Here are additional Waldorf teacher training courses offered in various training programs. I compiled this list late in 2011. Interspersed among the course descriptions, I have added some comments of my own.

R.R. response: 

◊ The Waldorf belief system is built on the "esoteric" or "occult" wisdom produced through clairvoyance, chiefly by Rudolf Steiner.

◊ The "esoteric history of the human being" is central to this wisdom — the universe centers on us and exists for us, according to Steiner's teachings. 

◊ "Spiritual science" is Anthroposophy; Steiner also called it occult science. Today his followers often try to avoid the word "occult," using "esoteric" instead. 

◊ The "evolution of human consciousness" is the central narrative of Anthroposophy. We are evolving from a very dim spiritual awareness to an ultimate, divine awareness. 

◊ "Spiritual self-development" is the application of Anthroposophy to develop clairvoyance and rise to higher evolutionary levels. 

◊ The "spiritual beings" referred to here are gods. Anthroposophy is polytheistic. 

◊ "Old Saturn," etc., are planetary stages of our evolution. We began in a stage called Old Saturn and we will evolve to a stage called Future Vulcan — and beyond. 

◊ In Waldorf belief, we lived on Atlantis before our present stage of Earthly existence. 

◊ The etheric, astral, and ego bodies are invisible bodies that incarnate during childhood (the ego body marks the transition to adulthood). 

◊ In Waldorf belief, each child has an individual destiny or karma. In addition to helping children incarnate their invisible bodies, Waldorf teachers try to help children with their karmas. 

◊ Art classes (like everything else at Waldorf schools) have spiritual purposes, such as expressing children's "sacred dreams." 

◊ The "spirit-soul" is the human spiritual identity consisting of two separate but united essences, the spirit and the soul. (We take the spirit with us through all our incarnations while the soul exists only in one incarnation.) 

◊ Our "threefold nature" is body, soul, and spirit. (Steiner also described us as fourfold beings, sevenfold beings, and ninefold beings.) 

◊ The "developmental stages of the child" are three stages at the end of which our three invisible bodies incarnate, one by one.

R.R. response: 

◊ Occult history, as studied by aspiring Waldorf teachers, is the hidden spiritual history of human evolution "as characterized by Rudolf Steiner.” Steiner characterized it in such books as OCCULT HISTORY (Rudolf Steiner Press, 1982). 

◊ World evolution, in Anthroposophical lore, is a spiritual process that began when the world (or solar system or universe) first emerged as a condition called Old Saturn. That phase gave way to Old Sun followed by Old Moon and, bringing the story up to date, Present Earth. These have been the major stages of our evolution or, if you will, they have been progressive incarnations of the solar system. Steiner described this history in such works as OCCULT SCIENCE - AN OUTLINE (recent edition: Rudolf Steiner Press, 2005). 

◊ According to Steiner's teachings, humanity is gradually developing higher and higher forms of consciousness, leading to our eventual apotheosis. During Future Jupiter (our next evolutionary stage after Present Earth), we will all possess perfected imagination; during Future Venus (the stage after Jupiter), we will all have perfected inspiration; during Future Vulcan (after Venus), perfected intuition. 

◊ ESOTERIC SCIENCE is an edition of OCCULT SCIENCE that substitutes a somewhat less alarming term, "esoteric," for the worrisome term "occult." The translation of ESOTERIC SCIENCE is, throughout, toned down. But essentially the new translation is the same book as OCCULT SCIENCE - AN OUTLINE, which is the key Steiner text studied by essentially all of Steiner's devoted followers, including true-believing Waldorf teachers. [See "Everything".] 

◊ The exercises outlined in ESOTERIC SCIENCE are meant to enable us to attain high forms of clairvoyance (imagination, inspiration, intuition) now, without waiting to evolve to Future Jupiter, etc. Steiner described such exercises in even more detail in his book KNOWLEDGE OF THE HIGHER WORLDS AND ITS ATTAINMENT (e.g., CreateSpace, 2011). 

