Not long ago, a Waldorf school collapsed.

Here’s a message posted by a Waldorf teacher 

about this sad event.

Following the message, 

I have added some comments of my own. — R.R. 

Fairy Tale, End of the True Quest

Date: May 17, 2009

Well, sometimes the evil witches win, this is so, and goodness cannot prevail at the moment, although in the longer run, we hope it does arise again in the world of the green valleys and deep forests.....sometimes the ground cracks open and the innocent fall in despite their best efforts to stay above ground!

Such is the lesson to be found at the end of the tale of a School. Staggering on past the new year, unrealizing as to the mortality of the wound, simply wrapping those parts in tight gauze and tape, we limped forwards and around spring break, joy began to return to the hearts of those who remained, steadfast, like the loyal Labrador who will not leave its master, lying too still upon the ground.

Holding one another up, we moved on to literally rise like the mist and dance around the Maypole, a truly blessed white celebration of encouragement and yet, hospice was still waiting in the wings, her white cap and shoes gleam in the shadows

School fragmentations, even gentle ones or perhaps even simply boring ones, scar. Yes they burn and scar the skins of the souls of people even those who stay, and surely those who leave. And that numbness can spread and become a very wicked spell nearly impossible to break. The numbing paralysis creates a kind of lack of interest and causes one to look elsewhere for the golden rose, the handsome prince, the new school, a different venue for the living of the childhood education, and slowly even the most dedicated drift away, nearly imperceptibly. The sight of the present situation when compared to the former glory is nearly unbearable.

And even more sadness can be felt in the two communities who split off from the mother-initiative: one slowly dissolving and intractable to overtures to return, recombine, reinvent, re-create, who cares what model, for the sake of the children....to no avail, drifting away into oblivion, and the other, the home of the Wicked Queen, that one angrily persisting and insisting that disemboweling the school was the ONLY right action, regardless of the subsequent firing of more teachers who went along with the Queen, and loss of so many children, some of whom wandered back through the woods like the self-rescued Hansel and Gretel: children who came back, sodden, sad, lost, happy to be dry, fed, hugged....yes they came back for a while.

But in the end, the numbers are the Fairies who rule, and they ruled in favor of stepping back, losing a lease, selling furniture, turning away from what could have been and letting go.

Such is life, is it not? Loving enough to let it go. And being patient, watching the horizon, setting up the towers of fire, ready for the next cycle of the sun. Trying to step over the very tempting world of revenge.

My response:

It is possible that the closing of this school was truly unfortunate. It is possible, too, that the individuals responsible for bringing the school to its end had evil motives.

But let me tell how I, a Waldorf graduate, respond to some of the language in the message "Fairy Tale, End of the True Quest". I can easily imagine my old teachers using such language — indeed, they often used very similar terms and phrases. So, if I heard my old teachers, today, describing our school in this way, here's what would run through my mind. (Remember, please, that I am not attributing any of this specifically to the author of "Fairy Tale, End of the True Quest". The following is what I imagine my teachers might mean and/or what I would hear if they used such language today. And please bear this in mind, too: I feel genuine sympathy for, and even a sense of comradeship with, the author of the message. Clearly, the author and I now view the world very differently. But I have had views and feelings similar to the ones I find in "Fairy Tale". I think that if the author and I met, we might find that — despite our differences — we could get along well with one another. We might even become friends. After all, one of the highest values of friendship is to span the gap separating individuals who happen to hold differing opinions.)

So: This is part of what I would hear in such language if used by my old teachers now:

◊ "Fairy Tale" :: Entering a Waldorf school each morning means leaving the material, physical, Ahrimanic, entropic, "real" world and entering an enchanted kingdom of living spiritual forces, fairy tales, myths, and true occultism.

◊ "End of the True Quest" :: Only true Anthroposophists aim for and possess the truth. They are on the noble quest Rudolf Steiner delineated (pointing toward evolutionary development of a divine, superhuman humanity). No one else has a commensurate claim to the truth.

◊ "the evil witches" :: These are the critics of Steiner's ideas and approaches; especially, they are the enemies of Waldorf education. They are not simply mistaken, they are malicious. They certainly do not have a point of view that should be considered seriously: They are misdirected and malevolent.

◊ "goodness cannot prevail at the moment" :: Waldorf schools not only have a unique claim to truth, they have a unique claim to virtue. Thus, as Steiner said, there can be no compromising with Anthroposophy's critics: We are engaged in a fight between the forces of light and the forces of darkness. At the moment, the forces of darkness have prevailed. But perhaps only for the moment.

◊ "sometimes the ground cracks open and the innocent fall in" :: The innocent are Waldorf students and true Waldorf teachers; the machinations of evil witches send them to an undeserved doom.

◊ "joy began to return to the hearts of those who remained, steadfast" :: Waldorf schools are the only real locus of not just truth and goodness but also joy and loyalty. We are steadfast; our opponents are not.

◊ "we moved on to literally rise like the mist..." :: Rising mists, as viewed by Anthroposophists, are a kind of physical expression of spirit; spiritual beings within the mist tremble on the verge of physical manifestation. (A "clairvoyant" Anthroposophist may actually see fairies or sylphs dancing in the mist.)

◊ "...and dance around the May Pole" :: Waldorf life is a joyous celebration, akin to the swirling dance performed around a Maypole.* A Waldorf school is not so much a school as the site of sacred rituals, the performance of mystic rites. We "teachers" are celebrants. [See "Schools as Churches".]

◊ "a truly blessed white celebration" :: White is good (true, virtuous, spiritual, blessed); black is the reverse. We, of course, stand on the side of the white.

◊ "a very wicked spell" :: The black, evil forces who oppose Waldorf education cast many malign spells. Our shield is Anthroposophy.

◊ "the sight of the present situation when compared to the former glory" :: Waldorf schools are not just good schools, they are gloriously and uniquely true. They are uniquely attuned to the supersensible universe. When healthy, they are bathed in glory.

◊ "the mother-initiative” vs. “the home of the Wicked Queen” :: The good maternal forces are opposed, as always, by the evil ones. (The "Wicked Queen," I infer, is a particular individual who played a major role in the school's downfall.) 

◊ "in the end, the numbers are the Fairies who rule, and they ruled" :: Numbers, quantities, quantitative thinking — these are often destructive. Yet everything is suffused by supersensible powers and beings; temporary victories by the evil forces may be only illusory. Fairies (or, more generally, spirits) inhere, and their intentions must be respected. The story of any Waldorf school can be understood, ultimately, only in terms of mysticism.

◊ "setting up the towers of fire, ready for the next cycle of the sun" :: The heroes will persist, they will build again, and once again they will be blessed by the powers of the light.

