De invloed van cultuur op de creativiteit

In opdracht van de Europese Commissie heeft KEA (een Brussels consultancy bureau) onderzoek gedaan naar de bijdrage van cultuur en kunst op de economische en sociale ontwikkeling.
Een belangrijk aspect in deze studie was aan te geven op welke wijzen de creativiteit kan worden gestimuleerd en anderzijds identificeren wat de creativiteit dood. Hiertoe waren ze geïnteresseerd in de beoordeling van onderwijssystemen en in het bijzonder de bijdrage van scholen en opvoeding in het stimuleren van de creativiteit.

In het rapport dat in juni 2009 is verschenen wordt de vrijeschool (Steiner-Waldorf education) in positieve zin ook genoemd.
Het rapport stelt: "The Waldorf school is seen to exert a favourable influence on the development of the personality (e.g. personal sense of worth, self-assurance, creativity, flexibility) and of social competency (e.g. empathic faculties, consideration, ability to cooperate) as well as the development of the ability to form one’s own opinion and become self reliant." (onderstaand het gehele gedeelte, zie blz. 103 van het rapport).

Steiner-Waldorf education
The Steiner-Waldorf education is a pedagogical method based on Rudolf Steiner’s educational philosophy. The first Waldorf School opened in 1919. It is nowadays one of the largest independent educational systems in the world with about 1000 schools and 1400 kindergartens. A main characteristic of Waldorf schools is the interdisciplinary nature of the learning process which integrates practical, conceptual and artistic elements in each lesson. Imagination plays a central role. Waldorf education systems aim at developing thinking that is both creative and analytical. One of Waldorf education’s central principles is that schools should be selfgoverning and that a high degree of creative autonomy should be left to teachers.

The UK Department for Education and Skills, which conducted a report on the differences in curriculum and pedagogical approach between Steiner-Waldorf and mainstream schools, recommended that schools in
the state sector would benefit from some Waldorf strategies, especially with regard to the Waldorf approach to art and creativity. A 2008 report by the Cambridge-based Primary Review found that Steiner-Waldorf schools achieved superior academic results to English state schools. An international study was conducted to determine if there was a significant difference between the creative thinking ability of Waldorf students and state school students in England, Scotland, and Germany. The sample consisted of 1,165 third through sixth grade children. The findings obtained from administration of the Torrance Test of Creative Thinking Ability, suggested that Waldorf students were more creative than their state school peers.

Two additional surveys complete the picture of the impact of creative learning. In the US, a survey shows that Waldorf alumni are three times as likely as the general U.S. college population to have studied arts and humanities. Also, up to twice as many go on to study science in college, including both life sciences and physical sciences. Their primary characteristics are the integrative quality of their thinking and their creative and imaginative capacities. Another survey was conducted amongst former Waldorf students (in theage brackets 30-66 years old in Germany and Switzerland ). It shows that there is a significantly higher
number of teachers, engineers, medical doctors/pharmacists, and artists among the former Waldorf students (in comparison with the general population statistics). Sophistication of culture and creative aspects of life play a more significant role for Waldorf alumni than for the general population. The Waldorf school is seen to exert a favorable influence on the development of the personality (e.g. personal sense of worth, selfassurance, creativity, flexibility) and of social competency (e.g. empathic faculties, consideration, ability to cooperate) as well as the development of the ability to form one’s own opinion and become self reliant.