Steiner education is a reform-pedagogical movement with a history of more than a century, continuously spreading worldwide. In Waldorf pedagogy, the arts, among them musical education, play a central role in fostering students’ connection with the surrounding world and the whole cosmos, as well as in the development of willpower, personality, and emotional skills. Based on the limited number of empirical studies available, the musical education practiced in Steiner schools can be positively evaluated, especially in relation to the flow experience reported by students and the special pedagogical approach of music teachers. Music education in Waldorf schools is primarily experience-oriented rather than directed toward the professional training of musicians. However, since the communal experience of music plays an essential role in school life, developing the skills necessary for choral (polyphonic) singing and playing an instrument in an orchestra setting are also emphasized. Musical activities in Waldorf schools are often integrated into various subjects and thematic areas, thus becoming an organic part of students’ everyday life. The stages of children’s development are also symbolically reflected in the schools’ approach to music education (“fifth, therd and octave moods”) and in the corresponding curriculum. Steiner education draws attention to the connection between movement, language, rhythm and music, which is most prominently embodied in the subject of eurythmy, but is also manifested daily in the rhythmic part of the main lesson.
Keywords: Steiner education, Waldorf, music education, flow experience, stages of development, curriculum