Education in any historical period is the most important institution of society, so any new methods and technologies in this area fall under the attention of both specialists and ordinary citizens.This approach is embodied, and the handling and to the phenomenon of Waldorf pedagogy.
Its appearance after the First World War was due primarily to the fact that the current at the time traditional school students considered solely as objects of the cognitive process that must absorb the greatest possible amount of material.The spiritual, moral and physical development of the child retreated while the background.
Waldorf education is a kind of alternative to the traditional methods and forms of education.It was based on a model of gradual self-development of the child for whom the teacher was transformed from a strict examiner wise mentor.The first such school was opened on the territory of the tobacco factory "Waldorf Astoria", then Waldorf schools have proliferated in Europe and North America.The founder of this system Rudolf Steiner focuses on what is most detrimental to the child is the desire of parents and teachers to ensure that it is possible to quickly master the entire curriculum, ahead of their physical and mental capabilities.Waldorf pedagogy is offered only to accompany the child in the process of understanding their world, gradually revealing its creative and intellectual potential.
Overall Waldorf methodology adheres to the following principles:
- main component of the educational process is education.At the same time it must be based primarily on moral principles.
- Up to seven years the child should avoid excessive intellectual loads, since otherwise it will in time grow into a man who can only reproduce the thoughts of others, and not to form their own opinion.First of all, every child needs to feel like a person.
- can not abuse the positive and negative assessments of the child's activity, as the intervention by the adults in the process of its formation should be minimized.
- Waldorf education does not involve in the process of training and education of any mimetic forms.For her, the main thing - that the child he learned the world, focusing exclusively on its own idea of it.
- Any child - is unique, each has its own unique abilities and talents.The main goal, which sets the pedagogy of Waldorf schools is that the child found the fully opened their inclinations and abilities.
As with any new development, Waldorf pedagogy, especially at first, experienced strong pressure from the representatives of the traditional school.However, further development of educational thought showed that many ideas of Rudolf Steiner, were relevant and in demand.Chief among them - that any educational institution should be put at the heart of the process of spiritual and moral development of the child, rather than teaching him the basics of all sciences.
Today Waldorf schools exist in many developed and developing countries.Attend their children both from quite affluent and poor families.Despite the fact that this procedure will soon celebrate a hundred years, these schools used in the methods and forms of educational process still look innovative and attractive both for the teachers and for parents.
