Children who receive a Steiner education show greater academic success in multiple subjects than those at mainstream schools, a new international study has found.
Lead author Associate Professor Sebastian Suggate, of the University of Otago – Ōtākou Whakaihu Waka Department of Psychology, and co-authors analysed 30 global research papers that compared the school systems.
They found children at Steiner schools displayed advantages in two areas.
Associate Professor Sebastian Suggate
"First, they showed greater academic achievement in subjects such as reading, English and science," Associate Professor Suggate says.
"Secondly, they experienced the school and classroom climates in their respective schools more positively, which refers to the extent to which they felt supported and socially integrated."
This remained the same regardless of the country, the age of the pupils, and whether the school was private or publicly funded.
"However, we only found small but not statistically significant differences in the domains of aesthetic creativity, attitudes to learning, and moral reasoning."
Steiner education offers a holistic, child-centred approach to learning. Despite being more than 100 years old, research on it is limited, he says.
Published in the journal Review of Educational Research, this study analysed research papers from 11 countries, featuring about 8,000 children from Steiner schools and about 188,000 children from mainstream schools.
Associate Professor Suggate says the study addresses an issue that has been of significant public interest over the years.
"Many parents grapple with the decision as to which school to send their children to and many teachers weigh up which institution they want to work in.
"Governments have also adopted different models of funding Steiner education. However, until now, there has been no clear scientific analysis of how children in their respective school systems fare."
Associate Professor Suggate says this study is the first of its kind, so more research is needed.
"Previously, controversy and conversations around the merits of Steiner and state schools have been based less on data and more on informal reports and ideology.
"We thought it was time to take a look at what the available evidence says to provide robust information to those involved in education, be they parents, youths, or educators."
*Associate Professor Suggate completed the study while at the University of Regensburg, Germany.
Publication:
A Meta-Analysis of Outcomes for Steiner/Waldorf and Mainstream Education
Sebastian P. Suggate, Bernhard Schmalenbach, and Jürgen Peters
Review of Educational Research
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.3102/00346543261495960
