A central question of the project is how Waldorf/ Rudolf Steiner schools can contribute to the promotion of resilience among their students, in a society that is changing continuously, either gradually or suddenly.

Whether there are global or country-specific issues, they impact on people’s lives in the long term and cause outcomes that are not foreseeable today. Therefore, the challenge arises as how to prepare young people for their future. Implicitly, it calls for considering the needs and competences of educators for their work with children and young people. The project is focused on hearing the voices of those who are current or former students of Waldorf or Rudolf Steiner schools.

Acknowledging the contributions of past survey participants and organizers, three cross-sectional datasets collected in 2011-2019 have been instrumental in elucidating the relationship between pedagogy and resilience.

Preliminary data analysis showed that mental health of students can be comparable in three aspects (socialising, behavioural, and emotional). And having a 8-years of class teacher experience is associated with better mental health in the socialising aspect, for example less likely to feel lonely or encounter mobbing in the class. The findings also indicate that students from Waldorf pedagogy experience significantly less academic stress burden, with statistical significance observed at p<0.01.

Waldorf global panel study (Waldorf GPS)

However, cross-sectional data, while insightful, limits our ability to ascertain causal connections. To address this, we advocate for the implementation of a panel school survey.

Waldorf GPS offers a longitudinal approach, allowing the tracking of individuals or groups over time. It enables researchers to explore dynamic phenomena, identify pathways, and understand the temporal dynamics of pedagogical influences on resilience.

Establishing a panel school survey promises nuanced insights into student outcomes. By embracing this approach, we aim to deepen theoretical understanding and inform evidence-based interventions to foster resilience and enhance student well-being in educational settings.

Adopting a multi-level structure in the sampling design is crucial for capturing the complex interactions and hierarchies present within educational settings. By incorporating this approach, Waldorf GPS aims to provide valuable data for modelling different levels of analysis, from the individual student level to the broader school and country levels. For meaning comparison of schools’ data in different cultural setting, we need to involve 30 schools in each category.

The stratified three-stage sample design ensures a representative and systematic selection process across participating countries. At the first stage, schools are selected with a probability proportional to their size, ensuring that larger schools contribute proportionally more to the sample. This helps maintain balance and representativeness within the overall sample.

Within selected schools, classes are chosen as the second stage sampling units. This allows for the inclusion of diverse classroom environments and instructional contexts within each school. Finally, students enrolled in these selected classes form the third stage sampling units, ensuring a random and unbiased selection of individual participants.

A forthcoming technical report will provide comprehensive details on the target population, coverage, and sampling design implemented across participating countries. Additionally, it will include information on response rates and achieved sample sizes at various levels, including school, student, parent, and teacher levels. This detailed documentation will facilitate transparency, reproducibility, and comparability across different study sites, ultimately enhancing the validity and reliability of the research findings.

Therefore, for the coming months of 2024 we will start the pilot survey that will create the foundation of the main steps of the project. The project will have various phases and will eventually take the form of online questionnaire-based surveys, in different languages, addressed to pupils of upper grades aged 14 and over and their teachers of your school. Thus, you may receive the invitation to take part in this project at various times of during the year.

We rely on your participation and hope that our work will serve you and the Waldorf/ Rudolf Steiner schools movement.

Belle Leung

Belle Leung is a research fellow at the Alanus University of Arts and Social Sciences, Departement of Education. She is leading the study together with Jacinta Gorchs.