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Molly Siegel

Mr. Bean

AP Lang/Comp

11/16/10

Could a student gain a better understanding of the Renaissance by exploring the music of

the time and creating his own compositions? Could another student present an effective argument

using a mixed-media collage? Would composing an eloquent poem in French be a helpful way of

learning vocabulary words? Or how about a student who would like to choreograph a dance to

describe the life cycle of an organism in Biology? These ideas, at first glance, are all a bit “out

there,” but they are all possible examples of various art forms being integrated into the learning

process. Art is just as important to a well-balanced curriculum as the core courses. Therefore, it

should be as much a part of a student’s education as those core courses. One place that this has

been successfully implemented is in the Waldorf schools. These schools recognize that art has

the potential to add another dimension to our math, science, English, history, and foreign

language classes. By changing more of our education to the Waldorf system, we can open up

doors for new kinds of learning and teach students how to express themselves in alternative

ways.

The Waldorf system is a style of education founded by Rudolph Steiner in 1919 that

strives to “transform education into an art that educates the whole child—the heart and the hands,

as well as the head” (“What is Waldorf Education?”). It is a school system that goes all the way

up to twelfth grade. Students study the “core” subjects (math, science, English, history, foreign
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language) as well as various forms of art such as music, theater, visual art, and poetry. They also

learn more uncommon craft skills such as woodworking, sewing, gardening, and housebuilding.

The curriculum features an immense diversity of subjects, with several different types of science

being taught every year all through high school. The reason for such a diverse curriculum is “not

to make a student into a professional mathematician, historian, or biologist, but to awaken and

educate capacities that every human being needs” (“The Waldorf Curriculum”). The belief is that

by schooling a student in all subject areas, he will gain necessary experience and be able to

gauge what his particular aptitudes are. This form of education has been highly successful in the

years since it was founded and the students are often praised for the enthusiasm for learning that

they take away from their Waldorf education. If a student receives only education in the core

courses that are taught at most regular public and private schools, he or she may not discover the

subject for which he or she has a special talent or love.

Art is one of the most important aspects of a Waldorf education, though not the most

important. The reason that art is so necessary to students’ education is that it is a form of

communication that goes deeper than words. I define art as anything that involves both creativity

and self-expression. This includes visual art, music composition and performance, dance, and

creative writing. Art has been around for hundreds of thousands of years, arguably longer than

language itself. Have you ever looked at a good painting and found that it conveys meaning that

cannot be embodied by words? Have you ever tried to describe the emotions in a certain piece of

music and found that it was impossible? Such is the nature of art. It goes beyond the power of

words and touches something more fundamental inside of us. This goes along with one of the

fundamental pillars of the Waldorf system of learning, anthroposophy, or “an impulse to nurture
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the life of the soul in the individual and in human society” (“What is Anthroposophy?”). Jack

Turner describes this phenomenon as “aura.” Seeing a group of cave paintings for the first time,

he was struck by the raw power of the paintings and “the quality of its presence” (Turner 17). He

goes on to say that, “The more we talked, described, and photographed, the more common they

seemed” (Turner 11). Both of these viewpoints address the special quality of art that cannot be

described by words and the human need for art to “feed the soul.” Waldorf education greatly

values the nurturing qualities of art that cannot be found anywhere else.

One big problem that the Waldorf schools address is how to teach the same information

to students of different learning styles. An important idea in Waldorf schools is the theory of

multiple intelligences, created by Howard Gardner in the 1980s. Gardner proposed that there

were eight different areas of intelligence including linguistic (“word smart”) and logical-

mathematical (“number smart”) but also body-kinesthetic (“body smart”) and interpersonal

(“people smart”). According to Dr. Gardner, our schools tend to teach with the linguistic and

logical-mathematical people in mind, without paying enough attention to the other learning

styles. Dr. Thomas Armstrong says, “We esteem the highly articulate or logical people of our

culture” (“Multiple Intelligences”). He goes on to explain that students who don’t immediately

excel in the areas of language and math are often labeled as “ADD” or “learning disabled.” At

Waldorf schools, the teachers try to accommodate every student, with the belief that “A given

child's weaknesses in one area, whether cognitive, emotional or physical, will usually be

balanced by strengths in another area” (“Frequently Asked Questions”). Many students struggle

to communicate in writing or verbally. I, for one, struggle to convey my ideas in writing and

often find that I can say what I want to say more effectively using some sort of graphic
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representation. For instance, I can think of several different ways that I would rather present this

argument using pictures and diagrams in a way that is logical to me. In any group of students,

there is bound to be a wide variety of different learning styles that would benefit from alternative

means of education. The Waldorf curriculum contains a wide variety of subjects for precisely this

reason, so that every student gets to explore learning through the means that they are best at.

The benefits of Waldorf education cannot be overstated. In every student, this type of

education helps to bring out the well-rounded individual by fully developing their full range of

talents all across the spectrum. A wide variety of teaching methods helps all students to

understand and communicate the knowledge that is being taught to them. Finally, it allows

students to communicate in more profound ways and be more introspective than the average

student. By making Waldorf education the norm, we would open the doors to students of all

intelligences and create more well balanced individuals who have the capacity to choose their

own path in the world.

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Works Cited

"Why Waldorf Works - What Is Waldorf Education?" Why Waldorf Works - Home. Association of

Waldorf Schools of North America. Web. 11 Oct. 2010. <http://

www.whywaldorfworks.org/02_W_Education/index.asp>.

"Accolades, Testimonials And Quotations About Waldorf Education." Why Waldorf Works -

Home. Association of Waldorf Schools of North America. Web. 12 Oct. 2010.

http:// www.whywaldorfworks.org/01_WhyWaldorf/quotes.asp>.

Armstrong, Thomas. "Multiple Intelligences." Dr. Thomas Armstrong. 1998-2010. Web. 16 Nov.

2010. <http://www.thomasarmstrong.com/multiple_intelligences.php>.

"Waldorf Answers - Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) about Waldorf Education." Waldorf

Answers. Ed. Sune Nordwall and Cat Greenstreet. Web. 16 Nov. 2010. <http://

www.waldorfanswers.com/WaldorfFAQ.htm#20>.