Vol. 2, No. 2,
2003
Why Waldorf Programs are Unsuitable
for Public
Funding
Dan
Dugan
Secretary
People for Legal and Nonsectarian Schools
(PLANS)
Abstract
The author
tells the story
of his experience as a Waldorf school parent, and his
discovery that the
school was a front for a cult-like sect called Anthroposophy. Waldorf
education appears to combine artistic and academic learning and claims
to be child-centered, but critical examination reveals that it is
devoted to promulgating the ideology of its founder, Austrian mystic
Rudolf Steiner (1861-1925). Penetration of Waldorf philosophy into
public schools has raised legal issues of Establishment Clause
violations and ethical concerns about racism inherent in the
system. The
author illustrates his discussion with examples from Waldorf and
Anthroposophical publications.
Introduction: My Encounter with Anthroposophy
I enrolled my son in the San Francisco Waldorf
School halfway through the sixth grade. I was very impressed with the
school. I liked very much the way art is integrated into the curriculum
in Waldorf. Drawing, calligraphy, music, dance, and drama aren't
separate subjects, but part of the regular lessons. Students hand-write
and illustrate their own books for every subject. Subjects
are taught in
blocks that last several weeks. When Roman History is studied, for
example, students will draw and paint Romans, write about them, sing,
dance, and act out plays about them.
One day while visiting the school, I browsed
through some books by Rudolf Steiner that they had for sale. I saw some
very strange things about "astral bodies" and "root races." I asked my
son's teacher whether these subjects were taught in the classroom. She
assured me that though the teachers studied Steiner, only Steiner's
teaching methods were used in the classroom, and Steiner's philosophy
wasn't taught to the children. I learned later that this is a standard
disclaimer, and it is far from the truth. I should have known better,
but I was so in love with the facade of the school that I looked the
other way.
Over the year and a half my son was in the
school, I became increasingly disturbed about three things:
-
Weird science. In a chemistry lesson, the
teacher burned different substances and the students drew and
described the qualities of the flames, smoke, and ash. No mention was
made of oxidation or, for that matter, any chemistry at all. In a
lesson on the physics of light, they were taught that
Newton was wrong
about color and Goethe was right. White light is a unity
and cannot be
divided into the colors of the spectrum; the colors are merely an
artifact of the prism. I thought perhaps these mistakes were due to
the ignorance of particular teachers, but when I obtained Waldorf
curriculum guides, I discovered that the inadequate and erroneous
science was part of the Waldorf system.
-
Racism. I was shocked to pick up a Steiner
book for sale at the school and read: "If the blonds and blue-eyed
people die out, the human race will become increasingly dense if men
do not arrive at a form of intelligence that is independent of
blondness" (Steiner, 1981, p. 86). Why would a school in San
Francisco in 1988 be promoting 1920s German racism? They would, I
thought, have to be some kind of cult to be so out of touch with
reality.
-
Quack medicine. An "Anthroposophical
physician" gave a lecture to the parents on "Anthroposophical
medicine." It was classic quackery, claiming to be
scientific but
ignoring science in favor of cult beliefs, namely,
Steiner's seemingly
authoritative pronouncements. For example, Anthroposophical medicine
doesn?t believe in germ theory, teaching instead that the real causes
of infectious diseases are karmic or spiritual, and that the presence
of microorganisms is only a symptom.
I started speaking up at meetings and lectures
about these problems. I requested a meeting with the College of
Teachers, the committee of senior teachers that ran the school. They
were "too busy." Instead, a committee of three teachers was
delegated to
give me an ultimatum: "You don't have to believe what we
believe, but if
you are going to talk about your disagreements with the other parents,
you will have to leave." We left.
It was all a very strange experience
for me, and
I decided to express my concerns to the other parents at the school by
writing a couple of articles and distributing them to the
school address
list. I wanted to be sure of what I was talking about, so I bought some
Steiner books, did research in the library, and attended more
Anthroposophical lectures. As I studied, I realized that the field was
wide and deep, and what was really needed was a book looking at it from
outside.
For years I studied Anthroposophy and Waldorf,
accumulating a large library of books and periodicals. Just when I was
at the point of telling myself that I shouldn't do research forever,
that it was time to get it down on paper, something new happened.
