Remembering the "Tao": Steiner Education in China

• In Event: Eastern Philosophy and Curriculum Studies: Tao, I-Ching, and Confucian Learning

Abstract

In the past decade, China has seen a major expansion of alternative education, an aspect of which is the rapid growth of Steiner (Waldorf) schools and kindergartens. This paper aims to look at the extent to which the fundamental axioms of Steiner education as perceived by Steiner parents and teachers in China, can be understood to be aligned with those found in the notion of 'Tao'. This paper draws on the findings of the author’s ethnographic research in which she spent 10 months with two Steiner school communities in China. This paper will present the idea that the presence of Steiner education in China can be understood as a ‘remembering’ of ancient Chinese values which have been institutionally forgotten.

Author

• Yifan Sun, Rudolf Steiner University College, Norway