Historic
Waldorf Pedagogy was created by the Austrian philosopher Rudolf Steiner, and the first school to use it was founded in 1919 in Stuttgart, Germany. It becomes more widespread each year, and is already adopted in around 1150 Waldorf schools in 64 countries and 2000 Waldorf Kindergartens in over 70 countries on 5 continents. Waldorf Schools are community schools, created from the interest and initiative of parents interested in this pedagogy, and teachers. They are not a commercial franchise.
In Brazil, the first Waldorf school was founded in São Paulo in 1956, with the name Escola Higienópolis, and after a few years it was renamed Escola Waldorf Rudolf Steiner. FEWB – Federation of Waldorf Schools in Brazil was founded in 1998, and today there are 230 Waldorf schools among FEWB affiliates and new initiatives. There are a total of 138 serving up to Kindergarten1, 59 schools serving up to Elementary School I, 18 serving up to Elementary School II, and 15 going up to High School, distributed in 20 states in Brazil,2 serving 17,206 students (Feb/2019), with around 1,600 specialized teachers and 550 assistants. Waldorf Pedagogy is also applied in numerous day care centers, social organizations and in some public schools. (1)
Today we have Waldorf schools and gardens in 85 cities in 21 states. More than 170 schools are registered on this site, including kindergartens and schools with primary and secondary education. With the exception of small kindergartens, these schools are non-profit associations. There are schools that started out as private schools, but have evolved to become associations, or are in the process. There are also municipal public schools, some of which are affiliated, as in Camanducaia – MG and Nova Friburgo (2) – RJ, and others instituted by the municipality itself, as in Aracaju – SE. look here the list of registered schools.
the brands “Waldorf Pedagogy” and “Waldorf” are the property of the Rudolf Steiner Pedagogical Association, and their use by schools is regulated by the FEWB – Federation of Waldorf Schools of Brazil, whose mission is to defend the interests of Waldorf schools in Brazil in the solution of issues related to Waldorf Education and the Brazilian educational system, laws and opinions, among other functions.
Featured image: Waldorf Novalis School – Piracicaba SP – photo by Ernesto Beck Jr.
(1) Information provided by FEWB as of March 2021.
Watch a video commemorating 100 years of Waldorf Pedagogy.
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