Slaps (Waldorf Watch)

SLAPS

Who’s in Charge?

Rudolf Steiner stated that Waldorf school teachers must be authority figures whom students unhesitatingly obey. It is for the children’s own good: “People [i.e., students] will have inner strength when we [i.e., Waldorf teachers] ... tell the children to do this and that today and tomorrow and the next day. They will do it out of respect for authority, because they know that in school someone must command.” [1] Do this and do that. Today, tomorrow, and the next day. Authority. Command. Such language seems more suited to an Army boot camp than a civilian school: e.g., “Soldiers will have inner strength when we sergeants tell the dog-faces to do this and that today and tomorrow and the next day. They will do it out of respect for authority, because they know that in the Army someone must command.”

But let it go.

The following quotations contain softer terms to convey Steiner’s views on faculty authority: “The situation is that we need to create a mood, namely, that the teacher has something to say that the children should neither judge nor discuss ... An actual discussion lowers the content ... That is something I mentioned before in connection with ‘discussion meetings.’ They need to be avoided.” [2] The teacher is the font of unquestioned wisdom. Students have nothing to add: There should be no discussion.

The teacher speaks (often by parroting or rephrasing Steiner), and the students drink it in. “The teacher must remain as calm as possible [when students are disobedient or disrespectful] and adopt an objective attitude. This does not mean lessening the teacher’s own authority. The teacher could certainly be the one to say, ‘Without your teachers you would learn nothing and remain stupid.’” [3]

Steiner also explained that Waldorf teachers should use their authority to lay out objective truth — in other words, Anthroposophical doctrines — even if the teachers need to dance around the issue a bit: “You need to make the children aware that they are receiving the objective truth, and if this occasionally appears anthroposophical, it is not anthroposophy that is at fault. Things are that way because anthroposophy has something to say about objective truth ... Anthroposophy will be in the school when it is objectively justified, that is, when it is called for by the material itself.” [4] For Steiner and his devotees, Anthroposophy is objective truth. Thus, Steiner affirmed that Anthroposophy will pervade virtually every subject in the Waldorf curriculum, albeit it quietly, indirectly. The consequence is that Waldorf students are indoctrinated in Anthroposophy without being allowed to discuss or question what they are taught. [5]

Faculty authority, of course, involves maintaining discipline. Steiner claimed to oppose corporal punishment, both because it does nothing to improve discipline, and — perhaps more tellingly — because it gives the school a bad reputation. Note that in the following quotation, Steiner refers to maintaining discipline only as a secondary objective, something that will “also” occur “if” the “ideal” of nonviolence in the classroom can be achieved: “There may be teachers in the Waldorf School who slap the children, and so forth ... I have heard it said that the Waldorf teachers hit children, and we have discussed that often. The fact is, you cannot improve discipline by hitting the children ... Perhaps no one [i.e., the teachers] wants to say anything about this, but my question is whether that is simply a story that has been spread like so many other lies, or have children, in fact, been slapped in the Waldorf School? If that has occurred, it could ruin a great deal. We must hold the ideal of working without doing that [i.e., hitting children]; discipline will also be better if we can avoid it.” [6]

“IF we can avoid it.” Steiner left a door open, there. And from time to time, he advised Waldorf teachers to go through that door: “Under certain circumstances it may be necessary to spank a child ... I have to admit that there are rowdies ....” [7] So, if Steiner did not give gave Waldorf teachers a green light to use corporal punishment frequently, he at least gave them a yellow: Hit the kids if it is really necessary. [8]

Bizarrely, Steiner also said: “If you give them [i.e., students] a slap, you should do it the way Dr. Schubert [one of the Waldorf teachers] does ... There are physical slaps and astral [i.e., spiritual] slaps. It doesn’t matter which one you give, but you cannot slap a child sentimentally.” [9] Steiner generally opposed the slapping of students, as we’ve seen. But here he left another door open. If he wanted to prevent teachers from hitting children, he had an easy option: He could have issued the command, Do not hit children in any way at any time. But he chose, instead, to accept the possibility of spiritual and physical assaults on the kids.

