Cyber Civics: Waldorf Schools are Media Literacy Role Models

Waldorf education emphasizes thoughtful, intentional, and developmentally appropriate technology use.

We advocate for a low-tech approach in early childhood and the elementary grades, followed by a curriculum in middle school that helps students understand tech as a tool, and engages them in conversations around digital ethics, privacy, media literacy, and a balanced use of social media and technology.

Our approach gives Cedarwood graduates the tools and knowledge they need to be independent, creative, and ethical digital citizens.

As Soni Albright, Admissions Director and Cyber Civics teacher at City of Lakes Waldorf School, shares:

People worldwide are asking themselves: “How do we control this Pandora’s Box after the pandemic? What can we do to help our kids help themselves in the digital landscape?”

All the while, Waldorf schools have been quietly holding this conversation with intentionality and patience: asking families to be thoughtful, mindful, discerning, and slow with media access for children. Not to deprive them, but rather to give children the gift of childhood — the endless opportunities that come with downtime, boredom, and unscheduled freedom. To favor face-to-face interactions over abstract experiences. To work on self-regulation, problem solving, physical movement, and social-emotional regulation.

By the time Waldorf students get to middle school, even though many aren’t using digital media at the same level as average kids their age, most are participating in weekly Cyber Civics lessons ranging from simple concepts such as what it means to be a citizen in any community and how to apply that to the digital world, to more advanced topics such as: privacy and personal information, identifying misinformation, reading visual images, recognizing stereotypes and media representations, and ethical thinking in future technologies.

Read more about how Waldorf schools are leading the way with media literacy here.

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Why Waldorf? At Cedarwood, each student’s imagination is continually nurtured by a team of teachers and a broad spectrum of experiential learning opportunities as they develop their capacity for growth, creativity, and critical thinking. The curriculum is comprehensive and designed to educate the whole child, with lessons in math, science, language arts, history, geography, music, eurythmy, handwork, movement, and not one but two world languages, Spanish and Japanese. Art is not taught separately in our elementary program, but rather imbues students’ understanding of every single subject they encounter.

Curious about a Waldorf education for your child? Let’s connect!