How do professionals and parents assess the educational quality in Waldorf kindergartens and nurseries?
30.03.2023 - Philipp Gelitz’s dissertation provides answers to these questions! In his doctoral thesis, he examines how parents and educators perceive and describe everyday life in Waldorf kindergartens—with surprising results. Gelitz has successfully completed the doctorate funded by the Graduate School of Waldorf Education at Alanus University.
Philipp Gelitz’s dissertation provides answers to these questions! In his doctoral thesis, he examines how parents and educators perceive and describe everyday life in Waldorf kindergartens—with surprising results. Gelitz has successfully completed the doctorate funded by the Graduate School of Waldorf Education at Alanus University.
As a scholarship holder at the Graduate School of Waldorf Education, Philipp Gelitz completed his doctorate at the University of Passau on the topic of educational quality in Waldorf institutions. In his dissertation published by Springer VS, titled “Educational Quality in Waldorf Kindergartens and Waldorf Nurseries. A Qualitative Empirical Study of Specific Quality Characteristics from the Perspective of the Adults Involved.” Gelitz surveys professionals and parents from numerous institutions. The interviews conducted made it clear, for example, that community building is attributed special educational significance, while the structuring of time and the daily rhythm play a special role in everyday educational practice. Contrary to expectations, very little was said about the anthroposophical view of the human being. Instead, professionals and parents emphasize free play and learning through imitation.
For his doctoral thesis, he developed an exploratory, field-opening research design against the background of educational science discourses on educational quality and the particular features of Waldorf educational theory. For the first time on this scale, the assumptions, attitudes, goals, and educational priorities of practitioner experts in Waldorf daycare centers were empirically researched. “There is a large number of publications presenting the intentions of Waldorf education, and there is already a considerable number of empirical studies for the school sector. However, the early childhood sector has so far been far too little researched,” says Philipp Gelitz, who a year ago moved from practical work at the Waldorf kindergarten in Kassel to university teaching at Alanus University in Alfter near Bonn.
The dissertation presented actively strengthens the bridge between educational science and Waldorf education because it examines the findings as well as individual Waldorf terms mentioned with regard to their relevance within the academic context. “The results now provide a good foundation for further research,” Gelitz concludes.
Jost Schieren, Professor of School Education with a focus on Waldorf education at Alanus University and head of the Graduate School of Waldorf Education, emphasizes: “The Graduate School of Waldorf Education at Alanus University supports dissertations that build bridges between Waldorf education and general education. Philip Gelitz’s research provides an excellent basis for dialogue in early childhood education.”
The Graduate School of Waldorf Education at Alanus University was founded in 2015 and supports doctoral projects that scientifically investigate educational practice at Waldorf schools in particular. The Graduate School is funded by the Software AG – Foundation, the Educational Research Unit at the Federation of Free Waldorf Schools, and Stockmar.
Read more on our website about the expert interviews and the study: https://www.alanus.edu/de/aktuelles/aus-der-hochschule/detail/interview-mit-dr-philipp-gelitz
