Abstract/Notes: This article examines the three most prominent movements of alternative education in Israel: Democratic education, Waldorf education, and the Montessori method of education. By comparing the educational approaches according to specific criteria, the goal is to provide the reader with as broad a picture as possible of their similarities and differences. The discussion focuses on the philosophical approach and general principles of each movement and does not aim to provide information or characteristics of specific educational institutions. One of the goals of the article is to bring before parents, educators, and policy makers knowledge of the different approaches so that they can understand and judge them with greater clarity.

Language: English

DOI: 10.46827/ejae.v6i1.3563

ISSN: 2501-5915

Language: Hungarian

Published: Budapest, Hungary: Budapesti Tanítóképző Főiskola Neveléstudományi Tanszék, 1997

Language: Hungarian

Published: Budapest, Hungary, 2009

Abstract/Notes: Waldorf Education: An all-round, balanced approach to education that is equally concerned with intellectual-cognitive and artistic-creative learning. A practice- and experience-based pedagogy. Non-selective and open to all children and young people; offering a stress-free, secure learning environment across 12 grades; embedded in a community of students, teachers, and parents. An alternative education that has been successfully practiced for over a century. The first Waldorf School was founded in Stuttgart, Germany, in 1919. Today, Waldorf Education is practiced in all countries and cultures around the world: in over 1,000 schools, more than 2,000 kindergartens, and numerous centers for special needs education. This makes Waldorf Education the most prevalent alternative approach to teaching. And yet, despite the success and (now empirically validated) recognition that Waldorf schools enjoy, the theory underlying them remains controversial. Within the academic debate, Waldorf Education is seen as ideologic and unscientific. This publication sets out to bring clarity to this debate: Renowned researchers explain and discuss Waldorf Education’s foundations in relation to the current discourse on education and core disciplines such as theory of knowledge, anthropology, developmental psychology, learning theory, and the theory of professions. This scientific inquiry into Waldorf Education is breaking new ground, casting light on its fascinating humanistic ideal and holistic potential.

Language: English

Published: New York, New York: Routledge, 2023

Edition: 1st ed.

ISBN: 978-1-00-318743-1

Abstract/Notes: Montessori, Waldorf, and Reggio Emilia education remain three of the most popular models for alternative early childhood education. Each of these approaches has developed globally, with a rich history of supporting children’s educational freedom. This narrative analysis provides a means for early childhood educators and scholars to understand the aims, philosophical and theoretical frameworks, historical development, benefits, and challenges in these models and their methods of practice. As early childhood education evolves with technology and as re-conceptualizations about early education occur, an understanding of these alternatives to traditional education models is important. While adaptive options of these models may emerge in education systems across national contexts, this review allows educators to consider their applications and cultural appropriateness in specific local and community contexts.

Language: English

DOI: 10.1007/s13158-020-00277-1

ISSN: 0020-7187, 1878-4658

Abstract/Notes: Waldorf, Montessori, and Reggio Emilia are three progressive approaches to early childhood education that appear to be growing in influence in North America and to have many points in common. This article provides a brief comparative introduction and highlights several key areas of similarity and contrast. All three approaches represent an explicit idealism and turn away from war and violence toward peace and reconstruction. They are built on coherent visions of how to improve human society by helping children realize their full potential as intelligent, creative, whole persons. In each approach, children are viewed as active authors of their own development, strongly influenced by natural, dynamic, self-righting forces within themselves, opening the way toward growth and learning. Teachers depend for their work with children on carefully prepared, aesthetically pleasing environments that serve as a pedagogical tool and provide strong messages about the curriculum and about respect for children. Partnering with parents is highly valued in all three approaches, and children are evaluated by means other than traditional tests and grades. However, there are also many areas of difference, some at the level of principle and others at the level of strategy. Underlying the three approaches are variant views of the nature of young children's needs, interests, and modes of learning that lead to contrasts in the ways that teachers interact with children in the classroom, frame and structure learning experiences for children, and follow the children through observation/documentation. The article ends with discussion of the methods that researchers apply to analyze the strengths and weaknesses of each approach.

Language: English

ISSN: 1524-5039

Language: German

ISSN: 0944-2537

Abstract/Notes: Studien syftar till att undersöka hur pedagoger i förskolor med olika pedagogiska inriktningar definierar barn i behov av särskilt stöd. Vi vill också ta reda på vilka faktorer som påverkar deras v ...

Language: Swedish

Published: Trollhättan, Sweden, 2008

Abstract/Notes: A personal narrative is presented which explores the author's experience of blending both the Montessori and Waldorf teaching approaches in a self-contained classroom in the U.S.

Language: English

ISSN: 1094-3838, 2158-8414

Abstract/Notes: Kindergartens are socio-spatial organizations with their social and cultural as well as their spatial structures which prepare children to be responsible members of the society. In the ear ly years of the twentieth century, the issue of how to raise new generations was one of the primary research areas of many educational scientists, especially in Europe, and therefore different progressive pedagogical methods were generated. Among these views, the Waldorf pedagogical approach developed by Rudolf Steiner, Montessori pedagogical approach developed by Maria Montessori, and Reggio Emilia pedagogical approach developed by Loris Malaguzzi became prominent. Although these three pedagogical approaches have a common view that the child should be accepted as an individual with his/her rights, each of them involved different physical environment requirements in the context of their educational philosophies. The projects obtained in an architectural design studio course constitute the focus of this paper and it aims to decipher the semantic and syntactic characteristics based on twelve student projects. The semantic dimension of the study was revealed by coding the related themes through students' project reports while the syntactic dimension of the study demonstrated the prioritized social interaction area through isovist area and variance values. Considering the semantic results, it was revealed that the students not only comprehended the spatial requirements of a specific educational pedagogy but also grasped the transformative power of the methods, in terms of physical, social, and natural characteristics. Considering the syntactic results, the fact that the mean isovist area value was higher in Reggio Emilia schools showed that the piazza dominates the physical setting. The fact that the school cluster with the highest variance value emerged in Montessori draws attention to the changeability of isovist perimeter value within the interiors to orientate the individuals to the classroom units.

Language: English

Published: Bergen, Norway: Western Norway University of Applied Sciences, 2022

Pages: 25 p.