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WALDORF / STEINER 

NEWS ARCHIVE

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August, 2020

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This site supplements Waldorf Watch.

To go to Waldorf Watch itself, please click here:

Waldorf Watch.

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The news items below are presented in reverse chronological order — newest first, oldest last.

Please excuse a certain amount of repetition in the contents of this archive. Items that now appear close together on the screen may have originally been separated by intervals of several days.

Many of the items in this archive generalize about Waldorf schools, describing them as Rudolf Steiner and leading Waldorf representatives have said they should be and as evidence shows they often are today. Not all Waldorf schools, Waldorf charter schools, and Waldorf-inspired schools conform to this model precisely. To evaluate an individual school, you should carefully examine its stated purposes, its practices (which may or may not be consistent with its stated purposes), and the composition of its faculty.

— Roger Rawlings

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 .August 30, 2020

STEINER, WALDORF, AND COVID

(& KARMA, DEMONS, THE SUN...)

[Part 2.2]

Here is a continuation of the second article published recently by the French news service Heidi.News about the Steiner/Waldorf view of Covid-19. Overall, the articles present an intriguing account of the way Rudolf Steiner's followers (including many Waldorf teachers) look at the Covid crisis. Much of the commentary in the articles is provided by former Waldorf teacher Grégoire Perra.

Sunbathing. One of the medical directors of the Goetheanum [1], Georg Soldner, said it well: "What our immune system often suffers from is a lack of sunlight." As Grégoire Perra explained to us, the heart-lung system [2] is considered by Steiner to be "under the influence of Christ, the great spirit of the Sun [3]. This is why they [Anthroposophical doctors] recommend sunbathing." Under normal circumstances, Georg Soldner asserts, it is actually the lack of light that causes many illnesses:

"The lack is felt most strongly in the month of March. This is why the highest mortality rate in our latitudes comes at the end of month of March, compared to the rest of the year. It is largely related to the lack of sunshine during the winter months."

In fact, if mortality increases in winter among people over 65 years old (it is actually highest in January-February), all studies link this to seasonal respiratory diseases, not to the lack of light (even if a correlation has been found between light and suicide rates...).

Connecting to the cosmos. But excess mortality in winter, according to Soldner,

"reminds us that it is extremely beneficial to go out every day — in winter if possible at noon — and thus connect with the cosmos in a very elementary way."

Connecting with the cosmos is a favorite theme of biodynamics [4], the agricultural arm of Anthroposophy. "Steiner repudiates the separation of man from nature," notes Grégoire Perra. The founder of biodynamics thus advocated the use of cow horns in various preparations [5] because "the cow has horns that gather formative astral and etheric forces [6] into its body" ... The horn then becomes the ideal instrument for connecting a vineyard to the universe. Similarly [according to Steiner] it is the bee [7] or the dandelion [8] that are seen as "links between the Earth and the cosmos."

Georg Soldner digs the same furrow, explaining that "humanity's relationship to the earth and the cosmos" has changed, that we are "stirring up a fear of acute high temperatures, such as that produced by sunlight." This view explains the resistance of Anthroposophists toward various prophylactic measures, which would sever the "unconscious link with the Earth and the Sun," as Matthias Girke [Co-Director for Medicine at the Goetheanum] explains in his video [9]:

"We need healthy contact with the Sun and light. And many of the measures currently prescribed for us are such that they tend to confine us to our homes, without leading us outside into the light. And we know that sunlight has a positive impact on the immune system."

Cyril Vidal [president of the FakeMed collective] rejoins:

"Exposure to the Sun is necessary for vitamin D synthesis, and if you really lack sufficient exposure to the Sun, you can take vitamin D supplements. But such cases are rare. And bear in mind, too much exposure to the Sun also has consequences, among others cancer."

Escape from stress. For Anthroposophists, "stress and fear, which are characteristic of today's materialistic competitive society, have a weakening effect on the immune system, and are therefore partly to blame [for the pandemic]," Soldner asserts — adding that the lungs are also be weakened by such "social tensions." For Rudolf Steiner, fear tends to cause us to become disembodied: One becomes pale, as blood circulation is affected, which reflects how our "self" [10]...leaves the physical body. Steiner also sees a connection to demons [11]:

"There are beings in the spiritual realms for whom anxiety and fear emanating from human beings offer welcome nourishment. ... If fear and anxiety radiate from individuals who then begin to panic, these creatures feed and become more and more powerful." (THE FALL OF THE SPIRITS OF DARKNESS, 1917)

In March, the Anthroposophical physician Harald Matthes mocked the "panicky and emotional" reaction of conventional medicine, saying that "even young people, who in most cases do not realize that they are infected, become anxious or even hysterical". Cyril Vidal answers:

"It's a little glib to say it is a question of personal attitude. Stress is not good for anyone, but we will not be better protected from the virus if we just relax!"

[8/28/2020    https://www.heidi.news/sante/anthroposophie-et-covid-partie-1-une-maladie-symbolique  This article originally appeared on August 26. Translation by Roger Rawlings, making use of Google Translate and DeepL Translator.    I hope I will soon be able to translate more of the article.]

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◊ To Be Continued ◊

The seven seals of the Apocalypse, painted by Clara Rettich in 1911 

after sketches by Rudolf Steiner (Wikimedia Commons) [12]

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Waldorf Watch Footnotes 

[1] This is the headquarters of Anthroposophy, a cathedral designed by Rudolf Steiner. [See "Is Anthroposophy a Religion?"] The Goetheanum is located in Dornach, Switzerland, and is named for the German author Goethe.

[2] Anthroposophical medicine claims that the heart and lungs are part of a single bodily system, one that reflects inner rhythms. Of course, modern medicine (which is to say, real medicine) identifies the heart and lungs as quite separate organs, the centers of two separate systems.

[3] Anthroposophy places great stress on the figure of Christ. For this reason, Anthroposophy may seem to be a Christian movement or denomination. But the "Christ" is Anthroposophy is quite different from the Son of God worshipped in Christian churches. Anthroposophy's "Christ" is the Sun God, the god identified with the Sun who has been worshipped under such names as Hu and Ahura Mazda. [See "Sun God".]

[4] This is a form of agriculture — farming and gardening — based on Rudolf Steiner's occult teachings. [See "Biodynamics".]

[5] I.e., fertilizers and other treatments for the soil and crops. One Anthroposophical fertilizer is made by packing manure into cow horns.

[6] Anthroposophists believe in various spirit-infused forces that reach us from the stars and from the "ether." [See "astrology" and "ether" in the Brief Waldorf / Steiner Encyclopedia (BWSE).]

[7] See "Bees".

[8] E.g., "The innocent yellow dandelion! In whatever district it grows, it is the greatest boon ... Truly the dandelion is a kind of messenger of Heaven." — Rudolf Steiner, AGRICULTURE COURSE (Bio-dynamics Agriculture Association, 1958), lecture 5, GA 327.

[9] "What Can Strengthen the Immune System," April, 2020.

[10] This is the spiritual ego or "I" — Anthroposophists identify it as the highest of three invisible bodies that incarnate during the first 21 years of life. [See "Ego" and "Incarnation".]

[11] See "demons" in the BWSE.

[12] This image appears in the article without explanation. For brief descriptions of the seven seals, see "Through His Eyes".

— R.R.

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 .August 28, 2020

STEINER, WALDORF, AND COVID

(& KARMA, DEMONS, THE SUN...)

[Part 2.1]

Here is the beginning of the second article published recently by the French news service Heidi.News about the Steiner/Waldorf view of Covid-19. Overall, the articles present an intriguing account of the way Rudolf Steiner's followers (including many Waldorf teachers) look at the Covid crisis. Much of the commentary in the articles is provided by former Waldorf teacher Grégoire Perra [1].

Protecting Yourself from Covid-19 

According to Anthroposophy: 

Using the Sun, Drawings, and Dance

by Adrien Miqueu

The Goetheanum in Dornach

Wladyslaw / CC BY-SA / Creative Commons

[side view]

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If you were taken aback by our previous article, describing the causes of Covid-19 according to Anthroposophy (demons, lack of sunlight, and human dupilcity), you should brace yourself. For this second part, we plunge even more deeply into the doctrines of Rudolf Steiner, in order to understand the origins of Anthroposophical advice on how to avoid Covid-19.

Although Anthroposophy considers illness to be a trial we endure in order to "grow internally...for purposes of self-development," still Anthroposophical doctors have been busy since the start of the pandemic promoting methods for "strengthening the immune system" [2]. Advice dubbed "natural," relayed from the medical section of the Anthroposophical Society to the network of Steiner-Waldorf schools [3], hides complex esoteric doctrines [4].

Resilience. In contrast to public health policies aimed at community health measures, the emphasis [in Anthroposophical medicine] is directed to the individual [5]. The goal: "Strengthening resilience, promoting salutogenesis [6]." This last concept...is said to be the antithesis of "pathogenesis" in traditional medicine. Understand: Pathogenesis seeks the origin of disease, while salutogenesis is concerned with the origin of good health. By drawing on the patient's "vital and spiritual resources" through "medicinal and artistic treatments, as well as rhythmic massage and curative eurythmy" (more on this later), Anthroposophical medicine is said to address "the patient's self-healing forces."

Cyril Vidal, president of the FakeMed collective, a group of health professionals fighting against pseudo-medicine, has said this:

"As soon as you talk to Anthroposophical doctors, you hit a wall. Anthroposophical medicine seems devoid of content, or you don't understand where it's going. We find the same with Scientology. It seems healthy, eliminating stress and pathologies, but we are told nothing of the underlying ideology, which is kept completely hidden!"

Salutogenesis is defended by Harald Matthes, medical director of the Anthroposophical clinic in Havelhöhe, Germany, who in March said "It is good that younger people are infected first, to build up herd immunity" [7].

