Multiculturalism in Waldorf Education

Multiculturalism in Waldorf Education

Over three years, from 1990 to 1991, teachers in the Waldorf school movement in North America investigated multiculturalism in the Waldorf curriculum and in the classrooms of Waldorf schools. They published three reports or “newsletters’ reporting their finding and including research from their studies together. This little booklet combines all three newsletters in one. It is a rich compendium of helpful information on the topic.

About the Author

Susan Cook, a Waldorf teacher for many years of both elementary and high school classes in San Francisco, shares her experience and story telling skills with this rich and diverse selection of biographies and the tales well told in this book. A native of northern California, Susan and her husband have three grown children-all Waldorf graduates. She has traveled to East Africa more than once to help in the development of Waldorf education there and incorporates her deep and rich experience in her retelling of the lives of these remarkable people.

Joan Almon s a former Waldorf kindergarten teacher and coordinator of the Alliance for Childhood in the United States. She is also co-general secretary of the Anthroposophical Society in America and former editor of the Journal For Anthroposophy.

Betty K. Staley was born in 1938 in the Bronx, New York, attended City University of New York, graduating Phi Beta Kappa with a BA in psychology and a minor in history. She received her Waldorf teacher training at the Michael Hall Teacher Training Course, Sussex, England. She earned her MA in education at St. Mary’s College, Moraga, California. Ms. Staley began her Waldorf teaching at the Sacramento Waldorf School as a kindergarten substi­tute and handwork teacher, and then became a class teacher from 5th through 8th grade before returning to take a 7th grade, which became the first high school class, graduating in 1978. She guided the high school and taught in it full-time for nineteen years. Ms. Staley a founder of Rudolf Steiner College, Fair Oaks, California. She has been a consultant and guide to Waldorf teachers, both in independent Waldorf schools and in Waldorf methods public schools, and for teachers of at-risk students. A worldwide lecturer on child and adolescent development, multiculturalism, and Waldorf education, Ms. Staley is thus far the author of five books: Tapestries: Weaving Life’s Journey (1997); Soul Weaving: How to Shape Your Destiny and Inspire Your Dreams (2000); Between Form and Freedom: A practical Guide to the Teenage Years (2009); and Africa: A Teacher’s Guide (2017, 2021).