ABSTRACT
This chapter delves into the rapid expansion of Steiner (Waldorf) education in China and its potential to address the challenges facing mainstream education and modern Chinese society. Drawing on a ten-month ethnographic work at two Waldorf schools in China, the author uses interviews and participant observations to explore parental school choices, experiences with Waldorf education, and the relationship between Waldorf education principles and traditional Chinese values. The chapter contextualises Waldorf education within the wider Chinese educational, social, and cultural contexts and highlights the flexibility of interpretation in Waldorf schools in China. Additionally, the chapter scrutinises the reputation and discussion of Waldorf education in public and academia. The author argues that Waldorf education’s emphasis on the organic unfolding of an individual’s spirit resonates with Taoist thinking and offers a pathway for Chinese people to reconnect with their traditional ways of being that have been lost in the process of modernisation.