Describing salutogenesis as "referring to the psychic level of healing", Matthias Girke, Co-Director for Medicine at the Goetheanum [8]...emphasizes inner healing powers. In an article entitled "The Therapeutic Action of Anthroposophy," published in March 2020, he explains:

"If we seek the healing forces of the astral body [9], we will find them in the security, the search for meaning and direction, which come from the acquisition of knowledge [10]. In this respect, truth has a healing effect, while lies weaken and offend the soul. The powers of devotion to the truth, the life convictions which one can 'believe,' have a healing effect on the astral organization" [11].

This is a repetition of a statement he made in a video titled "What Can Strengthen the Immune System," released in April 2020, in which he stated that "when we discover something that has a content of truth, it has an internal orienting effect on the soul of man."

To elucidate these cryptic sentences, we must return to Steiner...who explained that thoughts are independent of man, that they permeate the universe [12]. Grégoire Perra, a former Anthroposophist and now an active critic of the movement, explains:

"You only capture thoughts, without producing them. And if you receive a 'high' thought, it has a beneficial effect on you [13]."

As Cyril Vidal points out:

"Anthroposophy has nothing curative to offer [14]. So as a preventive measure, it doesn't risk much: If you don't get sick, it's because it worked; if not, it's because you are undergoing a 'karmic crisis' [15]."

[8/28/2020    https://www.heidi.news/sante/anthroposophie-et-covid-partie-1-une-maladie-symbolique  This article originally appeared on August 26. Translation by Roger Rawlings, making use of Google Translate and DeepL Translator.    I hope I will soon be able to translate more of "Protecting Yourself from Covid-19 According to Anthroposophy: Using the Sun, Drawings, and Dance".]

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◊ To Be Continued ◊

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Waldorf Watch Footnotes 

[1] See "Grégoire Perra".

[2] I.e., Anthroposophy teaches that diseases are generally good for us; still, Anthroposophical doctors have issued advice on how to avoid contracting Covid-19.

[3] The labels "Steiner-Waldorf schools," "Steiner schools," and "Waldorf schools" are generally interchangeable. These are tags for institutions that educate children in accordance with the guidance provided by Rudolf Steiner.

[4] See "Steiner's Quackery". 

All of Steiner's teachings are esoteric (likely to be comprehensible to initiates) or occult (secret, hidden). [See "Occultism".]

[5] According to Anthroposophy, a fully developed human being has a unique spiritual ego (an "I") that no one else can know. [See "Ego".] Each human being is, in this sense, incomparable, having needs that are highly specific to the individual. Steiner taught that each unique individual also has a unique karma. Belief in karma is fundamental in Anthroposophy. [See "Karma".] For reasons such as these, Anthroposophical medicine holds that medical treatment must be highly individualized.

[6] See "The Vile Virus & Technology II", March 24, 2020.

[7] The idea is that if enough children contract the disease, the result will be widespread immunity in the overall population (so-called "herd immunity"). For a rejoinder, see "Don't Let Children Contract Covid-19", March 25, 2020.

Note, by the way, that emphasizing shared immunity within a population runs contrary to the claimed Anthroposophical focus on the individual.

[8] This is the headquarters of Anthroposophy, a cathedral designed by Rudolf Steiner. [See "Is Anthroposophy a Religion?"] The Goetheanum is located in Dornach, Switzerland, and is named for the German author Goethe.

[9] One esoteric/occult doctrine of Anthroposophy is that all fully incarnated human beings have four bodies, three of which are invisible. [See "Incarnation".] The astral body is the second of the invisible bodies. [See "astral body" in The Brief Waldorf / Steiner Encyclopedia (BWSE).]

[10] The "knowledge" sought through Anthroposophy is mystical (esoteric, occult): It is theoretically produced through the use of clairvoyance. The word "Anthroposophy" means "human knowledge" or "human wisdom" — although in fact Anthroposophy contains precious little real knowledge or wisdom. [See, e.g., "Clairvoyance" and "Truth".]

[11] According to Anthroposophy, the "astral organization" is the inner structure or constitution of astral forces (forces flowing from the astral plane or soul world) that go to make up the astral body.

[12] I.e., real thoughts are produced by the gods. The human brain does not think — rather, it acts like a radio, receiving the gods' thoughts. [See "brain" and "thinking" in the BWSE.]

Note that Anthroposophy is polytheistic. [See "Polytheism".]

[13] See "living thoughts" in the BWSE.

[14] I.e., the "health-giving" effect of Anthroposophy is attained through reception of living thoughts beamed down by the gods. But, Vidal argues, this is bunk.

[15] Playing fast and loose with both logic and knowledge, Anthroposophical doctors argue that if their patients (or students in Waldorf schools, under the care of Anthroposophists) remain healthy, this is due to the wonderful effects of Anthroposophy. But if such people get sick, this must be because their karma requires them to undergo a particular illness.

— R.R.

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 .August 21, 2020

SEEKING  COVID  SAFETY

IN THE GREAT OUTDOORS

As American Waldorf schools generally prepare to reopen for the autumn term, they are implementing various strategies aimed at protecting students from Covid-19. One strategy deserves special attention. Numerous Waldorf schools are creating outdoor classrooms, hoping there will be less chance of contagion in such spaces.

The efficacy of this approach is open to question. Moving outdoors will not, in and of itself, assure safety. Social distancing will remain important, and children and teachers probably should wear masks in the new, open-air classrooms. If, for instance, an infected child sneezes in an outdoor classroom, the virus may spread among the class even if the breeze ultimately carries most of the microbes away [1]. 

Then, too, there is the question of keeping kids warm in winter. An outdoor classroom that is comfortable in September may be bitterly cold in January. This may have implications for children's health. In addition, if space heaters are installed, the safety of these devices may become an issue.

The strategy of moving instruction outdoors is not unique to Waldorf schools, but it may be more widespread within the Waldorf movement than elsewhere. Indeed, proponents of Waldorf education often argue that children should spend at least part of each day outdoors, in all weather. And some proponents go so far as to argue that virtually all instruction should occur outdoors [2].

Here are excerpts from some recent news accounts touching on these matters:

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From Click on Detroit [Michigan, USA]:

Detroit school prepares for in-person learning 

by adding 5,000 square feet in outdoor classrooms

By Kim DiGiulio

While many Michigan schools have decided learning will have to be done remotely this fall, the Detroit Waldorf School is working to create a safe in-person learning environment for students.

Ignacio Moreno Elst has been helping ... He’s a father who’s trying to give his children the chance to learn in-person this fall.

"The Waldorf curriculum is very much in-person," Elst said. "We do a lot of things by hand, and at their age, it’s very essential to be here in school."

Detroit Waldorf School is an independent kindergarten through eighth grade school in Indian Village [3].  School officials came up with a plan to expand learning spaces by 5,000 square feet with outdoor classrooms.

"So they’ll have one solid wall, which we’re calling the teaching wall," Elst said. "There will be cubbies for the children’s things and then the other three sides will have canvas flaps that come down to increase four-season use [4]."

The school has raised more than $43,000 from crowdfunding in a month for the materials. The labor is time donated by the parents...

School starts in less than three weeks, so everyone will be working around the clock to get the outdoor classrooms done in time [5].

[8/21/2020   https://www.clickondetroit.com/news/local/2020/08/20/detroit-school-prepares-for-in-person-learning-by-adding-5000-square-feet-in-outdoor-classrooms/]

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From Patch Media:

Why One School Is Turning To 

Outdoor Classrooms Amid Coronavirus

By Lisa Marie Farver

"Welcome to the Outdoor Classroom!"

The Waldorf School of DuPage is building 

nine outdoor classroom spaces. (Maya Tubic )

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As schools are working to find ways to foster a healthy learning environment amid the coronavirus crisis, The Waldorf School of DuPage [Illinois] is looking even further than outside the box by building outdoor classrooms.

Faculty Chair and grades teacher [6] Brenna McLachlan told Patch the school is constructing nine outdoor classroom spaces that will be used in addition to regular classrooms to give students a chance to learn in the great outdoors...

"When there's a lot of stress and chaos in the world we find that it's really helpful to be out in nature [7]," McLachlan [said].

The outdoor classrooms will be equipped with desks that will be placed 6 feet apart from one another to allow for social distancing...

The Waldorf School of DuPage students are outside a lot during the day throughout the year for gardening [8], sledding and other learning and recreational activities.

The outdoor spaces will include shelters for snacks and places for story time, McLachlan added. When students aren't in the outdoor classroom, they will be learning inside with their masks on [9]...

In winter, the outdoor spaces will be equipped with heaters to allow for outdoor learning year-round and to allow kids to be outside "as much as possible," McLachlan said.... [10]

[8/21/2020    https://patch.com/illinois/wheaton/why-one-school-turning-outdoor-classrooms-amid-coronavirus    This article originally appeared on July 24.]

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From https://www.newschannel5.com/ [Nashville, Tennessee]:

Linden Waldorf School constructs 

outdoor classrooms amid the pandemic

By Alexandra Koehn

A local school is moving all classes outside due to the pandemic.

The Linden Waldorf School is tucked behind Trinity Presbyterian Church in the Green Hills neighborhood [11]. They’re building eight classrooms for pre-K through eighth grade.

"We will be cohorting this year to keep our students and faculty in bubbles [12] as much as we can," said Tricia Drake, head of school.

Drake said it’s an easy transition. Students already spend the bulk of the school day outside learning about things like gardening and woodworking [13]...

The outdoor classrooms will be equipped with hand-washing stations and tree stump chairs. They won’t need electricity either.

"We don’t use technology in the classroom. In upper grades, they of course use it as research, but it’s not an integral part of our classroom instruction," Drake said [14]...

In the chance of severe weather, they will move students inside [15].

[8/21/2020   https://www.newschannel5.com/rebound/safely-back-to-school/waldorf-linden-school-to-move-all-classes-outside-due-to-covid-19    This item originally appeared on August 11.]

