The impact of waldorf pedagogy on salutogenic approach to primary schoolchidren’s teaching

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The impact of waldorf pedagogy on salutogenic approach to primary schoolchidren's teaching

PhD in Pedagogy, Associate Professor of the Department of Pedagogy and Methodology of Primary Education

Yuriy Fedkovych Chernivtsi National University

Byhar H.P.,

PhD in Pedagogy, Associate Professor of the Department of Pedagogy and Methodology of Primary Education

Yuriy Fedkovych Chernivtsi National University

Pits I.I., PhD in Pedagogy,

Associate Professor of the Department of Pedagogy and Methodology of Primary Education Yuriy Fedkovych Chernivtsi National University

Abstract

This study is undertaken to address the strong need for empirical evaluation of Waldorf education that rests on a highly elaborated ethno- medical account of and plan for healthful human development as well as a proper teaching perspective. To the authors knowledge, it becomes crucial to keep primary schoolchildren `in movement' both physically and spiritually, that eventually facilitates their healthful sensory-motor integration while nourishing their stamina and `will forces' and that will definitely ensure good health and flexible thinking in their adulthood. A series of recent studies has indicated that there is growing interest in the Waldorf method among international and national scholars and educators because they believe it more successfully engages students and supports meaningful learning than do mainstream methods The findings from a multifaceted study, carried out to address the strong need for empirical evaluation of Waldorf education, proved to focus on in-depth analysis of the content of education, a core common curriculum of Waldorf School. In particular, it was proved that Waldorf School system enhances students' aiming at maintaining their physical and mental health as well as further research on the health-producing capacities of pedagogy and various other conventionally non-medical practice domains. Therefore, based on the results of in-depth analysis, the provisions of the theoretically substantiated concept of salu- togenesis of the Waldorf School, as well as its purpose and objectives, the authors have determined that the criterion for the effective WS concept is the achievement of the goal of maintaining and improving a person's physical, mental and spiritual health. Primary schoolchildren are of the authors' focal point.

The article highlights the need for developing salutogenic competence through establishing and emulating the experience of Waldorf pedagogy, which today serves as the top priority of the New Ukrainian School, both in terms of creating a safe and comfortable educational environment and in accentuating the content of learning to preserve all components of health.

Key words: concept of salutogenesis, Waldof school.

ПРОБЛЕМА ЗБЕРЕЖЕННЯ ЗДОРОВ'Я МОЛОДШИХ ШКОЛЯРІВ У ВАЛЬДОРФСЬКІЙ ПЕДАГОГІЦІ

На основі проаналізованих джерел установлено, що провідними ідеями концепції салютогенезу (здоров'ястворення) учнів вальдорфської школи є світоглядні уявлення Р Штайнера про здоров'я як індивідуального стану людини, який визначається гармонійним співвідношенням і балансом її тілесних і душевно-духовних складників і видів діяльності; про емоційно-почуттєву сферу й її фізіологічну основу - ритмічну систему (систему органів дихання й кровообігу) як об'єкт переважного розвитку дитини-учня молодших класів. salutogenesis waldorf school harmonious

Визначено етапи (1919-1937 рр.; 19381944 рр.; 1945 р.- кінець 60-х рр.; початок 70-х - кінець 80-х рр.; з 90-х рр. ХХ ст. до цього часу) розвитку проблеми збереження здоров'я молодших школярів у вальдорф- ській педагогіці з урахуванням особливостей розвитку соціально-культурних процесів, психолого-педагогічної науки, досягнень, просвітницької діяльності вальдорфських педагогів, а також характеру розвитку світового вальдорфського руху.

Звертається увага на важливість життєвих навичок, що сприяють духовному та психічному здоров'ю, таких як самоусвідомлення та самооцінка; аналіз проблем і прийняття рішень; уміння передбачати наслідки кожного з варіантів для себе й інших людей; уміння оцінювати реальність кожного варіанта, ураховуючи власні можливості й життєві обставини; здатність вибирати оптимальні рішення; визначення життєвих цілей і програм; уміння планувати свою діяльність, ураховуючи аналіз можливостей та обставин; уміння визначати пріоритети й раціонально використовувати час; навички самоконтролю; уміння долати тривогу; уміння зосереджуватися на досягненні мети; розвиток наполегливості й працьовитості.