Waldorf education started to move into public schools. A Waldorf school
opened in the public school system in Milwaukee in 1991. Soon
after, the
charter school movement started up, and Waldorf charters started
opening. My studies took on urgency. I felt obligated to use
what I knew
to oppose the use of public funds for this religious system that was
violating the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment
because no one
knew what they were really about.
Then the Internet appeared and changed
everything. I was kicked out of the official Waldorf
discussion list for
being critical and bringing up embarrassing topics. Not one to be
silenced, I started an alternative list called Waldorf-Critics. I
co-wrote an article about Waldorf with Judy Daar that was published in
the Secular Humanist magazine Free Inquiry (Dugan & Daar,
1994). I
began to organize a "Waldorf Critics Association." At the same time,
Debra Snell had experienced a similar conflict with a Waldorf charter
school in Nevada City, California, and she had begun to organize
"Parents for Legal and Non-Sectarian Schools" to close the school that
she had helped found. We joined forces, and PLANS, People for Legal and
Nonsectarian Schools, was incorporated in 1997. PLANS
operates a popular
web site, a public email discussion list, "waldorf-critics," and a
private email support list, "waldorf-survivors-only." In 1998, PLANS
filed a federal lawsuit against two Northern California
school districts
that operate a Waldorf magnet school and a Waldorf charter school,
alleging violation of the Establishment Clause.
The History of Anthroposophy
Anthroposophy is a cult-like religious sect
following the teachings of Rudolf Steiner (1861-1925). There is a
thorough account of Steiner's life, first as a leader of Theosophy and
then as the head of his own sect, in Peter Washington's entertaining
Madame Blavatsky's Baboon: A History of the Mystics, Mediums, and
Misfits Who Brought Spiritualism to America (1995). Washington also
covers the other popular gurus of the early 20th century, Besant,
Ouspensky, Gurdjieff, Krishnamurti, and more. I recommend it highly.
Steiner was appointed head of the German section of Theosophy by Annie
Besant in 1902. He was a charismatic leader and the sect
thrived. Around
1912 Charles Leadbeater, at Theosophy's center in India,
became enamored
of a beautiful Indian boy. He convinced the other Theosophical leaders
that the boy, Krishnamurti, was a reincarnation of Christ. Steiner
couldn't go along with that. He'd already integrated Christ into his
cosmological system, and Krishnamurti wasn't part of that system. Years
later, when he grew up, Krishnamurti repudiated his role in Theosophy
and became a spiritual teacher in his own right.
Steiner split with Theosophy, forming his own
group, which he called Anthroposophy. He was a charismatic leader, and
most of the German section came with him, forming an instant
cult. Later
he claimed to have been teaching Anthroposophy all along, and
Anthroposophical presses went so far as to change
"Theosophy" to
"Anthroposophy" in some of his earlier books.
Anthroposophy cobbles together a hodge-podge of
spiritual traditions, claiming to teach comprehensive truths which are
only partially found in other religions. At its foundation are the
concepts of reincarnation, karma, and polytheism, which derive from
Hinduism. Steiner was something of a fundamentalist Platonist, saying
that the real world was all illusion, that objects are reflections of
eternal essences in the spiritual world; but for Steiner the essences
weren't abstractions, they were living beings. He also espoused Plato's
political philosophy and may well have imagined himself as the
philosopher-king. From the ancient Persian religion Zoroastrianism he
took dual gods of light and dark. He identified the light god as
Lucifer, and created his own trinity of Lucifer, Ahriman (the
dark god),
and a Gnostic conception of Christ, usually referred to as "The Christ
Spirit," who dwelt in the body of Jesus for only three years.
As if this weren't enough, Steiner stirred it
all together with a liberal dose of European occult traditions:
Cabbalism, numerology, Rosicrucianism and Masonry, and spiced it with
vegetarianism and the pseudosciences of astrology, herbalism, and
homeopathy. Steiner claimed to make "exact scientific
observations" in
the spiritual world, so nothing that he said could be discussed
substantially by his followers without questioning the foundations of
the faith.
Anthroposophy Today
A pamphlet of the Anthroposophical Society in
America (1993) quotes Steiner's statement of the purpose of the society
given in 1923: "an association of people who would foster the life of
the soul, both in the individual and in human society, on the
basis of a
true knowledge of the spiritual world." This reveals the religious
nature of Anthroposophy. "The life of the soul" is generally considered
to be a religious matter, as is "the spiritual world." His assertion of
"true knowledge" marks Anthroposophy as a sect; it implies that other
paths are not true.
