Education for freedom for all? The relevance of contemporary theory to Steiner education

Abstract

This article considers three current approaches to education for social justice: culturally responsive pedagogy, critical pedagogy and decolonisation. It is informed by the work of Gloria Ladson-Billings, Paulo Freire, Henry Giroux and Linda Tuhiwai Smith among others. It questions the degree to which Steiner education engages with and is informed by contemporary theoretical approaches. It asks in what ways Steiner education can benefit from these discourses and build on them in order to create anti-oppressive, decolonising approaches to Steiner education. It identifies areas of work which may more fruitfully be taken up by other authors, individual teachers and schools, nationally and internationally.