In view of the increasingly international nature and profile of the Steiner Waldorf school movement, 33 years ago the Hague Circle commissioned Tobias Richter to document and illustrate the rich experiences of teaching from around the world. This resulted in the first edition of Pädagogischer Auftrag und Unterrichtsziele einer Freien Waldorfschule.

A few months after the publication of the fully revised version of the book¹ (completed in January 2025), the editors Tobias Richter and Christian Boettger, (Managing Director of the Research Centre at the Association of Waldorf Schools), who have coordinated and worked intensively on the curriculum since the first edition have said, «Farewell».

It is with joy and enormous gratitude that we take this opportunity to express our great thanks for the tremendous work done worldwide. Tobias Richter and Christian Boettger have formed a network of educators who have developed questions relating to learning content and appropriate learning methods. This work testifies to the power of the task of continuously reviewing and refreshing curriculum materials; developing and changing them, incorporating new things and questioning what is possibly no longer up to date.

In his speech in Budapest on 31st May, Christian Boettger emphasised the importance of this work for the worldwide Waldorf school movement in connection with his great thanks to Tobias Richter for his tireless and inspiring work on curriculum research and development (we can look back on seven intensive revisions/editions).

This is work that can be taken up again and again in every faculty and college, in every country, and this outstanding achievement can be a source of inspiration.

On behalf of the International Council of Steiner Waldorf Education

Constanza Kaliks

On the development of the curriculum

If you follow the traces of the curriculum in the 106 years following the first teacher training course, you will find that Rudolf Steiner already worked intensively on curriculum issues with the prospective teachers in that first course. In the five years following in the conferences with the first teaching staff at Uhlandshöhe, the development of the curriculum was an ongoing topic (Zdražil 2019²). After 1925³, the first edition of a curriculum by Caroline von Heydebrand appeared, and is still available today, along with detailed compilation by E. A. Karl Stockmeyer⁴. However, important as they were in the past, they are no longer be sufficient for Waldorf schools in German-speaking countries and worldwide. 

In recent years, the team responsible for this task has always been aware of the tension that such a publication can create. However, it was also astonishing for the team to learn that some teachers experienced the carefully selected characterisations of the developmental stage of the different age-groups, the methodological suggestions, and the diverse range of content as a restriction on their classroom practice. The opposite was always intended, as expressed in the title of the book. It was precisely on the basis of this work that the ability to perceive and observe the  pupils intuitively began to grow.

If we in the school movement did not have the fruits of this work and the ongoing research, the state requirements for Waldorf schools would probably be even more apparent than they are already, especially with regard to qualifications. In addition, the ‚hierarchy‘ of subjects in the state curricula would be even more present in our schools, and we would have less in our hands to secure and develop the positive effects of creating a crucial balance between the artistic and craft streams of learning and the academic-cognitive subjects.

The work and input of over 100 colleagues in all subject areas have contributed to the new edition. Looking back over the last 33 years, over 300 people have been involved in the project at some point. This activity has created a continuous awareness of the further development of Waldorf education, including adapting to the developmental challenges that the current generations of learners bring with them. These changes and challenges are an emerging reality in the school movement.

The «Richter Curriculum», as it is abbreviated, has ultimately become a favourite source of reference for many parents when they want to find out about the work in the school and the developmental profile of their children and young people. In this respect, too, the book secures the work in the schools. In many federal states in Germany, this curriculum is even regarded by the school authorities as a prerequisite for the authorisation of an independent school. In a nutshell, one could say that the work on this curriculum, which sees itself as an orientation guide, has become a protective shield for Waldorf education facing the outside world.

At the same time, however, it should be pointed out that dangers can also arise if, for example, the proposed or possible lesson contents in the publication are perceived as a «Waldorf school authority» providing a set of standards. No teacher should have to justify a chosen subject by saying that it is in the curriculum, and therefore, belongs in their lessons. In teacher education we must clearly communicate that the justification for each content is to be developed individually, in the context of the children, the school and the social conditions. Rudolf Steiner called this «ideal and flexible» in the first teacher education course.

The second danger lies in the continual addition of successful teaching topics and new suggestions. This would lead to learners and teachers being overtaxed in terms of time. In the latest publication, for example, there is a chapter entitled «Synergies», where cross-curricular topics or cross-grade teaching are presented. There is certainly great potential in this field for the coming years. In future, it will certainly be increasingly important to find examples for each subject and each year group.

The third danger lies in the transfer of topics that have been intensively developed in the German-speaking world to other regions and countries. In the case of translations approved by the Pedagogical Research Centre, it should always be pointed out that all content relates, initially, to the German-speaking area in Europe, and can only be regarded as a series of suggestions for developing something similar in other cultural areas. At the same time, it seems necessary to promote multi-perspectives – pluralism – in all cultural areas in the 21st century.

Many thanks go to the numerous colleagues who have contributed to this work. In particular, we would like to thank the editorial team led by Tobias Richter: Petra Hamprecht Krause (class teacher in Nürtingen, Germany), Vanessa Pohl (foreign language teacher in Aesch, Switzerland), Rita Schuhmacher (senior German teacher in Kassel, Germany) and Alexander Hassenstein (Pedagogical Research Centre).

Christian Boettger, 31 May 2025 in Budapest