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The Bloomsbury Handbook of Steiner Waldorf Education

The Bloomsbury Handbook of Steiner Waldorf Education cover

The Bloomsbury Handbook of Steiner Waldorf Education

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Pre-order. Available Dec 10 2026
$249.75 RRP $277.50 Website price saving $27.75 (10%)

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Description

This handbook offers a critical and balanced overview of the theories, practices and experiences of Steiner Waldorf Education. Rudolf Steiner's ideas created what is now an alternative education movement with over 1000 schools and more than 1000 kindergartens globally. This handbook eschews easy polarization and echo chambers, offering a balanced and critical account of Steiner's philosophies, practices and experiences and includes contributions from leading scholars and practitioners from Australia, Canada, Germany, Hungary, Norway, South Africa, Taiwan, the UK and the USA. The handbook is divided into four sections covering: Steiner as the founder of a movement; education in the contemporary world; curriculum, pedagogy and assessment; and educational stakeholders. The chapters cover Steiner's key concepts and areas of influence including, anthroposophy, biodynamic agriculture, anthroposophic medicine, the Camphill Movement, eurythmy and The Christian Community.

Table of Contents

Introduction
1. Why Look at Steiner Waldorf Education? Why Emphasise Balance and Criticality?, Jo Fraser-Pearce (University College London, England)
2. Introducing Steiner Waldorf Education, Jo Fraser-Pearce (University College London, England)

Part 1: Rudolf Steiner – Roots, Contexts, Connections
3. Who Was Rudolf Steiner?, Robert McDermott (California Institute of Integral Studies, USA)
4. Philosophical Implications of Steiner's Waldorf Pedagogy – A Critique of Ideological Criticism, Jost Schieren (Alanus University, Germany)
5. Max Weber and Rudolf Steiner: Sociological Contemporaries, Aaron French (University of Erfurt, Germany)
6. Dewey, Montessori and Steiner – Kindred Educators, Robert McDermott (California Institute of Integral Studies, USA)
7. Three Fates of Rudolf Steiner: The Contributions of Marie Steiner von Sivers, Millicent Mackenzie, and Elisabeth von Grunelius to the Origins of Steiner Waldorf Education, Kate Attfield (Cardiff Metropolitan University, Wales)
8. Facing Contradictions – Racism and Diversity in Anthroposophy, Cory Eichmann (Saugeen River CSA, Canada)
9. Anti-Racism and Language Analysis of Anthroposophic Writings: Reading Steiner From a North American Context, Joaquin Munoz (University of British Columbia, Canada) and Jenn Raley Miller (Independent Scholar, USA)

Part 2: Steiner Waldorf Education in the Contemporary World
10. Rudolf Steiner and Anthroposophy Between Anti-Racism and Racism: A Historical Evaluation for Teachers, Parents, and Other Interested Parties, Henry Holland (Germany)
11. Equity, Inclusion and Justice in Steiner Waldorf Schools, Joaquin Muñoz, Meggan Gill and Vicki Larson
12. The Evolution of Steiner Waldorf Education in the USA, Liz Beaven (Alliance for Public Waldorf Education, USA)
13. 'Steiner Fever' in China: Parental Motivations, Cultural Translations, and the Question of Coloniality, Yifan Sun (Rudolf Steiner University College, Norway)
14. The Three Phases of Steiner Waldorf Education in China, Zewu Li
15. The Taiwanisation of the Waldorf Curriculum: Hsinchu Waldorf Experimental School as an Example, Hsiaohua Hsueh and Hornfay Cherng
16. “To the Bildung of the Earth Are We Called” – The Eco-Spiritual Romanticism of Steiner Waldorf Education, Bo Dahlin (Karlstad University, Sweden)

Part 3: Steiner Waldorf Schools, Classrooms and Learners
17. Principles and Practice of Leadership – From What Ought to Be to What Is, Virginia Moller (Australia)
18. Revisiting Rudolf Steiner's Pedagogy of Imagination With a Wellbeing Perspective, Thomas W. Nielsen and Jennifer S. Ma
19. The Pedagogical Rejection of Technology in Steiner Waldorf Schools, Mátyás Turós (Eszterházy Károly Catholic University, Hungary)
20. Curriculum as Response to the Developing Child and Young Person: New Perspectives on a Developmental Approach, Martyn Rawson (National Tsing Hua University, Taiwan; Freie Hochschule Stuttgart, Germany)
21. Educating Enlivened Learners in Multi-Dimensional Ways, Jack Petrash
22. On the Viability of Steiner Waldorf Spiritual Education for Mainstream Schools, Jo Fraser-Pearce (University College London, England)
23. Speeding Down the Highway to Hell: Could It Have Been Different? Evaluating the Potential Contribution of Rudolf Steiner's Teachings for a Sustainable Millennium, Martin Ashley (England)

Part 4: Educational Stakeholders and Outcomes
24. Striking the Right Balance: Weighing the Interests of Parents, Children and the State in Steiner Education in England, Ruth Wareham (University of Birmingham, England)
25. From the Implementation of an Impulse to the Uniqueness of Steiner Waldorf Education in Israel, Gilad Goldshmidt (David Yellin Academic College of Education, Israel)
26. The Graduate Attribute of Resilience in Steiner Waldorf Alumni, Bronwen Haralambous (University of the Sunshine Coast, Australia) and Michael Carey (University of the Sunshine Coast, Australia)
27. Navigating the Shift From Steiner Waldorf Education Into Mainstream Society – A School Graduate's Perspective, Zeke Floro (California Institute of Integral Studies, USA)
28. Closing Words, Jo Fraser-Pearce (University College London, England)
Index

Product details

Bloomsbury Academic Test
Published Dec 10 2026
Format Hardback
Edition 1st
Pages 416
ISBN 9781350505391
Imprint Bloomsbury Academic
Dimensions 244 x 169 mm
Series Bloomsbury Handbooks
Publisher Bloomsbury Publishing

About the contributors

Anthology Editor

Jo Fraser-Pearce

Jo Fraser-Pearce is Associate Professor (Teaching)…

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