Many common references identify
Anthroposophy as
a religious movement. Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary
defines it
as "a 20th century religious system growing out of theosophy and
centering on human development." (http://www.m-w.com/cgi-bin/dictionary,
12/1/02) The Oxford Dictionary of Philosophy calls it "The
Christian and
occultist movement associated with Rudolf Steiner (1861-1925) stressing
the cultivation of spiritual nature and the way to gain spiritual
awareness of a higher world" (Oxford, 1994, p. 75). Encyclopedia
Britannica's article on Steiner defines Anthroposophy as "a movement
based on the notion that there is a spiritual world comprehensible to
pure thought but accessible only to the highest faculties of mental
knowledge" (Britannica, 2002).
More than any other sect of occultism, except
perhaps Shrine, Anthroposophists apply themselves to activities in the
outside world. The pamphlet lists the activities of "Anthroposophy at
Work" as Waldorf education, adult education, healing dance, medical
practice, elder care, biodynamic agriculture, the arts, banking and
financial consulting, health and hygiene, publishing, a formal church
called Christian Community, and the Anthroposophical Society
itself.
These activities are usually referred to in
Anthroposophical jargon as "initiatives." This author
observes that they
are claimed as Anthroposophical activities when it is desired
to glorify
Anthroposophy, but denied and called independent free associations when
outsiders question their connection to problematic Anthroposophical
doctrines. They are wholly carried out under Anthroposophical
direction,
ultimately taking guidance from divisions of the Anthroposophical
headquarters (the Goetheanum) in Dornach, Switzerland. Each activity
will, of course, have its own local non-profit corporation.
Waldorf Schools
In 1919 Emil Molt, an admirer of
Rudolf Steiner,
asked Steiner to set up a school for the children of the workers of the
Stuttgart Waldorf-Astoria cigarette factory that Molt managed. The
school also served the children of Steiner's devotees, but,
then as now,
the great majority of the students were from outside Anthroposophy. The
school was progressive for its time; boys and girls were taught
together, there were no separate tracks for work- and college-bound
students, and art was integrated into the curriculum. The school was
successful, and Anthroposophists founded more, first in
Germany, then in
England and the United States. In the United States they are called
Waldorf schools; in Europe Steiner schools or Free Schools.
Steiner died
in 1925.
Germany outlawed Anthroposophy in the second
year of the Nazi period. In the author's opinion, this wasn't because
Anthroposophic philosophy was incompatible with National Socialism;
rather it was because Anthroposophists promoted a rival political
system, Steiner's "threefold social order." According to education
scholar Achim Leschinsky, The Waldorf schools were harassed by local
authorities. The schools fired all their Jewish teachers, formed an
association, and presented themselves to the government as supporting
National Socialism while they continued to do things their
own way. They
were controversial within the Nazi party, but they survived for six
years because of support from leading Nazis, most notably from Deputy
Fuehrer Rudolf Hess. Nazi education official Alfred Baeumler
argued that
the Waldorf schools should be studied as a good example of a system of
indoctrination. After Hess flew to Scotland, Hitler cracked down on
occultists and the remaining schools were closed.
(Leschinsky, 1983, p.
26). After the war the Waldorf movement continued to grow, and today
there are over 500 schools worldwide, including at least 140 in North
America (AWSNA, 2003).
In school brochures, Waldorf schools state that
their purpose is to educate "the whole child," "head, heart,
and hands,"
or "mind, heart, and will." They often quote Steiner: "Our highest
endeavor must be to develop free human beings, who are themselves able
to impart purpose and direction to their lives." These aspirations
aren't unique to Waldorf; did you ever see a school brochure that said
they educate only part of the child?
