The genesis of the document at the heart of this book can be traced to the Kolisko Conference that took place at Rudolf Steiner College in Fair Oaks, California. Keynote speaker Dr. Michaela Glöckler presented what she termed “The Five Core Values of Waldorf Education.” Those were:

1. Child Development
2. Developmental Curriculum
3. Methodology (artistic metamorphosis)
4. Relationships
5. Spiritual Orientation

She drew those five on a five-pointed star, emphasizing that they were not hierarchical but rather interrelated: a study of one would lead to a question answered by the next. So, for example, once child development is studied, the question becomes: what would best support a child during each stage of development? Thus we arrive at the next core value: a developmental curriculum.

I noted this schema and used it, with modifications and elaborations, over the following several years both in teacher preparation courses and in public lectures.

At the same time, there was an ongoing process between the Association of Waldorf Schools of North America (AWSNA) and the budding charter school movement regarding the use of the name “Waldorf” or “Rudolf Steiner”, which are service marks owned by AWSNA. From my seat on the Council of the Pedagogical Section of North America, I witnessed the difficulties these two groups had in managing even to agree on agendas for meetings. There was a lot of tension and the threat of litigation hung over the proceedings. Many good and honorable people were at severe odds with one another, and the process appeared bogged in endless cycles.

Since the Pedagogical Section is not a group made up of organizations, but rather of individuals, and since those individuals could be, and indeed were, members of both independent and charter schools, it seemed that the Pedagogical Section Council (PSC) might be able to act as an honest broker and facilitate some movement forward. 

We approached the leadership of AWSNA and offered to write a document that could serve as a common point of departure for the conversation. The idea was that if both groups could accept it and say, “Yes, this is what we are trying to do”, then the dialogue could focus on how to do “it” better and on how each group could succeed and struggle with the execution of these intentions. 

The idea was embraced, and the PSC set out to create such a document. We used Dr. Glöckler’s template, and elaborated it as the document that was finally presented to both AWSNA and the Board of the Alliance for Public Waldorf education in the spring of 2012. In a mediation meeting held in San Francisco, both groups endorsed the documents, and that was the moment that turned the tide in their relationships. 

It is important to emphasize that the PSC saw itself as the guardian of the pedagogy, the impulse, and not as an advocate for independent or publicly funded education. We deliberately stayed away from the important social and political questions at the heart of the debate between independent and public schools, not because they are not important, but because we chose to focus on the task of the teacher standing before students, in whatever context.

That is the historical context that led to the writing of the Core Principles document. Since it was first disseminated, the document has undergone periodic revisions based on comments and suggestions made by colleagues. The PSC never meant it to be “the final word” on what Waldorf education is. The most recent revision was made in 2014.

Following the publication of the document, boards of trustees and faculties decided to study it. We began hearing from them that the wording was too cryptic, too dense. The PSC had deliberately kept the language as concise as possible, for the document was written with experienced educators in mind (those who were engaged in the AWSNA-Alliance process). New readers were not quite as seasoned, and the pithiness of the formulation became a problem. So we decided to write a series of articles in support of studying the document. The articles were written with the idea that the persons reading them were not already deeply familiar with anthroposophy and Waldorf education, but were sympathetic. We were not trying to justify Waldorf education to a skeptic, but to help a friend understand it better.

The articles were published in the Research Bulletin of the Research Institute for Waldorf Education over several issues, and then collected, reviewed again, augmented by a few new contributions, and prepared for publication in this book.

We hope that this format makes both the document and the supporting articles useful to those who want to dive into the deep water that is Waldorf education.

Elan Leibner

For the PSC

March 2017