"Our highest endeavour must be to develop free human beings, who are able to impart purpose and direction to their lives." Rudolf Steiner.

The philosopher and educator Rudolph Steiner founded the first Steiner School in 1919 in Stuttgart, Germany. This first school was for the children of the workers of the Waldorf Astoria Cigarette Factory - hence the name Waldorf education is also used. There are now approximately 800 Steiner schools worldwide. An awareness of the human being as a three-fold entity in whom willing, feeling and thinking unfold in a developmental sequence is one of Rudolf Steiner's fundamental insights.

The curriculum, teaching methods and materials take account of these stages of development. The curriculum focuses on training the will through imitation for the first seven years; orientating the feeling through love of authority in the 7 to 14 year olds and awakening the powers of independent judgement and thinking by developing a love for truth in the 14 to 19 year olds..

The teacher, also on a path of self-education and inward striving, stands there as a help to the child in overcoming the hindrances we all encounter in our self-development. The education fosters an interest in and awareness of the world around them, helping the individual to be able to experience life in a coherent and meaningful way. Thus young adults can share in the world's problems and have the enthusiasm and will to do all in their power to set them right.