Publications for insiders reveal other
intentions: the advancement of Steiner's "threefold social order" and
missionary activity for Anthroposophy. During World War I, Steiner
promoted his plan to reorganize society. He sent tracts to world
leaders, but none bought his vague plan to divide society into three
independent spheres, spiritual, economic, and rights. Disappointed, he
told his followers that humanity's opportunity to take up the threefold
social order had passed, and the best that he could do would
be to found
a school to prepare souls who would meet up again when they were
reincarnated in the sixth post-Atlantean epoch. A publication of AWSNA,
the trademark holder of "Waldorf" in North America, describes their
motives:
[I]t is important to bring out a point which
is not often clearly realized. The spiritual life forces of a Waldorf
school are twofold; or, we could also say, there are two motives for
its existence. On the one hand, it is the starting-point
for a renewal
of education based on a spiritual knowledge of the whole man (the
teacher's vocation as such). On the other hand, and at the same time,
it is the working model for a social community, it is an institution
of the free life of spirit. Remember that the Waldorf School was
founded in 1919 as part of the larger movement towards a threefold
social order after World War I. When this large-scale effort to renew
the social order, nourished as it was by Rudolf Steiner's impulse,
found itself thwarted, the Waldorf School itself remained, as a sort
of "living relic" after the storm, but also as a seed bearing in
itself the potential for the renewal of social life in our times. The
school-with its various examples of cooperation among different
segments of its community and with inhering self-determination as a
faculty-run institution, since 1919-has been a full-working model for
an organization rooted in the free life of spirit; and as such it
stands as a continuing impulse to re-awaken awareness of
the threefold
social order and put it into practice. (Leist, 1987, p. 13)
Anthroposophy doesn't proselytize directly;
belief in karma and reincarnation leads Anthroposophists to
believe that
people who are destined for Anthroposophy will ask about it when they
encounter it. Waldorf parents who show interest in Steiner are invited
to join "study groups" that read and discuss Steiner. Often this leads
to Waldorf teacher training.
As we have seen so many times, the school
becomes a parent's first introduction to anthroposophy, and this is
happening in our greater community, as more people become interested
in participating in festivals and attending study groups. (Leopold,
2001)
Waldorf brochures will claim that the school is
based on child development. What isn't explained is that Steiner's
theory of child development differs radically from other theories (see
Steiner, 1960). Steiner's child development theory is based on what he
calls an understanding of the "true nature of man." Reincarnation and
karma are essential tenets of this doctrine. Humans have four
interpenetrating bodies that incarnate in stages. The physical body is
born at birth. The "etheric body" is born at age seven,
signified by the
change of teeth. The "astral body" is born at age fourteen (numerology
dictates seven-year periods), and the "I," the eternal part
of the human
that is reborn forever, is born at age 21. The web site of the
Pedagogical Section of the Goetheanum, headquarters of Anthroposophy,
describes what the child is ready for in each period, with reference to
Steiner's three-system physiology:
Let us now take a closer look at specific
ages. To that end let us consider Rudolf Steiner's discovery of three
functional systems in the human being: Our motor activity happens in
what can be called our metabolic/limb system. Every movement is a
bodily expression of will. Our rhythmic system - breathing and
circulation - is a bodily expression of experience and feeling. Fear,
joy, pain, etc., affect the breath and pulse. Our nerve-sense aspect,
the actual consciousness pole, which is centered in the region of the
head (the brain), corresponds to the activity of knowing. A person is
healthy only when these three systems work together and form a whole.
Anyone can experience the benefit of taking a walk after doing
strenuous computer work, which uses only the head. When we are
digesting our lunch, we have to overcome a fair amount of resistance
to do concentrated thinking. A person is healthy when none of these
systems suppresses the others for too long.
We can relate these three systems to three
phases of childhood development. Before the change of teeth the child
lives chiefly in motor activity, as a being of emotion and will.
During this phase its sense activity, speaking and thinking are all
connected with its movement and are therefore linked to the body to a
considerable degree. We can observe this in the four year-old child.
When it sees or hears something, it immediately has the urge to
convert what it has perceived into its own movement. This is how it
learns to speak; this is how it begins to play. One cannot picture a
child before the change of teeth that would wait for a meal with
crossed arms. Perception causes direct will activity in the limbs.
Inner and outer movement still belong entirely together.
With the change of teeth the child's inner
being begins to separate itself from its outer movement.
Its own inner
place of experience develops and its rhythmic system emancipates
itself from its limb system. In this stage of life the harmonious 1:4
relationship between pulse and breath falls into place.
With puberty finally, thinking begins to
become independent. The human being awakens to critical judgment.
Simultaneously the voice deepens, the limbs become heavy, the young
person has arrived on the earth, as it were, and is seeking its
individual personality. (Goetheanum, 2002)
The consequence of this theory is what critics
term an "infantilizing" educational plan. In recent years research has
shown that children who don't master reading in the primary grades are
often left behind for the rest of their lives (Snow, Burns
& Griffin,
1998, p. 21). This has led to "pre-reading" activity being common in
kindergarten. Today children entering first grade are expected to
recognize letters and numbers, be able to read simple words, and count.
