ABSTRACT
This chapter presents the discussion of Rudolf Steiner's developmental psychology in educational science circles since the 1980s, outlining the basic structure of argumentation, as presented by various contributions. This review brings up the issue of the context, within which emerged Steiner's understanding of child development and its anthropological foundations. The chapter identifies issues resulting from the line of arguments here presented, which will need further exploration in scientific research on Waldorf education. In the 1980s, the Waldorf school movement experienced progressive expansion that brought with it a new phase of critical discussions within educational science pertaining to Waldorf education. At the beginning of the 1990s, Ernst Michael Kranich, lecturer at the Seminar for Waldorf Education in Stuttgart and Lorenzo Ravagli published a book that they considered to be “an analysis of scientific critique”. In this publication, Kranich discusses Prange's book Education in Anthroposophy and proves how he distorted and truncated Steiner's ideas in his portrayal.
