In recent research the need for studies that provide comprehensive and systematic reviews of specific topic related to Steiner/Waldorf education has been highlighted. One such area is the relationship between Steiner/Waldorf education and anthroposophy where a significant amount of writing has been done over the years. The article focuses on two issues. First to provide an initial systematic review of the literature and second to look at how the discussion has evolved over time. The article reviews journal articles, books and research stretching back to 1968. The main findings are that the core of the discussion has largely remained the same: that anthroposophy is a method not a world view and that its importance for Steiner/Waldorf education lies in how it becomes a path for individual transformation not in it being a teaching or dogma. There is, however, a clear increase in writing from 2010 onward and with this a significant nuancing and deepening of the arguments from previous decades. Intersecting with that are different styles and approaches, one termed “maximalist” and one “minimalist” in the analysis, the former employing a style thick with Steiner quotes and anthroposophical content and the latter more focused on the epistemological aspects of anthroposophy with less emphasis on quotes from Steiner and content discussion. 

En kritisk introduktion till waldorfpedagogik ger en grundlig, forskningsbaserad och mångsidig introduktion till waldorfpedagogik, en av de största alternativpedagogiska rörelserna i världen. Boken vänder sig till verksamma lärare liksom till lärarstudenter och en intresserad allmänhet.

I boken behandlas waldorfpedagogikens historia, filosofi, didaktik och praktik men även forskning och kritik. Inslag som materiell och spirituell bildning, periodiseringen av stora undervisningsteman, övningens centrala roll i lärandet, berättelsernas och det muntliga berättandets pedagogiska betydelse och fantasins avgörande värde diskuteras ingående.

Pedagogikens mångfald, både i praktiken och i teorin utgör en röd tråd genom boken. Det gör även de många kontroverser som omger den, alltifrån om det är en världsåskådningsskola till frågor om hur elever som gått i waldorfskolor ser tillbaka på sin skolgång. Dess grundare Rudolf Steiner sätts också i ett historiskt och kritiskt sammanhang.

Boken utmynnar i en bild av waldorfpedagogiken som en pedagogik vars mål är frihet i en form som leder till varaktig fred.

Today there exists a growing amount of empirical research into Waldorf education and thereby also a growing need to create an overview, especially for English-speaking audiences who cannot fully access the existing German-language ones (Peters 2020a; Böhle & Peters 2011, 2010). There are publications in English and German that provide a selected account (Dahlin 2017; Randoll & Peters 2015; Paschen 2010; Gidley 2010a) but a full survey in English focusing on empirical research has been lacking. This survey is an attempt to both give a comprehensive overview in English and to provide at least a glimpse of what the research has been about. The text is based on the third iteration of a survey done for the benefit of the students at the Waldorf University College (WLH) in Sweden.

A previous article has explored research of a more theoretical nature (Tyson 2023). This survey focuses on empirical studies including historical research from 1990 onward.

Steiner/Waldorf education has seen an increasing discussion regarding Eurocentrism, especially with regards to the so-called theory of cultural epochs that can be found in anthroposophy. This paper is an attempt to present a complete review of current research and the various perspectives represented in it. The framework is, roughly, postcolonial theory and its critique of Eurocentrism masking itself as universalizations as well as essentialisms. The review is structured into four categories: research on postcolonial frameworks and globalization; research on subject-didactics from a decolonial perspective, especially history and language; research on integrating Steiner education with indigenous education and intercultural education; and critical studies regarding the concept of the human being in Steiner education. It concludes with a discussion of the commonalities and differences between the various perspectives represented as well as some thoughts on themes left large unexplored.

This paper focuses on the German didactical theory Lehrkunstdidaktik (The-art-of-teaching) and its potential to enrich vocational didactics. A brief outline is given of the central conceptual scheme of The-art-of-teaching: its exemplary-genetic-dramatic approach to pedagogical cases. Following this two cases from vocational didactics are presented and discussed from the perspective of The-art-of-teaching. In conclusion it is argued that The-art-of-teaching is a didactical theory well suited to enrich vocational didactics and, in turn, to demonstrate the general educational value of some pedagogical cases taken from the vocational field. 

The over-arching aim of this presentation is: Presenting research as a way of expanding the (pedagogical) imagination. The conceptual tool for this is Vocational Bildung or, in other words, vocational education and training (VET) as a source of biographical richness and meaning. The didactical focus of the presentation functions as a bridge from the conceptual to concrete practices. Such Bildung-oriented didactics invite those engaged in VET, students as well as teachers, to expand the horizons of what both education and work can be imagined as, in practice and conceptually. The critical issue of the Bildung-tradition as rooted in exclusive educational practices and the need for perspectives of inclusion and diversity to be considered is also explored as central to a vocational Bildung perspective.