Waldorf Watch Wing 3 - Waldorf Now 2

Waldorf Now

Part 2 MORE NEWS

Two more items from the Waldorf Watch News page:

Remarks delivered at a conference of Waldorf teachers:

"It has been twenty-one years since I took the Waldorf school teacher training, and in those past twenty-one years, I have not heard much about the double [1] among teachers in conversation or at conferences ... [A] presentation on this topic is long overdue ... Rudolf Steiner himself in a series of lectures...strongly urged teachers to take into account in their process of educating children the workings of the double ... There must be a new awareness of this second being within us.

"Dr. Steiner makes one aspect of the double very clear. Today in our times the double stands totally in the service of Ahriman [2] ... [T]he number 666 announces the attempts of the beast to gain a stronger foothold in the affairs of men. In the year 666 an ahrimanic, intellectual culture was introduced into the world through Arabism [i.e., Arab culture] ... [I]n 666 Ahriman won a great victory. [3]

"...In spite of the negative aspects of the double, he is a necessary part of our incarnation process. Left to himself, man would never give up his heavenly home and exchange it for earthly existence. It is the legitimate role of the double to help us into incarnation by placing in our lower nature an affinity for the earth.

"...I would like to try, very briefly, to state the specific aims of the double and Ahriman with regard to man, especially Western man. The double wants man to forsake his spiritual nature — his ego [i.e., his “I” or divine spiritual self]. The double want to cut man off from the Christ and the Cosmos. The double wants to help develop a soulless society of intellectual automatons, in other words, an Ahrimanic race that will unite itself with the earth on a permanent basis and forsake the cosmos and the cosmic goals of the original creative Gods.

"...We must keep ourselves constantly informed about the workings of the double in us and in our students."

— Richard Schmitt, "The Double — A summary of a lecture given at the Teachers’ Conference of the Sacramento Waldorf School in February 1981" (Rudolf Steiner College Press, undated booklet, pp. 1-19 — still sold by the Rudolf Steiner College bookstore as of March, 2012).

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Notes added by R.R.

[1] The doppelgänger, the evil twin that we carry within us. According to Waldorf belief, the double is not a part of our own psyche, but literally a second being who rides within our body to the Earth when we incarnate. [See “Double Trouble.”]

[2] Satan. [See “Ahriman”.]

[3] The speaker adds that Ahriman won again in 1222 A.D. and perhaps a third time in 1998.

II.

From Wales Online:

What is Steiner education? - The Steiner ethos, according to the Steiner Waldorf Schools Fellowship, is to provide an "unhurried and creative" learning environment where children can find the joy in learning and experience the richness of childhood.

The curriculum itself is a flexible set of pedagogical guidelines, founded on Steiner’s principles that take account of the whole child.

It gives equal attention to the physical, emotional, intellectual, cultural and spiritual needs of each pupil and is designed to work in harmony with the different phases of a child’s development.

[6-8-2011 http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/2011/06/08/what-is-steiner-education-91466-28839733/]

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Waldorf Watch Response:

Pity the poor reporter who tries to make sense of Steiner education based on the misleading abstractions usually offered by Steiner spokesfolks.

Let’s take a somewhat closer look, relying mainly on the words of Rudolf Steiner, the founder of the Steiner movement and the man for whom the schools are named. (The schools are often called Steiner schools, but sometimes they are called Waldorf schools, since the first Steiner school was established with the aid of the owner of the Waldorf-Astoria cigarette company.)

Steiner’s worldview, "Anthroposophy" (a word meaning human wisdom), is an occult religion. Waldorf faculties usually acknowledge that their educational approach arises from Anthroposophy, but they usually deny that they teach Anthroposophical doctrines to their students. In a restricted sense, this may be true. But in a larger sense, it is false, and we have Steiner’s word for it. Addressing Waldorf teachers, Steiner said:

“You need to make the children aware that they are receiving the objective truth, and if this occasionally appears anthroposophical, it is not anthroposophy that is at fault. Things are that way because anthroposophy has something to say about objective truth. It is the material that causes what is said to be anthroposophical. We certainly may not go to the other extreme, where people say that anthroposophy may not be brought into the school. Anthroposophy will be in the school when it is objectively justified, that is, when it is called for by the material itself.” [1]

Since Anthroposophists believe that their doctrines are the Truth underlying all other knowledge, they think that the presence of Anthroposophy will be “justified” at virtually every point in every subject studied. They may be circumspect about it, bringing their Anthroposophical beliefs into the classroom subtly, covertly, but they bring them.

