Computers in Waldorf Education, by Dick Oliver
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I teach computers in a Waldorf High School – and I would say that most Waldorf elementary schools DO in fact “teach computers†as well.
Many of my students come from non-Waldorf elementary schools, some of which have a lot of technology in the classroom. And I get many other students from Waldorf elementary schools in several states and countries (ours is a boarding school with many foreign exchange students).
It has been my experience that the Waldorf-educated students are MUCH more versed in the foundations of Information Technology that those who come from other schools. They already understand that counting and rhythm and music and number and pattern are all essentially the same subject of study, and immediately grasp what we mean by “informationâ€. They have usually built a wide variety of technological crafts with their own hands, and more easily master the design and assembly of Information Technology devices. They are deeply versed in communication, and naturally approach Information Technology as a medium of communication and creativity instead of becoming hypnotized by the “virtual reality drug†aspect of software and “toys for boys†aspect of the hardware itself.
Interestingly enough, I have come to believe that one subject in the Waldorf elementary school curriculum actually prepares students the most directly for working in a high-tech world. That subject is handwork, especially knitting. I wish you could come to one of my classes this week and see the sophomores “weaving†wires of integrated circuit chips – it would be obvious how this work is a direct continuation of what the fingers learned earlier, only with the intellect now coming fully awake in the activity.
What differentiates Waldorf schools from other public and private schools isn’t a de-emphasis on communication technology, but exactly the opposite! From kindergarten through high school, the curriculum strongly EMPHASIZES both human communication and hands-on technology use. By the time they get to me, most Waldorf students know far more, far more deeply, about communication, technology, and the relationship between them than their peers whose elementary school classrooms were packed with expensive high-tech hardware.
What we don’t do – even in my high school classes – is “worship the screen†during a lot of the classroom time. Even in our state-of the-art Digital Arts Studio full of big monitors and scanners and computerized cameras and audio effects boards, we start every class in the center table, facing each other instead of the machines. The focus of the lessons is on purposeful communication and artistic work, not on the tools we use to do that work. Waldorf elementary schools very wisely take the same approach, focusing on the skills and experiences that make communications technology worth using in the first place and building a solid understanding of human tolls one step at a time. As far as I’m concerned, that’s the best possible preparation for the final steps that students take with me in the advanced mathematical logic, information technology, and digital arts classes.
The connection of music and computing
As a Waldorf graduate who has spent the last sixteen years working in the software industry, I agree that a Waldorf education can prepare students for work in a 'high technology' field. I agree with this article and would like to add another piece from my own experience. I've found that music and computer programming are very related in how they exercise the mind.
Internally computers are based on 1s and 0s - a numbering scheme called binary. When working in software development for any length of time you become very familiar with the 'native numbering' system of the computer and the numerical sequence that evolves from a binary numbering system - 1, 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, 64, 128, 256, 512, 1024, 2048, 4096 and so on. I could also write this as whole note, half note, quarter note, eighth note, sixteenth note, thirty-second note and "other notes that are too fast for me to play". Music notation and computer programming share this common representational base. But I see it as going much further.
At many times a software engineer needs to run the software they are writing in their head to see how it will work and how the various pieces interact, especially in systems where there are multiple concurrent threads of execution. This is the computer science way of saying that many things happen at once. I personally see this same challenge in music. You read from the sheet, listen to the rest of the orchestra/band, watch the conductor, calculate note durations, count a steady beat, mind the key signature, beat out the rests, watch for time signature changes and above all that work your fingers, arms, legs, feet, breath and body to play your instrument.
When I first began to consider the common aspects of software engineering and music I doubted myself - on the surface they seem to be very different endeavors with one rooted in science and the other in art. Over the years working as and with software developers I've become convinced there is a strong connection. Over a decade ago I stopped asking interview candidates if they play an instrument and started asking them what instrument they play. While some may admit they no longer play, it is very rare that a candidate for a programming job does not or has not played an instrument.