Уточнено групи взаємопов'язаних показників, що характеризують ефективність реалізації збереження фізичного, психічного та духовного здоров'я школярів у вальдорфській педагогіці, а саме: сформованість здорових звичок, висока працездатність, спритність, координованість тіла й рухів, адекватність тактильних відчуттів, витривалість, високий імунітет; душевна стабільність, соціальна компетентність і мобільність; адекватна самооцінка своїх можливостей, довіра до своїх здібностей; настанова на успіх у житті; інтелектуальна активність, індивідуальна ініціативність; творчість, самостійність, відповідальність у прийнятті рішень; самовідданість, наполегливість, захопленість своєю роботою.

Стаття висвітлює необхідність формування здоров'язберігаючої компетентності через використання й запровадження досвіду вальдорфської педагогіки, що сьогодні є однією з домінантів Нової української школи як по лінії створення безпечного й комфортного освітнього середовища, так і по лінії акцентуації змісту навчання на збереження всіх складників здоров'я.

Ключові слова: концепція салютогенезу, вальдорфська школа.

We need to address the opioid crisis, racism, affordable housing, environmental degradation, income inequality to name a few. Waldorf schools cannot solve these issues, but we need to engage in conversation with community members, engage with local groups addressing these issues, and demonstrate how deeply we care. Helping others may be the best way for us to help our schools.

Torin Finser (speech at the Center for Anthroposophy in New Hampshire, June 2019)

The first stage (1919-1937)

The study of scientific sources proves that the formation of the health maintenance problem in Waldorf pedagogy is closely connected with the first Waldorf School establishment for children of workers and employees of the Waldorf-Astoria tobacco factory in 1919 Stuttgart (Germany).

The lectures and discussion sessions he conducted with the school's first teachers, combined with a curriculum outline based on Steiner's view on the nature of human development, were and remain the cornerstone of Waldorf education. Viewing the teacher as an artist and the classroom a living canvas upon which the teacher artist would render breath-taking creations, Waldorf education infused war-torn Germany with a new view of the classroom where students engaged in artistic activities and got out of their seats to learn [2, p. 10].

Waldorf education expanded rapidly in Europe, then the United States, where it continues to flourish today. According to D. Jelinek, the Waldorf style of developmentalism, in the context of a Waldorf school, often introduces science subjects in later grades than the same subjects would be introduced in mainstream science curricula, with obvious implications for a comparison to state and national standards. Piaget's developmentalism, by contrast, would not necessarily time the introduction of specific content by developmental stage, but rather would guide the method by which the content is presented to children of different ages and developmental stages [2, p. 5]. Owing to painstaking efforts of Waldorf educators aimed at spreading healthy ideas, Waldorf schools were already operating in Germany in the early 1930's. The first Waldorf schools abroad were opened respectively in Holland (1923, 1933), Great Britain (1925, 1939), Norway (1926, 1929), Switzerland, Portugal, Hungary (1926), and the United States (1928).

The second stage (1938-1944)

It should be noted, that ever since 1935, under the National Socialists pressure who came to power in Germany, Waldorf schools were forbidden to accept students, and since 1938, they were closed. It should be articulated, that during the WWII Waldorf schools were closed in The Netherlands either. In some countries, however, in particular, in the United Kingdom and Switzerland, the Waldorf institutions continued to operate, that consequently undermined the value and essence of Waldorf School. Furthermore, the Waldorf movement activities underwent various forms of crisis.

The third stage (1945 - the late 60's)

Since 1945, German and other European Waldorf Schools began to revive. Simultaneously, new schools in Germany and other European countries were on the level of disappearing until the mid-1960s. Owing to the aspirations of the Waldorf movement's ardent supporters, existing consolidated schools strengthened their improvement. This recognition of German Waldorf schools at the state level had a significant positive impact on the status of Steiner schools in general and stimulated the emergence of new schools both in Germany and abroad (Austria, Belgium, Great Britain, Denmark, Italy, Norway, Finland, France, Sweden, Switzerland, etc.).

The fourth stage (the early 70's - the late 80's of the 20th century)

At the turn of the 1960s and 1970s, the salutoge- netic model of health was significantly actualized due to the works of famous representatives of humanistic psychology, psychotherapy, psychosomatics (A. Antonovsky, A. Maslow, K. Rogers, V. Frankl, E. Fromm et el.) - problems that took an explicitly future perspective on the sense of coherence. This greatly contributed to the focus of Waldorf specialists on research aimed at identifying the further research on the sense of coherence as a buffer versus a direct determinant of health, and on the linearity/nonlinearity of the relationship between sense of coherence and health in the learning environment.

The fifth stage (the 90's of the 20^th century to the present). The early 1990s saw a significant surge in interest in Waldorf schools, which was due to a number of reasons. Primarily, it concerns conducting numerous comparative health studies and educational achievements of students at Waldorf and others traditional schools. The results of such studies have shown that the salutogenic orientation of the Waldorf School provides support and enhancement of the physical, mental health and spiritual wellbeing of the schoolchildren.

