The epistemological background of Waldorf pedagogy and the point of view of Waldorf schools concerning electronic communicational technology

Abstract

Various theories and empirical studies dealing with the didactics of the institutional and non-institutional use of media, with its effects on personal development and on academic performance. The majority of these theoretical and empirical research studies highlight positive effects in this respect, whereas some find negative ones (Fallahi, 2011; Livingstone, 2012; Pszichológiai Szemle 2016, 71/1; Zsolnai, 2017; Biró, 2017; Dávila, Casabayó, & Rayburn, 2018; Lorenzo & Trujillo, 2018; Iskolakultúra 2019, 29/4-5; Faragó, 2019). While in mainstream education, we can see a great deal of effort going into incorporating the use of modern technology in the classroom, some institutions limit or even refuse using it. In this study, we are aiming at investigating the possible reasons for the critical attitude (https://bit.ly/2X5XlpW; Péter, 2015) towards ICT tools and media exposure in general in Waldorf schools and in Waldorf pedagogy. Examining the epistemological background of Waldorf schools and their presence in Hungary will provide us with support in the subject.