Artistic practice in Waldorf teacher education – notes

Introduction

This article by Peter Lutzker argues that teaching in Waldorf education is an art, and that this view is deeply integrated into Waldorf teacher education. It examines why subjects such as music, sculpture, and speech are central in both pre-service and in-service programs, and situates arts-based teacher education within broader debates about the value of the arts in education beyond Waldorf pedagogy. A key motive is addressing widespread sensory deficits in children and adolescents that are linked to pervasive digital media use. The piece proposes a sensory-aesthetic concept grounded in aesthesis (from the Ancient Greek aisthésis), understood as the primary perceptual-sensory basis of aesthetic experience, to guide the inclusion of the arts in teacher education. The integration of scientific courses with arts-based practice is presented as a fruitful basis for teachers to meet contemporary educational challenges. The article also highlights empirical work on arts-based teacher education and connects Waldorf practice to wider pedagogical discourses.

Key terms include Waldorf teacher education, arts-based teacher education, teaching as an art, sensory deficits, aesthetic education, and aesthesis. The article is type: Conceptual Analysis; it was received on 30 December 2023, accepted on 16 February 2024, and published on 27 March 2024 in Frontiers in Education under CC BY.

The origins and current status of Waldorf teacher education

Lutzker traces the roots of Waldorf teacher education to the founding of the first Waldorf school in Stuttgart in 1919, where Rudolf Steiner delivered an intensive two-week course for teachers (often with little prior teaching experience). Before the school opened, Steiner gave yearly courses in Stuttgart and lectures across Switzerland, England, and Holland. The first Waldorf teacher education course began in Stuttgart in 1928. Today there are more than $200$ teacher training courses in around $70$ countries, serving over $1{,}800$ kindergartens/day care centers, $1{,}100$ schools and around $500$ special education schools and communities (Freunde der Erziehungskunst Rudolf Steiners, 2023). These programs include academically accredited Waldorf teacher education programs in colleges and universities, plus full- and part-time seminars. Accredited programs are members of INASTE (2023), which meets bi-annually and organizes academic conferences.

The curriculum of Waldorf teacher education programs

While institutions differ due to local traditions, cultures, and legal requirements, Waldorf programs share core elements: an emphasis on pedagogical anthropology and educational psychology to offer a holistic view of the developing child, rooted in Steiner’s anthroposophical understanding of the human being, complemented by more recent materials from Waldorf and non-Waldorf contexts. Courses cover methodology and didactics of subject teaching, and there is a strong emphasis on practical teaching experience through sustained internships during pre-service study. A key distinction from mainstream programs is the role of the arts within the curriculum; Waldorf programs typically integrate the arts as an essential component of teacher development. In 2023, the International Teacher Education Program (ITEP), under Dornach, Switzerland, prepared a document describing commonalities in Waldorf teacher education and providing a broader basis for integration of artistic and scientific components (McAlice and Boland, 2023).

Teaching viewed as an art in Waldorf pedagogy and its consequences for teacher education

A central Waldorf principle is that teaching is an art grounded in the artistic development of the teacher. The aim of both pre-service and in-service education is to foster teachers’ own artistic development as a basis for artistry in teaching. Steiner emphasizes that if teachers feel a strong bond with the artistic element and cultivate artistic appreciation in their pupils, artistic atmosphere will permeate all aspects of education, not just certain subjects. Art and aesthetics connect knowledge of the human being with both spiritual and sensory knowledge, guiding practical aspects of education (Steiner, 1996a, p. 61).

Within this framework, extensive arts practice in pre-service and in-service programs is seen as essential for developing qualities inherent to teaching as an art. The curriculum’s breadth in the arts distinguishes Waldorf education; typically, at least $\frac{1}{3}$ of a program’s course load is devoted to various forms of artistic practice (Goldschmidt, 2017). The long-standing commitment to arts in Waldorf education—over more than a century—consequently marks a unique feature within teacher education.

The article also engages with influential non-Waldorf voices on arts-based teacher education. It argues for a broader basis for an integrated artistic-scientific concept in teacher education that responds to current needs. There is a history of advocacy for the arts by figures outside Waldorf education who remain relevant today, and the discussion situates Waldorf practice within a wider field of educational thought.

