Steiner Schools Australia refers to the independent, private body of kindergarten, primary and secondary schools based on the Waldorf education system across Australia. Steiner Education operates in over 50 locations across the various states and territories in Australia, providing educational playgroups, kindergartens, primary schools and comprehensive K-12 school programs. Steiner Education is recognised by the Australian Curriculum Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA) as an ‘alternative’ form of education and operates mainly within private independent schools with a small presence within public schools as Steiner streams. Steiner schools in Australia are represented by Steiner Education Australia, a not-for-profit organisation. Steiner Education has also attracted debate and criticism for its similarities to religious forms of education from the various states and territories.
Overview
In Australia there are 62 Steiner schools with a total enrolment of 11,391 students. The mean number of students per school is 184. There are Steiner schools in all six Australian states: (New South Wales, n=21; Victoria, n=16; Queensland, n=8; Western Australia, n=8; South Australia, n=4; Tasmania, n=2), and in the two territories (Northern Territory, n=2; Australian Capital Territory, n=1).
One third of Steiner schools in Australia offer the full range of primary plus secondary classes (i.e. K-12) (n-21); a further third of Steiner schools offer the full range of primary classes (i.e. K-6) (n=21); a final third of Steiner school (n=20) offer some other variation of classes.
Of the 62 Steiner schools in Australia, 41 bear the name ‘Steiner’ (n=34) or ‘Rudolf Steiner’ (n=7); a small number bear the name ‘Waldorf’ (n=4); some others are not differentiated by either ‘Steiner’ nor ‘Waldorf’ (n=8); in addition, some State schools offer a ‘Steiner stream’ nested within a government school (n=9).
Origins and History
Origin of Steiner Education
Dr Rudolf Steiner (1861-1925) and Emil Molt (1876-1936) jointly founded the original Waldorf School in Stuttgart, Germany in 1919 in the midst of the turmoil of post-WWI Germany. Rudolf Steiner provided the pedagogy and Emil Molt provided the funds.
The Stuttgart school was the prototype for a new alternative education movement, viz. Waldorf education. Since then, Steiner schools (aka Waldorf schools) have proliferated across the globe, with 3142 schools and kindergartens in 74 countries.
Foundations The growth of the Waldorf movement in the Australian context originated from the influence of key members involved with the Anthroposophical Society of Australia. In the 1920-40s, networking and interaction between members within the Anthroposophical Society brought about growth and interest in the implementation of the Waldorf philosophy into the Australian context. Early members of the Society were involved in small grassroots movements that were passed onto other individuals through word of mouth, who in turn shared their interests and enthusiasm of Rudolf Steiner values with more individuals through word of mouth.
Discussion and inspiration for starting up the first Rudolf Steiner school was co-founded by Society members Eric Nicholls and Sylvia Brose. Nicholls and his wife Mary moved to live in Castlecrag to be close to Walter Burley and Marion Griffin, architects whom Nicholls had close associations with.Paull, J. (2012). Walter Burley Griffin and Marion Mahony Griffin, Architects of Anthroposophy. Journal of Bio-Dynamics, University of Tasmania. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/319670934_Walter_Burley_Griffin_and_Marion_Mahony_Griffin_Architects_of_Anthroposophy Walter and Marion were already members of the Anthroposophical Society and as a result of their influence, Nicholls joined in 1934. Lute Drummond, one of the founding members of the Anthroposophical Society, retired from the position of General Secretary in 1910, and Nicholls took up the position after her retirement.
Brose’s introduction to the Society had been through her connections with Alice Crowther, an early member who had set up the first Steiner inspired Speech and Eurythmy studio in Sydney in 1941. Brose had been one of Crowther’s first students and would later join the Anthroposophical Society as a result of her and Lute Drummond’s influence. She and Nicholls would later meet through Anthroposophical meetings and at performances at the amphitheatre in Castlecrag. Brose would later become the educational founder, driving force and inspiration for the first Steiner School alongside Nicholls’ direction and planning.
Origins of Dalcross and Glenaeon During the late 1930s, Marion Griffin and Mary Nicholls ran a small number of kindergarten classes for a few years based on Steiner Education at their home in Castlecrag (Grace, 1999 in Mowday, 2004, p. 32). It was not until 1951 that the idea of forming a school develop formally at a meeting with Eric Nicholls, Sylvia Brose and other members of the Anthroposophical Society. It was proposed that Brose would undertake training in Waldorf education in Edinburgh and then return to Sydney to begin a school. An existing kindergarten school named ‘Dalcross’ in Pymble was bought in 1956. With Brose’s return from Edinburgh, she took charge of the foundation class at Dalcross.