Not all Waldorf teachers are deeply committed, uncompromising Anthroposophists, but Steiner said that they should be:

“As teachers in the Waldorf School, you will need to find your way more deeply into the insight of the spirit and to find a way of putting all compromises aside ... As Waldorf teachers, we must be true anthroposophists in the deepest sense of the word in our innermost feeling.” [2]

Indeed, one of the most important facts about Waldorf schools is that they are meant to spread Anthroposophy:

“One of the most important facts about the background of the Waldorf School is that we were in a position to make the anthroposophical movement a relatively large one. The anthroposophical movement has become a large one.” [3]

Waldorf education is meant to usher students toward true spiritual life, which is deemed inherently Anthroposophical:

“As far as our school is concerned, the actual spiritual life can be present only because its staff consists of anthroposophists.” [4]

Waldorf teachers serve as priests in a religion that recognizes many spiritual powers or gods (plural: Anthroposophy is polytheistic). The goal of Waldorf schooling is not so much to educate children as to save humanity by leading it to Anthroposophy. Waldorf teachers consider themselves to be on a holy mission:

◊ "The position of teacher becomes a kind of priestly office, a ritual performed at the altar of universal human life." [5]

◊ “We can accomplish our work only if we do not see it as simply a matter of intellect or feeling, but, in the highest sense, as a moral spiritual task. Therefore, you will understand why, as we begin this work today, we first reflect on the connection we wish to create from the very beginning between our activity and the spiritual worlds ... Thus, we wish to begin our preparation by first reflecting upon how we connect with the spiritual powers in whose service and in whose name each one of us must work.” [6]

◊ “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.” [7]

In sum, the goals of Waldorf schooling are inseparable from the goals of Anthroposophy, although Waldorf teachers generally deny this, for fear of a public backlash:

“[W]e have to remember that an institution like the Independent Waldorf School with its anthroposophical character, has goals that, of course, coincide with anthroposophical desires. At the moment, though, if that connection were made official, people would break the Waldorf School’s neck." [8]

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What is Anthroposophy? It is a religion:

"[T]he Anthroposophical Society...provides religious instruction just as other religious groups do." [9]

And so:

"It is possible to introduce a religious element into every subject, even into math lessons. Anyone who has some knowledge of Waldorf teaching will know that this statement is true." [10]

Thus:

"Yesterday, I was sitting on pins and needles worrying that the visitors would think the history class was too religious." [11]

(Steiner wasn't concerned that the history class was religious; he worried that outsiders might think it was excessively religious. That there will be some religious content in a Waldorf class goes without saying.)

Waldorf schools, you see, are religious institutions, with "a religious element" introduced into "every subject." And the religion the schools adhere to is Anthroposophy. Hence Steiner was able to say to Waldorf students:

“[D]o you know where your teachers get all the strength and ability they need so that they can teach you to grow up to be good and capable people? They get it from the Christ.” [12]

(Take care when Steiner and his followers refer to "Christ." They do not mean the Son of God worshipped in regular Christian churches; they mean the Sun God. This need not detain us at this moment, however.)

The key point for us now is to recognize Steiner's admission that Waldorf teachers are true believers; they believe they draw their authority from a god. Their work as Waldorf teachers is religious. Even when encouraging their students to love beauty, their purpose is fundamentally religious.

“We must, in our lessons, see to it that the children experience the beautiful, artistic, and aesthetic conception of the world; and their ideas and mental pictures should be permeated by a religious/moral feeling." [13]

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As for whether Waldorf schools educate "the whole child," you should know that Steiner's followers think that children have (or will develop) three invisible bodies, they have both souls and spirits, they have twelve senses, they are reincarnated, they have karmas, they come to earth with memories of the spirit realm, they have auras, and so on. [See "Holistic Education".]