Allow me to repeat that I do not ascribe any of the above to the author of the message in question. Rather, I am reporting what one Waldorf graduate hears in such language. To the extent that I am hearing genuine echoes of the attitudes held by Waldorf teachers, the closing of a Waldorf school, here or there, now or again, might not be an unmitigated disaster.

I should also add that today, long after leaving the Waldorf universe, I hear another level of meaning in language such at we find in "Fairy Tale, End of the True Quest". It is unintended meaning, but it is powerfully present. It is a level of self-deception, delusion, self-aggrandizement, and mystical romanticism. I sympathize with it. I remember living within the prismatic mists of such language. But I have also learned to understand such language as ultimately destructive and self-defeating. It is the language of a wholly fanciful and false view of the world.

— Roger Rawlings

*  A Maypole dance is sweet ceremony, perhaps, although the maypole was originally a phallic symbol and the dance was a pagan fertility rite. (See "A Note on Maypole Dances", below.) Whether Waldorf teachers and students generally know this history is doubtful, but Anthroposophy is pagan in the literal sense: It stands outside the world's main religions.

Here are related items from the 

Waldorf Watch News:

THE SILENT DEATHS 

OF WALDORF SCHOOLS

New Waldorf schools are created now and then, all around the world. And Waldorf schools die now and then, all around the world. 

The Waldorf movement generally trumpets news of Waldorf openings while hushing up news of Waldorf collapses.

Here is a rough translation of the headline and first paragraph of a posting at a French blog that touches on these matters. The headline, in French, is "L’école Steiner-Waldorf des Capucines ferme définitivement ses portes."

The Steiner-Waldorf School of Capucines 

finally closes its doors

Posted on January 18, 2018

The news of the closure of a Steiner-Waldorf school is usually something that the leaders of these institutions do not want to publicize, as this would draw attention to an event whose causes they would prefer to keep hidden. That's why everything is done so that the news does not shine out. A Steiner school dies silently, without cries of agony, disappearing from the public scene as if it had never existed. No report is issued, nor of course is any public announcement made, because a candid accounting would be harmful to Steiner-Waldorf schools in general; it would reveal not only local problems, but more importantly it would reveal serious structural dysfunctions caused by the sectarian nature of these schools.

[downloaded 1/20/2018    https://veritesteiner.wordpress.com/2018/01/18/lecole-steiner-waldorf-des-capucines-ferme-definitivement-ses-portes/   Rough translation by Roger Rawlings.]

◊

Waldorf Watch Response:

The blog in question is called La Vérité sur les écoles Steiner-Waldorf (The Truth about Steiner-Waldorf Schools). The blogger is Grégoire Perra, a former Waldorf student and Waldorf teacher. If you can read French, you would be well advised to follow Perra's posts. Having been a Waldorf insider, Perra knows whereof he speaks. (If you can't read French, various online translation services may help you. There is, for instance, Google Translate, which is far from perfect but seems to be improving.)

Perra is a whistle-blower who was once prominent in the Anthroposophical community. After he left that community and began writing critical essays, Steiner-Waldorf authorities sued, trying to silence him. But he won the trial.

Some of his most significant work is available, in English translation, here at Waldorf Watch. Included are:

"My Life Among the Anthroposophists"/

"The Anthroposophical Indoctrination /

of Students in Steiner-Waldorf Schools"/

("He Went to Waldorf")

and

"Nearly Undetectable Influence/ 

and Indoctrination"/

("Mistreating Kids Lovingly").

The account of Perra's trial is available at 

"My Life Among The Anthroposophists - Part 3".

◊

For more about the closings of Waldorf schools, see "Failure of Waldorf schools/Steiner schools" in the Waldorf Watch Annex Index https://sites.google.com/site/waldorfwatchannex/annex-index-d-i.

◊

Concerning Waldorf failures generally, here is a statement made by an Australian Waldorf teacher:

"In my four decades in Steiner [education], I have seen many [Steiner] schools born ... Sadly I've also seen many die. Sometimes the death is physical, where the school simply vanishes; in others it is a spiritual demise. This is when the purity of the Steiner educational impulse is contaminated, or at worst, corrupted totally ... I can not recall any of these schools dying due to external attack ... Rather every tortured demise was caused from within. The cancer took root in the souls of one or other of the elements of the school community itself...." — Alan Whitehead, A CREATIVE LIFE - Memoirs of a Rudolf Steiner Teacher, vol. 3, Into the Wind (Golden Beetle Books, 2001), p. 2. 

A spiritually dead Waldorf school may survive in some form or other, at least for a while. But it will no longer be a real Waldorf school. And, precisely for this reason — because it has lost its raison d'être — it may eventually close its doors. Then again, losing "the purity of the Steiner educational impulse" may merely be a matter of perspective. One faction within a Waldorf school may interpret Steiner's teachings differently from another faction. Strife and dissension may result — this is often the case in Waldorf schools — and the losing faction may accuse the winners of apostasy and betrayal. The school may survive, but at the cost of becoming a difficult place to work. As another Waldorf teacher has written:

"[W]hen things go bad [at a Waldorf school] they do so from the inside ... [S]everal teachers had, through a misunderstanding and misapplication of Steiner's words, become excessively, in fact obsessively, preoccupied with [X, Y, or Z — the details aren't important] ... Between them the school's managers and their protégés had turned the Rudolf Steiner School into a place where I didn't want to be ... I got myself a job at the [non-Steiner] Lenox School ... My work at Lenox was rather trying, since the students were much nastier than the ones at the Rudolf Steiner School ... [but] the teachers were considerably easier to get on with." — Keith Francis, THE EDUCATION OF A WALDORF TEACHER (iUniverse, 2004), pp. 94-115.

— R.R.

June 15, 2019

◊ News Brief ◊

ANOTHER ONE 

BITES THE DUST 

Another Waldorf high school is closing. Last month, a Waldorf high school in Hawaii announced it is giving up the ghost [1]. In today's case, the soon-to-be-gone high school is located in Wisconsin.

Proponents of Waldorf schools tout theirs as the fastest-growing independent school movement in the world. There may be some truth to this claim [2]. But the claim is often made without any supporting evidence or documentation. And it omits the reality that numerous Waldorf schools fail for one reason or another. Currently in the United Kingdom, for instance, various Waldorf or Steiner schools are shutting down — or trembling on the brink — following a series of damning official inspections [3].

Here is the latest case of a Waldorf demise on this side of the pond.

From WDJT News [Milwaukee, USA]:

Tamarack Waldorf High School 

in Milwaukee will not reopen 

for the 2019-2020 school year 

By: Brittany Lewis

...In a statement, a Tamarack Waldorf School Administrator said Tamarack Waldorf High School will not be reopening next school year because the building owners of the high school location have decided not to renew the lease and they have been unable to secure an alternative location that fits within the school's model [4].

