Great Britain: Waldorf education in Transition

About four years ago, the Waldorf movement in the UK was in crisis. Some of our largest and most established schools had to close after parents complained to the Department for Education (DfE), and the Office for Standards in Education (OFSTED) submitted poor inspection reports. Unfortunately, 75 per cent of English Waldorf schools did not meet the minimum standards of care and education, and some schools were categorised as ‘unsafe’. Meanwhile, things now look very different: All schools meet these minimum standards and are receiving consistently positive ratings in the inspection reports for the warmth, good support and the quality of teaching. At the Steiner Academy Hereford, for example, the inspectors wrote: ‘The pupils flourish ... Teachers and students share the same high aspirations. Relationships between pupils and staff are respectful, warm and courteous’.

This transformation began back in 2018 when Trevor Mepham was commissioned by the Steiner Waldorf Schools Fellowship (SWSF), the Association of English Waldorf Schools, to conduct a comprehensive survey of the schools. The main demand was that SWSF provide ‘vision, direction and leadership’, and to ‘look after the schools, and hold us together, and move us forward’. A first step was to restore trust in the government agencies responsible for regulating schools. We realised that many of the criticisms were valid and reflected long-standing concerns that had been circulating on the internet about Waldorf schools. These included the failure to respond effectively to incidents of bullying, the poor handling of complaints and the poor progress made by some pupils in reading, writing and maths. We met regularly with OFSTED and the DfE and kept them informed about the schools' efforts to improve. Through these meetings, we were able to build a better understanding of Waldorf education, which led to negotiations about changes to the inspection process and a training video for inspectors. At the same time, we worked with teachers and school leaders to deepen their understanding of how the Waldorf curriculum and Waldorf education can fulfil government requirements without compromising the pedagogy.

SWSF (now Waldorf UK), also provided schools with training in a number of areas including safeguarding and safety, assessment, behaviour management, reading and writing, curriculum development, complaints management, and leadership. Alongside this, we developed new resources, kept in touch with schools through regular online network meetings, visiting them and offering support with specific issues and grants for teachers' professional development.

The biggest challenge after the crisis in 2020 was to restore the reputation of Waldorf education, which had been persistently and negatively portrayed in the media. Our strategy was to admit our mistakes and show that we had learnt from the crisis by improving our inspection results. As a sign of change, we renamed ‘SWSF’ to ‘Waldorf UK’, created a new visual identity and worked to explain Waldorf principles and practice in contemporary language that could be better understood by outsiders and parents. We also worked to become part of a wider discussion about UK education policy by building relationships with other educational groups in the UK who share our values and by engaging more proactively with government, politicians and policy makers.

The failures in the run up to 2020 highlight the need to develop more comprehensive teacher training with independent quality assurance. Last year we responded to guidance from the Pedagogical Section and the Hague Circle and developed a strategy for Waldorf teacher training and recruitment which now requires Waldorf teacher training to be validated by a recognised institution, such as a university, and accredited by Waldorf UK through an independent body. Two new courses have been introduced: a Waldorf Learning Foundation course for teachers who already hold a state certificate, and another at Emerson College, which includes both a Waldorf qualification and a state qualification and can be completed while working at a Waldorf school. Such internationally recognised qualifications help to improve the quality and reputation of Waldorf education. Our aim is for all teachers to have both state and Waldorf qualifications in the future.

One of the main reasons for the crisis in the UK Waldorf movement in 2018-2020 was that schools and teacher education were trapped in a bubble. There was a great lack of criticality and no effort to critically analyse the work at all. Legal requirements were ignored as ‘not Steiner’ and hierarchies were unhealthily hidden behind the belief that there was no ‘leadership’. In comparison, kindergarten education, which a few years ago had undergone external audit through qualified and state-recognised training, remained contemporary and relevant. At inspection, kindergartens usually fulfil the legal requirements with ease. The lesson learnt from this is to be transparently self-critical and not to become complacent. We must constantly scrutinise ourselves and continue to develop. Being out in the world and engaging in the wider education debate is crucial to the future growth, acceptance and sharing of our creative approach to education.

We have also learnt the importance of working together as a group of schools, engaging (even if you may disagree), and sharing good practice to provide a quality Waldorf education. We are still working on all these lessons and hope that we can overcome the final challenge and secure another 100 years of Waldorf education in the UK. The new government will impose a high tax on independent schools from January 2025. Many parents will not be able to afford the extra cost, so more schools are at risk.