Acquisition of the Public Status of the Waldorf Teacher Training and the Abandonment of the State Monopoly on Teacher Training

<p>Since its establishment in 1919, the Steiner School (Waldorf School) has aimed at "Education towards Freedom" (Erziehung zur Freiheit) and has been forced to sharply confront their views with the legislative and administrative framework of the existing education system. This is essentially unchanged nowadays, even if the "right to establish private schools" was incorporated into the Basic Law (Grundgesetz) of 1949, and today the "freedom of private schools" is guaranteed by legislation. Yet in the Waldorf School movement, which has developed through working towards the acquisition, authorization and expansion of its public status as a "free school", there remains a very important problem that has not yet received sufficient academic scrutiny. This is the question concerning the public status and rights of the Waldorf teacher training (Waldorflehrerausbildung), whose fundamental principle of instructing teachers to be "Educational Artists" (Erziehungskünstler) is based on anthroposophical anthropology, therefore differing from the teacher training under state control. Most importantly, what is the role of a teacher training that clearly deviates from the national standard, such as the Waldorf teacher training, in the educational system as a whole? The consideration of this issue has relevance for educational research that intends to clarify the meaning of "freedom" in the public education system from the viewpoint of teacher education. Incidentally, the systematic training of Waldorf School teachers began in 1928, three years after the death of Rudolf Steiner (1861-1925). However, it is important to note here that the candidates of this training were those who had already studied in the national teacher training, that is, holders of public teacher qualifications. Waldorf teacher training itself was only a supplementary education, and it did not in itself guarantee any right to public status or public qualifications. Given this fact, a Federal Administration Court ruling in 1993 is significant, as for the first time the Waldorf teacher training was authorized to provide qualifications equivalent to the national teacher training. Moreover, in 1999 the "Stuttgart teacher seminar" (Stuttgarter Lehrerseminar), which performs the Waldorf teacher training, was authorized by the state (the state of Baden-Württemberg) as an official "private university." The acquisition of a public status by the Waldorf teacher training realized in the 1990s signifies the renunciation of the long-standing tradition of the "state monopoly on teacher training" in Germany. This could be called a milestone in the history of German education. However, comprehensive research on such a remarkable subject has been almost completely unexplored, not only in Japan but also in Germany. This paper investigates in depth the process leading towards the Waldorf teacher training's acquisition of its public status, which gained momentum in the 1970s and especially during the trial concluded by the Federal Administrative Court ruling in 1993. The analysis also clarifies the important role that the Waldorf School movement has played in the improvement of the German education system. In summary, the following three conclusions are made in this paper: (1) The Waldorf teacher training is based on Steiner's thought, and it positions anthroposophical anthropology and artistic training at the core of its curriculum. However, this training, which began in 1928, did not have a public status equivalent to the national teacher training until 1993. </p><p>(View PDF for the rest of the abstract.)</p>