"This was a painful decision and one that we do not take lightly. We are working closely with schools in the community to identify alternative options for the 30 students [5] and their families that are impacted by the decision..."

Tamarack Waldorf High School's website says the high school opened with 9th graders in the fall of 2014 [6]. 

[6/15/2019    https://www.cbs58.com/news/tamarack-waldorf-high-school-in-milwaukee-will-not-reopen-for-the-2019-2020-school-year    This item originally appeared on June 13.]

 ◊

Footnotes for this Item

[1] See "Hawaiian Waldorf High School Will Shut Its Doors", May 25, 2019.

[2] For a pro-Waldorf tabulation, see https://www.freunde-waldorf.de/fileadmin/user_upload/images/Waldorf_World_List/Waldorf_World_List.pdf.

[3] See "Steiner School Crisis".

[4] This explanation ("unable to secure an alternative location that fits within the school's model") is awfully indistinct. The reality may be more mundane. The school attracted very few students (just 30 kids are currently enrolled).

[5] The entire high school was smaller than a typical class in a typical non-Waldorf school.

[6] The high school will have lasted for five years. This is fairly typical for Waldorf schools that fail — they are tiny, and they disappear after only a brief period. And, often, their disappearance goes unreported. [See "The Silent Deaths of Waldorf Schools", January 20, 2018.]`

— R.R.

Sometimes Waldorf schools die completely,

sometimes they shut down parts of themselves.

May 25, 2019

HAWAIIAN WALDORF SCHOOL 

WILL SHUT ITS HIGH SCHOOL 

Part of the Waldorf saga nowadays is that the number of Waldorf schools in the world keeps climbing. Today, there are approximately 1,200 Waldorf schools in the world. [1]

Often unremarked, however, is the extremely small size of many Waldorf schools — and the tendency of these small schools to collapse from time to time, here or there. [2]

Today, a Waldorf school in Hawaii is shutting the doors of its high school. The lower grades that previously fed students into the high school will continue operating independently.

The following is from Hawaii News Now [Honolulu, USA]:

Honolulu Waldorf School 

to close Aina Haina 

high school campus 

Board officials with the Honolulu Waldorf School confirmed Friday that the institution was shutting down its high school campus in Aina Haina [3].

The four 11th grade students who currently attend will be allowed to remain at the school so they can graduate from Waldorf next year.

The school’s lower campus in Niu Valley [4], which houses students from pre-school through eighth grade, will remain open.

Board officials say the [high school] campus was being plagued by many of the same financial problems faced by other small, independent schools...

School leaders say the high school campus opened in 1994 with 7 students [5].

[5/25/2019   https://www.hawaiinewsnow.com/2019/05/24/honolulu-waldorf-school-close-aina-haina-high-school-campus/   This article originally appeared on May 24.]

◊

Footnotes for this Item

[1] The tabulation is difficult to confirm; it must be considered tentative at best. To consult a distinctly pro-Waldorf source, see https://www.freunde-waldorf.de/fileadmin/user_upload/images/Waldorf_World_List/Waldorf_World_List.pdf. If separate Waldorf kindergartens (which may be quite informal and not qualify as genuine schools) are included, the total balloons to over 1,900.

[2] Waldorf schools collapse for various reasons. In the United Kingdom these days, the government is forcing the closure of at least some underperforming Waldorf or Steiner schools. [See "Steiner School Crisis".] Other Waldorf schools fail due to insufficient financing, low enrollment, and any number of other factors. [See "Failure".]

[3] Aina Haina is a town east of downtown Honolulu.

[4] This is Honolulu Waldorf School's main campus, separate from the high school campus. The Niu Valley lies east of Aina Haina.

[5] Honolulu Waldorf School reportedly has an overall enrollment (preschool through high school) of approximately 288 students. This indicates an average of 20-24 students at each grade level. The high school grades, however, were evidently quite small — there were just seven students in the high school when it opened, and at the end there were just four students in the 11th grade.

— R.R.

[Waldorfesque art, R.R.]

Here's a quick round-up of a few Waldorf shut-downs:

Independent Aberdeen Waldorf School to close

An independent Aberdeen [Scotland] school which has been at the centre of an investigation is to close this summer.

The Waldorf School, in Craigton Road, was founded in 1977.

Last month, the Care Inspectorate said it had received complaints about "staffing and the care of children" at the Waldorf School Kindergarten.

The school council said the "very difficult" closure decision came after reviewing the school's financial position….

[http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-north-east-orkney-shetland-26842547]

Taos Waldorf School to close next year

The Taos [New Mexico] Waldorf School will shut down after the end of the 2015-16 school year.

Travis Good, board president, confirmed last week the school would finish out the school year before ceasing operations. The decision to close was made jointly by the board of trustees and college of teachers.

Taos Waldorf School, established 20 years ago as the Taos Country Day School, is the only private school in Taos County for kindergarten through eighth grade.

The school has been through rough and unsustainable financial troubles in recent years….

[http://www.taosnews.com/news/article_93eea5f0-a9a1-11e5-a5bb-97cf3ff64f13.html]

Waldorf School Closes

The financially struggling Wellspring [New Hampshire] Waldorf School has informed parents it will not reopen for the coming school year.

The school’s Board of Trustees made the decision Friday evening following an “emotional” closed door meeting. Classes had been scheduled to start on Sept. 3….

[http://www.vnews.com/news/8188101-95/waldorf-school-closes]

The music stops for Singing Winds School

A small private school that offered a radically different approach to education has shut its doors this year the victim of a poor economy and a small enrollment. The Singing Winds School, a Waldorf school that had been renting space in the United Methodist Church of Riverside [Illinois] for the past two years, did not open its doors this fall and has closed.

"It's so sad," said Riverside resident Joan Anderson, the president of the Singing Winds board of directors. 

The poor economy made it hard for the private school to attract students....

[http://www.rblandmark.com/News/Articles/10-27-2009/The-music-stops-for-Singing-Winds-School/]

Vacant Spaces: Waldorf School to Close 

Green Meadow Branch in Tarrytown

After one quiet but enriching school year here, the Green Meadow Waldorf School Early Childhood Center at Tappan Hill School...will not sign on for another year here.

“It is with regret, but also with much gratitude and appreciation for your support, that we share the news that we are closing the Green Meadow Waldorf School Early Childhood Center at Tappan Hill School in Tarrytown [New York] on June 9, 2012,” said the letter that came from Administrator Tari Steinrueck to parents and staff….

[http://patch.com/new-york/tarrytown/waldorf-school-to-close-green-meadow-branch-in-tarrytown]

Norwalk school closes abruptly due to lack of enrollment

Plagued by inadequate enrollment and financial difficulties, officials from the Clover Hill School in Norwalk [Connecticut] announced Friday morning that the early childhood center will shut down by the end of the year.

