for children under 3 years old. The need is slowly increasing and as a response, meetings or playgroups take place once a week in some kindergartens.

Children can continue Waldorf education at schools in Warszawa, Kraków, Poznań and Bielsko Biała. The schools are primary schools with 6 classes. In the first three cities there are Waldorf-inspired secondary schools with classes 7 to 9. The school in Warszawa now is planning to open upper classes 9-12.


Looking back. The first kindergartens in Poland were small groups in private flats for the teacher’s children and friends. After the political change in 1989 it become possible to talk openly about Waldorf education and anthroposophy and lectures and workshops for teachers began to take place.

It also became possible to open non-public alternative schools and kindergartens. Waldorf kindergartens began to open in the late 1980s and  early 1990s, some with financial help from abroad, some on their own.

Collaboration. Waldorf kindergartens and schools are together in one association, Związek Szkół i Przedszkoli Waldorfskich w Polsce (Association of Waldorf Schools and Kindergartens in Poland). Kindergartens have their own section in the Association. The teachers meet and work together regularly. There is one big, open annual national conference and several smaller conferences or workshops during the year.

Training. In 1992, with very active help from Joop van den Heuvel from Holland and Maria Ziemska, a professor at Warsaw University, Waldorf teacher training was organized as a postgraduate study course at Warsaw University.  This course of study, Podyplomowe Studium Edukacji Niezależnej, has trained kindergarten and school teachers ever since. At first the lecturers came from Holland, Germany or Austria, and now most of the lecturers are Polish.

The students come once a month to Warszawa, which is in the middle of the country and easy to reach by train, bus or car in several hours at most. They attend lectures and workshops from Friday afternoon till Sunday. They also meet for an intensive summer course and go for work experience to kindergartens in Poland or abroad.

Our concerns. Our problems are strict sanitary and epidemiological rules, which often prevent or make difficult our way of working with children. It takes a lot of time and force to talk with the officials and receive legal permission for how we work, and it is often not possible. For example, we are not allowed to cook or prepare food with the children. The kitchen must comply with such difficult requirements, that the majority of the kindergartens can’t afford it. These regulations also affect many small things like sand, chairs or towels…

Other problems come from changing educational rules and curriculums. In the last few years there have been many changes with the transition to school and the age of school entrance. The development and needs of the children in Poland are strongly influenced by economic and political interests.

The kindergartens and teacher training centers are working on presenting and popularizing Waldorf education. This education is not well known and some people in our country unfortunately have a distorted picture of it. We are working to change this.

Maja Rębkowska is a teacher in Waldorf kindergarten in Warsaw and is member of the IASWECE Council.

Website of the Waldorf Associaion in Poland

Canada

Canada

Although Canada is a very large country and there are many developing Canadian initiatives in various stages of progress, there are currently only 25 Waldorf early childhood programs in five of the ten provinces.

Waldorf early childhood education came to Canada with the 1968 founding of the Toronto Waldorf School in Ontario, closely followed by the 1969 founding of the Vancouver Waldorf School in British Columbia. Many of these schools were part of the burgeoning growth in the 1970’s and are mostly clustered in British Columbia and Ontario, although Quebec and Alberta have  long term established schools. Currently, there is a strong seed-force being kindled on the east coast of Canada as well and an early childhood educator training has arisen there.

Some schools in Canada receive partial government funding.


Working together. The 25 Waldorf kindergartens in Canada are members of the Waldorf Early Childhood Association of North America (WECAN) and are working closely together with Early Chldhood Programs in the United States.

Training.  Schools and programs that receive government funding have caregivers who have both Waldorf and mainstream trainings. All other group leaders are expected to have completed their Waldorf training. There are two WECAN approved early childhood teacher education institutes in Canada – The Rudolf Steiner Centre Toronto (RSCT) in Ontario, founded in 1978, and West Coast Institute for Studies in Anthroposophy (WCI) in British Columbia, founded in 1996. Both work with the IASWECE Guidelines and WECAN Shared Principles.

Ruth Ker is the WECAN Teacher Education Coordinator and director of the Early Childhood Teacher Education Program at the West Coast Institute for Studies in Anthroposophy on Vancouver Island, British Colombia, Canada.

Waldorf Early Childhood Association of North America (WECAN)

Read the Newsletter of WECAN

Italy

Europe, Italy

In Italy, there are 1000 children attending the 30 Waldorf kindergartens in the country. The largest number of schools and kindergartens are in the North, but there are also some in the South and the center of Italy.

Collaboration.  Beginning in 1978, two national meetings, one in autumn and one in spring, have been regularly organized. Today about one hundred teachers attend these meetings. In 1991 teachers working in the area and rooted in Anthroposophy created the Italian association Sole Luna Stelle (Sun, Moon Stars) to take care and support the early childhood education. Since 1991 the Association organizes a summer week of intensive work for teachers on pedagogical and anthropological themes regarding kindergarten-age children, and life and activities in kindergartens. Birth to three is also part of the work. Since 1994 regional meetings are held once a month in 3 areas (north – Milan, east – Oriago – Venice, Centre-south – Rome).  A further meeting is held during the winter, together with teachers working with children in the second and third seven-year periods.

