Decolonising the curriculum.

A recent blog by the race equality think tank, Runnymede Trust, about how to decolonise the curriculum in traditional state/independent schools, focused on the fact that teachers were “important agents for change” https://www.runnymedetrust.org/blog/decolonising-the-curriculum-the-importance-of-teacher-training-and-development.

Teachers are even more important in Steiner Waldorf schools where they are empowered to shape the delivery of the curriculum to meet the individual needs of the children in a particular class.

Our annual Teachers Conference this Easter focused on issues of diversity and inclusion in relation to race, sexual orientation and neuro-diversity. Presentations by a range of UK and international contributors examined the biases and assumptions that underpin current thinking. The conference helped raise awareness, understanding and knowledge about issues or racism and discrimination and stimulated debate about how to create a non-euro-centric curriculum. There were workshops from teachers already working to de-colonise the curriculum in their classrooms and huge enthusiasm for a collective re-working that would re-fresh the SW approach and meet the needs of children for generations to come.

SWSF’s Kath Bransby is currently working with Waldorf academic, Dr Martin Rawson developing a new approach to defining and understanding the Steiner Waldorf curriculum which will enable teachers to deconstruct the euro-centric curriculum and create a much more inclusive and individualised approach. It is to be launched in the Autumn. More news to come.

See the first stage A Framework for Curriculum Practice https://www.steinerwaldorf.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/1.Waldorf-Education-for-the-Future-A-Framework-for-Curriculum-Practice.pdf.