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Waldorf Watch Footnotes

[1] For an overview and background, see "Kids and Covid: Time to Reopen?, August 11, 2020, and "Reopening Waldorf: A Case Down Under", May 17, 2020.

[2] See, e.g., "For Love of Nature, Real or Not", May 26, 2018.

Kids usually love to have outdoor classes, but teachers often find that keeping the kids' attention is far harder outdoors, where there are innumerable distractions (both positive and negative: butterflies and mosquitoes, bluebirds and serpents). The amount of learning that occurs in such conditions will often decline.

[3] Indian Village is an affluent area on the east side of Detroit.

[4] Note that when the flaps are lowered, the classrooms will essentially be enclosed spaces — although they may be drafty and uninsulated. Classrooms enclosed by lowered canvas walls will be, in effect, indoor spaces, not truly outdoors. And the chance of infection presumably will rise as a result.

[5] From Weather Atlas:

"Detroit...has a humid continental climate ... [P]recipitation is evenly distributed throughout the year ... May [is] the rainiest month with relatively high precipitation of 3.9" (99.1mm). Winter in Detroit lasts from December to February and is characterized by freezing weather and high humidity of 75%. Temperatures remain low in the range of 19.4°F (-7°C), and 37.4°F (3°C) and snowfall are experienced for an average of nine days each month ... With wet, snowy, and chilly days, most [winter] activities in Detroit revert to indoors." — Weather Atlas [https://www.weather-us.com/en/michigan-usa/detroit-climate].

[6] In Waldorf schools, a "class teacher" is usually the primary instructor for a group of children for several successive years. Typically, a Waldorf class teacher may remain with the same children from first grade through fifth grade or even longer. [See "class teachers at Waldorf schools" in The Brief Waldorf / Steiner Encyclopedia (BWSE).]

[7] For the Waldorf view of nature, see "Neutered Nature".

[8] Waldorf schools often have organic gardens on campus; students are often required to work in these gardens. [See "biodynamic gardening and farming" in the BWSE.] "The gardening class is an obligatory part of the education." — Rudolf Steiner, FACULTY MEETINGS WITH RUDOLF STEINER (Anthroposophic Press, 1998), p. 65.

[9] Wearing masks would also be advisable in the outdoor classrooms and all other situations when students may come into close contact.

[10] Warrenville, Illinois, is in the Chicago metropolitan area. 

"Chicago, the Windy City, stretches on the continental divide ... Winters are cold with the average low temperature of 17°F (-8.3°C) in January, and even daily highs are sometimes below freezing of 32°F (0°C) ... Humidity averages 70% over the year, which makes the weather muggy ... Annual precipitation of 36" (914.4mm) occurs within 124 rainy days ... Snowfall is in the range of 36" (914.4mm), with an average of 28 snowy days during the year."  — Weather Atlas [https://www.weather-us.com/en/illinois-usa/chicago-climate].

[11] Green Hills is an affluent "suburban enclave" in southwest Nashville.

[12] This unusual usage ("cohorting...in bubbles") presumably means individuals will be divided into small groups that are kept apart. ("Cohort" is a noun, not a verb. "Bubbles" is a metaphor, in this instance.)

[13] Waldorf education generally endorses green values, affirming nature as opposed to things that are artificial or man-made. [See "environmentalism" in the BWSE.]

[14] The Waldorf approach generally opposes most uses of modern technology, seeing such technology (and its foundation: modern science) as the antithesis of nature and spirituality. Televisions, computers, and so forth, are thus generally banned from Waldorf schools, and an effort is often made to restrict their use in the homes of Waldorf students. Today, however, as computers and the Internet have become ubiquitous in most people's lives, some use of technology (such as conducting research online) is accepted in higher grades at many Waldorf schools. [See "Spiders, Dragons and Foxes".]

[15] From Weather Atlas:

"Winters [in Nashville] are mild, with January average low temperatures a few degrees below freezing. Cold waves typically plummet the temperatures below 10°F (-12.2°C), and it is usual to record 0°F (-17.8°C) during such periods ... The region receives rain for an average of 118 days during the year; it is customary to receive up to 10" (254mm) in the wettest month during a particularly rainy year ... The region is humid, with an average humidity of 70% over the year ... Severe thunderstorms and occasional tornadoes strike Nashville during spring and autumn." — Weather Atlas [https://www.weather-us.com/en/tennessee-usa/nashville-climate].

— R.R.

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 .August 17, 2020

STEINER, WALDORF, AND COVID

(& KARMA, DEMONS, THE SUN...)

[Part 1]

The French news service Heidi.News has published the first of three connected articles about the Steiner/Waldorf view of Covid-19. Former Waldorf student and teacher Grégoire Perra [1] is quoted extensively in the articles — he serves as a guide through the intricacies Steinerish thought.

Here is my translation of excerpts from the first article. The translation is fairly loose: In places I paraphrase more than translate, and I condense as much as I can, which means leaving out some material. The article is quite long and detailed. If you are able to read French, or if you're inclined to send the article through a translation program, I urge you to read the article in its entirety. There's a hurdle, though — the article stands behind a paywall. 

I hope to present the second of the articles — translated and condensed — when it is published.

What Anthroposophy Says about Covid-19: 

a Primarily Symbolic Disease

by Adrien Miqueu

The Goetheanum in Dornach | Wladyslaw / CC BY-SA / Creative Commons

[front view]

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This article is the first part of our investigation into what anthroposophy says about Covid-19...

In mid-March, you may have seen a video by a certain Dr. Cowan, former vice president of the Physicians Association for Anthroposophic Medicine, explaining that the coronavirus was caused by 5G technology [2] ... The video was quickly withdrawn (but can still be found online), and Anthroposophic societies quickly dissociated themselves from Dr. Cowan ... Nonetheless, the arguments made by Cowan are a pure product of Anthroposophy, that spiritual and esoteric movement founded at the turn of the century by Rudolf Steiner [3] ... [A]nthroposophical doctrine is a bookish mixture of occultism, New Age spirituality, and pseudoscience [4] ... This esoteric content surprises those who thought Anthroposophic medicine [5] was only an innocent "alternative" therapeutic approach, like homeopathy. Because from the outside, Anthroposophy presents itself in the guise of a true science and a humanist philosophy. Grégoire Perra, former Anthroposophist and now active critic of the movement, explains:

"There is always this doubletalk in Anthroposophy: 'We respect science and medicine, we are not at odds with traditional medicine.' Whereas in fact Steiner's writings stand in complete contradiction to real science!"...

In his profuse writings, Rudolf Steiner gives numerous explanations about epidemics, which he considered good. Epidemics cause us to suffer in ways that make us more perfect ... Being sick enables us to "accomplish one's karma" [6], to atone for acts committed in a previous life ... But vaccines prevent us from undergoing needed diseases, meaning we cannot fulfill our karma until a later incarnation [7]. This view of disease explains the reluctance of Anthroposophists towards using vaccines [8]. The consequence: Steiner/Waldorf schools are regularly identified as hotbeds of measles infection (for example in Biel last year [9] or in the United States [10])...

At the end of 2019, a documentary from Complément d’Enquête (TV Channel 2) showed a school doctor from a Steiner school saying that after catching measles, children slept better and no longer stammered. An official from the Federation of Steiner Schools in Switzerland also confirmed the existence of "social events for artificial infection" [11] that were held at least as recently as the 1990s: If a pupil had measles, all the other children were brought together to that they pass it on to each other.

So according to Anthroposophy, we should not avoid disease. This vision is relayed by the medical directors of the Goetheanum [12], who explain that Covid-19 can help people grow inwardly in the direction of self-improvement...

But this is not the only cause of Covid-19, according to Anthroposophy. In the April article in the Swiss Anthroposophical Society newsletter, the author quotes another passage from Steiner attributing illnesses to the action of the demon Ahriman [13]...

Grégoire Perra confirms this Anthroposophical vision of epidemics:

"Illness is never seen as a bad thing. It is sent by the beneficent gods [14], through the demonic powers [15], to show that our civilization is on the way to perdition [16]."

The corruption of humanity is another cause of epidemics, according to the medical directors of the Goetheanum:

"Rudolf Steiner pointed out that the 'lies of humanity' can have epidemiological significance. Liars separate themselves from the spiritual realm of truth and hinder the healing forces that flow from truth."

And add:

"The fact that the coronavirus pandemic only affects human beings [17] shows that it is linked to the essence of the human spiritual ego [18], and thus both prevention and healing should include this spiritual dimension."

Most people quickly become lost when trying to make sense of Anthroposophical statements that interweave medical and esoteric concepts, especially because the broader doctrinal basis of these statements is rarely stated explicitly. Grégoire Perra explains:

"What Anthroposophists say publicly is always half-hearted, without divulging the underlying rationale, so the language is never clear. You have to read Steiner's books AN OUTLINE OF OCCULT SCIENCE [19] and MANIFESTATIONS OF KARMA [20], but who's going to read texts like that, which refer to things like Atlantis [21], Lemuria [22], and the reincarnation of the solar system [23]? But we cannot understand the Anthroposophical position on Covid-19 without knowing these foundations."

Anthroposophy assumes that people have four "bodies": the physical body, astral body, etheric body, and the "I" [24]. Each human being gradually incarnates more and more deeply into his/her physical body up to the age of 35, then s/he withdraws just as gradually until death ... This model explains, for Georg Soldner [25], why older people are more affected by the coronavirus:

"The more a person is already in a situation of disincarnating, the more they are vulnerable to this viral disease, called Covid-19"...

[B]esides old age, it is the lack of light that would make us vulnerable to Covid-19:

"What is it that weakens the lung? Two things in particular: a deficient link with the earth and the sun, as well as social tensions"... 

Hence, Grégoire Perra says, Anthroposophists recommend sunbathing as a treatment for Covid 19....

[8/17/2020    https://www.heidi.news/sante/anthroposophie-et-covid-partie-1-une-maladie-symbolique    This article originally appeared on August 12. Translation, paraphrasings, and condensation by Roger Rawlings, making use of Google Translate and DeepL Translator.]