Waldorf is vehemently opposed to what they call "pushing" children "too
early." Everyone would agree with that, but what is "too early"?
Kindergartners in Waldorf are not only not taught letters and numbers,
but many teachers make efforts to protect them from being exposed to
print at all. Stories are told to them, not read. Parents
have even been
advised that questions about road signs and words on packages should be
deflected, as too-early intellectual activity will damage the
children (Ercolano,
2001).
Waldorf students learn letters in first grade,
and basic reading in second and third grades. This is in
accordance with
Steiner, who said that in the best of all possible worlds,
reading would
be delayed until after puberty, but compromises had to be made with the
demands of society. Since standardized testing is frowned upon, and
slower students are expected to catch up in their own good time,
children who still can't read in fifth or sixth grade are not uncommon
in Waldorf.
Steiner said over and over that children's
health later in life would be damaged if they were intellectually
stimulated too early. Consequently, reasoning, the linking of cause and
effect, is avoided till sixth or seventh grade. Science lessons, which
begin in fourth grade, consist only of observations. No theories are
taught until later. But it is impossible to teach science without
theory, so what is really happening is that by being protected from the
"materialism" of modern thought, the pupils are left open to accept the
magical world view expressed in the mythology in which they are
immersed, that nature spirits and gods are behind the illusions that
appear to be the physical universe. Whether this system is actually
successful in turning out many Anthroposophists, however, is doubtful;
sophisticated kids laugh at the more "anthropop" teachers behind their
backs. Waldorf schools may convert more parents than children to
Anthroposophy.
Teachers are supposed to start with a
first-grade class, and stay with the class all the way through
elementary and middle grades, through the eighth grade. This makes the
Waldorf experience extremely variable, depending on the talents of the
teacher. Since there is no standardized testing, and teachers are hired
more on their ability to represent Anthroposophical devotion than their
teaching ability, two successive classes graduating from the
same school
may have very different levels of competency.
Waldorf is very concerned with rhythm, and the
schedule of the school day is carefully crafted. After a rigidly
controlled circle ritual and prayer (students do not share news from
home or discuss world events), two hours of morning "prime time" is
given to the "main lesson." Main lessons are of one subject,
taught in a
block of several weeks' length. A history block might be followed by a
block on geometry, followed by a block on botany, and so on. There are
no textbooks. The teacher draws elaborate illustrations and writes text
on the chalkboard, and the student makes a "lesson book" for each block
by copying from the board.
After the main lesson, special subjects are
rotated in a more conventional way, like math drills or
foreign language
classes twice a week. The special subjects include some very strange
Anthroposophical exercises taught by specialty teachers. A
great deal of
time is spent doing strictly prescribed wet-on-wet watercolor painting.
This is intended to be a spiritual exercise in which the students
contact the spiritual world through color. The use of lines
is forbidden
in the early grades, except for "form drawing," which consists of
repetitive exercises that are purported to be therapeutic. All Waldorf
students take eurythmy, a ritual dance that Steiner invented, claiming
it was a new art form that carried on the ancient Greek temple dance
tradition. It is more of a code than an art form. It consists of a
prescribed vocabulary of gestures that symbolize speech sounds, musical
intervals, the signs of the zodiac, and the planets. Parents
can be very
impressed when they see flowing gowns and graceful arm-waving
reminiscent of Isadora Duncan, but the impression is only superficial.
The world of dance takes no interest in the Steiner cult's "new art
form."
The environment of Waldorf schools is unique.
The architecture, following Steiner's designs for the Goetheanum
buildings, avoids right angles and rounds corners. Where an existing
building is used, interiors are draped to soften the lines, and natural
light is used as much as possible. Classrooms are noticeably
less "busy"
than any other school; only a few selected pieces of student art are
displayed, perhaps a few pieces of art relating to the current lesson
block or theme of the year, and a "nature table" (really an altar) that
is redecorated for each season. Classroom walls are painted in pastel
colors that Steiner prescribed for each grade, with a special
transparent color technique called "lazuring." The effect is peaceful
and artistic.