Officials said classes would not resume in September as they proceed to shutter the center, which currently serves students from two months to six years of age.

“The Board has labored tremendously to search for solutions and yet, ultimately, we have found the obstacles insurmountable,” school officials said in an email to parents….

The school opened its doors in Norwalk in 2004 by a group dedicated to the Waldorf Education method of learning....

[http://www.thehour.com/news/article/Norwalk-school-closes-abruptly-due-to-lack-of-9200673.php]

The Canterbury Steiner School is to close

A cash-strapped Kent [England] school has announced its closure citing financial difficulties.

The Canterbury Steiner School in Chartham, which had for long faced the possibility of closure, is due to close at the end of the year

A spokesman for the independent day school, which admits pupils from three and up, said the news would be met by shock and sadness by all concerned….

[http://www.kentlive.news/cash-strapped-kent-school-announces-shock-closure/story-30434719-detail/story.html]

Painting by a Waldorf student,

courtesy of People for Legal and Nonsectarian Schools.

Perhaps the most striking recent failure 

of a Waldorf school came in 2018, 

when the Rudolf Steiner School Kings Langley

— sometimes called Britain's leading Steiner school — 

collapsed.

Here is some of the coverage of this event 

as it appeared on the Waldorf Watch News page:

July 6, 2018

AUTUMN TERM CANCELLED — 

STEINER SCHOOL CLOSING 

From the The Watford Observer [Hertfordshire, UK]:

Rudolf Steiner School in 

Kings Langley 

to close next week

[by] Nathan Louis

A private school will close next week after insurers were not found to keep the school open.

Rudolf Steiner School in Kings Langley hoped to remain open for the new term [next autumn] but in a letter today, trustees of the school announced this would not be possible.

The school had been threatened with closure for more than a year after a number of Ofsted [Office for Standards in Education] inspections found pupils were “at risk”....

In a letter to parents, the school said it was not "viable" to self-insure after potential insurers for the school stepped back. Consequently the school decided it was "untenable" to prepare for an autumn term and as such have voted to close the school on completion of the summer term next week.

It was in December 2016 that Rudolf Steiner School Kings Langley (RSSKL) was first told by Ofsted inspectors that it had serious problems with safeguarding of students.

The body [i.e., Ofsted] have since visited the school four times, failing in a number of categories on three occasions [i.e., the school failed three of four inspections]. The school was also threatened with closure by the government.

[6/6/2018    http://www.watfordobserver.co.uk/news/16336099.rudolf-steiner-school-in-kings-langley-to-close-next-week/    This story originally appeared on July 5.]

◊

Waldorf Watch Response:

This, presumably, truly is the end of the road for one of Britain's premier Steiner/Waldorf schools. The drama has been long and arduous, but now the school seems to have run out of options.

Of course, supporters of Steiner education may seek to replace RSSKL, in whole or in part, with other Steiner initiatives in the same geographic area. But this remains to be seen.

The effect for Steiner education generally, in Britain and beyond, also remains to be seen. The failure of RSSKL is surely a setback for the Steiner movement, but the extent of the setback will not be known for some time. It will largely depend on whether the problems at RSSKL are understood to reflect systemic problems in Steiner schools generally. I have argued that the RSSKL saga certainly should be understood in this way. [See my editorial dated June 23, 2018.]

We should note that inspectors found RSSKL deficient by several measures. Inadequate safeguarding of students topped the list, but the school was also faulted for the poor quality of the teaching it offered, and for the poor quality of the school's management. In other words, there were problems in virtually all parts of the school.

So the problems at RSSKL were numerous and deep. The following is from a news account published on June 5 in The Hemel Gazette dealing with an emergency meeting for parents and others at the school:

Chair of the trustees, Peter Harrington, told the meeting there was no single issue or member of staff which was to blame for the school’s plight, but that it was “consistent failings across a range of issues”. 

He said...“There are lots and lots of problems at the school.”

[https://www.hemeltoday.co.uk/news/rudolf-steiner-school-meeting-parents-told-hope-for-the-best-but-prepare-for-the-worst-1-8522873]

◊

For previous Waldorf Watch coverage of events at RSSKL, see, e.g., items dated June 29, June 26, June 25, June 23, June 20, June 19, June 6, May 31, May 30, May 9, May 2, April 28, April 19, and April 14, 2018. A report on July 2 also referred to the situation at RSSKL.

— R.R.

July 7, 2018

REMEMBERING RSSKL — 

THE FAULTS FOUND

As of today, visitors to the website of the Rudolf Steiner School Kings Langley would find no indication that the school has collapsed. The site's home page still paints a glowing portrait of the school and its claims:

The Rudolf Steiner School provides a comprehensive and well-rounded inter-disciplinary Steiner Waldorf education — Pre-school to A levels — that is permeated with sciences, arts, music and foreign languages. Our pupils develop creative, flexible, independent thinking, thereby preparing themselves for university and successful careers.

For 69 years we have been successfully preparing young people to live fulfilling and rewarding lives. Our spacious 10-acre campus is on the site of a 13th-century royal palace and priory and includes sports fields, a gymnasium, a large theatre, arts and crafts block, pottery and photography lab.

[7/7/2018   http://rsskl.org]

◊

Undoubtedly the website will soon be revised or simply closed down, reflecting the closure of the school itself. [See the item dated July 6, 2018, below.]

In the meantime, it might be helpful to review the problems that led to the collapse of the school, which had been one of the foremost Steiner/Waldorf schools in the United Kingdom. Inspectors faulted the school for shortcomings on several fronts. Here are excerpts from news accounts that explain some of the reasons UK education authorities ordered the school to shut down.

The Hemel Gazette, May 29, 2018:

The [inspectors'] report says the school has failed to meet the necessary standards for safeguarding, handling of complaints, and quality of leadership.

And it says that the school’s leaders have “potentially put pupils at risk” with their recruitment policies. 

Criticisms include: “The lack of rigour and inaccurate recording amount to more than administrative errors. 

“They are indicative of leaders’ continuing failure to take their responsibilities seriously”.... 

◊

The Hemel Gazette, April 27, 2018:

Ofsted [the Office for Standards in Education]...stated standards were not met in ‘Quality of education’, and in ‘Quality of leadership in and management of schools’.

About quality of education, the report says “Work was frequently unchallenging and teachers’ assessment of the progress made by pupils was still in its infancy”....

The section about ‘Welfare, health and safety of pupils’ adds: “Leaders have failed to ensure that all new employees have been thoroughly vetted prior to taking up their post. 

“They have accepted applications that fall far short of a professional standard and have not taken up appropriate references. 