Teaching viewed as an art and artistic practice in teacher education

Historical and theoretical background

The concept that teaching is an art traces back to Ancient Greece (Lichtenstein, 1970) and European humanistic education in the Renaissance (Haussman, 1959; Flitner, 1980). A peak period occurred in early 20th-century reform pedagogy, including Waldorf education (Kozdon, 1984; Flitner, 1992). In the United States, William James helped localize teaching-as-art through lectures to schoolteachers in 1892 (James, 1899/1962). John Dewey later emphasized the interconnection between education and art, especially for developing perception, imagination, and creativity (Dewey, 1948, 1980). Influential modern thinkers cited include Ted T. Aoki, Gert Biesta, Donald Blumenfeld-Jones, Elliot Eisner, Jim Garrison, Maxine Greene, Christian Rittelmeyer, Horst Rumpf, Seymour Sarason, Keith Sawyer, and Lawrence Stenhouse. Eisner’s view is that the arts can model education at its best, fostering imaginative and perceptual capacities that reshape the design of educational environments (Eisner, 2002). Greene argued that aesthetic education can be paradigmatic for all learning, provoking a form of learning that goes beyond conventional teaching (Greene, 2001). Biesta cautions against instrumentalizing the arts to chase cognitive transfer effects, insisting on the intrinsic value of aesthetic experience (Biesta, 2020). Rittelmeyer builds on the Greek concept of aesthesis as a philosophical basis for experiential aesthetic education, emphasizing inner activity in encounters with art (Rittelmeyer, 2018; 2014). In Germany, Christian Rittelmeyer’s work ties “social senses” to aesthetic education (Rittelmeyer, 2018).

Empirical research on the effects of arts-based teacher education

There is a substantial body of empirical research on arts-based teacher education. The article surveys a recent meta-study by Skau and Lindstøl, who drew on peer-reviewed articles from ten databases. They began with $1{,}296$ articles, reduced to 146, from which 19 articles were selected for in-depth study (Møller-Skau and Lindstøl, 2022, p. 5). Using a crystallization metaphor to handle the complexity across diverse contexts, they identified three recurring patterns: emotional turns, the ability and desire to act, and changed attitudes (Ibid., pp. 5–6). Emotional turns encompassed a wide spectrum of emotions from fear and insecurity to excitement and joy, with authenticity and personal relevance driving positive changes (Ibid., p. 7). Regarding ability to act, initial doubts and lack of confidence among student teachers often gave way to empowerment, creativity, and a strengthened willingness to engage in arts-based courses (Ibid., pp. 8–10). Changed attitudes included recognition of the arts’ potential to address diverse learners and its motivational power across the curriculum, along with personal reflection on curricular rigidity (Ibid., pp. 7–9, 10–11). The authors conclude that arts-based learning is a powerful way for student teachers to prepare for the unknown future and that it has epistemological implications beyond traditional outcomes (Ibid., p. 11).

Résumé of the broader influence of arts in education

Across Eisner, Greene, Rittelmeyer, and Biesta, the shared conviction is that the study and practice of the arts are profoundly important for education, offering intrinsic value and serving as a paradigmatic form of learning that can inform other domains. Skau and Lindstøl’s meta-study demonstrates the potential for even a single arts-based course to enact meaningful, wide-ranging effects on teachers’ dispositions and practices, aligning with Greene’s notion of learning that goes beyond teaching and Eisner’s model of education at its best. These perspectives provide a framework within which the specific role of the arts in Waldorf education can be understood in dialogue with non-Waldorf approaches.

The role and practice of the arts in Waldorf education

Waldorf teacher education treats artistic practice as essential both for a teacher’s personal and professional development and for cultivating the capacities needed to attain artistry in teaching. Teachers across all subjects and levels engage in regular artistic practice as part of their preparation to become artists in teaching their subjects. Steiner’s dictum that all lessons should be derived from what is artistic, and that methodology should be immersed in artistry, underpins this integration (Steiner, 1996a, p. 61). The argument is that when teachers connect with the arts, that artistic sensibility permeates their pedagogical approach and enhances the classroom environment (Rawson, 2020b, p. 30).

The breadth and continuity of arts education in Waldorf programs are linked to transformative outcomes for teachers, not merely the production of an artistic artifact. The article distinguishes between training for a specific outcome and long-term practice (the distinction between training and practicing): practicing implies ongoing encounter with challenges and continuous development over time, which shapes perception, thinking, and action (Bollnow, 1982; Lutzker, 2018a, 2016a). This aligns with phenomenological approaches to subject study, pedagogy, and pedagogical anthropology (Oberski & McNally, 2007; Kiersch, 2008; Lutzker, 2016a, 2018a; Rawson, 2020a,b).

The arts offered in Waldorf teacher education span a wide spectrum, including speech and drama, storytelling, music, sculpting, painting, drawing, eurythmy, theatre clowning, Bothmer gymnastics, and land art. While not all institutions offer every art form, the range demonstrates the potential to help students experience various dimensions of the world and themselves. Traditionally, theatre clowning has gained prominence, especially in Germany (Lutzker, 2012, 2022; Rawson & Bryden, 2022).

