The Steiner approach to early education is gaining popularity as a way to counter over-formalisation in mainstream schooling, as Mary Evans discovers
The Austrian philosopher and educator Rudolf Steiner opened the first Waldorf school in Stuttgart, Germany, in 1919, giving birth to what is one of the fastest-growing educational movements in the world today.
In the UK there are more than 60 Steiner early years centres, with many more parent and toddler groups, while Steiner schools flourish in more than 50 countries.
Rudolf Steiner believed children progressed through three seven-year cycles of development: from birth to seven, from seven to 14, and from 14 to 21. His aim was to help pupils achieve clarity of thought, sensitivity of feeling and strength of will by creating an educational framework to address each developmental stage in the most appropriate way.
The early years curriculum is driven by the view that in the first cycle children undergo the greatest physical growth and development, during which structures in the brain are being refined and elaborated. At this stage, they learn by doing, experiencing, exploring, touching and imitating. Not until the age of six are they physically, emotionally and intellectually ready for formal instruction.
The Steiner approach of not forcing formal learning too early is borne out of a desire to protect children's developing faculties of feeling and willing, which practitioners warn can be marginalised in the rush to achieve early intellectual attainment targets.
It is their belief that children who have suffered from early pressure often later lack the will and enthusiasm to study for themselves, which has struck a chord with early years professionals and parents alike.
Early years consultant Marian Whitehead compared the Steiner approach with that of a maintained nursery in her book Supporting Language and Literacy Development in the Early Years (Open University, 19.99). She believes Steiner's growth in popularity is because parents are worried about over-formalisation in early education.
She feels there is much in the Steiner kindergarten routine that can usefully be adopted by mainstream settings, for example the emphasis on play, arts and crafts and storytelling, as well as its totally integrated curriculum. Ms Whitehead says, 'I have tremendous respect and admiration for them because I think it is rooted in very sound early years practice. In the really important areas such as how children learn, how they develop, they are absolutely spot on.
'The children are learning literacy and numeracy skills in an integrated way. When I observed in a Steiner kindergarten, the children set out a long row of chairs to play trains. They sat and made choo-choo noises. The next thing they did was make tickets and you had to have your ticket to get on the train and so it went on.'
Mainstream practitioners may have only a vague idea about the Steiner approach, but through the work of the early years partnership in Bristol, Steiner teachers like Winny Mossman are sharing ideas.
Mrs Mossman, a teacher for more than 20 years at the Rowan Tree Kindergarten, says, 'We have been a bit of a mystery, which is partly our fault. But through the local partnership we are now all coming together for training sessions and socials.
'I think there have been some misconceptions. We are not some sort of free school where the children are simply allowed to do what they want. There is a routine, and the children thrive on it.'
Steiner approach: a case study
Rhythm, reverence and repetition, the three-Rs of Steiner education, shape the day for Lucila Machado's 13 pupils at Edinburgh's Steiner Kindergarten.
Rhythm: annually, weekly and daily is a key element of the Steiner approach. The seasons of the year, major faith festivals and children's birthdays are celebrated year round.
Lucila's class, aged three-and-a-half to six years old, follows the same weekly pattern: Mondays start with baking, Tuesdays with painting, Wednesdays with cooking, Thursdays with Eurythmy (a special system of movement to songs and poetry), and Fridays with crafts and cleaning. The morning, from 8.40am to 12.40pm, runs to the same rhythms each day, with periods of activity and of quiet.
The kindergarten, a striking, modern building in the grounds of the city's Steiner school, is built from sustainable, natural materials. For their creative play the children use natural materials such as logs, cloths, pine cones, shells and pebbles, the classroom tables, chairs, and, most importantly, their imaginations. There are no plastic toys.
The Steiner approach is to teach by example rather than instruction. Lucila says, 'Everything a teacher does in the classroom has to be worthy of imitation, from your gestures to your voice. You never raise your voice, as we don't want the children copying and shouting about the place.'
The classroom has its own small kitchen and a toilet. When the children arrive on a Monday morning Lucila has everything ready so they can work with her to bake the bread for the week's snack times.
'They come in, wash their hands, put on their aprons and gather around the table. I have set the things out. Someone will stand by the tins and start oiling them. Another child will begin to mix the water and sugar and so on. We sing a little baking song as we work.
'Then we clear up and it is time for creative play. I will maybe get on with some mending. We are never idle. Children learn by following you, so we are always doing some meaningful task.'
Each child is allocated a task every term - one responsible for sweeping, another for washing up and another for drying up.
At circle time Lucila and her pupils sing songs, recite verses and perform finger rhymes, all on a seasonal theme. The same material will be repeated daily over two or three weeks and the children learn it by heart.
After snack time they go out 'in any weather' for about 45 minutes. They might play or join in the outdoor work. For example, in autumn they help harvest apples from the school's orchard or sweep leaves.
The morning ends with story time. 'I never read to them. I tell them a story I have learned by heart. It takes me about three weeks to learn a story and then I tell it for two to three weeks.
Lucila is planning her next circle time on the theme of winter and birds, so is already learning a suitable story, poems and finger rhymes and has planned a craft activity around feeding the birds.