Blog Entry 6th Week (25/10/2021 - 31/10/2021)

Partially following last week's ntopic, the importance of space in education, in this week's post i'll be talking about how the space is used and designed in Waldorf schools. The Waldorf pedagogy is a method created by Rudolf Steiner in 1919 and that is now implemented in more than 1.000 schools around the world. 

The 7th of september of 1919, the first Waldorf school opened with 12 teachers and 256 students. It was the beginning of a pedagogy that is still widely used nowadays and that is based on anthroposophic philosophy. It states that the formation of human beings should be holistic. Students feelings, imagination, spirit and intellect form a unique composition.

Anthroposophic philosophy, and therefore Waldorf education, divides human development in septenniums: from 0 to 7 years, from 7 to 14 years and from 14 to 21 years. Individuals in each of these stages have different characteristics and, because of this, the architectural characteristics of the classrooms will vary.

First of all, lets have an idea of the characteristics of the individuals in each of these stages. In the first septennium, kids need to develp through the freedom of movement and the exploration of their surroundings. This period is one of the most important as it contains some of the most important achievements in our lifes like the upright posture when walking and communication. Waldorf classrooms for this age group try to reproduce the atmosphere of a home. In the second septennium, kids develop through emotions, creativity and feelings. In the third septennium, the education of the child is more focused in their intellect. They wait till this stage beacuse they think it's the one in which students are already mature enough to use their mental and moral habilities. 

One of the most important things that need to be taken into account in the first cycle classrooms is comfort. They believe that in this stage it's very important for kids to be in direct contact with their families. Because of this, classrooms need to feel like home, be safe, cozy and inspiring. 

Now, let's dive into more general characteristics that are common to all of the cycles.

- Importance of art: Art and artistic activities are very important in this pedagogy. This kind of activities are given the same importance as activities involving the subject's theory. Because of this importance, art created by the students is usually found around Waldorf schools, decorating the walls of corridors and classrooms.

- Rythmic elements: Music is also very present in Waldorf schools. Rythm appears in architecture by the repetition of architectural elements.

- Nature: Nature is of an incredibly big importance. The connection with nature is considered really benefitial and it's present in the schools surroundings (playgorund) and in the classrooms. Most furniture is made of natural elements like wood and the decoration include plants, flowers... Activities done by students also use natural elements like rocks, wood, seeds, roots...

- Natural Light: Waldorf schools give great importance to sun light. They usually feature large windows to take the most advantage out of it.

There are several more characteristics that are really important but it would make this post a bit too long. So, for now, these are some of the most important architectural characteristics of Waldorf schools to show, once again, that the places in which we learn have a really big indirect importance.