Training. Today in Italy there are six training centers recognized by the Italian Federazione Steiner Waldorf. The courses last two/three years (depending on how they are structured), after which kindergarten teachers have a compulsory internship.

Birth to three. Today in Italy there are no nurseries recognized by the Association  Sole Luna Stelle. However during the last years sporadic initiatives for children from 0 to 3 years have started mainly as family groups, often by people with a training in Waldorf education. In many kindergartens, meetings for parents are organized in order to provide practical information regarding early childhood. Themes such as pregnancy, childbirth, first aid, breastfeeding, feeding, and the stages of child development are treated. These activities are very important because baby care and family environments are of fundamental importance for early childhood. The Italian Association considers the age 0-3 years to be very important and takes care of people and initiatives in this area. 

Looking back. The first Italian kindergarten started from an Anthroposophical impulse in 1946 in Milan and the following year a little first grade class begun. Thanks to many conferences on education held in Milan, during the 1970’s many Waldorf kindergartens opened . 

Silvia Rizzoli is Waldorf kindergarten teacher in Bologna, Italy and member of the IASWECE Council

Association “Sole Luna Stelle” 
Association for Waldorf education in Italy

 

France

Europe, France

There are 21 Waldorf kindergartens in France – approximately half of them are part of a Waldorf school. A large number are in or near Paris, Provence, the Riviera, and Alsace.

Financial support from the government is available only to schools and kindergartens that follow the national curriculum, and this does not leave much space for Waldorf education. Therefore Waldorf parents and educators often have a great deal of idealism and capacity for improvisation, necessary in order to fight for a space for free play in the centralized and highly regulated French school system.

Aside from the lack of funding, however, there are some very favorable working conditions: every kindergarten that does not receive government support has the greatest possible educational freedom, also in regard to school entrance age.


Training. Two training centers (in Chatou, near Paris, and in Avignon) offer three-year part-time training courses in Waldorf education. A number of trainers are making efforts to establish a state-recognized Waldorf early childhood training including Waldorf educational elements, but thus far without success.

Collaboration. Since 1995, Waldorf schools and kindergartens have been working together in the „Fédération des écoles Steiner-Waldorf.“ Each autumn there is a national meeting, and in spring there is a special conference for Waldorf educators working with children in the first seven years.

Care for the Very Young Child. There are five nurseries (child care centers) whose caregivers have a Waldorf orientation. A group of 15 trained Waldorf educators have recently completed a further training in birth to three care (with Michaela Gloeckler and Geseke Lundgren). This initiative group organizes regional training courses and is seeking to integrate preparation for birth to three work into existing training courses.

Looking back. Since the end of the 19th century, the education of children from age three has been part of the very strict secular federal school system. Since then, the „école maternelle“ has offered school activities for three- to six-year-olds at no charge. Thus it is no surprise that Waldorf kindergartens founded in 1949 in Strasbourg and shortly afterwards in Paris did not readily find successors. Only in the 80’s and 90’s when it became clear how difficult it is to reform the state school system, did a modest wave of new Waldorf kindergarten foundings begin.

Philipp Reubke is a Waldorf educator in Mulhouse/France und a member of the IASWECE Coordinating Group.

Website of the French Steiner-Waldorf Association of Schools and Kindergartens
Training in Chatou/Paris 
Training in Avignon

United Kingdom

Europe, United Kingdom

Waldorf Education has been established in the UK for over 75 years. The United Kingdom includes kindergartens (settings) in England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland (North and some South).  There are around 36 schools with kindergartens, and together with the independent kindergartens, Daycare settings, woodland groups, childminders, parent and child groups and new initiatives, reach around 2000 children and their families.

Almost all 3 and 4 year olds have government subsidised places, and there are now 4 Free schools called Steiner Academies which are fully state funded for children from rising 5.

Training. There are two Steiner Waldorf early childhood training courses which carry a Diploma at Level 5 and are fully government recognised within England. Both these courses meet the IASWECE guidelines for trainers.  A newly established course specialises in the child between birth and three, as well as deepening an understanding of the Pikler approach to respectful care. It carries a government recognised qualification for Childcare at level 3.


Support for kindergartens and schools. In order to use the name Rudolf Steiner and Waldorf in relation to education, settings and projects need to register with the Steiner Waldorf Schools Fellowship (SWSF) which is the overarching charity providing support and guidance.  An advisory service is provided for teachers, and settings and schools are inspected by an inspectorate which has an understanding of Steiner Waldorf pedagogy and structure.

Looking back. In the 40’s, a group of kindergarten teachers established what is now the Steiner Waldorf Early Years Group (SWEYG) made up of early childhood teachers, carers, teacher trainers and advisors.

Janni Nicol, Waldorf kindergarten teacher, early childhood representative of the Steiner Waldorf Schools Fellowship, and Board member of IASWECE,  produces and edits the journal KINDLING (for Steiner Waldorf Early Childhood).