Finally, it is worth noting that Steiner occasionally prescribed additional forms of physical punishment: “In cases of kleptomania, it is also good to punish children by having them sit for a quarter of an hour and hold their feet or toes with their hands.” [10] In cases of tardiness, “[W]hen there is some punishment ... you can be particularly effective if you allow [sic] them [students] to stand in some uncomfortable place ... We could also buy a number of little sheds [to put students in for punishment] ... They may even get cramps in their legs. We could have the sheds built in the shop class.” [11]

That’ll teach ‘em.

— Roger Rawlings

[R.R., ~ 2005.]

Waldorf schools are, I believe, generally peaceful, pleasant places. The atmosphere may be warm and welcoming. Some of this arises from unspoken spiritualism — the hazy glow given off by devout Anthroposophists who feel that they possess holy secrets. Parents who do not realize that Waldorf schools often have a secret religious agenda need to be on their toes. Still, there is no denying that a pleasing ambiance can often be found in the schools.

Sometimes, however, things go very wrong at Waldorfs. Here are some startling personal stories, posted early in 2009 at the waldorf-critics discussion group ( http://groups.yahoo.com/group/waldorf-critics/messages?o=1 ). The topics range from the abuse students have undergone at various Waldorf schools to the deceptive recruitment practices used by some of the schools. I have done a little light editing to tighten the narratives and eliminate typos. You can read the entire texts at waldorf-critics.

Be cautious about accepting messages like the following.

I substantiate my own work with careful documentation.

The following messages, more informal, are largely undocumented.

Still, they seem sincere, and they may be worth considering.

◊ From message 9010 ( http://groups.yahoo.com/group/waldorf-critics/messages/9010 ); a mother tells of withdrawing her son from a Waldorf school and schooling him at home instead — she says her son was traumatized by Waldorf. I do not advocate home schooling, but it may be an option for Waldorf parents to consider:

Home school is actually working out quite well for him, he's reading fluently now, and is well above his age for reading, math, etc. He is enjoying learning. We are so pleased with him.

We are very worried about how his time at the Steiner school is still affecting him, though. He left in May last year, and he still has nightmares. He will wake up very afraid at least 2 - 3 times a week, and while half-asleep will beg us not to send him back to Steiner school in the morning. He still talks about it almost every day, mentioning stupid, stupid things that the so-called teachers filled his head with. It still makes me so angry that he couldn't tell us the ridiculous things they were saying to him while he was there, as the teachers were belittling our role as his parents and telling him what they said was the real 'truth.' [Steiner said that Waldorf teachers should supplant parents, as much as possible, as guides for the children. See my essay “Basement”.] It’s still very much at the forefront of his mind, and for a six-year-old to remember those things in such detail almost a year on is worrying. We decided against sending him to school, as 1) the Steiner experience made him very clingy to us, and 2) they put such a block in his head about not being ready to read, etc., that we have had to work very hard to overcome that. It’s taken a lot of patience that I don't think many schools would have had time for. He's also very angry about schools in general now. The utter hatred he has for his former teachers is astounding at times, but I have been told it’s good that he's not internalizing things and taking it out on himself.

I am coping better, but I am still not 100%. To be honest, every time he mentions that place, all the guilt comes flooding back to me, as it was me that did all this to him by sending him there. Especially when he has nightmares about those stupid gnomes. [Many Waldorf schools have gnome statuettes in the classrooms. The gnomes are supposed to represent “nature spirits” and watch the children. According to Steiner, gnomes are at least slightly hostile to human beings.] Actually, the gnome thing is better now. One of my friends is a child psychologist, and I spoke to her about his obsession with gnomes and how he hated them and mentioned them the whole time. She came up with the idea of buying a garden gnome and letting him smash it with a spade while shouting out all the things that made him sad and angry about Steiner school. Sounds unorthodox, but it helped a lot! I must admit, I smashed up one as well, very satisfying!