◊ Karma is one of many mystical doctrines imbedded in Waldorf education. Steiner's followers believe that every person has a karma, as does every institution, movement, stream of thought, etc. Steiner's doctrines on karma can be found in such works as THE KARMA OF ANTHROPOSOPHY (Rudolf Steiner Press, 2009). Waldorf teachers are taught that karma brings them together with their students: the teachers' karmas and the students' karmas caused the people in the class to come together. Thus, Waldorf teachers may easily think they have enormous authority: The divine forces of the universe want them to shepherd these particular groups of children. Waldorf staff in other parts of the schools, such as the business offices, may also believe that they are fulfilling the will of the gods and enacting their karmas by promoting the welfare of the schools.

Note added in 2018

The course descriptions I have been quoting are admirably forthright: The Anthroposophical nature of these courses is reasonably clear.

Some Waldorf training centers are far less candid in their self-presentations. Some use euphemisms and vague terminology in their course descriptions, while others tend to describe their programs in generalities without giving particularized descriptions of their courses. Thus, the precise nature of the programs at those centers is, to varying degrees, uncertain. But it is a safe bet that the descriptors "Waldorf" or "Steiner" (as in "Waldorf teacher-training" or "Steiner teacher-training") mean Anthroposophical beliefs lie somewhere near the center of most programs using these descriptors. 

The original Waldorf trainer was Rudolf Steiner himself, who established the first Waldorf school and guided the work of the faculty there. Waldorf pedagogy has evolved to some degree since Steiner's day, but at what we might call genuine Waldorf schools — those schools that strive to honor Steiner's vision — the changes have been slight. The same is almost certainly the case at Waldorf training centers — Waldorf tradition, extending back to Steiner's original Waldorf school, seems to be upheld far more often than it is challenged or left unheeded. Waldorf education today seems to remain much as it ever was, and — with few exceptions — Waldorf training today seems to remain much as it ever was.

If you become interested in a Waldorf training center that holds its cards close to the vest, you certainly should press the representatives of that program for specific, honest answers to your questions. You should demand a detailed account of what the program offers, how the program is structured, and what requirements are imposed on program entrants. You should demand the sort of detailed course catalog, student handbook, and other information packets that legitimate educational institutions typically provide to their applicants and students. If a Waldorf program refuses to provide such materials — or if it provides materials that prove to be false — you should almost certainly steer clear of that program.

— R.R.

More from the Waldorf Watch News

1.

Eurythmy at the Alkion Center.

Eurythmy is a form of spiritual dance 

created by Rudolf Steiner.

Waldorf teacher trainees learn it, 

and Waldorf students are usually 

required to perform it.

From the Hawthorne Valley Alkion Center, 

Hawthorne, New York (USA): 

Alkion Center Now Accepting Applications for 2012-13 

Hawthorne Valley Alkion Center is now accepting applications for its 2012-13 programs [in Anthroposophy, Waldorf teacher training, etc.] ... 

[3-7-2012   http://alkioncenter.org/news/alkion-center-now-accepting-applications-2012-13] 

Waldorf Teacher Training

The Waldorf Teacher Training Program at the Alkion Center is a three-year, part-time program. The first two years, Foundation Studies in Anthroposophy,* focus on the study of the written work of Rudolf Steiner...

[http://alkioncenter.org/waldorf-teacher-training] 

Foundation Studies in Anthroposophy

Foundation Studies in Anthroposophy focuses on the study of the written work of Rudolf Steiner and is complemented by intensive artistic work and an introduction to contemplative inquiry. Grounded in the path of inner development, the goal of these courses is to awaken each participant to an awareness of the spiritual basis of our own humanity and its relationship to the being of nature that surrounds us... 

The First Year ... The course includes:

◊  Meditative study of Rudolf Steiner's THE CALENDAR OF THE SOUL 

◊  Learning to Breathe with the Senses 

◊  THEOSOPHY by Rudolf Steiner - A Look into the Nature of Being Human: Biography, Destiny and Evolution

◊  Eurythmy, Painting and Sculpture 

◊  The Development of Consciousness through Music and Art 

◊ Biography Seminars 

◊  [Study of] The Cultural Epochs 

The Second Year ... The course includes:

◊  The Six Basic Exercises - Meditation, Self Development and Inner Practice 

◊  ESOTERIC SCIENCE by Rudolf Steiner 

◊  PHILOSOPHY OF FREEDOM by Rudolf Steiner 

◊  Eurythmy, Painting, Sculpture, Music 

◊  History of Consciousness through the Visual Arts 

◊  The Practical Application of Spiritual Science* - Guest Speakers in Biodynamic Agriculture, Waldorf Education, Economics, Medicine, Phenomenological Science and the Therapeutic Arts"

