Spirituality and subjectivity in Waldorf (Steiner) education: a postmodern Bildung perspective

ABSTRACT

Against a general background of education policies based on standard curricula with prescribed and measurable outcomes, this article explores how Waldorf (Steiner) education creates spaces for spirituality and explains the epistemology informing this approach. It seeks to understand this process from the perspective of Gert Biesta’s notion of subjectivity. The article locates this discussion within contemporary Bildung theory, which offers a view of self-formation as transformative learning, and links this to notions of emergent spirituality. The article then draws on Roland Benedikter’s account of postmodern spirituality and on postformal perspectives on education, which promote a holistic and integral approach conducive to the cultivation of spirituality in schools. It concludes by suggesting some guidelines for enabling spirituality in education.

KEYWORDS:

• Waldorf/Steiner education
• spirituality
• subjectivity
• postmodern Bildung

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes

1. There are many versions, but I prefer this one because of its rhythmic structure.

2. The Waldorf School was founded in 1919 for the children of the Waldorf Astoria Cigarette Factory in Stuttgart in Germany (Dahlin 2017) by its owner Emil Moult and by Rudolf Steiner, the schools educational director. Subsequently around 1,100 schools, 1,500 early years settings and 500 therapeutic institutions that follow this educational philosophy have been founded in about 70 countries. The terms Waldorf school/education and Steiner school/education are synonymous. In this article I use Waldorf, thus signalling an identification with an educational practice rather than with the person.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Martyn Rawson

Martyn Rawson was born in Glasgow, Scotland and read English and History at York University. He later completed an MA and EdD at Plymouth University. He has been a teacher in Waldorf(Steiner) schools in the UK and Germany since 1979, as well as being a teacher educator and researcher in Germany, China and Taiwan (National Tsing Hua University). He currently teaches on the Master in Waldorf Education programme of the Freie Hochschule Stuttgart and in the Waldorflehrers seminar Kiel. He also teaches high school students part-time at the Christian Morgenstern School, Hamburg. He is an Alumni Research Fellow at Plymouth University.