Defying the Spirit of the Times with Principle 8

In line with the growing awareness of human and civil rights and Steiner’s discourse on education for inner freedom, the Association of Waldorf Schools in North America, following an extensive discussion with its member schools, has reviewed its shared core principles and expanded them to include a more explicit reference to inclusion and diversity. This statement, also known as Principle 8, was adopted in 2024 and revised in 2025 to align the language more closely with that of the Waldorf community rather than with public discourse.

Principle 8 states: «Waldorf schools recognize and embrace human diversity and dignity. Waldorf schools celebrate the diversity of humanity. Teachers, staff, and school boards pursue a path of human dignity and equality in organizational, leadership, and pedagogical matters. The schools engage in understanding and examining the current and historical roots of inequality. These efforts are of spiritual, moral, and educational significance and are rooted in the founding vision of Waldorf education, which also includes addressing current social conflicts in the context of school life.»

The Association of Waldorf Schools in North America is a voluntary membership organization comprising more than 160 independent Waldorf schools and institutions in the United States, Canada, and Mexico. Unlike a ministry of education or a board of directors, the Association of Waldorf Schools in North America does not issue directives to its member schools but rather supports them. Decisions that affect all members require genuine consensus. This is achieved through eight geographic regions, whose delegates spend months—sometimes even years—exchanging ideas between the Association and their schools. This structure reflects Waldorf education’s deep commitment to collaborative decision-making. It also means that once consensus is reached, it carries real weight.

The path to wording

The journey toward what eventually became Principle 8 began long before its adoption in June 2024 and its revision in June 2025. Discussions about accessibility, multiculturalism, and diversity have been an integral part of anthroposophical and Waldorf
work in North America for more than forty years. One example of this is the statement published by the Council of Anthroposophical Organizations. In 2019, member schools reaffirmed their commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion, which is based on the anthroposophical understanding of the spiritual nature shared by all human beings. Then came 2020 and a moment of dual upheaval: the global pandemic and the murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis. Both events shook American society and the Waldorf communities. Everyone was confronted with just how much still needed to be done in terms of social and economic justice. The statement on racial justice, published by the Association of Waldorf Schools in North America in the spring of 2026, was urgent and necessary, but it was also a beginning, not an end.

As a classroom teacher and delegate in the Great Lakes region during that time, co-author Linda Williams witnessed both the deep commitment and the real challenges of this work. From 2021 to 2023, a formal working group comprising regional representatives from across North America was convened to discuss whether diversity, equity, and inclusion should be embedded not only in policy statements but also in the foundational principles themselves—that is, in the very principles that guide the definition of an independent Waldorf school in the accreditation process.

The working group went through several rounds of drafting and regional consultations, revised the wording, and then presented a proposal to the members for further discussion. In June 2024, Principle 8 was approved at the teachers’ conference in Denver, Colorado. It is now part of the accreditation framework. It is not a mere aspiration, but a measurable criterion that every member school must meet in its organization, leadership, and educational work. This commitment was made prior to the current political situation in the United States. Now, all positions on diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging in the United States are under significant pressure, and this commitment is being put to the test in ways no one could have foreseen.

Historical origins of Waldorf positions

As Albert Schmelzer has shown in his recently published book Rudolf Steiner: Between the Tensions of the Philosophy of Freedom, Human Rights, Nation, and ‹Race›, Steiner’s ideas on these topics continued to evolve and change throughout his adult life. The central feature of this thinking, however, remained unchanged: the necessity of individual freedom and the necessity for society to enable and protect it through the recognition of fundamental rights. This found its most comprehensive expression in writings and lectures on the principles of the threefold social order, in which the individual’s right to freedom of thought, freedom of expression, and freedom of religious practice is to be realized through mutual respect and tolerance. Above all, Steiner believed that education was necessary that is based primarily on the nature of the developing human being, as understood by anthroposophical anthropology—the study of humanity. It should be imparted by teachers rather than by government officials or under the direct influence of the business world.

In a sense, one could say that Steiner foresaw the need to create social conditions under which all people can experience mutual respect for human dignity, diversity, equality, inclusion, and justice. Today, it is essential to prepare young people to live in a multicultural, multireligious, multilingual, and immigrant-driven society. Furthermore, Waldorf schools should reflect these characteristics in the composition of their staff and families.