[http://alkioncenter.org/foundation-studies]

◊

Waldorf Watch Response:

Despite what Waldorf schools often claim, Waldorf teacher training generally centers on the occult doctrines of Rudolf Steiner, and these are what new Waldorf teachers bring with them into their work ("the practical application of Spiritual Science...[in] Waldorf Education"). Learning to be a Waldorf teacher is not much different from learning to be an Anthroposophist. [For more on the importance of Anthroposophy in Waldorf education, see, e.g., "Here's the Answer" and "Spiritual Agenda".]

◊

* Rudolf Steiner's doctrines — in essence, the tenets of the new religion he created — are called Anthroposophy. An alternative term often used by his followers is Spiritual Science.

2.

The Cincinnati Waldorf School is seeking a Lead Class Teacher for Grade One for the 2011-12 school year. We value excellent skills in teaching, classroom management, communication, and collegial and parent relationships, as well as depth in spiritual work ... We seek educators who understand and work with the Anthroposophical foundations of the curriculum ... The ideal teacher candidate will have Waldorf training, successful experience working in a Waldorf school, and a commitment to an eight year journey with their class.

[10-5-2010  http://www.waldorfteachers.com/job/3110/grade-one-lead-teacher-2011-2012-at-cincinnati-waldorf-school/]

◊

Waldorf Watch Response:

Waldorf teacher-training programs are like no other. There is often extensive reading and discussion of such books as FACULTY MEETINGS WITH RUDOLF STEINER, in which aspiring Waldorf teachers are told that the planets do not orbit the sun and islands such as Great Britain float in the sea (they are held in place by the power of the stars). There is also instruction in such matters as life before birth (i.e., before reincarnation), karma, the powers of the zodiac, the general uselessness of the intellect, children's temperaments (melancholic, phlegmatic, sanguine, choleric), the twelve human senses, and other occult doctrines. The essence of these programs is "free" acceptance of Steiner's teachings; this is what the program leaders aim to inculcate. As one instructor in a Waldorf teacher-training program has said, "I am a missionary on behalf of Steiner." [See "He Took the Training".]

.

.

.

.

.

[Bay Area Center for Waldorf Teacher Training]

Anyone who doubts that Waldorf education is mystical and/or religious should look into the spiritual training that new Waldorf teachers receive, as well as the continuing spiritual education that veteran Waldorf teachers undertake throughout their careers. Alicia Hamberg, at The Ethereal Kiosk, has helpfully summarized lectures given recently at the New Impulse Conference 2012 at the Bay Area Center for Waldorf Teacher Training [California, USA]. Here are some of the matters discussed in those lectures by Anthroposophical preceptor Claus-Peter Röh. 

(I have appended a response in the form of footnotes.)

◊

Waldorf Watch Footnotes:

[1] In Waldorf belief, children should not use their heads or brains much until they have developed other "forces," especially feeling and willing. Even after such forces are activated, use of the intellect is generally downplayed unless it is conditioned by emotion and clairvoyant imagination. Waldorf education generally works to delay the children's "waking up" — young students are meant to be held in a dream-like consciousness for as long as possible. [See "Thinking Cap".]

[2] Steiner taught that in addition to the physical body, fully incarnated humans have etheric, astral, and ego bodies — constellations of developmental, soul, and spirit forces. [See "Incarnation".]

[3] In Waldorf belief, children arrive on Earth attuned to the spirit realm and the spiritual level of earthly existence. Only slowly does the child settle within her/himself and start to see the world as separate from the self.

[4] The Waldorf curriculum is not primarily meant to provide a good education, as usually conceived, but to help integrate the various components of the human organism as occultly conceived. The "ego" mentioned here is the ego body or "I"; the "body" mentioned here is the physical body.

[5] By preparing the spirit properly — immersing a child in myths and occult beliefs — Waldorf schools try to ensure that the brain, when it finally wakes up, will understand the universe properly (i.e., in accordance with Anthroposophical belief). [See "Indoctrination".]