“Once again, leaders have potentially put pupils at risk by not assuring themselves of the suitability of the staff they employ.”

◊

The Daily Telegraph, June 24, 2018:

A flagship Steiner school is to close amid fears over child safety, after it emerged that parents who tried to raise the alarm about safeguarding lapses had been sent gagging letters [i.e., letters telling them to keep quiet].…

The school’s most recent Ofsted report noted that “the culture for safeguarding pupils at the school is not strong enough” and that leaders have “underestimated and downplayed these inadequacies”.

Inspectors said that the process for addressing historic safeguarding complaints has “stalled”, and that “resolution is no longer in sight”....

◊

The Daily Mail, September 3, 2017:

A top £10,000 a year school has been ordered to close following a damning report from Ofsted that flagged up serious fears of child safety….

[T]he school has been ordered to close down for good, with inspectors saying data protection had been breached, pupils were able to wander off-site during lunch breaks and that there were no 'professional boundaries' between students and teachers, with some meeting up outside school.…

[L]ead inspector Philippa Darley and her team found that, in many respects, teachers were far behind the necessary standards, with some even casually meeting children outside class.

The report said: 'Professional boundaries between staff, parents and pupils are not maintained ... Parents arrange for pupils to see their teachers, and former teachers, off the school site. This culture is unchanged, despite known serious safeguarding failings.

The report also slammed the school for lying to parents about the severity of some of the issues, and for failing to keep data secure.

'Leaders have underplayed and misrepresented the school's safeguarding failings to parents,' it said....

'They have also stated that "no transgressions or wrongdoings were found to have taken place" and have implied that former parents who expressed concerns have misrepresented the position. These messages are not supported by the inspection evidence....

'Crucially, leaders do not base their decisions, at all times, on what is in the best interests of the child. This is the core principle of good safeguarding practice and a statutory requirement for all schools.'

◊

The Telegraph News, September 2, 2017:

Britain's flagship Steiner school has been ordered to close amid fears over child safety....

The Rudolf Steiner School Kings Langley had already been banned by the Department for Education (DfE) from admitting any new pupils, following a series of damning Ofsted inspections which uncovered a raft of safeguarding failings.

It comes after Denis McCarthy, a senior staff member who was also a leading figure in the UK’s Steiner school movement, was sacked from the school for gross misconduct.…

The school has issued a public apology to children and their families for “real and serious failings going back several years”, acknowledging that it failed to act on “repeated concerns raised by parents” over safeguarding.

◊

The Watford Observer, April 14, 2016:

An emergency inspection at a school has revealed procedures for safeguarding its pupils are not being met.

The Department for Education ordered the inspection of Kings Langley Steiner School following concerns raised about pupils’ safety and the management of the school….

Inspector Jane Cooper from the Schools Inspection Service said in her report that a number of changes at the school have had a negative impact on the management of safeguarding.

She said three teachers who held the key posts of education facilitator, designated safeguarding lead (DSL) and deputy DSL have recently given up their roles, which has highlighted the “ineffectiveness” of the current structure.

Children are at risk due to leaders not being clear enough about the interpretation of safeguarding requirements.…

Five months ago the school was visited by the education watchdog following complaints from parents.

During that inspection, inspectors found many of the risk assessments were out of date and that some were no longer applicable.

◊

The school's failure to adequately safeguard students is surely the most dramatic of the issues raised by inspectors, and it has received the most coverage in the press.

We should note, however, that the school was also found to have serious deficiencies in other areas, including the quality of the instruction offered, the overall management of the school, recruitment practices, relationships with students' parents, and responsiveness to outside authorities. Taken altogether, the inspection reports indicate that the school failed in almost every way a school could possibly fail.

Another comment may be in order. Rudolf Steiner School Kings Langley was not just any Steiner school. It was old and venerable; it was one of the leading Steiner schools in Britain. The crash of this institution, caused by such a wide array of deficiencies, has potentially devastating implications for Steiner or Waldorf education generally. To the extent that other Steiner or Waldorf schools have failings like those at RSSKL, the entire Steiner/Waldorf movement may be called into question.

For more on this final point, see "King Langley's Karma", June 23, 2018.

— R.R.

June 23, 2018

◊ EDITORIAL ◊

KINGS LANGLEY'S 

KARMA

What can we learn from the failure of the Rudolf Steiner School Kings Langley (RSSKL)? What does the RSSKL story mean for other Steiner or Waldorf schools?

Proponents of Steiner education will doubtless contend that the authorities mistreated RSSKL. They will say the government's judgments about the school were unfair and uninformed. They will say the school was not in fact guilty of the shortcomings and faults attributed to it. They will say the school did not deserve the censure it received.

Then again, if any proponents concede that there may have been a few real problems at RSSKL, they will argue that these problems were confined to RSSKL itself. They will say that no larger conclusions should be drawn about Steiner or Waldorf education generally.

The truth, however, appears to be different. The guidelines upheld by the UK government's Office for Standards in Education (Ofsted) appear to be both sensible and fair. [1] Like all bureaucracies, Ofsted surely is imperfect, and its procedures — like those of most bureaucracies — may sometimes be maddening. [2] But virtually any well-run school should be able to satisfy Ofsted's requirements, which are by no means excessively prescriptive or onerous. Indeed, the UK government has gone out of its way to be accommodating to Steiner education, welcoming Steiner schools and Steiner initiatives into the "free schools" program. [3]

The problems found or alleged at RSSKL in fact reflect conditions that seem to be systemic throughout Steiner or Waldorf education.

The allegation against RSSKL that has received the most publicity is that the school failed to adequately assure the safety of its students. [4] This allegation must, at first glance, seem extraordinary. Steiner schools are known for their apparently warm and nurturing atmosphere; the students would seem to be secure within a protective embrace. And yet, over the years, there have been many reports of abusive and unsafe practices in Steiner schools. [5] Often, such practices result from a belief in karma — individuals must be permitted to enact their karmas, even if this means engaging in, or condoning, dangerous behavior. [6] 

RSSKL has also been charged with mismanagement and faulty governance. This, too, appears to reflect systemic faults found throughout the Steiner or Waldorf movement. [7] The organizational principles laid down by Rudolf Steiner often result in various degrees of disorganization. [8]

To the extent that RSSKL may be considered academically deficient, the same problem has often been alleged concerning other Steiner or Waldorf schools. [9] Steiner schools are not, in fact, primarily concerned with educating children in any ordinary sense; they do not principally endeavor to convey knowledge to children. The Steiner focus is directed elsewhere. [10]

There have been allegations that RSSKL has been secretive and deceptive. Again, such allegations have often been leveled at other Steiner or Waldorf schools. [11] Steiner education is based on Anthroposophy, the occult spiritual system developed by Rudolf Steiner. "Occult," in the sense Steiner used this term, means hidden or secret. [12] Anthroposophists believe they possess deep spiritual wisdom that most other people cannot comprehend; indeed, they think they possess wisdom that must be kept hidden from the uninitiated. [13] Secrecy and deception are thus fundamental to the way Steiner's followers — including many teachers in Steiner schools — deal with outsiders.

