State Recognition for Steiner School in Ireland
By Pearse O Shiel
Cooleenbridge School (as it was then called) was founded in November 1986 and the first application to the Department of Education and Science for recognition was made in 1990. On 5th. February this year the Minister for Education has granted recognition to Raheen Wood School (as it is now) which, from September 2008, will be called Raheen Wood Steiner National School. The second Steiner School in Co.Clare, Mol an Óige School, was granted recognition at the same time. The two schools have worked closely together, sharing expertise and experience to reach this point where the two schools now form part of the 'recognised' sector thus providing a choice to parents in Co.Clare on a basis of equality with all other National Schools.
In Ireland it is schools that are recognised not educational approaches and the two key criteria for recognition are the qualification/recognition of teachers and the Primary School Curriculum. In 1997 the High Court determined that it was reasonable for the state to expect that teachers in a Steiner school should be qualified at the same level as teachers in other recognised school i.e. Bachelor of Education (Honours) degree and we have undertaken to employ such teachers in the recognised schools. The Primary School Curriculum was fully revised in 1998 and is written as a series of general and specific aims none of which present any difficulty for a Steiner school. The bulk of the document is a presentation of how the curriculum could be delivered and both schools and teachers are encouraged throughout to adopt a flexible and creative approach.
We informed the Department that we would be adopting a 'Steiner Approach' to the curriculum and described six key characteristics of this approach. Most of these characteristics are aspired to in the Department's own curriculum. We deal with the aspiration for the 'Integration of Curricular Material' by describing the Main Lesson and we have long experience of how to respond to the wish for less reliance less on text books by using Main Lesson books. Other characteristics of the 'Steiner Approach' such as the close relationship between school and home and the emphasis on oracy in the early years are aspects of good practice acknowledged in the curriculum. There will be points of tension such as the expectation of the use of information technology throughout the school and the requirement for a school principal but each school can develop its own policies in these areas with the backing of parents and each will present a creative and innovative response to the authorities. We are aware that compromises will be made in dealing directly with the State but no more, perhaps, than we have been making over the years in schools that have become inaccessible to parents on moderate incomes.