[6] The path of childhood development is the process of incarnating our invisible bodies: the etheric body becomes fully incarnate around age seven, the astral body around age 14, and the ego body around age 21. Waldorf teachers try to help children incarnate properly so that the various parts of each child's being — such as the physical body and the ego body — will be properly balanced. Likewise, various spiritual functions — such as the will and the inner ego force — should be balanced. The primary focus is on the soul with its soul forces, and the spirit with its spirit forces. Steiner differentiated between soul and spirit. The former is the portion of one's spiritual self that exists only during a single incarnation; the latter is the portion of one's spiritual self that is carried from incarnation to incarnation.

[7] Steiner taught that the human organism has three systems: the head system, the limb/metabolic system, and the chest or trunk system. [See "What We're Made Of".] Each of these, perceived occultly, is a separate "man": the head-man, the limb-man, and the chest- or trunk-man. These "men" embody the "forces" of thinking, willing, and feeling, and each has both lower and higher parts.

[8] This is the process, mentioned earlier, of developing other forces before emphasizing the capacity for thought.  All parts of the Waldorf curriculum are meant to have mystical impact; the arts in particular are thought to be pathways into the spirit realm. Form drawing is the repetitive sketching of geometric forms, meant to eventually awaken clairvoyant capacities.

[9] Waldorf teachers believe that their students chose them before birth. A class comes together because of the students' karmas along with the teacher's karma; this occurs in accordance with the will of the gods. A Waldorf teacher thus has immense authority: S/he has this group of children "for higher reasons."

[10] “Seeing” the spirit force within a child — i.e., perceiving the child’s spiritual essence — is a major goal for Waldorf teachers. This requires spiritual or psychic insight, i.e., clairvoyance. Waldorf teacher Eugene Schwartz has described how Waldorf teachers use “everyday clairvoyance” for this purpose. [See, e.g., Schwartz’s WALDORF EDUCATION (Xlbiris, 2000).]

[11] This is an anecdotal example of the Waldorf approach — a Waldorf teacher perceives a student's spirit reflected in the eyes. Such perception occurs when the "intuition" of the "higher self" (i.e., the clairvoyant power of the spiritually enlightened self) is employed.

[12] These are the stages of incarnation mentioned earlier.

[13] The Waldorf approach is meant to subtly shift as the children grow older and incarnate new capacities. As we saw previously, true-believing Waldorf teachers attempt to "develop [each child's] limb man and part of the chest man and then let them awaken the other part of the chest and the head." [To examine the Waldorf approach, described in more accessible terms, see “Curriculum” and “Methods”.] "Living pictures" are visualized or clairvoyantly imagined realities — embodiments of the gods' living thoughts. [See "Thinking".] Claus-Peter describes the child gradually emerging to conscious assertion of the ego, awake in the world (as occultly conceived).

[14] Like other Anthroposophists, true-blue Waldorf teachers use the prayers, meditations, spiritual exercises, etc., prescribed by Rudolf Steiner. [See, e.g., VERSES AND MEDITATIONS (Rudolf Steiner Press, 2004).] Waldorf teaching cannot be performed properly without these spiritual preparations.

[15] Steiner prescribed two meditations for teachers. 

◊ "He...suggested specific exercises and meditations for teachers to help them work more consciously on the Earth on behalf of the spiritual powers [i.e., gods]." — Waldorf teacher Roberto Trostli, RHYTHMS OF LEARNING (SteinerBooks, 1998), p. 54. 

◊ “The first meditation describes what our task is: to overcome the abyss between subject and object, inner and outer. The first meditation has to do with Imagination. This meditation is to be done in the evening before preparations and before one’s personal meditations. We are seeking the powers of enlightenment with this meditation ...The second meditation has to do with Inspiration ... In America we should strive to speak the verses in German ... Dawning light...wisdom as seen within. I am the mediator between the above and the below. Steiner gave this meditation to Maria Roeschl Lehrs in the Autumn of 1923, four years after the first was given.” — “Ponderings of the College of Teachers”, http://www.awsna.org/PonderingsCollegeTeachers.pdf]. 

