Waldorf Education, sometimes called Steiner education, is a world-wide movement based on an educational philosophy first formulated by Austrian Rudolf Steiner in 1907 in his short book, The Education of the Child in the Light of Spiritual Science. The first school actually implementing this pedagogical approach was founded just after World War I. With a goal of educating the "whole child", Waldorf educators place a strong emphasis on balancing the child's natural stages of development with creativity and academic excellence. There is a strong emphasis on the arts, social skills and spiritual values.

Waldorf education is practised in Waldorf schools, homeschools, and special education environments. There are now over 900 Waldorf schools throughout the world including Europe, North & South America, Africa, Australasia and Japan.

The name comes from the Waldorf-Astoria Cigarette Company, in Stuttgart, Germany which was the first institution to host a Waldorf school.