Still, we are getting there. I am over all the lies and the backstabbing. I can cope with that, I just can't cope with what they did to my son. We never got a conclusion. We complained and complained, but the teacher denied ever saying he was brain-damaged or all the other crap she said to us and him. They all stuck together at the end of the day.

Like I said, he's doing well now. He's learning with me, and we also have a tutor twice a week, and elderly lady who is just so lovely with him and he adores her. We wanted him to see that not all teachers were the enemy.

I just want someway to get the truth out. It infuriates me that so many people are hoodwinked by those schools. I have no problem with people wanting to send their children to Steiner schools if they know the whole truth, but there are so many people who are duped into sending their kids there, as I was. The trouble for Steiner education is, though, that if they did tell the whole truth, the number of children signing up for the schools would be cut dramatically, as most parents would think they were barking mad!

[I will skip ahead here]

The letters we received to our complaints make good reading... One just fobbing us off, and another slamming into us and our child horribly, and denying any wrongdoing. Also a letter threatening expulsion for bullying the day after we removed him from the school because of a bully who had scratched ******** so hard he left scars on his face. The bully was a problem for many other kids, but nothing was done....

◊ From message 9051 ( http://groups.yahoo.com/group/waldorf-critics/messages/9051 ); a father tells of his disillusionment with Waldorf:

I think it is very important to at least try to understand what some children go through in Waldorf/Steiner schools — especially those where Anthroposophic extremism is the norm. There are the obvious questions around "is Anthroposophic education good for children?" And then there are other issues: I've known more than a few children who were hit, screamed and sworn at by Waldorf teachers — with virtually NO repercussions, other than pathetic suggestions that those who raise concerns do not understand karma. [Steiner taught that the things that happen to us in this life often come from our karma, which we created for ourselves in our previous lives — Steiner’s doctrines include reincarnation.] Fact is there were no other available teachers, so the wild ones stayed, believing (and being supported by peers) they were destined to be with the children in their class. That what Steiner says.

◊ From message 9085 ( http://groups.yahoo.com/group/waldorf-critics/messages/9085 ); a mother tells of being deceived when choosing a Waldorf school, and she goes on to describe violence and racism in the school:

[W]e had meetings, went to "promotional" days, read the prospectus, asked for reading material about the education, and asked questions. Never once was Anthroposophy mentioned. We had limited access to the Internet then, too, and one expects school administrators and teachers, particularly such so-called gentle, caring child-centered ones as we thought they were, to be honest. We were deceived.

It's true, too, that we were attracted to the school for what it wasn't in many ways; this was also how it "sold" itself — the lack of tests, beautiful buildings and surroundings, wonderful food, so called creativity, music.

To belittle the experiences of families who have been through these schools and seen the worst of Anthroposophy in action would be a grave mistake. Where our children went, not only was there unnecessary physical force from teachers (apparently quite violent), and bullying amongst the children. There were occasions when dark children with some non-European roots (including ours) were singled out; questioning this brought rage from the teachers; I constantly question the motives for this now; at the time, we hadn't read enough Steiner.

Moving them [from the school] was traumatic. But the relief on our children's faces was palpable. Guilt, too, plays a huge part; if a parent can't shield their children from harm, but actually throws them into the arms of the perpetrators, it's not unnatural to react.

◊ From message 9095 ( http://groups.yahoo.com/group/waldorf-critics/messages/9095 ); a mother focuses on gnomes and the anger festering in a Waldorf school:

Anthroposophy has a very screwed-up psychology, full of beliefs that are not conducive to mental health, such as (one of my favorites), "Thoughts are living reality," which leads a person to try to repress bad thoughts or bad emotions rather than accept and deal with them. Instead you're encouraged to project anxieties and fears and anger on spirit entities (e.g., gnomes). This stuff is also inflicted on the children, and it is particularly explosive with children, makes them extremely angry and uncooperative. So you have situations building in the classroom every day where lots of people are getting angrier and angrier, both teachers and students, and have no healthy outlets for it, particularly because with children, you can't talk about anything directly.

