Essential Characteristics of/Guidelines for Waldorf Pedagogy
During its session of May 30, 2025, the Hague Circle - International Council for Steiner Waldorf Education (HC) adopted the document Essential Characteristics of/ Guidelines for Waldorf Pedagogy as a binding orientation for the global Waldorf school movement.
Even though the characteristics described here have general validity, individual schools can augment them, so they are aligned with their own specific cultural circumstances. The characteristics aim to emphasize and strengthen individual application, openness for development, the diversity of individual schools as well as providing unity in the Waldorf school movement. For early childhood and the preschool phase, the foundational principles adopted by the International Association for Steiner/Waldorf Early Childhood Education (IASWECE) apply.
→ Essential Characteristics of/Guidelines for Waldorf Pedagogy (pdf, 2025)
→ Document in French: here
Guidelines for Training Centres
On 14 March 2023, the Hague Circle, in collaboration with the Pedagogical Section, published guidelines for best practices in Waldorf teacher training.
The quality of educational practice in schools and kindergartens depends largely on the quality of the training of teachers and educators. In countries where there are Waldorf associations, it is their responsibility to formulate standards for the training of Waldorf teachers and to support the quality of training for this profession.
In countries where there are no associations, the clearly formulated guidelines «Conditions for developing good practice in Steiner Waldorf Teacher Education Programmes» can serve as an instrument for self-assessment. Likewise, the guidelines can be helpful for training centres wishing to be included in the Waldorf World List.
→ Conditions for developping good practice in Steiner Waldorf Teacher Education Programmes (pdf, 2023)
waldorf-international.org