Steiner's followers believe they are on a messianic mission. [14] Thus, for instance, Rudolf Steiner said the following to teachers at the first Waldorf school: 

“Among the faculty, we must certainly carry within us the knowledge that we are not here for our own sakes, but to carry out the divine cosmic plan. We should always remember that when we do something, we are actually carrying out the intentions of the gods, that we are, in a certain sense, the means by which that streaming down from above will go out into the world.” — Rudolf Steiner, FACULTY MEETINGS WITH RUDOLF STEINER (Anthroposophic Press, 1998), p. 55.

Because they conceive their task in such lofty terms, Steiner's followers are inclined to think ordinary rules and regulations should not apply to them. They are above such things; they are on a holy mission. This sense of exceptionalism may easily lead to clashes or at least disagreements between Steiner representatives and outside authorities.

The collapse of the Rudolf Steiner School Kings Langley may pass without major consequences elsewhere. In retrospect, it may come to be seen as a minor blip in the history of Steiner education. But, on the other hand, the problems are RSSKL may shine a light into the dark recesses at many other Steiner and Waldorf schools. Anyone wanting to assess these schools — and any parents thinking of sending their children to these schools — would do well to learn the lessons provided by the demise of RSSKL.

◊

Footnotes for this Editorial

[1] See, e.g., https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/ofsted/about#our-priorities and https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/school-inspection-handbook.

[2] See, e.g., "How Would you improve Ofsted?"

[3] See, e.g., the discussion of free schools in "Coming Undone". 

Free schools are educational institutions that, in the USA, would be called charter schools.

[4] See Ofsted's description of its "safeguarding policy".

[5] See, e.g., "Slaps", "Extremity", and "Mistreating Kids Lovingly".

[6] See "Karma".

[7] See, e.g., "His Education" and "Coming Undone".

[8] For an introduction to these principles, see "Threefolding" and "Faculty Meetings".

[9] See, e.g. "Academic Standards at Waldorf".

[10] See, e.g., "Here's the Answer" and "Spiritual Agenda".

[11] See, e.g., "Secrets" and "Our Experience".

[12] See "Occultism".

[13] See, e.g., "Inside Scoop".

[14] See, e.g., the entry for "messianism" in The Brief Waldorf / Steiner Encyclopedia.

— R.R.

More news:

February 25, 2020

THE TIDE FLOWS,

THE TIDE EBBS

The Waldorf school movement is growing. There are about 1,200 Waldorf or Steiner schools in the world, and more are in the offing.

But the tide of Waldorf growth has been accompanied by an undertow of failure. Steiner schools in the United Kingdom are currently under considerable stress, with several having been shut down while others are struggling for their lives [1]. Meanwhile, scattered around the periphery of the Waldorf movement, there have been smaller extinctions, individual Waldorf schools here and there that foundered and went down. In the century since there first Waldorf school opened, unnumbered Waldorf schools have gone under [2]. 

Here's one recent instance. It is a small matter, perhaps. We shouldn't make too much of it. But we also should not make too little of it.

From The Comox Valley Record [British Columbia, Canada]:

Comox Valley Waldorf School closing

The Comox Valley Waldorf School is closing at the end of the current school year. 

Photo by Comox Valley Waldorf School.

The Comox Valley Waldorf School (CVWS) is familiar with change. It has been in operation since 2009 (2011 in a building) and each year has brought its gifts and challenges. Each year the board and faculty work to ensure that what they do, and what they offer, is in line with the vision and mission of the school [3]. Sometimes this realignment has meant shrinking, sometimes growing, and sometimes other significant changes such as combining or separating groupings of students...

A lack of trained teachers has placed the school in an impossible situation. They have come to see, after endless searching and meeting, that the school is no longer viable, and the board and society members [4] voted to dissolve the school at the end of the 2019-20 school year.

Hiring trained Waldorf teachers has always been a challenge. In fact, aside from the first two founding teachers, the school has never hired a Waldorf trained teacher. Instead, they have hired people with university degrees...who begin their Waldorf training once they begin teaching [5].

At the end of the 2019-20 school year three of the Waldorf-trained teachers, and one of the mid-training teachers, are moving on from the school for a variety of reasons [6]. Postings for these positions have been up for a while and they have received only a couple of applications [7]...

It is the school’s intention to maintain the running of the board, with a view to rekindling the school when the time comes again [8] ... The last remaining months of this current school model will be spent celebrating the life of the school as well as supporting the community through their grief and loss, helping everyone move toward acceptance and gratitude....

[2/25/2020    https://www.comoxvalleyrecord.com/community/comox-valley-waldorf-school-closing/   This article originally appeared on February 24.]

◊

Footnotes for this Item

[1] See "The Steiner School Crisis".

[2] See "Failure".

[3] Waldorf schools often have mission statements presented to the public. According to the website of Comox Valley Waldorf School, this school's mission is simple: It is "Building conscious community by inspiring individuals to meet the world with purpose." [See https://www.comoxvalleywaldorf.com/mission.html.]

Often, however, the real mission of Waldorf schools is concealed from the public. This mission is to foster and spread Anthroposophy. [See, e.g., "Here's the Answer".] While Waldorf schools almost always deny that they teach Anthroposophy to their students, the truth is that they often do teach it, albeit indirectly and subtly. [See "Sneaking It In".] The photo accompanying the above article includes an interesting detail. Look closely at the image on the far side of the blackboard.

This is an image of the four proto-human "group souls" described by Rudolf Steiner. Belief is these group souls is an occult Anthroposophical article of faith. [See "Four Group Souls".] You might ask yourself what this image is doing in an elementary school classroom.

[4] From the school's website: "Comox Valley Waldorf School Board  [— ] The Comox Valley Waldorf School operates through the Comox Valley Waldorf School Society (CVWSS) as a consensus-based governance body for all Comox Valley Waldorf School functions. Incorporated in July 2009 as a non-profit society, the Board has grown from four members to eight...." [See https://www.comoxvalleywaldorf.com/board.html.]

[5] This is typical. Although Rudolf Steiner said Waldorf teachers should be devout Anthroposophists, Waldorf schools are often unable to find enough Anthroposophists to fill all positions. Hence, they hire non-Anthroposophists, often with the hope that they will be able to train these outsiders. [See the section "The Indoctrination of Teachers" in Grégoire Perra's "The Anthroposophical Indoctrination of Students in Steiner-Waldorf Schools" — https://sites.google.com/site/waldorfwatch/he-went-to-waldorf.]

