Steiner Education and Social Issues: How Waldorf Schooling Addresses the Problems of Society

Is the philosophy we use to educate our children responsible, at least partially, for the attitudes and general tone of our societies. A recent UNICEF report on wealthy countries saw the United States and the United Kingdom ranked lowest in the quality of life for young people across a wide range of categories including poverty, health, drugs, friendships, and happiness. According to experts, those nations that performed best in the survey have created “child-friendly” societies in which, for example, young people are not pressured to achieve academically until their teens. In contrast, educators in the US and UK generally press toward economic success, using education as a means of generating through “No Child Left Behind” and increasing use of tests, the high achievers needed, it is thought, to produce material wealth.