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The results of a survey

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A periodically published magazine for Waldorf Language Teachers is welcomed and needed by the most teachers and they are ready to contribute with articles, interviews, pictures and other experiences to it. We have just started an indiegogo campaign:  https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/lingua-w#/

In February we have launched an internet survey among language teachers at Steiner-Waldorf schools in order to learn some facts about the situation of language teachers and to assess the perspective of a magazine being published for their professional needs. There have been all in all almost 400 teachers who have filled the survey. 294 filled it online and 100 teachers and students were interviewed live with the same questions at workshops and seminars.

I would like to present the details of the internet survey (the live survey contained nearly the same data.)

We think that the results are representative concerning the information we wanted to get from it. A precise evaluation of important facts as fluctuation or new teachers without any previous “Waldorf knowledge” should be the object of another survey, but certain clear conclusions can be drawn even from this one.

Among the 294 language teachers completing the survey there were 225 from Europe, 35 from the Americas (North, Middle and Latin America). And the rest from Africa, Asia and Oceania).

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(Graphic 1-2)The 4,1% of the persons who have filled the survey, though they are doing something else at the moment (being class teachers, working in the administration, or as language teacher trainers, being at home with their children etc.) used to be language teachers at a Steiner school as well.

The taught foreign languages as we can see are English (57,7%), German(20,8%) and French(15,4%). This could be representative for Europe as the majority of the data senders come from Europe. We suppose that in North-America Spanish could be the first or second frequently taught foreign language at Steiner schools.

graphic-3-4(Graphics 3-4) we can see that (16,7+7,6=24,3 %) of the teachers are new at schools. If this number applies for each year that means that a quarter of the language teachers are constantly fluctuating. Reducing this should be a very important aim of the schools.

(Graphic 5-6)  The next graphics give us a very optimistic perspective:

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All in all 91,8% would read a magazine for their professional needs, if one existed.

It also shows that an only online resource would exclude at least 19,7 % of teachers from reading the magazine.

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Graphic 7 shows us that most of the teachers are willing to contribute to the magazine in some way.

Well, these are the main results of the survey. You can have a look at other graphics as well.

graphic 8-9-10

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The main conclusion we can draw from the survey is that a periodically published magazine for Waldorf language Teachers is heartily welcomed and needed by the teachers and they are ready to contribute to that with their experiences, practices, and photos. Actually this is the way how the contents of the current issue is coming about.

We launch an indiegogo campaign to accelerate the birth of the magazine. Please contribute to it if you can with a small or generous sum, or share this link with a few warm hearted words in your community:

https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/lingua-w#/