Waldorf teacher training generally occurs in special Anthroposophical institutions created for this purpose. The training to become a Waldorf teacher is often virtually inseparable from training to become a devout Anthrposophist. [See "Teacher Training".]

[6] Much would seem to be concealed behind this bland description (teachers are leaving "for a variety of reasons"). There is often notable churning, discord, and turnover within Waldorf faculties. [See, e.g., "His Education", "Ex-Teacher 2", "Ex-Teacher 4", etc.]

[7] The article suggests that few applications were received because there is high competition among Waldorf schools for Waldorf-trained teachers. This may be correct. But it also seems undeniable that the prospect of working in a Waldorf school has limited appeal among educators generally.

[8] This, too, is typical. Ardent proponents of Waldorf schools tend to fight on, striving to reconstitute failed schools. Rudolf Steiner's followers generally believe they are engaged in a mission of cosmic importance; hence, they are unwilling to admit defeat. [See, e.g., the discussion of this matter in "'Saved' Steiner School May Not Grow After All", January 31, 2020.] But, while there are exceptions, failed Waldorf schools often remain closed.

— R.R.

The four proto-human group souls as shown

in a collection of Steiner lectures,

FROM COMETS TO COCAINE (Rudolf Steiner Press, 2000), p. 51.

May 23, 2020

SOME WALDORFS GOING,

SEMI-WALDORFS COMING

Here are excerpts from two news reports about Waldorf-related developments in a community in central New England, near the White Mountain National Forest, in the shadow of Mount Washington.

1.

From The Conway Daily Sun [New Hampshire, USA]:

Albany Town Column: 

White Mountain Waldorf School 

closing its doors

[By] Mary Leavitt, Dorothy Solomon

The May 6 selectmen’s meeting was held on the phone...

The selectmen agreed to table for a week two Intents to Cut Timber as both intents are off Passaconaway Road...

The select board agreed to accept funds and a grant agreement with N.H. [New Hampshire] Department of Environmental Services ... This project will look into groundwater protection...

[Etc.]

Waldorf School: Due to challenges of the current economy and dwindling enrollment, the school will close its doors at the end of June. Though no longer operating as a school they will continue to aid those in pursuit of a Waldorf education in Mount Washington Valley....

[5/23/2020    https://www.conwaydailysun.com/community/town_columns/albany-town-column-white-mountain-waldorf-school-closing-its-doors/article_964788d8-9ab2-11ea-8740-0f6ec586868d.html    This article originally appeared on May 20.]

2.

From the same newspaper, a few days earlier:

New Waldorf-themed 

charter school in town

[By] Tom Eastman

A new Waldorf-inspired, outdoors-focused charter school is set to open this fall serving K-7 students for the 2020-21 school year.

Organizers say Northeast Woodland Chartered Public School will be renting space from Granite State College...

In contrast to the private White Mountain Waldorf School in Albany, as a charter school, Northeast Woodland will be a tuition-free public school...

[According to White Mountain kindergarten teacher] Carolyn Harrison...White Mountain Waldorf "has done a fantastic job introducing Waldorf education to the Mount Washington Valley, but the cost of tuition has made that education unavailable for so many families"....

[5/23/2020    https://www.conwaydailysun.com/news/local/new-waldorf-themed-charter-school-in-town/article_136d7154-8e12-11ea-a37e-9f7b2e4da534.html    This article originally appeared on May 4.]

◊

Waldorf Watch Response

During the century since the first Waldorf school opened its doors [1], the Waldorf movement has slowly but steadily expanded. Today there are approximately 1,200 Waldorf schools in the world. [2]

This impressive record of growth is blemished by the large number of Waldorf schools that, over the years, have failed for one reason or another. Waldorf schools often start small — they arise from the enthusiastic efforts of a few committed proponents. In some cases, the schools expand and thrive. But in other cases, energy flags, financing dries up, enrollment stagnates or declines — and eventually these schools fold. [3]

Funding is often determinant. Traditionally, most Waldorf schools have been private institutions, dependent on their own fund-raising efforts — although, in some countries, various levels of state support have been provided. Recently in the United States and the United Kingdom, the trend to create charter schools (called free schools in the UK) has effectively extended state funding to some parts of the Waldorf movement. Taxpayers pick up the tab for Waldorf charter schools. This has opened new options for Waldorf supporters. In some instances, private Waldorf schools may be able to reconstitute themselves in the guise of public institutions. In others, private Waldorfs may elect to go out of business while their allies develop wholly new, state-funded Waldorf schools.

An important question is whether government officials who approve the creation of Waldorf charter schools understand the real nature of Waldorf education. Too often, it seems, they do not. The Waldorf movement has long been cagey about its purposes, concealing much from outsiders. [4] True Waldorf schools — those that abide most faithfully to the visions of Waldorf founder Rudolf Steiner [5] — are essentially disguised religious institutions. [6] They quietly serve the religion created by Steiner, the faith called Anthroposophy. [7] Penetrating the Waldorf disguise can be difficult; busy elected officials and their bureaucratic assistants may often be ill-equipped to make the effort.

A complicating point is that not all Waldorf schools are "true" Waldorf schools — some Waldorfs diverge, to varying degrees, from Steiner's vision. [8] This may be particularly so among "Waldorf-inspired" or "Waldorf-themed" schools. Teachers at such schools may intend to implement certain Waldorf methods that seem appealing (emphasis on the arts, lowering of academic pressures, embrace of green values, and so on) without making a commitment to Anthroposophy. But in other instances, labels like "Waldorf-inspired" may conceal a fundamental intention to steer a school closer and closer to full-fledged Anthroposophical orthodoxy when the time seems ripe.

Some Waldorf proponents worry that trends such as the turn toward Waldorf charter schools may drain the soul out of Waldorf education, leading it farther and farther from its Anthroposophical roots. But other gung-ho Steiner followers evidently hope that infiltrating state school systems will enable the Waldorf movement to gain increased clout, spreading Anthroposophy more widely than ever before. [9]

Parents, educationalists, government officials, and others who want to understand Waldorf education certainly should do their homework. Among other things, they should learn from the situation that has developed recently in the UK. School inspectors there, having sharpened their focus on Waldorf or Steiner schools, have issued a series of extremely critical inspection reports. They have found what seem to be systemic problems throughout Waldorf education in the UK, problems running the gamut from poor teaching, to lax safety procedures, to dysfunctional management. UK Waldorf schools are reeling as a result — some have shut down, and others are in danger of closing [10] Significantly, a number of Waldorf free schools have been found to be among the worst offenders. [11]

◊

Footnotes for this Item

[1] See "Waldorf School, the first" in The Brief Waldorf / Steiner Encyclopedia (BWSE).

