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Our Core Principles stand at the heart of our work of bringing the impulse of Waldorf education into a wide range of public schools. They form a platform of shared intentions and goals, uniting us as a network of 60 schools across the country. Given their importance, we plan to give attention in our E-news to one Principle each month from October to April this year to help build understanding and to provide tools for individuals and schools for ongoing professional development and school growth. For this week, we are placing the Principles in context and briefly describing some of the varied ways our schools are working with them and bringing them to life.
The Alliance Core Principles were preceded by international work by the Hague Circle. As Waldorf education spread to more countries, this circle of international leaders wished to define what stands at the heart of the education, recognizing that practice and implementation will vary based on local needs and conditions. The Pedagogical Section Council of North America took up this work, developing a set of Principles in an attempt to build common ground between the established independent school movement (AWSNA) and the growing public school movement during a period of discord and arguments over the right to exist and use of the term “Waldorf”. From this work, AWSNA and the Alliance went on to develop their own Principles. To complete the picture, our colleagues in early childhood (WECAN and Lifeways) also developed sets of working principles. As might be expected, there is considerable overlap, with commonalities between these organizations, along with some distinct differences.
Our Core Principles help schools identify and clarify their mission, their knowledge, and their plans for continued growth. We developed a self-study and peer review process that provides a framework and support for a school to examine its stage of development in Public Waldorf education and its alignment with the Principles. The self-study can address 3 or all 7 of our Principles (in either case, it begins with getting familiar with all of them. A decision is then made based on the resources and capacity of the school). The process is formative, highlighting strengths, challenges, innovations (there are so many great innovations in our schools!) and action plans for the next 24-36 months. The process involves study of the Principles, creation of a report, a site visit by a team of peers, review by a membership committee that includes a representative from AWSNA (this ensures we remain compliant with our service mark responsibilities) and final approval by our Board. Schools that successfully complete this process are recognized as full member schools in good standing. They are awarded a sub-license for use of the term Public Waldorf. They address the items they identified in their action plan - and then take up the process again, ensuring that Public Waldorf education is “ever evolving, and continuously renewed through practice, research, observation, and active reflection”. In many ways, the school self-study and peer review process is a mirror of excellent classroom teaching principles and practices.
Completion of the process, or being in progress, affords recognition of the school’s approach, public assurance, and the service mark sub-license.
Our new position, in process and hopefully to be announced soon, will dramatically increase our capacity to provide support to schools undertaking this process. It is truly core to our work. Feedback from schools that have engaged in the process has been universally positive; schools have found the deep reflection and review by peers to be affirming and supportive of ongoing development.
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