Waldorf Watch Footnotes 

[1] See "My Life Among the Anthroposophists" by Grégoire Perra.

[2] See "The Vile Virus & Technology, I", March 23, 2020.

[3] See the entries for "Anthroposophy" and "Steiner, Rudolf" in The Brief Waldorf / Steiner Encyclopedia (BWSE).

[4] See, e.g., "Steiner's 'Science'".

[5] See "Steiner's Quackery".

[6] Belief in karma is central to Anthroposophy. [See "Karma".]

[7] Reincarnation is another central Anthroposophical doctrine derived from Eastern religions. [See "Reincarnation".]

[8] Waldorf schools and other Anthroposophical institutions are often centers of anti-vaccination sentiment. [See the entry for "vaccination" in the BWSE.]

[9] See, e.g., "Measles, Vaccines, and Waldorf", February 20, 2019.

[10] See, e.g., "Waldorf, Measles, The Times — and Demons", June 13, 2019.

[11] These are so-called "measles parties," gatherings designed to spread measles infection among groups of children. Reportedly, there have also sometimes been "chickenpox parties" and even "Civid parties" in Waldorf/Steiner circles. [See, e.g., "Covid, Nature, and the Young", April 9, 2020.]

[12] This is the Anthroposophical headquarters, named for the German writer Goethe. [See "Goetheanum" in the BWSE.]

[13] Ahriman is one of the chief demonic powers described in Anthroposophy. [See "Ahriman".]

[14] See "gods" in the BWSE. [Anthroposophy is polytheistic. See "Polytheism".]

[15] See "demons" in the BWSE.

Anthroposophists sometimes argue that there is really no such thing as evil. According to this line of belief, demons and other apparently evil beings actually work in service to the good powers of the cosmos. However, Steiner often indicated that evil is a very real phenomenon, and demons have evil intentions. [See "good and evil" in the BWSE; also see "Evil" and "Evil Ones".]

[16] See "Hell".

[17] Actually, there have been reports of animals such as dogs contracting Covid-19. [See, e.g., "First Dog to Test Positive for Covi-19 in North Carolina Dies", https://abcnews.go.com/US/dog-test-positive-covid-19-north-carolina-dies/story?id=72322728.]

[18] See "I, ego" in the BWSE.

[19] AN OUTLINE OF OCCULT SCIENCE (also known as OCCULT SCIENCE - AN OUTLINE) is Steiner's most important book. It lays out his chief Anthroposophical doctrines. [See "Everything".] 

[20] MANIFESTATIONS OF KARMA is typical of peripheral Steiner texts, centering on specific Anthroposophical beliefs. [See https://wn.rsarchive.org/Lectures/GA120/English/RSP1984/ManKar_index.html.]

[21] See "Atlantis".

[22] See "Lemuria".

[23] See "planetary conditions" in the BWSE.

[24] See "Incarnation".

[25] Soldner is Deputy Head of the medical section of the Gortheanum [https://medsektion-goetheanum.org/en/medical-section/co-workers/].

— R.R.

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 .August 15, 2020

IN THE CITY OF BROTHERLY LOVE —

ALLEGATIONS OF WALDORF RACISM

Waldorf schools have long operated in the shadow of Rudolf Steiner's racism [1]. But Steiner died almost a century ago, and proponents of Waldorf education have defended themselves with two central arguments: Steiner's teachings are not really racist, if they are properly understood; and, no matter what may have happened in the past, there is no racism in Waldorf education today.

Recently the Association of Waldorf Schools in North America (AWSNA) took a slightly different tack. Without explicitly acknowledging that Steiner was racially bigoted, the Association disassociated itself from any racist statements Steiner may have made [2].

Despite the defenses Waldorf schools and their partisans have offered, some non-white families with experience in Waldorf schools have claimed that racism is indeed present in these schools [3]. Now a venerable American newspaper — The Philadelphia Tribune [4] — has printed an article blasting a Waldorf school in a major American city, citing alleged racism. Here are excerpts:

Concerned parents speak up about racism, 

discrimination at Waldorf School of Philadelphia

[By] Samaria Bailey

The Waldorf School of Philadelphia is located on the 

grounds of a former Episcopal church in Germantown.

— Tribune Photo/Abdul R. Sulayman

.

Black parents and other parents of color say they and their families experience rampant racism and discrimination at The Waldorf School of Philadelphia.

"This is not an issue of falling short, getting it wrong, or occasionally perpetuating racism," a group called Concerned Parents of Color wrote in a letter to the private school’s administrators earlier this summer. "It is a consistent pattern that represents a form of sabotage of our previous efforts of accountability. Since our individual complaints have not been heard, we come to you as a group in hopes that you will find our pain more believable. We demand action by those with authority, influence, and conscience."

The letter lists dozens of incidents students or their families have personally experienced over the last several years, including a white child spitting on a Black child, school staff reserving front row seats at school concerts for white families, accountability processes that protect white staff and families, and white staff members rejecting or disbelieving complaints from families of color.

It also cites a variety of microaggressions [5] in everyday interactions, such as white faculty and staff "refusing to acknowledge people of color when talking; assuming or questioning whether a student or family of color is a member of the school; [and] white [parents] staring down parents and children of color."

The Concerned Parents of Color have asked the school to take 10 corrective actions immediately, including developing an accountability plan for addressing discrimination, adding race and diversity issues to teacher and faculty evaluations, and changing the structure of the board of trustees so it provides oversight and accountability to the faculty chairman.

School administrators said they were "grateful" for the parents’ letter and "deeply saddened to learn of the harms suffered by members of our community"...

Waldorf School Board of Trustees Vice President Brendon Jobs said the board voted unanimously to take the actions recommended by the Concerned Parents of Color, and [school executive director Anthony] deGuzman said most of them will be met by the time school starts in September.

deGuzman said the school also plans to seek an independent consultant to help identify the school’s needs and help hire someone to oversee diversity and inclusion efforts...

Rolando Brown, a Waldorf parent for five years, called for a more earnest effort.

"The effort to have the teachers at Waldorf school evolve the pedagogy so that the environment is safe for Black children and Black parents is not a new discussion. It has been happening for years. The need to evolve the Waldorf pedagogy so that it is safe for Black children and Black parents has existed for a long time," said Brown...

Brown questioned the sincerity of Waldorf’s response to the parents' concerns, wondering why the teachers have not been a part of the conversation...

Janelle Avant, a Waldorf parent for the past four years, got dozens of parents together earlier this year to discuss how they or their children had been victims of microaggressions or more overtly racist behaviors and discrimination...

The first year Avant’s son was enrolled at Waldorf, in 2017, a white boy spit in Avant’s son’s face twice, she said. She requested a meeting with the teacher, the faculty chairwoman and the other child’s parents...

"What happened next was it was pretty much going to be a write-up in his file," Avant said. "The student was not suspended, but he did apologize to my son. But what was said next by the faculty chair took me by surprise. She said, 'I don’t believe [he] could’ve done this because I know him'"...

A year later, the Concerned Parents group wrote in their letter, school administrators and staff treated a Black first-grade girl who was diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder differently from her classmates.

School administrators assured the young girl’s parents that they could accommodate the child’s special needs, but still asked the parents to remove her from the school...

School administrators and staff also treated parents of color different from white parents.

At a December 2019 holiday concert, parent Shelli Branscomb said she and a guest arrived early and found two unmarked, empty seats close to the stage...

[A] teacher told Branscomb the seats were reserved for families with sibling students who’d signed up for them, so Branscomb moved...

"You have this situation where you have teachers who made this policy of reserving seats that only white families benefitted from..." said Branscomb, who is Black.

Branscomb followed up on this incident with an email to the school, comparing the teacher’s tone to a pit bull...

The school administration set up a meeting to resolve the conflict, and the teacher assumed the role of the victim, Branscomb said.

The teacher even "screamed" at Branscomb during the meeting, Branscomb said, and the executive director and the diversity chairperson did not intervene.

"You would’ve thought that I had threatened her life," she said. "...I moved for a white family that never even showed up, but they were more worried about the fact that I [referenced] a pit bull."

That incident made Branscomb think of a 2017 Black History Month concert [6] in which the event program listed songs by white artists with the artists’ names and songs by Black artists as "Negro Spirituals" with no credit to the specific musician.

"There was one 'Negro Spiritual' that said remastered by a white man. I said, 'Come on, these songs have Black authors.' One was by Paul Robeson [7]..."

[According to education consultant Caryn Rivers] "There seems to be an unspoken notion [at this school] of who is the right type of kid and who is not [8]"...

"Waldorf School is not different from other schools people are calling out for egregious, cultural insensitivity," Rivers said. "A lot of institutions are being outed right now for not doing what they say they do. People are finally speaking out about mistreatment in these schools. And it’s Waldorf School’s time of reckoning as well."

The ongoing discrimination issues have made many parents question whether they want to continue to pay thousands of dollars annually to keep their kids enrolled at the Waldorf School....

[8/15/2020    https://www.phillytrib.com/news/local_news/concerned-parents-speak-up-about-racism-discrimination-at-waldorf-school-of-philadelphia/article_eeaed493-5007-5f47-b1cd-fbc3fd92af03.html] 

Waldorf Watch Footnotes 

[1] For an overview of Steiner's racist views, see "Steiner's Racism". For some of Steiner's specific statements about various races, see "Races".

[2] See "Stepping Away from Steiner?", July 26, 2020.

[3] See, e.g., "N-Word", "Waldorf Salad with Aryan Mayonnaise?", "Woman Sees Waldorf Racism on First Visit", "Embedded Racism", and "Steiner Education in State Schools".

[4] Founded in 1884, The Philadelphia Tribune is the oldest continuously published African-American newspaper in the USA. 

[5] Microaggressions are subtly offensive statements or actions that may or may not be intentional. In at least some instances, the perpetrator may not understand the offense, but the victim (often a person of a different race or nationality) may feel it intensely.