Website of the country association

Waldorf Early Years Training Courses

Austria

Austria, Europe

Currently there are 36 kindergartens in Austria and a few more initiatives related to Waldorf education. There are 14 groups for toddlers and 9 playgroups (mother-child groups), mostly connected to established kindergartens.

With regard to the general situation in Waldorf kindergartens one can say that the demand for the education of children from birth-to-three and for full-day care is increasing. The kindergartens are busy and since 2009 the parents´financial contributions have been subsidized by the state to 80% – a fact, which attracts a wider range of families. Basically intensified work with the parents is required and more and more mobility and changing circumstances in the lives of the families and teachers as well are a growing challenge in running a kindergarten.

Training programs. In 1990 in order to provide Waldorf educational training in Austria it was most notably Brigitte Goldmann who brought the “Waldorf kindergarten seminar” into being in Vienna as a part-time training program with a three-year curriculum in monthly modules. The average number of being 45 is still increasing. Since 2002 Waldorf-Salzburg has offered a 3-year comprehensive training where kindergarten and school teachers can study together with special focus on kindergarten respectively school teacher training. The number of participants fluctuates around 15.There is also special training course for kindergarten teachers for children from birth-to-three, which has so far been held in three rounds at irregular intervals in Vienna/Graz, the last one ending in 2015.

Project on “school entrance phase” Due to the initiative of two Waldorf school teachers there is a comprehensive project on the transition from kindergarten to school running in Austria, which is designed to appeal to kindergarten and school teachers as well as to parents. Its first practical forum in 2014 was dealing with “School readiness”, the second will take place in October 2015 under the title “Creating transitions together” and will especially focus on the part of the parents.

Looking Back. In the middle of the 20-ies of the last century there was an intense anthroposophical life going on in Vienna and in the years following Rudolf Steiner´s death the enthusiasm for a renewed approach to education was vibrant. In 1927 the first Waldorf kindergarten came into being and the foundations for a school were laid with one comprehensive class combining 1st and 2nd grade. The school developed to its 10th grade along with the kindergarten, both were changing locations until 1938, when they had to be closed down for political reasons.

After the year 1945 it was first and foremost thanks to Bronja Zahlingen that a Waldorf kindergarten was founded again in 1955. However, it took time until 1972 and the support of school parents and donators to lay the founding stone for a new kindergarten building attached to the Rudolf Steiner School in Wien-Mauer (founded in 1967). Like in Vienna families with a pioneering spirit appeared also in the rest of Austria using their best forces to found kindergartens and schools in Linz, Klagenfurt, Graz, Salzburg, Wien-Pötzleinsdorf, Innsbruck, Schönau, Wien-West and Kufstein. Frequently an adequate place was found in historic buildings, with the exception of Salzburg, where generous private subsidization allowed to design and build a school.

Website of the country association – Website of the training center

United States

United States

Waldorf education came to the United States with the founding of the Rudolf Steiner School in New York in 1927. The main growth of the movement began in the late 1960’s, and the number of Waldorf schools and kindergartens increased from nine in 1967 to nearly 200 today, including kindergartens, nursery or pre-school groups, parent-child, parent-toddler and parent-infant classes, extended care and after-school programs, and child care programs in homes and centers.

Waldorf schools and kindergartens in the US do not generally receive any financial support from the government. This has meant a great degree of freedom from government regulation, but also brings financial and social challenges.

Working together. The Waldorf Kindergarten Association was founded in 1983; the Association changed its name in the late 1990’s to Waldorf Early Childhood Association of North America (WECAN). WECAN’s activities are guided by its board, composed of experienced Waldorf educators and trainers, and carried out by its mostly part-time staff, including a coordinator, administrator, publications manager, and coordinators for teacher education and membership. Twenty-one regional representatives facilitate activities within regions.

In addition to conferences and gatherings within the regions, WECAN hosts major conferences each February on the East and West Coasts. WECAN also actively publishes Gateways, a twice-yearly newsletter and a wide variety of books for Waldorf early childhood educators and parents. There are working groups on public policy, the child from birth to three, teacher education, and diversity, inclusion, access and equity (IDEA). 

WECAN works closely together with the Association of Waldorf Schools of North America (AWSNA) as well as with the Alliance for Public Waldorf Education. Both AWSNA and WECAN work on a continental rather than a national basis, with members in the US, Canada and Mexico. WECAN is also an active member in IASWECE.


Training. Everyone leading a group of children in a Waldorf early childhood setting is expected to have completed a Waldorf early childhood teacher education program.There are 12 early childhood teacher education programs and institutes in North America. Six are Full Members and six are Associate Members of WECAN. All work with the IASWECE Guidelines and WECAN Shared Principles for Waldorf early childhood teacher education. All offer part-time, low-residency training courses, often with 2-3 week intensive courses in the summer and shorter week long or weekend courses throughout the school year, over the course of two to three years. All offer a Waldorf certificate; one program is in partnership with a state university master’s degree. The training programs collaborate with one another through a membership path that includes self-study and peer review through site visits.

Susan Howard is Coordinator of WECAN and a member of the Coordinating Group of IASWECE.

Newsletter of the Waldorf Early Childhood Association
Waldorf Early Childhood Association of North America (WECAN) website