This paper undertakes what might be described as an exploratory consideration of Steiner Waldorf education to see what light such an examination might throw upon and contribute to policy debates on spiritual education1. The paper seeks, through this, to further dialogue between Steiner Waldorf education and the ‘mainstream’ approaches to schooling represented in the UK state system, and considers possible research directions and policy strategies. 1 This article is revised version of a paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association in Chicago, March 1997.