I could write a book on this . . . We had a lot of teachers walking around who were anger time bombs, and the occasional explosions were truly memorable.

◊ From message 9104 ( http://groups.yahoo.com/group/waldorf-critics/messages/9104 ); a former student gives a firsthand account of bullying and mistreatment:

My Waldorf school, and the kindergarten, too, was very violent; violence was around all the time. There was lots of bullying, and I've read other state that the school was well-known for its problems with bullying. Nothing was ever done to stop the bullying.

The violence was pretty much a standard method of hanging around, I can't describe it better. You could count on being thrown into the wall, cupboards or into rocks, being hit, being pushed, those kinds of things — every day.

I've been scratched 'til I got bruises, been kicked in my back 'til I couldn't breath, been hit with a wooden "club" on my head so that I saw stars (but no angels). But that's just the tip of an iceberg.

As far as I can remember, I was never physically maltreated by a teacher — my class teacher was a relatively decent human being, although misled by Steinerites. In kindergarten, I don't know, those teachers were more evil and more Anthro. Also, the teacher who was hired to bring me to school against my will when I was in 1st grade, she didn't mind hurting me while she stopped me from fleeing. But she didn't continue to hurt me just because she could.

◊ From message 9120 ( http://groups.yahoo.com/group/waldorf-critics/messages/9120 ) ; a mother discusses violence perpetrated by teachers as well as students:

At our Waldorf school, my son's class teacher did take bullying seriously when it was brought to his attention and, as far as I could tell, handled the situation well. Parents in other classes, however, told me they were not satisfied with how teachers handled reports of bullying. One girl, who made up stories about other children hurting her, actually broke other children's bones. One of her parents was a Waldorf graduate and at least one of her grandparents was an Anthroposophist. Several teen boys, including the son of Waldorf teachers, assaulted a girl. The girl's mother reported the assault to the police and the teachers' son ended up having to leave the school. Some years later, an Anthroposophist parent and board member told me that the girl's mother had overreacted. Because I knew some of the details of the assault, for me it was one of those moments when you're looking at someone and you suddenly realize they are barking mad.

A girl I knew was rammed against a wall by a teacher, left the school shortly thereafter, and seemed traumatized by it when she told me about it years later. Yet another girl told me that a teacher hurt her when he yanked her arm to try to force her to cross a stream on a field trip and then grabbed her and shook her violently, despite the fact that she kept telling him not to touch her. I saw a teacher go ballistic on two children for playing with some outdoor sprinkler lines when all he needed to do was to say, "Don't play with those pipes." Even a teacher whom we liked and respected had a reputation for occasionally going into extraordinary rages in the classroom.

In all fairness, there were some serious instances of student bullying and violence at a couple of other schools my children attended, although I never heard of teachers being out of control at any of them.

Clearly, though, our Waldorf school was far from being the peaceful, spiritually evolved environment we had originally believed it to be. It's my opinion that some of the teachers at our Waldorf school should not have been working with children and would never have been able to find employment in a non-Anthroposophical school.

The universe as described by Steiner teems with gods

arrayed in hierarchies. There are good gods and evil gods,

high spiritual powers and low. Humans must not blindly obey

the gods — but we also must not deny the authority and wisdom

of those above us.

Steiner generally abhorred violence. Yet the universe he described

is a violent place, one in which the gods sometimes

wage war against one another.

Violence and struggle are even more common — and perhaps necessary — here on Earth.