We focus on Steiner’s three “teachers’ arts”—clay modeling, music, and speech—which he described as forming the language-musical stream (music, eurythmy, speech, drama) and the plastic-architectural stream (sculpting, painting, drawing). Steiner saw these arts as not only advancing teaching artistry but also linking to pedagogical anthropology central to Waldorf education.

4.1 Clay modeling in Waldorf teacher education

Clay modeling holds a prominent place in Waldorf programs, both for teacher preparation and for its deeper experiential value. Steiner spoke of sculpting as a way to develop differentiated sensory capabilities needed for careful observation and for shaping materials that require expansion and contraction to form. For example, sculpting external organs (hands, feet) or inner organs (lungs) can foster an embodied, differentiated understanding of the body’s processes (etheric processes and the etheric body). Schumacher notes that sculpting heightens awareness of the dynamic life processes in children (Schumacher, 2018, p. 171). The sculpting process is also a paradigmatic form of learning: initial attempts look unlike the intended form, but through careful observation of one’s work and instructor feedback, learners become more attuned to the material and to their own habits and temperaments, which in turn affects viewing and modeling phenomena. This process aligns with the idea that through hands-on practice, learners become more connected to the world and its phenomena (Lindenberg, 1985, pp. 154–155).

4.2 Music in Waldorf teacher education

Music and singing in teacher education aim to develop the teacher’s own musical abilities and to support pupils’ musical development, reflecting the Waldorf curriculum’s emphasis on music across subjects (e.g., foreign language lessons). Music training cultivates listening, rhythm, timing, and a sense of musical process, rather than focusing on a tangible object. Students practice improvisation—vocal and instrumental—and, in doing so, experience self-efficacy as an ongoing, immersive, volitional process (Ronner, 2018). For beginners, musical engagement can be a challenge requiring them to step out of their comfort zones and tolerate insecurity. The cognitive, emotional, and volitional aspects become intertwined as part of this practice. Steiner viewed music as a channel for perceiving the feelings and emotional life of pupils, aligning with his anthroposophical anthropology and the idea of sensing the astral body interwoven with the etheric life processes and physical dimensions (Steiner, 1994a,b; Kiersch, 2008).

4.3 The art of speaking: speech formation, storytelling, and drama

Speech work emphasizes the teacher’s voice and corporeal signaling—gesture, facial expression, and body language—as essential teaching instruments. From the earliest Waldorf teacher courses, Steiner stressed exercises in speech and having teachers speak poems not just for classroom use but for the teachers’ artistic development (Hans, 2018, p. 182). Modern speech formation training centers on delivering stories, poems, and narratives in pedagogically appropriate, artistic-aesthetic manners. The aim is for teachers to experience the inner pictures that tales evoke and to convey them authentically. The focus is not on conventional techniques but on experiencing the material’s inherent meanings. The analysis of phonemes as building blocks of language mirrors the importance of color in painting and tone in music. Stanislavski’s assertion that each speech sound has its own soul underscores the depth of linguistic-aesthetic expression (Stanislawski, 1984, cited in Hans, p. 190). A teacher’s voice and manner of speaking affect learning and long-term health; thus, strengthening vocal flexibility and treating the voice as an instrument are viewed as salutogenic (health-promoting) factors (Patzlaff, 2023).

4.4 Complementary perspectives on the role of the arts in teacher education

The article concludes that Waldorf and non-Waldorf arts-based programs share many aims but differ in their scale, integration, and context. The perspectives of Eisner, Greene, Rittelmeyer, Biesta, and Soetebeer offer complementary lenses for integrating arts and sciences in teacher education. Soetebeer emphasizes Bildung (self-formation) through an integrative approach to science and art, arguing for the transformative development of the person through experiential practice. He highlights the possibility of integrating subject knowledge and methodological tools within artistic-performative practice to intensify both the person and their action in the classroom (Soetebeer, 2018, pp. 123). Jörg Soetebeer also contends that the Wissenschaft und Kunst (science and art) can function as spaces for experiencing and shaping encounters with self and world in mutual interdependence, enabling certain modes of looking at phenomena and fostering diverse talents within a holistic personality. This perspective aligns with Steiner’s vision that all lessons should be artistic, and that art can teach by being embedded within educational practice. The discussion argues that bringing together arts courses with pedagogical anthropology, subject knowledge, and didactics under a broader framework is essential for addressing faster-changing realities in education, including AI and digitalization (Damberger, 2020). Biesta’s emphasis on art as dialogue with the world suggests that artists should not be reduced to didacticians but that educational movement can emerge within the artistic endeavour itself (Biesta, 2020).

