Rudolf Steiner is one of the most controversially judged educational reformers of the twentieth century. Although he received little recognition within his field, his educational thought has had a sustained and profound influence, not only in the development of the Waldorf Schools, but also in healing, socially therapeutic work, psychosomatic medicine, biological-dynamic agriculture, corporate organisation, fine arts, and architecture.

Heiner Ullrich paints a concise and well-grounded portrait of the creator of the anthroposophic doctrine and Waldorf pedagogy. The text describes a wide arc from the intellectual biography of Rudolf Steiner, across his basic ideas on human development and education, to include discussion of the organisation, curriculum, methods and success of the Waldorf Schools.

Heiner Ullrich is Professor of Educational Science at Johannes Gutenberg University, Mainz, Germany. He has written on Waldorf pedagogy, on concepts of childhood today and in the past and contributed to anthologies and qualitative empirical studies on secondary schools and private schools in Germany and in the German-speaking world. He is a member of the School Research section of the German Society of Educational Science.