Waldorf pedagogy as an innovative approach for school health and learning
2019 (English)In: Proceedings of the European Conference on Innovation and Entrepreneurship, ECIE, Academic Conferences and Publishing International Limited , 2019, Vol. 1, p. 572-580Conference paper, Published paper (Refereed)
Abstract [en]
A research project regarding health promotion for school health, in the context of a Waldorf School received grants from the Swedish National Agency for Education. Waldorf pedagogy contains methods different from contemporary pedagogy such as integrating aesthetics and movement together in the learning process. The purpose of the study is twofold. First, to explore and evaluate the methods used in Waldorf pedagogy regarding their effects on health and learning. Second, to evaluate the suitability of the approach and methodologies per see for this kind of study. A case-study has been carried out involving pupils, staff and parents. A verified measurement instrument has been used. It is aimed at measuring health, quality and learning and it was further refined to better fit the present context. Quality dimensions previously identified for pupils and staff were used. Questionnaires were sent with a response rate ranging from 66% to 100%. Based on the questionnaires, pertinent questions were defined and explored in five quality cafés based on the world-café methodology. Feed-back from five focus-group interviews including all of the above-mentioned categories were also collected. In addition, a follow-up questionnaire was sent to co-workers and pupils. The results indicate that the school's activities with their basis in Waldorf pedagogy might have a health-promoting effect, since the school's activities are of high quality and the health of the pupils is generally good. The pupils greatly appreciated the quality cafes which gave them a forum to discuss things thoroughly as well as experiences of being listened to. The focus group interviews revealed that the pupils generally think that the school is good now, even better than before this project. Other perceived effects of the study concern increased team-building, happiness, increased awareness of importance of teachers' health, advantages of serving healthy food for learning and acceptance of each pupil's uniqueness. The study provides a holistic methodology to evaluate health promotion activities in a school project and provides insight into benefits of the Waldorf pedagogy.
Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Academic Conferences and Publishing International Limited , 2019. Vol. 1, p. 572-580
Keywords [en]
Health Promotion, Organisational learning, Quality Management, Sense of coherence, Social innovation, Waldorf pedagogy, Health, Surveys, Sense of coherences, Social innovations, Learning systems
National Category
Pedagogy Learning Health Care Service and Management, Health Policy and Services and Health Economy Public Health, Global Health, Social Medicine and Epidemiology
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:mdh:diva-45834DOI: 10.34190/ECIE.19.111Scopus ID: 2-s2.0-85073354255ISBN: 9781912764341 (print)OAI: oai:DiVA.org:mdh-45834DiVA, id: diva2:1365560
Conference
14th European Conference on Innovation and Entrepreneurship, ECIE 2019, 19 September 2019 through 20 September 2019
2019-10-252019-10-252019-12-18Bibliographically approved