However, at the stage under consideration, Waldorf and anthroposophical specialists (K. Wiert, V. Wbnsch, V. Gebel, M. Glekler, V. Zasmanshausen, F. Karlgren, O. Ionova, P. Lang, S. Langhammer, T. Marty, R. Patzlaw, et al) actively engaged theoretical and practical research on salutogenesis. This in-depth survey of salutogenesis shows the breadth and strengths of this innovative perspective on health promotion, health care, and wellness. Background and historical chapters trace the development of the salutogenic model of health, and flesh out the central concepts, most notably generalized resistance resources and the sense of coherence, that differentiate it from pathogenesis.

The results from findings on child health of the Steiner Pedagogies, as well as their active propaganda, have had a very positive impact on the promotion of Waldorf-based health approaches in world school practice. It should be noted that today the movement, which began with the opening of R. Steiner's first Waldorf school, covers more than 50 countries in the world with approximately 1000 Waldorf schools, as well as 3100 kindergartens and 150 medical and pedagogical institutions operating on the Waldorf principles. In view of the above-mentioned, under the effective implementation of the process of preserving the health of students, we will understand the characteristic that images the relation between the main purpose of the concept of salutogenesis - ensuring the preservation of health of the individual - and the results achieved in the process of its realization [4, p. 183].

A necessary and important prerequisite for determining the effectiveness of the of pupils' health maintenance is verified by the relevant criteria and indicators. It is necessary to emphasize the deductive reasoning approach to defining specific criteria and indicators of schoolchildren's health improvement and maintenance in the process of learning. Of particular interest for our study was the Ukrainian scholars' research on the types and various components of human health. To be more particular, the focal point was the studies on a physical component (i.e. proper functioning of physical perfection and overall physical performance, stamina and robustness, compliance with the rational routine, meeting the requirements of a personal hygiene, and proper nutrition); psychic or psychological comfort (correspondence of cognitive activity to calendar age, development of arbitrary mental processes, presence of self-regulation; presence of adequate positive emotions; lack of accentuation of character; absence of bad habits); social well-being (this is primarily a formed civic responsibility for the fulfilment of social roles in society; positively communicative; benevolence towards the younger ones; ability to self-actualize in a team; self-education); internal and spiritual (the priority of universal values; the presence of a positive ideal in accordance with national spiritual traditions, diligence, charity, a sense of beauty in life, nature, and art) [9, p. 245].

On the other hand, our findings have revealed many rather intriguing considerations of significance to this study. Scientific sources also disclose criteria and indicators, reflecting an educator/teacher's effectiveness in their professional and pedagogical competence to focus on schoolchildren's health and wellbeing, students' awareness of their successful academic performance, sustained educational interest; the formation of schoolchildren's life motivation, their rigorous healthy lifestyle (rational nutrition, physical activity, practicing balanced rhythm of work and rest, etc.); adequate recovery of the physical, mental and spiritual strength of the child (no fatigue but high efficiency, zealousness, and enthusiasm perseverance, healthy complexion, etc.); mental balance, communicativeness, ability to cooperate with people, social mobility; conscious attitude to oneself, adequate assessment of their abilities and abilities of other people; self-confidence and self-sufficiency, the pursuit of success in life. The Ukrainian scholars have also identified a set of life skills (competences) that enhance a healthy lifestyle, physical, social, spiritual wellbeing and mental health.

In addition, vital skills enhancing a physical wellbeing are as followed: skills of sound nutrition (observance of diet; ability to ration food, taking into account the affordability and healthy lifestyle benefits; ability to determine and keep high quality of products); skills of motive activity (morning exercises; regular engaging in a physical culture, sport, motor games, manual labour); personal-hygienic skills; balance of labour and rest (of ability to be on duty mental and physical to activity.

By vital skills, enhancing a social wellbeing, we can emphasize on effective communication skills (i.e., ability to be a good listener; ability to clearly and concisely express their opinions; ability to openly express feelings, without an anxiety and prosecutions; possessing an non-verbal language is gestures, mimicry, intonation; an adequate reaction on criticism; ability to support and help); skills of sympathy (ability to embrace feelings, necessities and problems of other people; fostering the traits of empathy; reliability and responsibility).