Waldorf schools usually develop by founding a
kindergarten first, then when enough support has been
organized, a first
grade. New classes will be added year by year as the first grade moves
up. The standard Waldorf school has a kindergarten and eight grades.
High schools are rare because they are more expensive. Very successful
schools found high schools after years of being a full elementary
school. Schools are monitored and licensed by national Waldorf school
associations. In the United States the Association of Waldorf
Schools of
North America (AWSNA) licenses use of the Waldorf and Steiner
trademarks. In turn, the associations are coordinated by the
Pedagogical
Section of the Goetheanum in Switzerland. There are no general Waldorf
colleges. Specialized institutions include teacher training colleges,
art and eurythmy schools, and post-graduate medical schools.
Waldorf schools have a strict dress code, and
elementary school students are not allowed to bring anything from home,
especially toys, books, or popular music. The schools want to
change the
lifestyles of their students' families to conform to Anthroposophical
ideals. Stricter schools will insist that parents sign an agreement to
eliminate television, movies, and recorded music from their homes.
Teachers often request that children not be enrolled in any
after-school
activities like dance or sports so that the influence of the school
won't be diluted by popular culture. Parents are advised (or ordered,
depending on the teacher) to put children to bed early and
not to expose
them to any stimulation before school. Some teachers inspect their
students' homes; parents joke with each other about hiding the TV and
plastic toys. Because of this complex of restrictions,
Waldorf families,
trying to do their best for their children, tend to become isolated,
socializing only with other Waldorf families.
You will have to take over children for their
education and instruction-children who will have received already (as
you must remember) the education, or mis-education given
them by their
parents. Indeed our intentions will only be fully accomplished when
we, as humanity, will have reached the stage where parents, too, will
understand that special tasks are set for mankind today. (Steiner,,p.
16)
The Waldorf Teacher
Waldorf teachers are different from teachers in
any other kind of educational theory. It is expected that they will
participate in a group spiritual life. "What is unique in these schools
is the inner path of the teacher" wrote artist and Waldorf teacher Mary
Richards. "The teacher's personal path is to enter into a consciousness
of the human being and universe and to enter into teaching as
a practice
of this consciousness. A community is thus created among the
teachers by
the fact that they are students together and are connected through a
meditative life" (Richards, 1980, p. 16).
Norman Davidson, Director of Teacher
Training at
Sunbridge College, the principal Waldorf teacher training
program on the
East Coast, explained:
What we are offering is really a personal
transformative experience. The student studies the world and human
life fundamentally from an Anthroposophical point of view. He or she
learns to experience things from a spiritual-scientific approach. At
the same time, he or she is given the opportunities for artistic and
practical activity that help effect an inner spiritual
development. (Koetszch,
1996, p. 37)
The teacher training colleges are more like
religious seminaries than teaching colleges. A letterhead from Rudolf
Steiner College, the largest West Coast school, describes it as "A
Center for Anthroposophical Endeavors."
The full-time teacher training program is a
two-year course. The first year, called the "Foundation Year," is a
survey of Anthroposophy, and is also offered to anyone interested in
learning more about Steiner's philosophy. A reading list for Foundation
Year students reveals the nature of the curriculum. Note that almost
every book is by Steiner; those few that aren't by Steiner are by other
Anthroposophical authors, with the exception of Parzival.
[RUDOLF STEINER COLLEGE]
FOUNDATION YEAR BOOK LIST 1993-94. The
following books will be read and discussed during the year. You will
need to have your own copy of the books marked *. The rest,
and others
the faculty will suggest, may be purchased or borrowed from the
library.
