Critically Assessing the Reputation of Waldorf Education in Academia and the Public

The first of two volumes dedicated to this little-explored topic, this volume gathers international perspectives to critically assess how Waldorf education has been perceived and discussed in both public and academic arenas.

Ann-Kathrin Hoffmann is Research Assistant at the Department of Educational Sciences, FernUniversität in Hagen, Germany. Marc Fabian Buck is Lecturer at the Department of Educational Sciences, FernUniversität in Hagen, Germany.

Preface 1. Introduction: Waldorf Education as an (Inter)National Phenomenon and Subject of Discourse 2. The Educational Discourse on Waldorf Education in Germany 3. Waldorf Schools in German Society - Three Debates from 2007: Dogmatism, Racism and "the Empirical Turn" 4. Mind the Gap - New Players Are Taking the Stage: Waldorf Education in the German Academic and Public Discourse 5. Waldorf Education in The Netherlands 6. Three Discourses of Waldorf Education in Norway 7. The Steiner Schools in Switzerland with Regard to Reformpädagogik 8. "The School, Where You Learn How to Dance Your Name". An Analysis of the Public and Academic Debate about Waldorf Schools in Austria 9. Waldorf Education in Finland: Soft Alternative, Adaptation, and a Life in Suspicion