This reader is published as a collaboration between the German Waldorf School Association and “Aktion mündige Schule” (AmS). AmS campaigns for freedom in education and in 1995 initiated the first popular initiative “Schools in freedom” (www.freie-schule.de); it subsequently supported the initiatives of the same name in Berlin and Brandenburg.

Freedom has an outer and an inner side. The former creates the prerequisites, the latter the substance. They both have in common that they do not simply just exist but keep having to be re-conquered Media competency is one of the issues of freedom in our time.

Waldorf education very deliberately makes use of the opportunities offered by the different periods of life and developmental phases which young people pass through in the course of growing up. Accordingly the curriculum is an artistic synthesis which is constantly developing; but at the same time it also watches out to discover new skills and strengths which each pupil can acquire in the course of their schooling by various means. It is the purpose of this publication to show that Waldorf education can contribute crucial perspectives for the development of a development oriented media education.

What does that mean for daily teaching practice? What is the relationship between the new challenges and proven Waldorf traditions? From what age should we deal specifically and consciously with electronic media? How can they be used meaningfully and creatively in lessons? What skills are important in the use of media and when is the basis for them laid?

The present brochure is intended particularly for pre-school teachers and teachers, but it can also be understood by interested parents and pupils because it largely avoids the use of specialist terminology. It goes without saying that this outline is a work in progress which has to keep developing. Above all, it wishes to give encouragement to the pre-school teachers and teachers who are actively seeking to grapple with one of the great educational challenges of our time.