The Waldorf kindergarten Seminar in Moscow began in 1991. Since then, 231 Waldorf kindergarten teachers have trained there. The education takes place in so-called blocks, where the students come together three times a year for about three weeks in Moscow. In addition to the kindergarten training, the seminar also offers courses in further education for its graduates and introductory courses for those interested in Waldorf education.
 
Today there are about 45 Waldorf kindergartens in Russia that have been started by students trained in our seminar. They are in the following cities: Irkutzk, Ivanovo,  Jaroslawl, Kaluga, Kasan, Kirow,  Krasnojarsk, Moskau, Nabereschnej Tschelnej, Nischnej Nowgord, Orsk, Rjasan, Smolensk, Samara, Tomsk, Tscherboksara, Uchta, Wladimir, Woronesch.

Each of these kindergartens exists through the great commitment and engagement of its  kindergarten teachers and parents. Many are Waldorf kindergarten groups in governmental kindergartens, which means that they work with governmental financial support. In addition to these individual Waldorf groups in large government-run kindergartens, there are also entire government-suppported kindergartens that are Waldorf kindergartens. This is how it is for about 80% of our kindergartens. The other 20% are private kindergartens.

To be a government-supported kindergarten is of course positive on the one hand, but on the other hand it also brings a lot of problems. When a kindergarten is to be founded, the understanding and support of the authorities is needed, in addition to the engagement of parents and teachers. Because of this, it is essential to improve the understanding of Waldorf education by the authorities.

Many steps have already been taken in this direction. In the year 2000, we developed a co-operation between the Waldorf Kindergarten Training Seminar in Moscow and the “Russian Academy of Further Education and Retraining of Educationalists and Civil Servants in the Educational System”. In the spring of 2001, our Waldorf kindergarten “curriculum” was reviewed and recognized by the Russian Ministry of Education.

So one could say that Waldorf education has settled down in Russia and contributes to the change of society, through its educational approach and also by educating freer and politically more mature citizens. During the early years one could notice a great openness to new ideas in educational theory; nowadays however the development is more conservative. We very much hope that our kindergartens can be convincing through their special qualities.

The role of the kindergarten seminar, however, is changing fundamentally:  we now need to protect what we have created. We need to further develop quality and to bring strength and courage into the work through our work together.  One can also experience that it is very important for the kindergarten teachers, being in this insecure outer situation, to have found a purpose and a task. In their encounter with anthroposophy many have found something that they have been looking for their entire lives.

Regina Hoeck

Project leaders: Svetlana, Efremova, Moscow, sdef@mail.ru and Regina Hoeck, Advisor and IASWECE Council Member from Germany, regina.hoeck@arcor.de