[6] The article leaves the point vague, but this event presumably occurred at the Waldorf school.

[7] Paul Robeson (1898-1976) graduated first in his class at Rutgers University (New Jersey) and later earned a law degree at Columbia University (New York). He became a leading black activist working for racial justice, and he had a celebrated career as a singer and actor, appearing in several major plays and movies. [See "Paul Robeson", Encyclopaedia Britannica.] So-called "Negro spirituals" were generally created by slaves whose names are lost to history. [See "Spiritual (music)", Wikipedia.] Paul Robeson recorded nearly 300 songs, including spirituals. He is not, however, generally identified as a songwriter. An event program written with racial sensitivity would accord equal dignity to all songs from all ethnicities.

[8] Rudolf Steiner originally created Waldorf education for the benefit of white German children. [See "The Good Wars".] Steiner was a German nationalist. [See "Steiner and the Warlord".] He taught that the white race stands higher than other races, with the black race the lowest. [See "Forbidden".] The question confronting Waldorf schools today is whether they have fully expunged Steiner's ethnic preferences from their practices.

— R.R.

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 .August 13, 2020

BAD  FOR  HEALTH:

WALDORF SCHOOLS

Edzard Ernst is one of the world's leading experts on alternative medicine. A harsh critic of unfounded forms of treatment, he has published more than 700 academic papers. Beginning in 1993, he established and ran the department of complementary medicine at the University of Exeter, in the UK [1]. He is the author of such books as ALTERNATIVE MEDICINE: A Critical Assessment of 150 Modalities (Springer, 2019) and SCAM: So-Called Alternative Medicine (Societas, 2018) [2].

Over the years, he has written several articles and book sections focused on Anthroposophical medicine and its use at Waldorf schools. Here are excerpts from his latest brief article on these matters, posted this month on his website:

Waldorf schools are a danger to public health

Steiner with his wife (right) and Ita Wegman, his lover (left).

Anthroposophic medicine [3] was founded by [Rudolf] Steiner [4] and Ita Wegman [5] in the early 20th century. Currently, it is being promoted as an extension of conventional medicine ... Its value has repeatedly been questioned, and clinical research in this area is often less than rigorous.

Anthroposophic education was developed in the Waldorf school that was founded by Steiner in 1919 to serve the children of employees of the Waldorf-Astoria cigarette factory in Stuttgart, Germany [6]...

Waldorf schools implicitly infuse spiritual and mystic concepts into their curriculum [7] ... In a 2011 paper, I summarised the evidence which showed that in the UK, the Netherlands, Austria and Germany, Waldorf schools have been at the centre of measles outbreaks due to their stance regarding immunisations [8].

More recently, a study evaluated trends in rates of personal belief exemptions (PBEs) to immunization requirements for private kindergartens in California that practice alternative educational methods...

Alternative schools had an average PBE rate of 8.7%, compared with 2.1% among public schools. Waldorf schools had the highest average PBE rate of 45.1%, which was 19 times higher than in public schools... 

The authors concluded that Waldorf schools had exceptionally high average PBE rates, and Montessori and holistic schools [9] had higher annual increases in PBE rates. Children in these schools [10] may be at higher risk for spreading vaccine-preventable diseases if trends are not reversed.

As the world is hoping for the arrival of an effective vaccine against the corona virus, these figures should concern us.

[8/13/20    https://edzardernst.com/2020/08/waldorf-schools-are-a-danger-to-public-health/    This article was originally posted on August 8.]

In an item Ernst published in April, 2020, he included the following statistics:

Waldorf schools are the leading Nonmedical Exemption schools [11] in various states, such as:

Waldorf School of Mendocino County (California) – 79.1%

Tucson Waldorf Schools (Arizona) – 69.6%

Cedar Springs Waldorf School (California) – 64.7%

Waldorf School of San Diego (California) – 63.6%

Orchard Valley Waldorf School (Vermont) – 59.4%

Whidbey Island Waldorf School (Washington) – 54.9%

Lake Champlain Waldorf School (Vermont) – 49.6%

Austin Waldorf School (Texas) – 48%

[https://edzardernst.com/category/anthroposophical-medicine/]

Waldorf Watch Footnotes 

[1] See, e.g., "Edzard Ernst", Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edzard_Ernst.

[2] See, e.g., the listing for Ernst's books at Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Books-Edzard-Ernst/s?rh=n%3A283155%2Cp_27%3AEdzard+Ernst.

[3] For an overview, see "Steiner's Quackery".

[4] See "Steiner, Rudolf" in The Brief Waldorf / Steiner Encyclopedia (BWSE).

[5] Ita Wegman (1876-1943) was one of Rudolf Steiner's colleagues. A medical doctor, she is credited with co-founding Anthroposophical medicine alongside Steiner. She is sometimes described as having been Steiner's lover.

[6] See "Waldorf-Astoria Cigarette Factory", "Waldorf School, the first", and "Waldorf Schools" in the BWSE.

[7] See "The Waldorf Curriculum" and "Sneaking It In".

[8] See "Anthroposophy: A Risk Factor for Noncompliance with Measles Immunization", National Institutes of Health [https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/21102363/].

For additional background, see, e.g., the items listed under "measles" in The Waldorf Annex Index. Concerning the Waldorf stance on vaccination, see "vaccination" in the BWSE. 

[9] Montessori schools base their approach on the work of Italian physician Maria Montessori. [See, e.g., "Montessori Answers".] Holistic schools (which are diverse; they are not part of a single movement) seek to address all parts of the growing child: mind, body, and spirit. Waldorf schools themselves generally claim to be holistic. [See "Holistic Education".]

[10] I.e., Ernst may mean Waldorf schools (the focus of his article), or he may mean all three types of schools he has mentioned: Waldorf schools, Montessori schools, and "holistic schools."

[11] I.e., Waldorf schools have very high percentages of students claiming vaccination exemptions that are not based on valid doctors' orders.

— R.R.

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 .August 11, 2020

KIDS AND COVID:

TIME TO REOPEN?

Schools in America and elsewhere — including Waldorf schools — are wrestling with the questions of whether to reopen and how to do so safely. 

Kids need to go to school. Face-to-face schooling is better than distance learning — almost everyone agrees about this. But as school officials make their decisions, they need to carefully consider the health implications for their students. 

Despite a widespread belief that children are largely immune to Covid-19, at least 90 children in the US have died of the disease. In addition, a large number of children have become so seriously ill they have wound up in intensive care. Overall, Covid-19 cases among American children have nearly doubled — they have risen 90% — during the last month.

The youngest children may be in the greatest danger.

Here are excerpts from a sobering account put out by CNN today:

There has been a 90% increase 

in Covid-19 cases in US children 

in the last four weeks, report says

By Jen Christensen, Lauren Mascarenhas, Christina Maxouris and Sandee LaMotte

As the nation focuses on safety issues around going back to school during the pandemic, a new report found a sharp increase in the number of Covid-19 cases among children in the United States.

There has been a 90% increase in the number of Covid-19 cases among children in the United States over the last four weeks, according to a new analysis by the American Academy of Pediatrics and the Children's Hospital Association that will be updated weekly.

Dr. Sean O'Leary, vice-chair of the American Academy of Pediatrics Committee on Infectious Diseases, told CNN's Anderson Cooper on Monday that coronavirus cases in children should be taken seriously.

"It's not fair to say that this virus is completely benign in children," said O'Leary. "We've had 90 deaths in children in the US already, in just a few months [1]. Every year we worry about influenza in children, and there are roughly around 100 deaths in children from influenza every year [2]"...

There were 179,990 new Covid-19 cases among US children between July 9 and August 6, according to the report. At least 380,174 total child Covid-19 cases have been reported as of August 6...

[O]ne recent study suggests older children can transmit the virus just as much as adults. Another study said children younger than 5 carry a higher viral load than adults, raising even more questions about their role in transmission [3].

"Children ages zero to five can be highly infectious to other people. It turns out they have a thousand times more virus in their nose than you need to infect, so they're very, very contagious," said William Haseltine, a former professor at Harvard Medical School...

A new report released Friday by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that when children are hospitalized due to Covid-19, they need the intensive care unit as often as adults do.

The report looked at hospitalization records from 14 states and found 576 Covid-19 cases among children who needed hospitalization from March through July 25.

Although not many children needed care in the hospital, if they were admitted, one in three needed to be treated in the intensive care unit, the CDC team reported [4]. That's the same rate as for adults.

"Children can develop severe COVID-19 illness; during the surveillance period, one in three children were admitted to the ICU [5]. Hispanic and black children had the highest rates of COVID-19-associated hospitalization," the team wrote...

Children age 2 and younger were the most likely to be hospitalized...

While Covid-19 symptoms tend to be mild in children, they can spread the disease. To slow the pandemic, the CDC said children should be encouraged to wash their hands often, keep a good physical distance away from others, and if they are 2 years of age or older, they should wear a mask when they are around people outside of their family members [6].

[8/11/2020    https://www.cnn.com/2020/08/11/health/covid-19-children-cases-rising-wellness/index.html]

Waldorf Watch Footnotes 

[1] It is difficult to tabulate the total number of children worldwide who have died as a result of Covid-19. This may be largely attributable to poor record keeping, not childhood resistance to the disease. See "COVID-19 may pose greater risk to children than originally thought", UNICEF, July 15, 2020.

[2] Ninety child deaths "in just a few months" is thus a large total — on the verge of equalling the annual child mortality from influenza. And more children are likely to succumb to Covid as the number of cases skyrockets (up 90% in a month). But such computations are callous. The death of any child is a tragedy. Ask that child's parents.

[3] These points have significant implications for schools. Children who contract the infection in school may easily infect their teachers, parents, and other adults with whom they come in contact. The children themselves may become ill, although often their symptoms may be mild. But some kids will become seriously ill; a small percentage will die; and a large percentage will become carriers, spreading disease throughout the wider community.

