Traditional Is Not a Synonym for Bad: Creativity in Public and Waldorf Classrooms

• In Event: Poster Session 18
  In Poster Session: Research on Giftedness, Creativity, and Talent: Poster Session

Abstract

Educational reformers often cite alternative schools as espousing values that government-funded public schools lack. Waldorf Education, based on the Rudolph Steiner philosophy of critical idealism has been touted as an educational model wherein student potential is recognized and nurtured in a particularly creative way. As part of a larger study examining the determinants of creativity, this study investigated the creative thinking abilities of eight-year old children in a provincial sample of Waldorf students and students enrolled in the regular public school system. Results demonstrated that students enrolled in the regular public school system scored significantly higher on the Torrance Test of Creative Thinking than their Waldorf school counterparts. Recommendations are made for curricular and school reform.

Authors

• Catharine Dishke Hondzel, University of Western Ontario

• Ronald Hansen, The University of Western Ontario