Waldorf schools are religious institutions infused with occult doctrines, the doctrines of Anthroposophy. [See "Is Anthroposophy a Religion?"] Most reporters don't have time to dig into these matters, so they often simply transcribe what Waldorf representatives say. But if you are interested in Waldorf schools, you should understand what these schools really are. If you like what they really are, fine; but if you don't like it, then you may want to spread the word a bit. Waldorf schools bravely want to drag us back into the ignorance and delusion that was common in medieval times but that are wholly out of place in the 21st century.

[Much of the above is excerpted from "Here's the Answer". For more — e.g., a brief summary of Anthroposophical religious beliefs — you may want to visit that page: "Here's the Answer".]

— R.R.

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

[2] Ibid., p. 118.

[3] Rudolf Steiner, RUDOLF STEINER IN THE WALDORF SCHOOL (Anthroposophic Press, 1996), p.156.

[4] Rudolf Steiner, EDUCATION FOR ADOLESCENTS (Anthroposophic Press, 1996), p. 60.

[5] Rudolf Steiner, THE ESSENTIALS OF EDUCATION (Anthroposophic Press, 1997), p. 23.

[6] Rudolf Steiner, THE FOUNDATIONS OF HUMAN EXPERIENCE (Anthroposophic Press, 1996), p. 33.

[7] FACULTY MEETINGS WITH RUDOLF STEINER, p. 55.

[8] Ibid., p. 705.

[9] Ibid., p. 706. Elaborating on this point, Steiner said

“[T]his is how our free, nondenominational, religion lessons came about. These were given by our own teachers, just as the other religious lessons were given by ministers. The teachers were recognized by us as religious teachers in the Waldorf curriculum. Thus, anthroposophic religious lessons were introduced in our school. “ — Rudolf Steiner, SOUL ECONOMY AND WALDORF EDUCATION (SteinerBooks, 2003), p. 125.

[10] Rudolf Steiner, THE CHILD's CHANGING CONSCIOUSNESS AS THE BASIS OF PEDAGOGICAL PRACTICE (Anthroposophic Press, 1996), p. 94.

[11] FACULTY MEETINGS WITH RUDOLF STEINER, p. 655.

[12] Rudolf Steiner, RUDOLF STEINER IN THE WALDORF SCHOOL (Anthroposophic Press, 1996), p. 29.

[13] Rudolf Steiner, EDUCATION FOR ADOLESCENTS (Anthroposophic Press, 1996), pp. 77.

III.

From Skolvärden:

Report: Many Waldorf schools do not teach [adequately]

by Emil Hedman

The School Inspectorate's targeted supervision of Waldorf schools shows shortcomings in several areas.

- The students do not get the education and teaching time to which they are entitled, says Anna Bergqvist, head of unit at the School Inspectorate.

Twenty-nine out of 35 inspected Waldorf primary schools [in Sweden] are deficient in at least one inspected area. The School Inspectorate has reviewed the schools' work in six areas: teaching based on the curriculum, guaranteed teaching time, scientific basis and proven experience, early support measures, as well as safety and [prevention of] abusive treatment.

According to the report, the majority of Waldorf schools fail in the planning and implementation of teaching, and students do not receive the guaranteed amount of teaching time.

- The students do not receive the education and teaching time to which they are entitled. This means that they miss out on knowledge that they should get in their education. It also risks affecting the students' future studies, says Anna Bergqvist, head of unit at the School Inspectorate.

Several [of the inspected] schools have shortcomings in the mapping of students' knowledge development, and support efforts for students with [special] needs are delayed or absent. Security work [i.e., protection of students], efforts against abusive treatment, and following course plans are also pointed out as lacking in several of the schools.

Waldorf pedagogy supersedes the School Act

The School Inspectorate points out that several of the deficiencies that were discovered are not unique to Waldorf schools; the same deficiencies and problems are found when the authority inspects other types of primary schools.

But in some cases [at Waldorf schools], Waldorf pedagogy is held superior to the School Act and the national curriculum. For example, [this occurs] with regard to the attitude that younger students should not use digital technology, and there are teachers who choose not to implement early support measures because the students are not considered mature [enough] for it, based on their age.

