3 – The Waldorf School as a social organism

 

 

community schools

by Rubens Salles

In principle, Waldorf schools are community schools, created on the initiative of a group of parents and teachers. Only a few small kindergartens are run by independent private initiative, and some larger schools that started out as private schools ended up becoming associations over time.

Usually a group of parents and prospective parents form a study group on pedagogy and anthroposophy, and in this collective process the impulse to create a new school ends up maturing, but there is no ready-made recipe for it. The legal format is that of a non-profit civil law association, formed by parents and interested parties, which will maintain the school. As a living and autonomous social organism, the Waldorf school is organized as follows:

 

Independent pedagogical management

“A free school is one that allows teachers to
and educators to integrate in education everything that,
from their knowledge of the human being, from
from your knowledge of the world and from your love
to the child, they consider essential.”
                                                                      Rudolf Steiner

The spiritual life at school is the responsibility of the teachers, that is, the teaching staff acts with total pedagogical autonomy, which covers the individual and collective spheres:

individual scope – In a Waldorf school, teachers are free to plan how the contents of education will be taught. Free from pre-formatted programs, handouts and teaching manuals, pedagogical performance is an individual responsibility of the teacher.

This freedom does not mean that subjects required by official teaching programs are not covered. It means how and when they will be taught, as well as the inclusion of additional subjects, mainly in the field of arts and crafts. The teacher works the curricular contents from his knowledge about human development, his world view, his knowledge about pedagogy and his knowledge about the student. There is the figure of the tutor, a more experienced teacher who helps and guides younger teachers, who periodically accompanies them in the classroom.

“From the consciously experienced relationship between teacher and students, the subject is configured in a way that corresponds to the momentary situation, in such a way that it offers the best possible stimulus to the personal activity of students in their development. For a pedagogical measure, we also need above all fantasy, the gift of taking the right measure at the right time, based on the perception of the whole.”(1) Heinz Zimmermann

collective scope – A Waldorf school does not have a director or pedagogical coordinator. Decisions concerning pedagogy are taken by all teachers. Subjects are discussed weekly at the Pedagogical Conference, in which all teachers participate. It discusses matters relating to entire classes, or to individual students, and every teacher can ask for help and guidance from others. In this way, a collective conscience is created, which helps to resolve any pedagogical difficulties that may arise. Participation in the Pedagogical Conference is a fundamental resource for the constant improvement of the teacher and for their integration into the living organism that is a Waldorf school.

The central body of the faculty is the Internal Conference, and represents the heart of the school. It must be aware of everything that happens, deliberate on matters that require secrecy and make the main decisions. Teachers willing to consciously assume the spiritual responsibility of the school participate, usually with some time at home. The setting of goals, the constant self-criticism of the teaching staff, the hiring and dismissal of teachers, the distribution of classes and pedagogical positions, are among the subjects reserved for the Internal Conference. It can also delegate powers to one or more members, who are responsible for specific tasks, being able to make decisions in relation to them.(2)

In addition to the Pedagogical and Internal Conferences, by decision and delegation of these, commissions are created to deal with the various administrative matters that are the responsibility of the teaching staff, such as communications with parents, school transport, organization of parties and events, renovations and constructions, relations with the Council of Parents and with the Maintaining Association etc. There is always an effort to ensure that decisions are taken unanimously. Evidently, there is no single format for this organization, which may vary from one school to another, but the responsibility for pedagogical management should be exclusive to the teaching staff.

 

Administrative management

Waldorf schools are created from the legal constitution of a non-profit association, in accordance with the legislation of each country. This association is formed at the initiative of parents interested in setting up the school, by teachers and supporters, and will be the sponsor of the school, owner of its assets and employer of its employees. In addition to being able to receive support, sponsorship and donations of resources, movable and immovable assets, the sponsor also defines, together with the teaching staff, the remuneration policy for the school's human resources. Its board of directors is responsible for the relationship with educational and other authorities, and for all legal and administrative acts of the school. It is also responsible for ensuring that the school maintains the same spirit in which it was created.(3)

 

The participation of parents

Before having their children enrolled in a Waldorf school, parents go through interviews with teachers, in which they are informed about pedagogy, and how they can help teachers in the training of their children. Schools also have visiting days for those interested, when they have the opportunity to visit the facilities and attend lectures on pedagogy and how the school works.

In some schools, a Parents' Council is formed, usually made up of delegates representing each class, and which draws up its own statute, and there may be groups of coordinators for specific subjects. This Council deals with matters of interest to parents, such as fees, financial campaigns and organizing parties. In many schools, parents automatically become members of the sponsoring association as soon as they enroll their children.

In addition to institutional participation, there are pedagogical meetings between the parents of each class and their children's teachers, held at least once a semester. Many parents also help out at bazaars, parties and exhibitions at school, or as class escorts on trips and excursions.

The Waldorf school seeks to mirror the ideals of Liberty, Equality and Fraternity, and presupposes a social organization that acts with autonomy and responsibility, supported in the community by parents and teachers. It's not an easy road for both, compared to the level of commitment most parents and teachers have to schools today, but it's certainly much richer.

Waldorf schools belong to the communities that create them. In this sense, we can consider them as public schools in fact, different from those we are used to calling them, but which are, in fact, state schools, where teachers are obliged to follow stricter curricula and pre-formatted “education systems”. .

 

Bibliography

1. ZIMMERMANN, Heinz. – The Forces that Drive Education, 1997, p. 12.
2. LANZ, Rudolph. Waldorf Pedagogy, 1990, p. 166
3. Idem op. cit., p. 168.

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