Dalcross had its first class in 1957 and added a new kindergarten class each year, with close to 70 students by 1960. Brose’s teacher training in Waldorf education and her educational experiences at Frensham and Bellevue Hill allowed for the Steiner pedagogy to be formed amidst the establishment of the new school. As the only teacher for the first two years at Dalcross, Brose was paid six pounds a week and was also the cleaner, school secretary and lecturer on Steiner Education.Glenaeon Archives (1965-2000). Minutes of College Teacher’s Meetings. Glenaeon Rudolf Steiner School. She would later describe her first five years of teaching at Dalcross as ‘like a fairytale’ due to the magic of the children she taught. In honour of her work as the educational founder of the first Steiner school in Australia, Brose was later recognised with the school hall at Glenaeon Rudolf Steiner School (Sylvia Brose Hall) being named in her honour at its opening in 1985.
The property was sold by the Society and the money was used to secure a site for the school based in Middle Cove. The property was called by the Scottish name ‘Glenaeon’, and as a result the additional campus was also given the name Glenaeon. With the expansion of the original school at Dalcross nearing its limits and the added pressure of school funding, Eric Nicholls made plans to design and construct the first building at the Middle Cove campus in 1961. By 1963, a second classroom building was added and after five years at Dalcross, the existing students were moved to Glenaeon. Nicholl’s vision and planning by the end of 1966 would also result in the completion of a third building at Glenaeon, consisting of the Senior classrooms and a Science Laboratory. By 1973, all of the younger classes at Dalcross were transferred across to the Glenaeon campus to form one site. The establishment of the school structure across Dalcross and at Glenaeon would later form the first Rudolf Steiner School in Australia.
Growth from the 1960s - 2000s The number of Rudolf Steiner Schools increased from five schools in 1985 to thirty-seven by the end of 1991. The creation of a Steiner Schools association in Australia was proposed in 1979. The subsequent meeting in 1980 for the proposal of an association was held at Lorien Novalis and its outcome established the Rudolf Steiner Schools Association (RSSA). The creation of the RSSA stood as a representative and advocate for the growing Steiner movement in Australia. In particular, the concerns of the association focused on teacher training standards and was responsible for the growth of the younger pioneer schools.
RSSA meetings were held at different schools throughout the 1980s and were made open to all Steiner teachers. Attendance at its events were encouraged by Steiner members.Glenaeon Archives. (1967-2000). Minutes of Staff Meetings. Glenaeon Rudolf Steiner School Ltd. These meetings functioned as a forum for sharing achievements and difficulties faced by each individual Steiner school. They also worked in supporting applications for permanent residence status for overseas Steiner teachers looking to migrate to Australia. It was a place for individual schools to advertise employment opportunities, cultural exchanges, intra-school support and invite members to conferences. In 1984, a one-year Steiner teacher training course was also introduced to which students could undertake teaching practice in various Steiner schools and educational training in Anthroposophy at Parsifal College. The course was later extended to two years full time. The RSSA was also given the role of official delegates to the various State Departments of Education as the need for Steiner curriculum to be recognised increased. As a result, their work centred on defining a Steiner Education framework and standards which would suit the demands by the State Governments.
The RSSA functioned to promote Steiner Education and support new Steiner schools by building intra-school connections during the 1990s. In 1994, the RSSA hosted the first National Teacher’s conference in Byron Bay where Steiner teachers throughout Australia met to share their ideas and experiences. Since the 1990s, Steiner streams have been introduced in public primary schools which occur as a result of parent group initiatives. In 2011, the RSSA changed its name to Steiner Education Australia (SEA). In addition to Steiner streams, the establishment of Rudolf Steiner curriculum and pedagogy has allowed new innovations including adult education and teacher training associations.
Since the early 2000s, Steiner schools in Australia have continued to grow in popularity as an alternative form of education, with new schools being established over the last decade in Moreton Bay (Queensland), Bairnsdale (Victoria) and Bowral (New South Wales). In a 2016 report by the ABC, the Cape Byron Rudolf Steiner School reported extensive waiting lists of more than 500. In Queensland, a Graduate Certificate and Masters Degree in Steiner education has also been introduced at the University of the Sunshine Coast.
Schools By State Featured below is a list of the various Waldorf/Rudolf Steiner Schools and associate schools with Steiner streams in Australia according to the data published by ACARA on the My School website.