[4] If approximately 576 children were hospitalized, then about 192 (a third) wound up in intensive care. Bear in mind, this covers only 14 states. The total numbers for the entire USA (50 states) are presumably far higher.

CDC is the Centers for Disease Control.

[5] I.e., an intensive care unit.

[6] For schools, following these recommendations would mean a significant change in ordinary arrangements. For example, only one child could sit at any desk; desks and rows of desks would have to be several feet apart; and the total number of desks in a room would almost surely be far smaller than previously. Lunchrooms, workshops, gyms, etc., would have to be similarly rearranged. And when children leave one room to go to another, they would have to do so one by one, keeping several feet from kids before and behind them, and maintaining social distancing from kids moving in the opposite direction in the hallways. All activities in the school would likely be smaller, more dispersed, and take longer than previously. Fewer students could be accommodated in any one room or in any one period of time. And, uncomfortable though this would be, everyone in the school over the age of two would wear a mask virtually all day long. (Reducing class sizes could be beneficial, but it might also mean more classes would need to be scheduled. But how would these classes be squeezed into the day? And who would teach them?)

— R.R.

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 .August 8, 2020

THE CORONAVIRUS: 

A STEINERITE TAKE

As we have discussed here previously, protestors have rallied in opposition to mandatory measures intended to combat the coronavirus pandemic — and followers of Rudolf Steiner have been prominent in at least some of these protests [1].

The German newspaper Kontext: Wochenzeitung {Context: Weekly Newspaper} has published a lengthy article about Covid-19, anti-vaccine protests, and the Steiner view of such matters. Here are some extended excerpts:

We will do anything except vaccinate

Nowhere in Germany is the vaccination rate lower than in Baden-Württemberg [2]. If one wants to understand where Swabian [3] vaccine paranoia originated, one should above all take a look at Rudolf Steiner's Anthroposophy [4].

By Dietrich Krauss

Rudolf Steiner House, Stuttgart.

Anthroposophists and the Waldorf movement: 

well anchored in Stuttgart's academic green milieu. 

Photo: Joachim E. Röttgers

.

When pandemic protests blossomed in the corona hotspot Baden-Württemberg in the spring [5]...the colorful crowd of protestors unmistakably agreed on a single principle: opposition to vaccination... 

Nowhere in Germany is the measles vaccination rate lower than in Baden-Württemberg. The rate among children entering school, 89.7 percent, is significantly below the rate of 95 percent recommended by the WHO [6]. Moreover, none of the other 13 most important infectious diseases [7] achieved a vaccination rate of 90 percent in 2019...

Today, the Greens [8] are the natural home of all supporters of alternative healing methods ... But rarely does the "elephant in the room" come into focus: the influential Anthroposophy. Rudolf Steiner's occult dogma [9]...promises to its customers different, somehow more natural medicine [10], agriculture [11], and education [12].

Teething troubles often break out in Waldorf schools

Since the first Waldorf School was founded 100 years ago on the Uhlandshöhe in Stuttgart [13], Stuttgart has been something of the capital of the eurythmy movement [14]. Here the bourgeoisie entered into a lasting alliance with Steiner's esotericism. The "Waldis" [15] are particularly well anchored here ... Their harmless image, however, obscures our view of the abysses in Steiner's occultism...

Anthroposophical senior physicians clearly differentiate themselves from ordinary opponents of vaccination. They recognize the blessings of modern infection control [16]...

But that is only half of the truth: At the same time, the Anthroposophical group "Doctors for Individual Vaccination Decisions" led by Anthroposophic pediatrician Michael Friedl [17] currently supports the political movement against mandatory measles vaccination [18]. "We are free citizens who decide freely whether they want to be vaccinated or not," said the Anthroposophical thought leader Christoph Hueck [19] ... "We are tired of brainwashing and dictatorial government action" [he said]...declaring that the coronavirus cannot harm a good immune system...

Hueck trains teachers for Waldorf schools ... [O]ver the past few years, there have been measles outbreaks at Waldorf schools, most recently in Hildesheim Freiburg or Cologne. According to a study by the Baden-Württemberg State Health Office, a proud 30 percent of children at Waldorf schools are not vaccinated. At state schools it is just five percent. In reports on measles outbreaks, it is remarkably rare to learn that the highly contagious and dangerous childhood disease (130,000 deaths annually) very often starts at Waldorf schools. It is obvious that this is the result of the...work by Anthroposophical doctors. Anthroposophical medicine causes measles outbreaks...

Unwrapping the occultism within

Why the Steiner community fights so doggedly...against the need for vaccination can only be understood if we descend into the abyss of Steiner's occultism. This occultism is not paraded before the public in an aggressive manner — after all, Waldorf schools depend on financial support from the state [20]. Extremely esoetric doctrines could unsettle the taxpayer. That is why a kind of Anthroposophical doubletalk has been adopted. In official statements intended for the public, a scientific patina is applied, presenting Steiner esotericism as unobjectionable universal wisdom. But in the original Anthroposophical writings and journals, on the other hand, the wrappings come off. In the case of measles, it is officially said that enduring childhood illnesses instead of suppressing them strengthens childrens' immune systems and promotes childhood development [21].

Looking deeper, we find teachings that are completely divorced from conventional medicine. Steiner taught that the human ego reincarnates again and again into new bodies [22]. Accordingly, in the first years of life, a child must be able to settle into his or her body and individualize it, a process aided by the fever produced by measles. The Anthroposophical doctor Daphné von Boch [23] explains in the February issue of the Waldorf educational magazine "Erziehungskunst" [The Art of Education] precisely what this means: A newborn child is still made up entirely of its mother's protein and is therefore in danger of being "overwhelmed" and "controlled by the other," the mother. Only measles fever destroys the maternal protein and thus makes room for the child's own protein, which corresponds to the child's individual spirit.

Asked to comment, the Society for Paediatric Medicine [24] warns against the presentation of such outlandish theses. But such theses are certainly on the curriculum of Anthroposophical medical training, where Daphne von Boch teaches future doctors how to heal with planetary metals [25].

Torn between compliance with the law [26] and obedience to Steiner, the leading Anthroposophic medical doctors try to be flexible. So, in recent statements, they have indicated that children don't absolutely need to be infected with measles. Pneumonia would do just as well. The main thing is making sure the child has a fever. And this is not just about the immune system.

In the eternal cycle of birth and rebirth, diseases have an educational meaning in Anthroposophic medicine. They are karmic compensation [27] for misconduct in a previous life: Too much self-esteem [during one life] can lead to cholera in the next life, sensual debauchery can lead to pneumonia, those who have been insufficiently musical in the previous life will suffer from asthma later, someone who has shown too little interest in stars and celestial processes will be punished with weak connective tissue. This is not a comedy routine — it is Anthroposophy.

Coronavirus - an attack by the devil

The laughter dies out when we read about the occult-racist madness [28] with which the self-proclaimed clairvoyant [Rudolf Steiner] "explains" the origin of infectious diseases. Like all organisms that settle in other organisms, bacilli and viruses are devilish in nature — or "more precisely" they are spiritual demons and decomposition products of vanished inferior peoples such as the "Mongolian race" [29]. Mongols carried the bacilli in their rotten astral bodies [30] and infected the advanced members of Germanic tribes during the great migrations. The degenerated Asians loaded their putrefactive substances onto European astral bodies [31].

This epidemic madness preached by Steiner has been reissued by Anthroposophists on the occasion of the corona crisis: The coronavirus is interpreted in a YouTube lecture as a spiritual attack on mankind by the devil, who is currently preparing his incarnation [32]. With money and power, fear and lies, the devil makes people susceptible to the virus, which a strong immune system can easily deal with. "Unconventional thinker" Christoph Hueck points out in a corona article that, according to Steiner, infectious diseases are to be viewed as messages from the spirit world: People want to contract specific illnesses, in fact they literally need them in order to gain the ability to deal with and overcome their karma. Anyone who [in a past life] has indulged corrupt tendencies such as selfishness becomes more easily infected.

Bacilli only spread if you cultivate materialistic ideas and self-centered fears and take these to bed with you. Then devilish ahrimanic forces [33] can spread into the organs that feed the bacilli: So it is important to go to bed thinking spiritual ideas, to expose yourself to sunlight, and to perform many hopeful eurythmy movements.

Vaccination, however, can make you deaf to the karmic messages. Those who protect themselves from illness with vaccines may enjoy physical health, but according to Steiner, they are threatened with inability to reincarnate to higher levels. That is why vaccinated people do not suffer from smallpox, but they are afflicted with emotional desolation. This damage from vaccines can only be compensated by attending a Waldorf school [34]....

[8/8/2020    https://www.kontextwochenzeitung.de/debatte/484/wir-koennen-alles-ausser-impfen-6853.html    This article originally appeared on July 8. Translation by Roger Rawlings, making liberal use of Google Translate and DeepL Translator.]

Waldorf Watch Footnotes 

[1] See "Opposition to a Vaccine That Does Not Exist Yet", July 3, 2020, and "Opposition to a Vaccinate That Does Not Exist Yet (Continued)", July 7, 2020.

[2] Baden-Württemberg is a state in southwest Germany.

[3] Swabia is a somewhat loosely defined cultural and linguistic region in southwestern Germany. It corresponds roughly with Baden-Württemberg.

[4] Anthrposophy is the body of occult teachings propounded by Rudolf Steiner and/or the practice of occult investigation/speculation pioneered by Steiner. [See "Anthroposophy" in the Brief Waldorf / Steiner Encyclopedia (BWSE).]

[5] There has been a relatively large number of cases of Covid-19 in Baden-Württemberg. [See, e.g., https://www.citypopulation.de/en/germany/covid/08__baden_württemberg/.]

[6] I.e., The World Health Organization.