Skills of conflict resolving (ability to distinguish disagreement and conflicts of interests; ability to be tolerant in resolving conflicts; to engage in constructive dialogue to find a solution); skills of being stress-resilient under pressure, in case of bullying, or discrimination (of skill of being aware and ready to act, in particular in terms of cautionary actions in relation to HIV-AIDS; ability to distinguish the displays of discrimination, in particular in disabled children, HIV-infected and patients with AIDS; ability to defend their own point of view and ability to object to being engaged in any addiction, in particular and related to smoking, use of alcohol, narcotics; ability to avoid near-accidents and operate at the threat of violence); skills of teambuilding (ability to be a team member; ability to appreciate the work of others; ability to adequately estimate the abilities and personal contribution into team work) [5, p. 140].

On this basis, we conclude that life skills that promote spiritual and mental health are:

- self-awareness and self-esteem (ability to be aware of one's own uniqueness; positive attitude towards oneself, other people's life prospects; adequate self-esteem: the ability to really assess one's abilities and capabilities, as well as to adequately perceive other people's assessments);

- problem analysis and decision-making (ability to identify the nature of the problem and its causes; the ability to formulate multiple options for solving the problem; the ability to anticipate the consequences of each of the options for themselves and others; the ability to evaluate the reality of each option, taking into account their own capabilities and life circumstances; the ability to choose optimal solutions);

- definition of life goals and programs (ability to define life goals, based on their needs, inclinations, abilities; ability to plan their activities, taking into account the analysis of opportunities and circumstances; ability to set priorities and use time);

- self-control skills (ability to express their feelings correctly; ability to control anger; ability to overcome anxiety; ability to experience and accept failure; ability to rationally plan time);

- motivation for success and will training (belief that you are the master of your life; setting yourself up for success; being able to focus on achieving a goal; developing perseverance and diligence).

Based on the results of the above analysis, as well as the provisions of the theoretically substantiated concept of salutogenesis of the Waldorf School, its purpose, objectives, we have determined that the criterion for the effective realization of the concept of salutogenesis is the achievement of the goal of maintaining and improving the physical, mental and spiritual health.

The indices comprise three groups of interrelated factors, that characterize the physical, mental health and spiritual well-being of the student, namely: a) the formation of healthy habits (rational nutrition, personal hygiene, physical activities, the rhythm of work and rest) high efficiency, agility, coordination of body and movements, endurance, resistance to morbidity (high immunity); b) mental stability (feeling of confidence and joy in life, ability to deal with emotions and feelings; inner attitude to moral, beautiful, genuine), c) social competence and mobility (openness and deep interest in interaction with the outside world, ability to sympathize and empathize with other people); d) adequate self-assessment of their capabilities, confidence in their abilities; striving for success in life; e) intellectual activity (development of memory, fantasy, imagination, observation), f) individual initiative; creativity, autonomy, responsibility in decision-making processes, dedication, perseverance, passion for your work.

The present findings prove that the afore-said indices are conditionally distinguished; they presuppose a schoolchild's physical, mental health and spiritual wellbeing. It is grounded that all the basic aspects of a healthy human are closely interrelated and affect each other, which proceeds, first and utmost, a human wellness is a holistic integration of physical, mental, and spiritual well-being, stimulating the body, engaging the mind, and nurturing the spirit of a human being.

Conclusions

The analysis leads to the following conclusions: one of the priorities of the modern school is to nurture a healthy generation, as well as conscious attitude to one's own health and the health of others. Simultaneously, in educational practice, the issues of ensuring the health of schoolchildren are solved mainly with medical and hygiene measures, and the health potential of pedagogical approaches itself remains insufficiently realized. Importantly, movement techniques that facilitate cognitive processing remain the key agent of promoting health of elementary, middle, and high school students who are overcoming learning challenges.

In addition, these findings provide additional information about the development and implementation of a holistic system of primary schoolchildren's education, based on the key concepts of the salutogenic theory sense of coherence coined by A. Antonovsky. R. Steiner's system of a humanistic worldview lies in the core of the concept - the essence of a person as a physical-spiritual being; the idea of a personality development in the seven-year phasing; human health as a harmony of physical and spiritual activities; the individual genetics, which is influenced by hereditary factors and the environment, chiefly the processes of education and upbringing; the emotional and sensory sphere of the child; the physiological basis, where the rhythmic system is as an object of primary schoolchildren's healthy development of before their puberty. Therefore, based on the results of in-depth analysis, the provisions of the theoretically substantiated concept of salutogenesis of the Waldorf School, as well as its purpose and objectives, the authors have determined that the criterion for the effective WS concept is the achievement of the goal of maintaining and improving a person's physical, mental and spiritual health. Primary schoolchildren are of the authors' focal point.

References

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