Introduction

This chapter details professional educators in the context of Waldorf education and the theoretical pedagogical practices aligned with the Waldorf method. Walter Riethmüller, in the first article, asks how the grades teacher principle envisaged by Rudolf Steiner can be justified under today's very different social conditions, including aspects such as the earlier onset of adolescence and expectations of professional competence. In the second article, Jürgen Peters uses Dirk Randoll's empirical study Ich bin Waldorflehrer (I am a Waldorf teacher) to explore the link between teacher competence and professional success. Finally, Albert Schmelzer uses the relevance of the teacher's personality and the teacher-student relationship for learning success as a basis for examining the development of personal competences from the point of view of anthroposophy and Waldorf education.