A Study On The Education Of Traditional Festivals In Waldorf Kindergarten

The traditional festivals are important memorable days in the life of national customs, it oringinates from the sacrificial culture which our ancient express reverence to nature spirits and pray for the harmonious coexistence of human and nature. The traditional festivals contain extremely rich spiritual and cultural value, which are important curriculum resources for children education. However, with the social and culture’s changing, the ancient festival culture is facing predicament of marginalization, formalization and materialization. How to realize the inheritance and development of culture and recover the spiritual meaning of traditional festivals culture by the education of traditional festivals become a question which needs to be thought and explored seriously by the educational researchers. Based on the concept of Anthroposophy, the education idea of Waldorf kindergarten practices nutritional courses of festivals education which emphasizes the essence of festivals. Exploring the theories and practice of the courses of festivals education conscientiously in Waldorf kindergarten can provide positive reference for the exploitation and implement of the festivals courses in mainstream kindergartens.The study integrates the literature analysis, participant observation and interviews methods, and carries out relatively comprehensive exploration about essence and significance, object and content, design and implementation of the traditional festivals education in Waldorf kindergarten, and preliminary analyzes the enlightenment of traditional festivals education in Waldorf kindergarten. The main points of this study are as follows:Firstly, The practice of traditional festivals education in Waldorf kindergarten under the guidance of the Anthroposophy theory, which has a profound understanding of the relationship between human and the world. The traditional festivals are unique days when human keep harmony with nature and establish connection with the spiritual world. Holding the activity of traditional festivals education is benefit for leading children to experience the rhythm of nature, develop healthy rhythm of life, establish the feeling of reverence to nature and realize the inheritance of culture, meanwhile, it also has positive meaning to community construction.Secondly, the goal of traditional festivals education in Waldorf kindergarten mainly embodies as leading children to experience the relationship between human and nature through traditional festivals education activity. The education of traditional festivals promotes the inheritance of culture and realizes common development among children, teachers and parents by closely cooperation between teachers and parents; the content of traditional festivals education in Waldorf kindergarten has characteristics of native culture, and mainly practise the education of traditional festivals which closely link to the variation of seasons. The Chinese Waldorf kindergarten takes the Tomb-sweeping festival, Dragon boat festival, Mid-autumn festival and Winter solstice festival as main contents of traditional festivals.Thirdly, the design of traditional festivals education activity in Waldorf kindergarten mainly follows the principles of rhythmicity, experience, balance, imitation and exemplification. Based on the analysis and understanding of festival spiritual connotation by activity participants, the implementation of activity combines with children’s characteristics and kindergarten’s reality. The festivals celebration of mainly shows the spirit qualities of reverence, natural, harmonious and warm.Fourthly, the enlightenment of traditional festivals education in Waldorf kindergarten are as follows:we should pay attention to cultivating children’s heart of reverence in the education of traditional festivals, and leading children to treat the natural and spiritual world with heart of thanksgiving and awe; we should lay emphasis on grasping the spiritual essence of traditional festivals activities and regarding it as an important way which links the children, human and spiritual world together; we should lay stress on establishing the repetitive rhythm of the traditional festivals education, nourishing the children’s inner life; we should also pay attention to constructing cooperation community of traditional festivals education, and promoting the further implementation of educational activeties and the construction of community spiritual culture.