[7] Various authorities have produced various lists of major infectious diseases, including malaria, tuberculosis, HIV/AIDS, cholera, plague, influenza, smallpox, etc. For one fairly comprehensive list, see "28 Devastating Infectious Diseases", Live Science [https://www.livescience.com/13694-devastating-infectious-diseases-smallpox-plague.html].

[8] Alliance 90/The Greens is a German political party advocating natural values, especially protection of the world's environment.

[9] "Occult," as Steiner used the word, means mysterious or hidden. Steiner claimed that Anthroposophy solves many spiritual mysteries — it reveals many otherwise hidden deep truths. [See "Occultism".]

[10] For an overview of Anthroposophical medicine, see "Steiner's Quackery".

[11] Anthroposophical agriculture is often termed "biodynamic" agriculture. [See "Biodynamics".]

[12] This is Waldorf education. [See "Here's the Answer".]

[13] Stuttgart is the capital of Baden-Württemberg. The Uhlandshöhe is a hill on the eastern edge of central Stuttgart. Rudolf Steiner founded the first Waldorf School there in 1919.

[14] By "the eurythmy movement," Krauss presumably means the Waldorf/Anthroposophical movement or, more generally, the vaguely defined coterie of 21st century countercultural Western mystics. Krauss locates Anthroposophy — and its expression, eurythmy — at the center of this coterie. Eurythmy is a form or spiritual dance — effectively temple dancing — created by Rudolf Steiner. To perform eurythmy is, Steiner indicated, to enact Anthroposophy as bodily movement. [See "Eurythmy".]

[15] I.e., fans and proponents of Waldorf schools.

[16] Anthroposophical doctors, who have medical degrees, may sometimes prescribe vaccination. Steiner indicated that vaccination may be appropriate in some instances. But, in general, Anthroposophical medicine is leery of vaccines. [See "vaccination" in the BWSE.]

[17] See, e.g., https://static1.squarespace.com/static/564b04ebe4b01a652ab61563/t/5ad8a32003ce646d1a2dc88d/1524146978750/AWE2018_4_NEW.pdf. Michael Friedl is identified as "president of the medical association for individual decisions on vaccination."

[18] See "Measles vaccination becomes mandatory in Germany," euronews [https://www.euronews.com/2020/03/02/measles-vaccination-becomes-mandatory-in-germany].

[19] See, e.g., "A Skewed Take on Illness", June 17, 2020. Christoph Hueck is a Waldorf teacher.

[20] I.e., Waldorf schools in Germany receive state financing. (Elsewhere, many Waldorf schools are private institutions, dependent on their own fundraising.)

[21] See "childhood diseases" in the BWSE.

[22] See "Reincarnation".

[23] "Dr. Daphné von Boch is an anthroposophical doctor who was born in Montreal but presently resides in Switzerland." — https://www.anthroposophy.ca/en/public-news/2019/03/26/eat-healthy-choose-life-interview-with-dr-daphne-von-bach-by-michel-dongois/.

[24] This seems to be a reference to Die Deutsche Gesellschaft für Kinder- und Jugendmedizin {The German Society for Child and Youth Medicine} — see https://www.dgkj.de.

[25] See "metals" in the BWSE.

[26] See "Medical Law", https://germanlawarchive.iuscomp.org/?page_id=1002.

[27] See "Karma".

[28] For an overview of Steiner's racial teachings, see "Steiner's Racism".

[29] See "Mongolian race" in the BWSE; cf. "Mongols".

[30] See "astral body" in the BWSE.

[31] Steiner's teachings on these matters were complex and sometimes inconsistent. The summary offered by Krauss is at least within the ballpark. Here is a pertinent statement by Steiner: 

"[S]ouls reappear in bodies belonging to higher races, while the bodies of the lower races die out. Such a process does not occur however without having effects of its own. When something like this occurs over large regions, when something disappears, as it were, it does not disappear into nothing, but rather disperses and is then present in a different form. You will understand what I mean if you consider that with the dying out of the worst parts of the ancient population of which I have been speaking, the whole region gradually became filled with demonic beings that represented the products of the decay of what had died out. The whole of Europe and also Asia Minor were thus filled with the spiritual products of decay from the dying out of the worst parts of the population. The demons of decay, which were contained in the spiritual atmosphere, as it were, endured for a long time and later exerted an influence in such a way that they permeated people's feelings. Their influence can best be seen at the time of the Great Migrations, when large masses of people, including Attila and his hordes, came over from Asia and caused great terror among the people in Europe. This terror made the population susceptible to the influences of the demonic beings that still persisted from earlier times. As a consequence of the terror produced by the hordes coming over from Asia, there gradually developed what manifested during the Middle Ages as the epidemic of leprosy. This disease was nothing other than the consequence of the conditions of fear and terror that the people experienced at this time. But these conditions could have had this effect only with people who had been exposed to the demonic forces from the past.” — Rudolf Steiner, THE SPIRITUAL FOUNDATION OF MORALITY (SteinerBooks, 1995), pp. 30-31.

[32] The "devil" referred to here is, according to Steiner, Ahriman. [See "Ahriman".]

Anthroposophists have caused themselves a certain amount of difficulty through YouTube presentations. See, e.g., "5G Waves, Disease, & Anthroposophy", April 8, 2020.

[33] I.e., forces flowing from Ahriman and his minions.

[34] Anthroposophists often argue that Waldorf education is, in and of itself, curative. Attending a Waldorf school causes a child to be more healthy, in large part due to the healthful spiritual qualities of these schools. See, e.g., the book EDUCATION AS PREVENTIVE MEDICINE, edited by Waldorf school doctor Michaela Glöckler (Rudolf Steiner College Press, 2002). 

"From the beginning of his work with teachers and physicians, Rudolf Steiner always stressed that educating is simultaneously healing, a subtle healing. The curriculum of the Waldorf school is therefore built exclusively on physiological aspects of learning and child development. Each subject is considered, above all, with respect to its effects on physical development ... [Steiner] develops his pedagogical starting point from those principles and interconnections of [spiritual/therapeutic] laws that work throughout human life in the service of health and represent the system of forces that promote self-healing." — Michaela Glöckler, EDUCATION AS PREVENTIVE MEDICINE, pp. 15-16. 

The chief "physiological" stages of child development, according to Waldorf belief, are the incarnation of the etheric body at age seven and the incarnation of the astral body at age 14 (followed by incarnation of the "I" at age 21). [See "Incarnation".] Waldorf education is largely keyed to these fantasies.

— R.R.

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 .August 5, 2020

◊ EDITORIAL◊

IMAGINING WALDORF 

FREED  OF  STEINER 

The Association of Waldorf Schools in North America (AWSNA) seems to have taken a small step toward distancing themselves from Waldorf founder Rudolf Steiner. At least, they have issued a statement disassociating themselves from any racist statements Steiner may have made [1].

Devout disciples of Steiner — a cohort that includes many leaders of Waldorf schools — generally look on him as a nearly infallible sage [2]. For them, it is nearly unthinkable that Steiner could have been wrong about any important subject. Even entertaining such a possibility would, for them, open terrible prospects. If Steiner was wrong about one subject, perhaps he was wrong about other subjects, too. And in that case, the entire edifice of Anthroposophy — the spiritual system at the heart of the Waldorf movement — might come apart. For Steiner's followers, this would be a catastrophe. Their entire worldview, the teachings that give their lives meaning, could crumble to dust.

Outsiders are often surprised to learn what Steiner's followers believe. Here are a few examples. Steiner claimed to be clairvoyant [3], and he said he could teach his followers to develop their own clairvoyant capacities [4]. Steiner claimed that, due to his extremely high clairvoyant powers, he was able to probe the "higher worlds" above earthly existence [5]. He likewise claimed that he could divine much of the occult lore of the nine ranks of gods who control the operations of the cosmos [6]. Then, too, he said he could peer behind the veil of nature to understand the "nature spirits" — such as gnomes and undines — who dwell there [7]. He could explain the workings of karma [8] and reincarnation [9]. He could trace human evolution from its beginning in Old Saturn [10] to its future magnificence in Future Vulcan [11]. And so on [12].

If Steiner was wrong about the human races, could he possibly have been wrong about some of these other matters? Or could he even (oh no!) have been wrong about all of them? What, in short, if Anthroposophy is poppycock? Whither Waldorf then?

Of course, not all Waldorf schools in existence today are run by dyed-in-the-wool, true-believing Anthroposophists. Not all Waldorf teachers embrace Steiner's occult beliefs. Some Waldorf schools already function without relying absolutely on the guidance provided by Rudolf Steiner [13]. So it is possible (just barely) to image that the Waldorf movement could remain viable even if Waldorf leaders were someday to utterly renounce Steiner and all his works. (Don't hold your breath. Such a renunciation is not in the cards yet, and it may never be. But we can contemplate it, at least as a thought experiment.)

Would Waldorf education, wholly cleansed of Steiner's mysticism, be successful? Would Steiner-free Waldorf schools provide a good education?

The single greatest problem with Waldorf schools is that they tend to indoctrinate students in a soft form of Anthroposophy [14]. Indeed, luring kids toward Anthroposophy is the underlying raison d'être of the Waldorf movement [15]. Clearly, if Anthroposophy were wholly removed from Waldorf schools, then this problem would be resolved.

Mostly.

But an aftereffect of this problem would likely remain. Much of the Waldorf approach relies on hazy, feel-good methods [16]. These methods are attractive, even alluring. They may be intuitively appealing to many parents, especially those with spirit-tinged countercultural leanings. But these methods are based more on wishfulness than actual knowledge of psychology, child development, or educational principles. In the ethereal Waldorf view, children are pure, innocent spirits newly arrived from the beyond. Childhood is thought to be a sort of golden interlude between a spiritual prenatal existence and pragmatic, earthly adulthood. Kids should be given plenty of free time for unstructured play. They should be raised in a warm, hazy atmosphere of art and imagination and myth. They should be shielded from the hurly-burly modern world with its whiz-bang technologies and whirring, flashing gadgetry. Children should be relieved of the need to master academic subjects or to begin absorbing the findings of modern science and scholarship. Even the study of reading, writing, and basic arithmetic should be postponed. Children should be cosseted, swaddled in soothing fantasies, and infantilized [17].