Steiner summarized the Waldorf teacher's role in these words: 

"I [the teacher] am the mediator between the divine spiritual world and the child. The child believes me and accepts what I say, but does not yet understand it ... When [in later life] something arises in the soul that was once accepted on trust and is only now understood, we can see that to teach properly we must not consider only the immediate moment but the whole of life. In all that we teach children, this must be kept in view." — Rudolf Steiner, THE SPIRITUAL GROUND OF EDUCATION (Anthroposophic Press, 2004), p. 34. 

[16] Waldorf education, as described here, is a spiritual communion between teacher and student. As we have seen, the teacher's authority and influence are meant to be great; the child is molded in accordance with Anthroposophical precepts. 

See Waldorf Publications.

Classes for Waldorf teachers and others 

offered during the summer of 2012 

at the Center for Anthroposophy 

[New Hampshire, USA]: 

Renewal Courses are designed for a wide range of interests related to Waldorf education and anthroposophy. We offer courses for Waldorf teachers — both new and experienced — along with parents, administrators, trustees, and friends of Waldorf education, as well as for artists and thinkers seeking to deepen their lives through anthroposophy." 

[3-17-2012   http://www.centerforanthroposophy.org/programs/renewal-courses/overview/] 

Among the courses to be offered:

Training to become a Waldorf teacher is often all but indistinguishable from studying to become an Anthroposophist.

Here are some of the courses offered in 2012 at Rudolf Steiner College [California, USA] as part of the College's Waldorf teacher training program:

◊ Cosmic Evolution and Inner Realities of Evolution

◊ Drawing the Seven Planetary Seals

◊ Karma and Reincarnation and Biography

◊ Spiritual Streams and Leading Sun Initiates

◊ Art History and Sacred Architecture

◊ Evolution of Religions and Esoteric Christianity

◊ Astronomy, Astrology, Astrosophy

These courses represent one curricular option. A second option delves less deeply into Anthroposophical doctrines; still, the courses in that option are also informed by Anthroposophical beliefs and practices (e.g., "Learning to See the Spirit in the Child" and "Evolution of Consciousness").  

[3-21-2012   http://www.steinercollege.edu/anthroposophy?q=node/1587]

◊

Two of the seven Anthroposophical planetary seals

— representing the sacred planets of astrology — 

that teacher trainees at Rudolf Steiner College

are taught to draw.

Above: Jupiter. Below: Venus.

Courses offered in 2012 at the Sunbridge Institute 

[New York, USA] as part of the Institute's 

Waldorf teacher training program:

◊ Inner Development of the Teacher [Year 1]: 

    • Anthroposophical View of the Human Being 

    • Inner Development: “Practical Training in Thought” 

◊ Inner Development of the Teacher [Year 2]: 

    • The Meditative Path of the Teacher 

◊ Inner Development of the Teacher [Year 3]: 

    • Capstone, culminating reflective paper 

    • Relationship of Waldorf Education to Anthroposophy: Foundation Stone Meditation 

[3-21-2012   http://www.sunbridge.edu/home/content.asp?pointid=&mid=6&msection=programs&id=24] 

The trainees' inner work (i.e., work on their spiritual development) occurs in parallel with other work more focused on the classroom, such as a two-semester course describing child development from an Anthroposophical perspective. 

◊

[Temple Lodge Publishing, 2006.

Temple Lodge is an Anthroposophical press; 

Rudolf Steiner Press is a distributor for Temple Lodge.]

This meditation was written by Rudolf Steiner

 and delivered upon the placement of the 

foundation stone for the worldwide 

Anthroposophical headquarters, the Goetheanum. 

From the publisher: 

“THE FOUNDATION STONE MEDIATION  ::  Meditative reflection — strengthening thinking and feeling through the will — is one of the main methods of experiencing Anthroposophy. 'The best path to this goal,' says [author Sergei O.] Prokofieff, 'is inner work with the Foundation Stone Meditation, because this meditation is the quintessence of the whole of Anthroposophy....’ [Subjects include] the relationship of the 'Foundation Stone Meditation' to the being Anthroposophia, the spiritual hierarchies, human karma, the Rosicrucian, Michaelic and Grail streams, the Mystery of Golgotha, the two Jesus children, the three spiritual sources of Anthroposophy, and even the Constitution of the General Anthroposophical Society.” 