- We see that work with early interventions is lacking. If students' knowledge development is not mapped, there is a risk that students will not receive the support they need. We have actually seen [Waldorf] schools that did not provide such support, even when it was obvious that the students needed it, says Anna Bergqvist.

Questioning the exemption from teaching credentials

The fact that Waldorf school teachers are exempt from the requirement for teaching credentials is also cited as a problem. The School Inspectorate points to the importance of teachers' training and competence, and ends the report with the conclusion "In the opinion of the School Inspectorate, there may be reason to reconsider the exceptions in the legislation that apply to Waldorf schools".

The decision to target [Waldorf schools for] supervision was made in 2021 against the background of SVT's attention-grabbing documentary series "De uvvalda barnen" [The Chosen Children] and the subsequent debate about Waldorf schools in Sweden. [SVT is the Swedish national television broadaster.] In the documentary, which depicts how the Solvik School in Järna was run during the 1980s and 1990s, former students testify to a lack of teaching, and teachers are accused of both ignoring and participating in serious bullying, [various] violations, and physical violence against their students.

During the period November 2021 to April 2022, the Inspectorate reviewed 35 of the 38 Waldorf primary schools that exist around the country. There, the Inspectorate interviewed teachers, staff in student health, the principals, and students, and observed lessons and breaks.

[10-19-2022 https://skolvarlden.se/artiklar/rapport-manga-waldorfskolor-brister-i-undervisningen]

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Note added by R.R.

The reported situation in Swedish Waldorf schools is depressingly similar to the reported situations in Waldorf schools in other countries. [See, e.g., "The Steiner School Crisis" (focus: UK), "Norwegian Waldorf Critics", "He Went to Waldorf" (focus: France), "Dispatches from Deutschland" (Germany), "Ex-Teacher 2" (USA),"Report Card", "Slaps", "Failure", etc.]

For additional reports on Swedish Waldorf schools (reports that overlap the one above), see "Steiner in Sweden".

[R.R.]

HOW NOW

I should explain myself. Specifically, I should explain how I've gone about studying the Waldorf movement. This should help you to evaluate my work, and it may guide you in your own explorations.

One thing I have not done — because it was impossible — is to consult a large, unbiased, scholarly study that gets to the bottom of all things Waldorf. No such study has ever been completed. Perhaps this will be corrected someday, but the effort will be a huge undertaking, far exceeding the capabilities of any one researcher or even any one, small-scale team of cooperating researchers. There are hundreds and hundreds of Waldorf schools and Steiner schools scattered all around the globe, in countries far in near, in lands with vastly different cultures, in regions where many different languages are spoken [1]. Studying all these schools, in their multitudinous similarities and also dissimilarities, would take large teams of multilingual researchers fanning out hither and yon, well equipped with resources, diligence, and time. Members of the teams would need to dig deep into the Waldorf worldview (Anthroposophy) and explore how this worldview plays out at all the Waldorf/Steiner schools in existence, and how the teachers go about their work, and how students at these schools fare, and so on. It would be a huge project. Perhaps the biggest difficulty would be securing genuine cooperation from the Waldorf community. Anthroposophists and Waldorf faculties have a long history of holding their secrets close to the chest, concealing much from outsiders, and deceiving inspectors [2]. All such obstacles would need to be overcome.

If such a study had been done, I would not have needed to create Waldorf Watch. I could have read the study, passed along its results, and been finished. But instead, I have had to employ other methods.

My starting point was one that some of you may share but many others undoubtedly lack: personal experience as a Waldorf student. I attended a Waldorf school throughout most of my childhood (second grade through high school). Moreover, I had a privileged inside view because my mother was secretary to the headmaster of the school. So when, many years after leaving Waldorf, I became interested in trying to understand the Waldorf movement, I was able to begin by digging back through my own memories. This was a useful beginning, but it was also obviously open to doubt. I could not remember everything from all those years so long ago, of course, and my recollection of various events might be inaccurate. And I had attended just one Waldorf school, which may or may not have been typical of other Waldorf schools. And the documentary record I could consult (report cards, yearbooks, a few publications by leading figures at our school [3]) was thin. I had to continually remind myself that my personal history might be unrepresentative; and at least some of my memories might be false; and the scope of what I knew or could learn, today, about my old school, years ago, was distinctly limited.