Discussion: toward a sensory-aesthetic concept for the arts in teacher education

5.1 The arguments for an aesthetic concept for the arts in education

Rittelmeyer argues for a broader conceptual understanding of aesthetic experience when researching the value of the arts, warning against reducing assessment to transfer effects (e.g., whether more music lessons improve mathematics). He advocates a structural analysis of aesthetic quality and a casuistic biographical approach to examine the individual nature and biographical consequences of artistic experiences (Rittelmeyer, 2018; 2014). Biesta contends that instrumentalizing art for cognitive gain distorts the intrinsic value of aesthetic experience and its potential biographical significance (Biesta, 2020). Eisner proposes a holistic understanding of artistic experience and calls for broader, biographical research perspectives that examine long-term effects rather than relying solely on measurable outcomes (Eisner, 2002). The author calls for a framework that integrates non-Waldorf and Waldorf perspectives to address contemporary challenges.

5.2 The role of the senses in education and teacher education

The core claim is that senses—internal (balance and proprioception) and external (hearing, seeing)—shape all movement and learning in a unified Gestaltkreis (Gestalt circle). Healthy development of senses depends on active use; modern life, especially screen-based digital engagement, reduces direct sensory experience. Germany’s adolescents reportedly spend an average of $8.5$ hours a day in front of screens (ARD/ZDF, 2023). This reduction in embodied experience affects developmental trajectories and cognitive learning foundations. Rosa’s resonance theory is cited to distinguish between a body used as a tool (instrumental relationship with the world) and a body connected to the world through direct perception, including the difference in intentionality when using a screen. The chapter argues for arts-based approaches in teacher education to counterbalance sensory deficits and to restore direct sensorimotor engagement with the world (Rosa, 2019).

5.3 Aesthesis and the arts in teacher education

Aesthesis is described as lived, embodied, felt experience, involving the interplay of the senses and linking people with sensations and feelings. The arts in education are rooted in aesthesis and can heighten resonance in mental activity, converting neutral sensory input into more nuanced judgments about the world (Rittelmeyer, 2017). Eisner also emphasizes developing sensibility—attending to the qualities of sound, sight, taste, and touch to experience them rather than simply recognizing them (Eisner, 2002).

5.4 Rudolf Steiner’s understanding of the human senses and its pedagogical relevance

Steiner’s approach extends beyond the classic five senses to include social or imaginative senses for perceiving language, thoughts, and the I (self) of others. These senses connect to the inner, social life and are developed through corresponding forms of sensory experience. This social sense framework underpins Waldorf pedagogy and the methodology and didactics of the teacher-education program. Steiner’s sense theory ties directly into the arts’ role in teacher education, reinforcing the rationale for integrating aesthetics with the science of education and with the broader Goethean phenomenological approach that informs Waldorf pedagogy.

5.5 The integration of artistic experience into Bildung and transformation (Umbildung)

What distinguishes Waldorf practice is not only the amount and breadth of artistic training but its integration into Bildung—the transformative, lifelong process of becoming a person who can teach from a holistic, Goethean perspective. Even a single intensive arts course can yield transformative effects on attitude and practice, as seen in qualitative studies of theatre clowning courses (Lutzker, 2022). The literature notes that integration of arts with pedagogical anthropology, subject knowledge, and didactics is often lacking in mainstream programs, which tend to separate arts from science; Waldorf education presents a model of deep integration. Soetebeer emphasizes Bildung as a methodological principle that enables students to discover, develop, and cultivate personality-specific potentials, facilitating intensive influence on teaching practices when subject knowledge and methodological tools are integrated with artistic practice (Soetebeer, 2018, pp. 123). Biesta’s perspective on the world-centered education and the idea that education is not merely the transfer of knowledge but a continuous dialogue with the world is cited to support a holistic, integrated approach where art teaches through its own educational movement (Biesta, 2020, pp. 37–38).

The author argues for developing concepts and theories of teacher education in which arts courses are meaningfully connected to other educational domains, including the social sciences, educational science, neuroscience, and the arts. In light of AI and digital transformation, the integration of arts and sciences could provide foundational approaches to how teachers respond to rapidly changing realities. Waldorf teacher education could serve as an example of how to pursue such integrative approaches, though it is not the only path—and it should benefit from ongoing interactions with broader educational practices (Biesta, 2020; Hübner, 2023).