[http://www.templelodge.com/pages/viewbook.php?isbn_in=9781902636825]  

From the Ethereal Kiosk:

"While browsing my documents I found a helpful little guide for teachers. It’s written by Robin Bacchus (PhD!). He is (or was) a program director at a Steiner teacher training program. The document is called ‘Karma and Reincarnation for Teachers’...." 

[3-19-2012   http://zooey.wordpress.com/ (The document is a little hard to read, so I have transcribed the contents and adjusted the formatting. — R.R.)]

Karmic Consequences

What can we as teachers and parents do when we become aware of the karmic consequences of certain conditions and attitudes?

Rudolf Steiner has indicated:

Attitude in a Prior Life  ::  Consequences in Next Life                                                                            

Attentiveness and interest in the world  ::  Well-formed organs, strong physical body, thick bushy hair, choleric temperament               

Lack of interest in the wider world, (e.g. being secluded in a nunnery)  ::  Poorly formed organs, rickets, bow legs, baldness, melancholic temperament                                                                                  

Ability to learn languages (mobile etheric life body)  ::  Ability to make unprejudiced judgements                                                                    

Excessive acquisitiveness  ::  Tendency to infectious illnesses                                                             

Illusionary self image, delusions  ::  Measles, scarlet fever                                                                            

Uncharitableness  ::  Small pox

Lack of interest in music  ::  Asthma                               

—                                                                           

“Therefore it is a blessing for children to point things to them so that they can look more carefully. 

Arouse their interest.”

—                                     

Hatred    > life sorrows    > dulled consciousness, mental illness, clumsiness

“Therefore give children an opportunity to do deeds out of love.”

No sense for facts    > tendency to lies    > defective organs    > frivolousness

“Therefore develop a sense in the children for facts and the truth.”

Difficult Karma can be healed by human love; it does not have to be left for the afflicted one to suffer alone. Indeed, we should not be able to rest in peace when we know another is suffering. It is the task of teacher in continuing and carrying out the work of the third Hierarchy [i.e., gods] to help remove the obstacles that lie in the children’s paths, by recognizing the karmic implications of what they observe in the children standing before them and doing what they can to help.

[With thanks to Alicia Hamberg. "Karma and Reincarnation for Teachers" by Robin Bacchus is available at http://beepdf.com/tag/karma.html.]

◊

Karma and reincarnation are basic Anthroposophical doctrines. And as a Waldorf educator has written, 

“[T]he purpose of [Waldorf] education is to help the individual fulfill his karma.” — Roy Wilkinson, THE SPIRITUAL BASIS OF STEINER EDUCATION (Rudolf Steiner Press, 1996), p. 52. 

[See "Spiritual Agenda", "Karma", and "Reincarnation".]

◊

P.S. Steiner said teachers should "develop a sense in the children for facts and the truth.” He often made such statements, advocating things that any reasonable person would applaud. But, in practice, Steiner generally undercut such reasonable affirmations. Thus, Waldorf education notably steers children away from facts and truth. [See, e.g., "Thinking Cap".] Steiner's followers accept his anti-rational guidance on such matters, as when they disparage "fact-based education." [See, e.g., "Oh Man".]

The former head of a Waldorf teacher-training program, Alan Whitehead, has published a series of "teacher-parent manuals" called the Spiritual Syllabus Series (Golden Beetle Books). These publications outline Whitehead's version of the correct Waldorf curriculum. Here's a taste, from volume 15, GAZE BOTH WAYS, Social Studies Class 7 & 8:

"...With a mineral body completely estranged from its divine origins, we of the Aryan epoch, really got into our straps on the good-and-evil path of character development. [paragraph break] Every subsequent culture tells of this timeless struggle, from Ancients [sic] India (Krishna-Kali); Persia (Ahura Mazdao-Ahriman); Egypt (Osiris-Set); Greece/Rome (Apollo/Apollyon), and finally the Judao[sic]-Christian world (Christ-Satan). All of these Beings, both light and dark, are, in part at least, ourselves; locked as we are in mortal combat on the battlefield of the War of Good and Evil. This war will climax, in the far future, with the decisive conflict of the War of All Against All...." (p. 106).