So I had a starting point, but I needed to treat it skeptically [4]. I needed much more information, from other sources.

My next step, then, was to seek confirmation. Could I find other individuals who had Waldorf experiences similar to, or consistent with, my own? Or would I discover that virtually no one else reported undergoing experiences like mine — and thus my memories probably reflected nothing important about Waldorf education? I went to libraries, searched through directories, and roamed the Internet, looking for answers. One resource I found fairly soon, and that was quite helpful to me at that stage, was the website established by PLANS (People for Legal and Nonsectarian Schools). Among its resources, the site included accounts by numerous people whose experiences did seem to parallel, and apparently confirm, mine [5]. Some of these people were former Waldorf students, others were parents who had sent their children to Waldorf schools, and still others were individuals who worked in or around Waldorf schools in various capacities [6]. I began to see patterns that seemed to stretch widely across the Waldorf movement, reflected in one Waldorf school after another. I thought I was beginning to discern systemic problems in the Waldorf movement, problems that might not affect all Waldorf schools, but that seemed to show up in a signficant number of the schools.

But I was still dealing mainly with people's personal accounts, which could be criticized as merely anecdotal evidence. Eyewitness testimony is far from perfect. People who personally undergo or witness an event gain a certain amount of authority as a result. We should heed what such people tell us. But we also need to withhold final judgement, seeking additional testimony and, better yet, firm evidence. If my own memory was imperfect — as all human memories are — then so were the memories of the people whose stories I was now reading. I knew I could not wholly trust even the most compelling first-person accounts.

So I had to look more widely and more deeply. I found other websites with yet more evidently confirmatory accounts [7], but more importantly I began reading the publications authored by Waldorf founder Rudolf Steiner, and works by his close associates, and texts by other Waldorf officials and faculty members down through the years and up to the present [8]. These illuminated the thinking, beliefs, and doctrines upon which Waldof education was built, concepts that helped explain behavior by Waldorf teachers that might otherwise be puzzling. These texts explained the Waldorf worldview, the contents of Waldorf curricula, and the peculiarities of Waldorf methods [9]. Crucially, they tended to provide clues that illuminated many of the patterns I had begun to discern earlier.

In addition to studying the sorts of publications I've mentioned, I also began an extensive study of works by scholars who have delved into Waldorf and/or Anthroposophy. There weren't as many of these works as I could have liked, but they were numerous enough to keep me occupied for long periods. Some of the authors were critical of Waldorf and/or Anthroposophy, some maintained a neutral stance, and some were proponents of Waldorf and Anthroposophy [10]. All of them deepened my understanding.

I took another step as well. For the better part of a decade, I made a concerted effort to follow media reports about Waldorf and Steiner schools worldwide. I read the reports and I published excerpts, along with my own commentary, in a section of Waldorf Watch that I called Waldorf Watch News [11]. I was interrupted occasionally by circumstances beyond my control, but for the most part I was able to keep abreast of events occurring in many parts of the Waldorf movement. This again sharpened my understanding of systemic patterns within the movement. These patterns, I concluded, do not necessarily represent what usually happens in Waldorf schools, but they reveal problems that are implicit in the Waldorf approach and that do arise (I'm tempted to say inevitably arise) from time to time in Waldorf schools, causing significant distress.

None of my research was a perfect substitute for the magisterial, all-encompassing, ideal study that I hypothesized at the start of this little look back. But taken in conjunction with one another, these varied approaches have enabled me to attain a view of Waldorf education that, I would submit, is clear, well-documented, and cogent. I am confident that Waldorf Watch offers you the truth — if not perfect, God's-eye truth, then truth as far as the available evidence currently can take us.

You can trust the work I present at Waldorf Watch, I believe. But I urge you not to take anyone's word on faith, including my word. Conduct your own inquiries, using the techniques I have used or other techniques that you yourself devise. Work to find the truth — that is a goal we all should affirm and share.

— Roger Rawlings

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[1] As of today — February 7, 2022 — there are approximately 1,250 Waldorf and Steiner schools in the world, spread across six continents (or, put another way, there are Waldorf/Steiner schools in more than 70 countries). See https://www.freunde-waldorf.de/fileadmin/user_upload/images/Waldorf_World_List/Waldorf_World_List.pdf.