Our sufferings serve a purpose, enabling us to pay the karmic penalty for errors we made

in past lives. Steiner's vision includes elements of Christianity, Hinduism,

paganism, and other creeds and systems.

[Image of Thor by Johannes Gehrts.

Hindu image from http://karenswhimsy.com/]

ENDNOTES

[1] Rudolf Steiner, THE FOUNDATIONS OF HUMAN EXPERIENCE, Foundations of Waldorf Education (Anthroposophic Press, 1996), p. 93.

[2] Rudolf Steiner, FACULTY MEETINGS WITH RUDOLF STEINER (Anthroposophic Press, 1998), p.495.

[3] Rudolf Steiner DISCUSSIONS WITH TEACHERS, Foundations of Waldorf Education (Anthroposophic Press, 1997), p. 67.

[4] FACULTY MEETINGS WITH RUDOLF STEINER, p. 495.

[5] Consider this statement by Anthroposophist John Fentress Gardner: "A youth whose childhood has been touched by the blight of 'critical thinking' will come to the moment on independent insight badly crippled ... Because skepticism has long since robbed him of part of his heart, he will now feel unable to embrace enthusiastically what he has come to understand." [THE EXPERIENCE OF KNOWLEDGE (Waldorf Press, 1975), pp. 127-128.] If any system of belief should be subjected to intense critical thinking and analysis, it is Anthroposophy. But this is precisely what Anthroposophists work to avoid. (Full disclosure: J. F. Gardner was my headmaster at a Waldorf school. My mother was his secretary. Mr. Gardner became a leading spokesman for (disguised) Anthroposophy in the US. Note that in 1975, my old Waldorf, along with its extension, The Waldorf Institute, had been built up sufficiently to create their own publishing house: the Waldorf Press. Much of this success is attributable to Mr. Gardner. But soon thereafter, Mr. Gardner was involved in a scandal that almost ruined everything. See my essays “Unenlightened” and/or “The Waldorf Scandal”.)

[6] FACULTY MEETINGS WITH RUDOLF STEINER, p. 547.

Steiner was often intensely concerned about the Waldorf School’s reputation. See, e.g., his worries about what people might say if they learn about certain occult beliefs at the school (Ibid., pp. 649-650: “Imagine what people would say if they heard that we say there are people who are not human beings ....”), his insistence that teachers avoid using the word “prayer” for the morning verse (Ibid., p.20: “We also need to speak about a prayer. I ask only one thing of you ... Avoid allowing anyone to hear you, as a faculty member, using the word ‘prayer.’”), and his distress over the poor results achieved by Waldorf students on important examinations (Ibid., p. 725: “The results gave a very unfavorable impression of our school to people outside.”)

[7] Ibid., p. 22.

[8] Teacher-on-student violence is probably extremely rare at Waldorf schools, but it is not unknown. At the Waldorf I attended, a teacher who was annoyed with a student kicked over the chair/desk the kid was sitting in.

How can we account for any forms of intemperate violence committed by Waldorf teachers? Temperate violence would include slapping or spanking, sanctioned by Steiner and by parents. If a teacher has the okay to use this level of corporal punishment, then s/he cannot be blamed. But what about cases such as the ones we’ve just read, where teachers apparently lose control?

It is possible that Waldorf teachers are under special forms of strain and feel special forms of anger. Those who are true-believing Anthroposophists yearn for mystical fulfillments that are impossible. They may have been drawn to occultism because they were unhappy with the real world, and their unhappiness may deepen when their chosen alternative to reality — Steiner’s belief system — fails to give them transcendence. Unhappiness can tip over into disappointment, which in turn can feed anger.

For more on this topic, see my essay “The Good Parts” on this Web site. For more about racism in Waldorf schools, see my essay, “Steiner’s Racism” also on this Web site.

[9] FACULTY MEETINGS WITH RUDOLF STEINER, p. 323.

[10] Ibid., p. 69.

[11] Ibid., p. 110.

Detail, Waldorf student art.