[2] See the semi-official Waldorf World List [https://www.freunde-waldorf.de/fileadmin/user_upload/images/Waldorf_World_List/Waldorf_World_List.pdf].

[3] See, e.g., "Failure".

[4] See "Secrets".

[5] See "Steiner, Rudolf" in the BWSE.

[6] See "Here's the Answer" and "Schools as Churches".

[7] See "Anthroposophy" in the BWSE.

[8] See "Non-Waldorf Waldorfs".

[9] Steiner's followers hope to remake essentially all institutions in conformity with Anthroposophy. [See "Threefolding".]

[10] See "The Steiner School Crisis".

[11] See "Inadequate: Bristol, Frome, &...".

— R.R.

Here are excerpts from 

THE PHLEGMATIC SITS BY THE WINDOW... 

Experiences with Actual Waldorf Teaching

by Claudia Pangh

Like many young prospective teachers, I searched for alternative, progressively-oriented concepts when I started my studies to become a public school teacher. Like many of them, I soon came across the Waldorf schools.

...I have to admit that I did not know anything about Anthroposophy. I was amazed at first, and later increasingly appalled, by how much this ideology dominates the day-to-day dealings in Waldorf schools. Aside from its content, about which people may agree or disagree depending on their personal beliefs, I already perceived that the general setup for teaching was far from being progressive, which, in my opinion, has everything to do with opening up the learning situation and with self-determination of the students.

I had been assigned to the 'main lesson' teacher of a 2nd grade class, but I also had the opportunity to obtain some inside views into the lessons given in other grades.

...[F]ace-to-face lecturing was all, in terms of methodical variation, that I saw during my 6 weeks. In my opinion, for the most part you couldn't even call it teaching — it was more akin to organized chanting. Every school day was so ritualized that a large part of the morning was taken up by the recitation of verses, either individually or as a group. I don't know how many parents are aware of the nature of these verses to which their children are exposed on a daily basis, and which the students have to learn by heart. From my point of view, they carried a distinctly Christian-Anthroposophical world view, which, in my opinion, should only have a place in religious instruction.

...A rigid and very strict regime guided the recitation of verses as well as the complete morning schedule.

...The actual instruction in class was executed as rigidly as the recitation. No matter whether students wrote, drew, or calculated, everything was done in rigid monotony. There were only a few moments in which the children could contribute their own ideas ... Each of my shy questions about the reasons for the various measures and schedules was answered with a reference to Rudolf Steiner's works.

...I could also talk about the pedagogical criteria to judge students according to their temperaments, which were completely new to me, and the strange seating arrangement resulting from them. The sanguines sit by the wall, because they're already so wound up, but the phlegmatics sit by the window, cause they need the energy of the light!

...What bugs me most is that the Waldorf schools are still presented as THE ultimate progressive schools, and many parents who only want the best for their child blindly trust their concept. Of course, it is possible to find plenty of negative experiences with teaching and teachers in public schools, but this makes it even worse if Waldorf pedagogy is presented as THE shining counter-ideal. The expectations of many critical parents will remain unfulfilled, for example when it comes to self-determined and individualized learning. A pedagogical concept becomes questionable in my eyes if it tunes out the reality of society to the extent Waldorf pedagogy does. Some may view this as shelter for their children, but I would call it otherworldliness. — Claudia Pangh, “The Phlegmatic Sits by the Window... Experiences with Actual Waldorf Teaching”  http://waldorfcritics.org/active/articles/the_phlegmatic_sits_by_the.html.

[For more on temperaments, see "Humouresque" and "Temperaments".]

A NOTE ON MAYPOLE DANCES

There is almost certainly no harm in having children perform Maypole dances. The activity is colorful and fun (in a low-key way). Yet these dances began as pagan fertility rites. [1] Why in the world do Waldorf schools put so much emphasis on them?

Waldorf students are immersed, by their teachers, in ancient mythologies and ceremonial activities. Steiner taught that each child must recapitulate the evolutionary history of humanity. For this reason, passing through stages at which pagan rituals are performed and ancient religions are embraced is considered healthful. Ultimately, the children are expected to rise toward the highest stage of human evolution, epitomized by Anthroposophy.

Activities like maypole dances are used to stimulate children's belief in spiritual and mythic beings, such as fairies. Here are instructions for arranging a Waldorf-style Maypole dance: 

“Begin together in a ‘Fairy Ring.’ Bells can be rung and the May morning greeting be spoken ... Lady Spring can either dance with one and all, or be seated on a simple ‘throne’ ... To share in these customs adapted from Europe and to carry on such traditions that feed the child’s sense of beauty, community, fantasy and imagination brings delight and joy. In celebrating and honoring Nature in the Spring, we can weave delightful tales of the fairy world that come a-visiting.” [2]

To make sense of such statements, you need to realize that Anthroposophists believe that beings such as fairies really exist. Also, Steiner taught that the imagination is a stepping stone on the path to developing clairvoyance (or, indeed, it is a preliminary form of clairvoyance).

In general, the festivals celebrated at Waldorf schools are Anthroposophical religious observances — even if they are not openly identified as such. Here is a description of the spring festival at Waldorf schools: 

“The cosmic forces of the spiritual world upon humankind become visible in the myths and symbols of the ancient mystery religions. These ancient festivals prefigure the Christian Easter story ... Both of these spiritual leaders [Jesus and Moses] were taking a step in the evolution of human consciousness ... As Steiner writes in ‘Spiritual Bells of Easter, I’: ‘Festivals are meant to link the human soul with all that lives and weaves in the great universe. We feel our souls expanding in a new way during these days at the beginning of spring ... It is at this time of year, the time of Passover and Easter, that human souls can find that there lives...in the innermost core of their beings, a fount of eternal, divine existence.’” [3]

Perhaps you like what Steiner said; perhaps you don’t. In either case, the important thing is to realize that apparently sweet activities in Waldorf festivals, such as Maypole dancing, often have esoteric, spiritual purposes — even if these are rarely spelled out for the uninitiated.

Maypole dance at a Waldorf school.

[See the Waldorf Watch Annex, May, 2011.]

◊

Footnotes for this Item

[1] “Such dances are survivals of ancient dances around a living tree as part of spring rites to ensure fertility.” — "Maypole dance." ENCYCLOPÆDIA BRITANNICA, Online, 29 Apr. 2010.

[2] Celebrating Mayday, Waldorf Home Schooling, http://www.live-education.com/Curriculum/SampleLesson?lesson=2.

[3] Karen Rivers, “Spiritual Threads of Passover and Easter” in WALDORF EDUCATION: A Family Guide (Pamela Johnson Fenner, 1992), p. 166.