Waldorf Education With Racial Justice as a Core Principle: A Curriculum Implementation Study

• In Event: Harnessing Waldorf to Construct Educational Possibilities: Challenges and Opportunities

Abstract

Purpose
This study builds upon work of Lazarevic, Guan & Weisskirch (2022) that asserts that children may become empathetic to people from diverse cultures when diversity awareness is integrated in their learning. This study examines how and under what conditions Waldorf curriculum can be harnessed to integrate diversity awareness into all students’ learning. The study focuses on design and implementation, with support of the coach and curriculum creator, of an intentional anti-racist curriculum using Waldorf practices, titled “The Arc of Waldorf Curriculum Anchored to the Cradle of Civilization” (Strong, 2021). The study lifts up key problems and possibilities for research and practice around efforts to advance to the goal of bringing Waldorf methodologies through the paradigm shift of our times by way of instruction in racial justice that is pedagogically accessible and culturally responsible. At its founding, Waldorf education was designed to be an inclusive, healing, whole-child and whole-community focused education intended to support holistic, experiential learning (see Oberman 2008a). Now a century on, the original curriculum content receives wide critique (see Oberman, 2021 & 2008b). The effort under study aims to decolonize the Waldorf History curriculum content by shifting the lens from a Eurocentric to an Afrocentric perspective in order to measure how removing whiteness from the center of education mitigates perceived harm to the global majority. The urgency of this study is to respond to voices of community members who have been raising concerns for many years about the restrictive perception of Waldorf indications. It is in quarters perceived by outsiders to be a racist and bigoted curriculum decreasing enrollment and recruitment of diverse populations (Staudenmaier, 2008 & 2021).

Theoretical Framework
The study uses historical, social and cultural analysis, and inquiry as the theoretical framework which builds on the work of W.M. Foster, D. M. Coraiola, R.Duddaby, J. Kroezen & D. Chandler (2017).

Methods
The approach is mixed-method (Creswell & Plano Clark, 2017) and employs ethnographic research tools offered by LeCompte, M. D., Schensul, J. J. (2010).

Data Sources
Data sources include curriculum materials, surveys, participant interviews, and classroom observations collected at three California study sites: a public Waldorf school, a private Waldorf school, and a public Waldorf homeschool. Data were collected from 2021-2023.

Results
While full data analysis is still underway, preliminary findings include the following: Presenting an Afrocentric curriculum scope and sequence to educators and students resulted in reports of feelings of acceptance, validation of feelings and experiences, and enthusiasm for the material by educators and students. The impact reached beyond the classroom such that some students of color reported that it helped them build more meaningful relationships with elder family members. No white-identifying children reported experiencing negative feelings through this experience.

Scholarly Significance of the Study
This study confirms and extends the findings of Lazarevic et al. (2022). It invites further research on how and under what conditions the canon of methods of Waldorf education can offer rich and to date underutilized resource to integrate diversity awareness into children’s learning.

 

Author

• Kenya Strong, Kenya's Coaching