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Waldorf education - alternative primary education for children with special needs?
URBANOVÁ, Kateřina
This Bachelor´s thesis is called "Waldorf school system alternative to primary education for children with special needs?" Theoretical part of this work focuses on three main terms already mentioned in the above title of my Bachelor´s work definition of the term children with special educational needs in accordance with the Education Law and its implementing regulation no.73/2005 Coll., primary education and Waldorf school system. In addition, I also mention school curriculum framework, individual schooling programme and terms integration and inclusion. Practical part of my Bachelor´s thesis tries to find out whether Waldorf school can act as the alternative for pupils with special educational needs. Waldorf school system is patterned on anthroposophy founded by Rudolph Steiner. The philosophy is based on paying attention to child´s evolutional phases, their development of relations to the world, transformations and abilities to learn. The base of the whole Waldorf school system deals with alternation the school curriculum to suit the needs and gradual development of child´s capabilities. Waldorf pedagogy sees upbringing as the evolutionary process in which subjects are implemented during specific phases of the child´s personality development. Currently, there are twelve Waldorf schools in the Czech Republic. Practical part contains results of the research which covers two research questions. The first research question focuses on positive and negative points of Waldorf school system and the second research question finds out which factors influence the parents´ decision in choosing a basic school. Qualitative research was carried out by the methods of questioning and half-standard interviews. The interview covered ten basic questions. Six of them were the same for all participants, two of them were aimed at mothers of ordinary basic school pupils and the last ones were aimed at mothers of Waldorf school pupils. Research sample included three mothers of pupils with special educational needs from ordinary basic schools, two mothers of pupils with special educational needs from Waldorf school, one mother of a pupil without special educational needs from Waldorf school, the Waldorf school headmaster and the Practical Waldorf school headmistress. Waldorf schools in České Budějovice and Písek were inquired to provide me with contacts to parents; unfortunately, none of the addressed parents contacted me. The research sample was therefore made of mediated contacts. The research showed results of both research questions. The second research question dealt with determinative factors for choice of the basic school and the research shows that parents´ most deciding factors include accessibility from the place of residence and previous experience with the school such as the older sibling´ s experience. The reason for a different choice or a change of school is dissatisfaction with the attended school and the whole classical educational system. Parents of pupils with special educational needs often decide only whether they choose either an ordinary school or a special schools´ network. Lack of information about alternative schools in the Czech Republic rules out the choice within more possibilities. Provided that the parents search for alternative educational possibility, they have to look up the information themselves. The first research question results are not as obvious as the second research question ones. Predomination of positives or negatives in Waldorf school system cannot be stated unambiguously. Waldorf school system has definitely both positive and negative points as anything else and every parent ought to consider the importance of the positive and the negative points for themselves. One respondent claimed during the interview: "Waldorf school is for every child, but not for every parent."
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