Practical implications and concluding reflections

Teaching as an art requires ongoing personal artistic development and a classroom atmosphere permeated by aesthetic sensibilities. This is not a one-off set of skills but a continuous practice that shapes perception and interaction in teaching.
The arts are not just addons to curriculum but form a core modality for developing teachers who can address sensory and perceptual challenges in students, especially in a digital age that risks diminishing embodied experience.
A broad, integrated framework that couples arts with science and anthropology can help prepare teachers to meet contemporary challenges, including AI and digitalization. This integration should be informed by both Waldorf and non-Waldorf perspectives to maximize educational value.
Empirical research suggests arts-based courses can produce emotional shifts, empowerment, and changes in attitudes toward teaching and learning, with potential effects on students’ capacity to engage diverse learners across the curriculum.
The concept of aesthesis offers a robust theoretical basis for understanding the arts in education as lived, embodied experience, which can be operationalized in teacher education through a combination of theory, phenomenology, and practical arts-based training.

Key numerical references to recall

First Waldorf school founded: 1919. The first Waldorf teacher education course began in 1928. Current landscape includes more than $200$ teacher training courses in roughly $70$ countries.
Regional reach: over $1{,}800$ kindergartens/day care centers, $1{,}100$ schools, and about $500$ special education schools/communities.
Arts in curriculum: typically at least $\frac{1}{3}$ of program time devoted to artistic practice (Goldschmidt, 2017).
Meta-study by Skau and Lindstøl: from $1{,}296$ initial articles to $146$ articles, from which 19 were selected for in-depth study (Møller-Skau and Lindstøl, 2022).
Screen time example: adolescents averaging $8.5$ hours/day on screens (ARD/ZDF, 2023).

Formulas and LaTeX expressions to remember

Arguably, the Waldorf program burden on artistic practice: ext{Art time fraction}
ightarrow rac{1}{3} of curriculum time. That is, $\frac{1}{3}$ of total course load devoted to arts.
Historical milestones: $1919$ (founding of the first Waldorf school); $1928$ (first Waldorf teacher education course). Current global network includes more than $200$ programs in about $70$ countries.
Meta-study data: initial set $1{,}296$ articles; filtered set $146$ ; final selection $19$ .

References to key theorists and positions to revisit

Steiner on teaching as an art and the permeation of artistry into all lessons (Steiner, 1996a).
Eisner on the arts as models of educational aspiration and the development of perception, imagination, and environment design (Eisner, 2002).
Greene on aesthetic education as a paradigm for learning (Greene, 2001; Greene, 2023).
Biesta on avoiding instrumentalization of art and recognizing intrinsic value and biographical significance (Biesta, 2020).
Rittelmeyer on aesthesis and embodied resonance as foundations for aesthetic education (Rittelmeyer, 2018; 2017).
Soetebeer on Bildung and the integration of art and science in Waldorf teacher education (Soetebeer, 2018).

Connections to previous lectures or foundational principles

The discussion connects to classical and Renaissance educational thought about teaching as an art, as well as to Dewey’s emphasis on the integration of art and learning.
The Goethean phenomenological influence on Waldorf pedagogy is highlighted via the emphasis on observation, sensory development, and the experiential basis of knowledge.
The concept of Bildung ties individual development to professional practice and to the broader aim of forming a person capable of teaching in a holistic, ethical, and reflective manner.

Real-world relevance and ethical implications

The sensory deficits discussed are tied to public health, developmental psychology, and digital well-being, with implications for classroom design, teacher preparation, and curriculum development.
An ethical aim emerges: prepare teachers who can foster embodied, aesthetic experiences that contribute to healthy development and civic engagement in a digital age.
The article argues for a balanced integration of arts with science and pedagogy, to prepare teachers not merely to transfer knowledge but to guide students in becoming capable, reflective, and adaptive learners.

Examples and hypothetical scenarios

A Waldorf pre-service teacher may spend an entire term integrating sculpting clay with biology, using clay models to explore organ systems, thereby linking tactile, perceptual experience with scientific understanding and pedagogical anthropology.
A speaking-focused unit might involve students exploring a fairy tale through voice work, gesture, and micro-kinesics, emphasizing authentic expression over didactic performance, with attention to how speech shapes perception and engagement.

Summary takeaways

Waldorf teacher education foregrounds teaching as an art, with a deliberately broad, arts-rich curriculum that integrates sculpture, music, and speech into pedagogical training.
The arts are not merely supplementary; they are central to forming the teacher’s experiential and aesthetic sensibilities, which in turn shape classroom practice across subjects.
A holistic framework that combines aesthesis, sensory development, and integration with science and pedagogy is proposed to address contemporary educational challenges, particularly those arising from digital culture and AI.
Empirical research supports the transformative potential of arts-based courses in teacher education, though there is a call for broader theoretical and methodological approaches that emphasize long-term, biographical, and holistic outcomes.