Note: Whitehead is a controversial figure who advocates incorporating Anthroposophy overtly in Waldorf classes. Some of his colleagues in the Waldorf movement think he goes too far. Others are delighted by his approach.

For more on Whitehead and his approach, see "Spiritual Syllabus" and "Out in the Open".

[Bay Area Center for Waldorf Teacher Training]

[Center for Anthroposophy]

Here is a message posted by historian Peter Staudenmaier in March, 2022:

Last week Margaret [Sachs] and Alicia [Hamberg] and others pointed to the various ways in which Waldorf pedagogy is steeped in anthroposophical beliefs. This is a prominent topic in scholarly studies of Waldorf education, and there is some substantive research about it, much of it in German. To my mind, the real question is not so much how many Waldorf teachers are anthroposophists -- though that is important and worth knowing -- but more significantly: how do Waldorf teachers relate to the anthroposophical basis of their educational model? 

The available research indicates that there is very little critical distance toward anthroposophical ideas in Waldorf teacher training programs or among teachers in Waldorf schools [i.e., anthroposophical ideas are accepted with little if any critical questioning]. That appears to be the case across national contexts, from Germany to Spain to the UK and elsewhere. Patricia Quiroga Uceda's 2015 study of Waldorf teacher education found that it was largely based on "having teachers integrate the categories of anthroposophy into their training process before acquiring the knowledge and skills required for carrying out their teaching endeavors." She also noted that "participants often find the system to be quite closed and anchored to teaching practices viewed as overly traditional" with an "excessive focus" on "anthroposophical knowledge" (Quiroga Uceda, "Waldorf Teacher Education" Encounters in Theory and History of Education 16 (2015), 129-45).

The most thorough study to date of current Waldorf teachers is the large survey sponsored by the German Waldorf school federation: Dirk Randoll, ed., "Ich bin Waldorflehrer": Einstellungen, Erfahrungen, Diskussionspunkte - Eine Befragungsstudie (Wiesbaden 2013). It reports a number of striking statistics. Of the two thousand Waldorf teachers surveyed, a mere 1.1% characterized their own perspective on anthroposophy as "critical / skeptical" (209). That tiny proportion is especially remarkable in Germany, where anthroposophy in general is much more familiar to the public at large than it is in anglophone countries. Even in that context, almost none of the current Waldorf teachers took a critical-skeptical attitude toward anthroposophy. 

The recent dissertation by Giuseppe Binetti, "Steiner Education: Freedom, Spirituality and Creativity" (full text freely available online) suggests that the same is true for Steiner schools in the UK. Even on topics like Steiner's supposed clairvoyance, Steiner school teachers seem to take a basically credulous approach. This is a sympathetic and detailed study from 2020 from the UK, not the work of critics of Steiner education and not from decades ago. 

What this evidence shows is that the Waldorf movement has a long way to go if it is going to cultivate a more discerning outlook on anthroposophical worldviews among its teachers. 

Peter S.

https://groups.io/g/waldorf-critics/message/33033

Here is a message posted by former Waldorf parent Steve Walden, 

responding to Peter Staudenmaier's message, above.

Thanks Peter...

Forgive this repeated story (I mentioned it a few years ago) but it might help the [officials] of the Waldorf World understand that the problem is not only one of numbers, but of people — especially young parents and vulnerable children. And some wannabe Waldorf teachers . . .

One night I received a telephone call from a distraught fellow with a disturbing story. He lived nearby and had heard from a mutual friend that I had some experience in Steiner education. By all accounts this young man was bright, altruistic, and sincere and although a mainstream school teacher, he was interested in working at a Waldorf school. He was fed up with standardized tests, vending machines, etc.  and was looking for a more holistic/natural/artsy way to teach children. He had visited a couple of Waldorf Schools,  looked at Waldorf websites and was ready for his training. He lasted one week and high-tailed it home. No refunds. Again, he was very distraught and got emotional during the phone call. The poor fellow was absolutely stunned at what he had learned during his training. It was not only the esoteric mystical content, or the racist undertones, but the fact that no other student teachers spoke up when presented with this unsavoury, unethical material. 

I listened and empathized. [I had heard] many similar sad stories. 

Walden

https://groups.io/g/waldorf-critics/message/33035

— Compilation and commentary by Roger Rawlings

[R.R.]