The Waldorf vision of childhood may feel right to many people, but whether it is right is a different matter. Waldorf teachers rarely consult the latest research about childhood education; they are rarely even aware of it [18]. Instead, they follow a pattern of schooling set down by a mystic (who was not a professional educator) a century ago. This pattern arguably served children badly from its inception, and it almost certainly serves them worse now, in the twenty-first century. Are children raised in the Waldorf way likely to be prepared for real life in the real world? Are they likely to be ready to begin real schooling, if for any reason this became expected of them? Or are they instead starting down a path leading, at least potentially, toward woolly mysticism and otherworldly impracticality? Even those of us who share some Waldorf values (respect for nature, for instance, and love of art, and a deep concern for child welfare) might well worry for today's Waldorf students [19].

The problems with Waldorf schooling would certainly be alleviated if Steiner and Anthroposophy were wholly eliminated from Waldorf culture. Perhaps some Waldorf schools would then migrate toward the mainstream until they became essentially indistinguishable from other mildly "alternative" forms of education — arts-intensive charter schools, say. But what this means, really, is that Waldorf schools might become more or less okay if they ceased to be Waldorf schools.

And we should bring this discussion back into the realm of probability. Steiner and his doctrines are so fundamental to Waldorf schooling that in all probability they will remain present, to some degree, as long as Waldorf education exists as an identifiable movement. And this means that the otherworldly miasma within Waldorf walls will retain its Anthroposophical hues. Waldorf will remain a process that eases kids (and perhaps their parents) toward the occult faith promulgated by Rudolf Steiner.

The single greatest problem with Waldorf schools will probably remain the single greatest problem with Waldorf schools.

Waldorf Watch Footnotes 

[1] See "Stepping Away from Steiner?", July 26, 2020.

[2] See "Guru".

[3] See "Exactly".

[4] See "Knowing the Worlds".

[5] See "Higher Worlds".

[6] See "Polytheism".

[7] See "Neutered Nature".

[8] See "Karma".

[9] See "Reincarnation".

[10] See "Old Saturn".

[11] See "Future Stages".

[12] For an overview of Anthroposophical doctrines, see "Everything". Also see "Waldorf Wisdom".

Waldorf students are rarely taught these doctrines in so many words, but they are nudged toward receptivity to such ideas, for instance in the myths they study [see "The Gods"] and the prayers they are required to recite [see "Prayers"].

[13] See "Non-Waldorf Waldorfs".

[14] See "Indoctrination".

[15] See "Here's the Answer".

[16] See "Methods".

The techniques used in Waldorf schooling are based on Anthroposophical beliefs, such as belief in the incarnation of the so-called etheric body at age seven. [See "etheric body" in the The Brief Waldorf / Steiner Encyclopedia.] If Anthroposophy were removed, the ideological justification for these techniques would melt away. Whether the techniques could be justified on other grounds is, at best, moot.

[17] See, e.g., "childhood" in The Brief Waldorf / Steiner Encyclopedia. Also see such pages as "Thinking Cap", "Incarnation", "Glory", "The Waldorf Curriculum", "Academic Standards at Waldorf", and "Play - Isn't Slow Learning Best?"

Children certainly should be protected and treated gently. But we may inflict great harm even while we try to be kind. The purpose of education is to help children learn to apprehend, and function in, reality. Children love make-believe and fantasy, and satisfying their desire for these is fine — up to a point. But we should not lead children into labyrinths of fantasy from which they may not be able to escape. The fantasies promoted in Waldorf schools tend to be reiterated and elaborated year by year until they become a full worldview: the dreamscape of Anthroposophy. Hypothetical Steiner-free Waldorf schools would no longer lead children toward Anthroposophy per se, but they might well continue to lead children into mystical and metaphysical confusions that could hamper them throughout life.

Rudolf Steiner downplayed the importance of the brain and brainwork. [See "Steiner's Specific".] The educational system he created is anti-intellectual, anti-scientific, and anti-rational. [See, e.g., "Reality and Fantasy".] If future "cleansed" Waldorf schools were to continue embodying these biases, they might continue to hurt students in the same ways Waldorf schools arguably hurt them now. [See, e.g., "Who Gets Hurt?" and "Mistreating Kids Lovingly".]

[18] See "Teacher Training".

[19] For a defense of Waldorf schools — and a rebuttal — see "Into the World".

— R.R.

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  August 1, 2020

FAILING WYNSTONES 

WON'T REOPEN NOW

Steiner schools in the United Kingdom currently face what is almost certainly the gravest challenge in their history [1]. Inspectors from the UK government have found severe failings at several of the schools. Enrollments have dropped and support for the schools generally has evidently diminished. Some of the most severely criticized schools have closed, and restructuring efforts have been instituted in various UK Steiner schools [2].

One of the shuttered Steiner schools is Wynstones, a Steiner boarding school in Gloucestershire. Recently, a pro-Wynstones parents group withdrew its lawsuit against the inspectorate that had given the school the lowest possible evaluation [3]. Now proponents of the school, who had hoped to reopen the institution this autumn, have announced that the reopening will be delayed. The overhanging question is whether Wynstones will ever open its doors again, as a Steiner school or in any other guise. Spokespeople for the school have evidently offered no clear reason for postponing their plans to reopen, which seems ominous. The date for a possible reopening seems to be, at best, up in the air.

Here are excerpts from a new report from GloucestershireLive [Gloucester, England]:

Gloucester school won't reopen 

until September 2021 'unless 

earlier point becomes possible'

Wynstones School 'A Steiner Waldorf School', in Whaddon [4], 

has said that it is aiming to open next year —  

this comes after a damning Ofsted [5] report in January closed the school 

By Zasha Whiteway-Wilkinson

A Gloucester school has announced that its plans to reopen this coming September have been delayed and that it is now likely to open next year instead.

Wynstones School in Whaddon, Gloucester said in a statement on its website that the "planned reopening for September 2020 is now delayed"...

This comes months after education watchdog Ofsted found the boarding school had 'serious and widespread failures' [6].

The independent boarding school was rated 'inadequate' [7] in January 2019 after inspectors reported 'significant safeguarding concerns' [8].

A further inspection held in January 2020, found a failure in safeguarding ... After which, a source said that parents were emailed and told the school was closed with immediate effect.

Ofsted's website says the school has been closed, and a spokesman for the [school's] Trustees said 'robust action' will be taken to tackle the issues with an aim to 'enable the school to re-open safely'...

In relation to the Oftsed reports, in a statement shared by the school on March 17, 2020 [the Trustees] said that they were "entirely committed to the complete renewal of their structures, systems and culture" [9].

They said: "The staff and trustees of Wynstones School are currently working on and entirely committed to the complete renewal of our structures, systems and culture in order to address all underlying issues highlighted in the January 2020 Ofsted inspection"...

At the time new headteacher Paul Hougham said: "I am pleased to have joined Wynstones School as Principal, albeit in these sober and testing times. I am aware of the concern and distress many parents carry at this time and I trust we can meet soon to address questions and concerns, and work together towards the sole task to reopen the school [11]...

"It is important to note that the school strongly disagrees with any reactive critique of Ofsted and the DfE [10] in general, and the specifics of the January 2020 inspection and closure [12]. This would not be in alignment with the school's journey towards renewal, an honest self-reflection of its failings, and a robust and credible action plan to reopen...."

[8/1/2020   https://www.gloucestershirelive.co.uk/news/gloucester-news/gloucester-school-wont-reopen-until-4373679   This article originally appeared on July 29.]

Waldorf Watch Footnotes 

[1] See "The Steiner School Crisis".

[2] See, e.g., "Inadequate: Bristol, Frome, &...".

[3] See "The Crisis Continues as Lawsuit Collapses", July 12, 2020 — scroll down.

[4] Whaddon is a suburb of Cheltenham, Gloucestershire. Wynstones School is located off the Stroud Road, A4173.

[5] Ofsted is the UK government's Office for Standards in Education.

[6] See "Steiner Crisis Makes the Beeb", January 29, 2020.

[7] This is the lowest rating given by Ofsted; it is a failing grade.

[8] Ofsted found that Wynstones failed to adequately safeguard its students (it failed to protect them adequately). News coverage has tended to emphasize safeguarding failures at Steiner schools. But inspections at various Steiner schools uncovered faults in several other areas of school life, including teaching and leadership.

[9] While proponents of Steiner/Waldorf schools often deny that there is anything wrong with these institutions, the Wynstones trustees at least implicitly accept the accuracy of Ofsted's findings. How extensive the "complete renewal" of the school will be remains unclear. Changing the school's "culture" could require Wynstones to break away from Steiner pedagogy, but there seems to be no indication that the trustees intend to go that far. This may make the reformation of the school extremely difficult, if — as critics have argued — the problems at Steiner/Waldorf schools are systemic. [See, e.g., "Ofsted May Seek Systemic Steiner Flaws", January, 2019.]

[10] DfE is the UK government's Department for Education. Ofsted is part of the DfE.

[11] Proponents of Waldorf/Steiner schools — who often include devout Anthroposophists — generally fight hard on behalf of these schools, and they may see reopening a criticized Waldorf/Steiner school as their "sole" or overriding task. Anthroposophists consider Waldorf/Steiner schools to be crucial extensions of the Anthroposophical movement overall. [For background, see "Anthroposophy" and "Waldorf schools" in The Brief Waldorf / Steiner Enyclopedia.] Religious fervor often suffuses Anthroposophical and Waldorf circles. [See "Is Anthroposophy a Religion?"]

[12] Although Principal Hougham evidently rejected "any reactive critique of Ofsted and the DfE," a strong effort was made to challenge Ofsted in court. The new delay in plans to reopen Wynstones comes after that effort collapsed.

— R.R.

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