[2] See, e.g., "Secrets" and "He Went to Waldorf".

[3] These included several books by our headmaster, John Fentress Gardner [◊ EDUCATION IN SEARCH OF THE SPIRIT, ◊ YOUTH LONGS TO KNOW, ◊ AMERICAN HERALDS OF THE SPIRIT, etc.], books by a leading member of the school's board of trustees, Franz Winkler [◊ FOR FREEDOM DESTINED, ◊ MAN - THE BRIDGE BETWEEN TWO WORLDS], a book by my class's "class teacher" from sixth through eighth grade, Joseph Wetzl [a translation of THE BRIDGE OVER THE RIVER], a book by my class's eighth-grade commencement speaker, Sylvester M. Morey [CAN THE RED MAN HELP THE WHITE MAN?], and numerous shorter works [see, e.g., "Clearing House"].

[4] For my account of my Waldorf education and its aftermath, see "Unenlightened", "I Went to Waldorf", and "My Sad, Sad Story".

[5] For a discussion of the validity or first-person "anecdotes," see "The First Person".

[6] See, e.g., essays by Dan Dugan, Edwin Kreulen, Sharon Lombard, and Debra Snell. For an array of accounts by individuals who have been involved in Waldorf education, one way or another, see the section "Former Waldorf Teachers, Et Al" in the Waldorf Watch Tables of Contents; also see "Cautionary Tales", "Complaints", "Our Experience", "Coming Undone", "Moms", and "Pops".

[7] Websites come and go; some of the sites I visited have subsequently closed. But here are a few sites available to you as of today: Anthroposophie Blog (in German), The Ethereal Kiosk (in Swedish and English), La Vérité sur les écoles Steiner-Waldorf (French), Norwegian Waldorf/Steiner Critics (graciously in English), The Quackometer Blog (English), UK Anthroposophy (English), Waldorf Education - One Family's Story (English), and Waldorf Awareness (English). With a little Internet sleuthing, you should be able to find others.

[8] For quick introductions, see, e.g., "Say What?", "Who Says?", "Says Who?", "Today" Parts 1-8, etc. For introductions to some of Steiner's works, see "Everything", "Knowing the Worlds", "Oh Humanity", "Lecture", "Four Groups Souls", and "Forbidden". For Steiner's directives to — and interactions with — Waldorf teachers, see "Faculty Meetings", "Discussions", "Foundations", etc. Waldorf teachers whose work I read, or stories I consulted, include Joan Almon, Kevin Avison, Gilbert Childs, Sylvia Childs, Rachael Colley, Lani Cox, Keith Francis, John Fentress Gardner, Ramon De Jonghe, David Kennedy, Charles Kovacs, Helmut von Kügelgen, Brien Masters, David S. Mitchell, David Mollet, Ron Odama, Henk van Oort, Claudia Pangh, Jack Petrash, Grégoire Perra, René Querido, Martyn Rawson, Stephen Keith Sagarin, Jennifer Sapio, Astrid Schmitt-Stegmann, Eugene Schwartz, "Alice Shapiro", E. A. Karl Stockmeyer, Kathleen Sutphen, Lysa De Thomas, Roberto Trostli, Alan Whitehead, Roy Wilkinson, Nicholas Williams, and others.

[9] For more introductions, e.g., "Waldorf Wisdom", "Methods", and "The Waldorf Curriculum".

[10] Scholars I read include Geoffrey Ahern, Clopper Almon, Robin Bacchus, Henry Barnes, R. J. S. Blunt, Emil Bock, Robert Todd Carroll, Dan Dugan, Stewart C. Easton, Manly P. Hall, Sven Ove Hansson, Sharon Lombard, Ida Oberman, Grégoire Perra, Ansgar Martins, Robert McDermott, Daisy Jane Powell, Robert Powell, M. C. Richards, George Riland, Stephen Keith Sagarin, Robert Sardello, Richard Seddon, Peter Selg, Peter Staudenmaier, Anthony Storr, Heiner Ullrich, Peter Washington, Roy Wilkinson, Helmut Zander, among others.

[11] Most of this work is preserved in the News Archive of the Waldorf Watch Annex.