Psych 101 The Nature of the Human Being:
Microcosm/Macrocosm
Rudolf Steiner, Theosophy*
Rudolf Steiner, Calendar of the Soul*
Rudolf Steiner, The Younger Generation
Lit 100 Parsifal
W. von Eschenbach. Parzival (Mustard and
Passage translation)*
Rene Querido, The Mystery of the
Holy Grail: A
Modern Path of Initiation*
Steven Roboz, ed., The Holy Grail
Rudolf Steiner, The Search for the
Holy Grail
SS 101 Biography, Life Cycles and the Meaning
of Existence
Bernard Lievegoed, Phases*
Beredene Jocelyn. Citizens of the Cosmos
Gisela and George O'Neil, The Human Life
SS 104 The Festivals
Rudolf Steiner. The Cycle of the Year as a
Breathing Process
Rudolf Steiner, The Festivals and Their
Meaning
Rudolf Steiner. The Four Seasons and the
Archangels
Hist 102 Rudolf Steiner: His Life
and Work
Rudolf Steiner. The Course of My Life
Robert A. McDermott. Ed. The
Essential Steiner
Stewart Easton, Man and World in the Light of
Anthroposophy
Stewart Easton, Rudolf Steiner: Herald of a
Modern Consciousness
Hist 103 Evolution of Consciousness through
Art
Gottfried Richter, Art and Human
Consciousness*
Psych 100 Knowledge of the Higher Worlds
Rudolf Steiner, Knowledge of the
Higher Worlds
and its Attainment*
Rudolf Steiner, Foundation Stone*
F.W. Zeylemans, The Foundation Stone
Phil 103 World Evolution and Spiritual
Development
Rudolf Steiner, Occult Science*
Rudolf Steiner, The Spiritual
Hierarchies*
Lit 160 English and American Literature
An anthology of readings is provided for the
class.
Phil 102 Christology
Rudolf Steiner, Spiritual Guidance
of Man*
Rudolf Steiner, Christianity as
Mystical Fact
Phil 100 Philosophy of Freedom
Rudolf Steiner. Philosophy of Freedom*
FA 100 Eurythmy
Rudolf Steiner, A Lecture on Eurythmy
Rudolf Steiner, An Introduction to
Eurythmy
Marjorie Spock, Eurythmy
Ed 100 Introduction to Waldorf Education
Rudolf Steiner, Kingdom of Childhood*
Rudolf Steiner, Education of the Child in the
Light of Spiritual Science*
Hist 110 America in the Light of Spiritual
Science
An anthology of readings is provided for the
class.
Psych 102 Karma and Reincarnation
Rudolf Steiner, Manifestations of Karma*
Rudolf Steiner, Reincarnation and Karma*
Rudolf Steiner, Karmic Relationships, Volumes
1-8
Rene Querido, Questions and Answers on
Reincarnation and Karma*
I can't help noticing the conventional
designations of the courses. "History 102" is the life and work of
Rudolf Steiner. "Psych 102" is about karma and reincarnation. These
course numbers would look like a real educational program on a
transcript, as long as the actual course titles were omitted.
The second year of teacher training addresses
education, but students are required to have taken the Foundation Year
first, or to demonstrate that they have equivalent indoctrination in
Anthroposophy. An instruction sheet from Rudolf Steiner College adds
requirements to the Teacher Training Application form. Perhaps these
requirements were considered to be sensitive, and the college did not
want to publish them to strangers on the application form that is sent
out "cold."
For students who have
not completed the Foundation Year program at Rudolf Steiner College or
another comparable study center, in addition to the
procedures listed on
the Teacher Training application form, the following are also
required:
1. A statement from
yourself concerning your relationship to Anthroposophy.
This amounts to a religious test for entry to
the teacher training year.
2. A letter of recommendation from a senior
person in the anthroposophical community who knows you well and could
comment on you in the light of your relationship to
Anthroposophy.
Applicants aren't asked for a recommendation
from, say, an employer or professor concerning their suitability for
teacher training, but from an Anthroposophist. One might expect this
priority of Anthroposophy over educational values to be
reflected in the
Waldorf schools these teachers-to-be will be charged with creating.
3. A paper giving an overview of
the knowledge
you have gained from a study of the following books by
Rudolf Steiner:
Knowledge of the
Higher Worlds and its
Attainment
Occult Science
Theosophy
Philosophy of Freedom
(Philosophy of
Spiritual Activity)
Christianity as
Mystical Fact
4. Evidence of some work in Eurythmy in the
form of a letter describing the extent and quality of what you have
done and with whom.
5. Letters describing the extent and quality
of your past work in painting, music or other artistic fields. It is
of particular interest if this artistic work has been based on
anthroposophical thought.
6. A statement outlining your experiences
participating in celebration of seasonal festivals and your study of
the spiritual foundation of those festivals.
These questions are all about
Anthroposophy. The
reading list for the second year continues in the same vein. Again,
almost all the books not written by Steiner are from Anthroposophic
presses:
[Rudolf Steiner
College]
Teacher Education
Program Book List 1993-94
Students should read
for the first day of class:
-three excerpts from lectures by Rudolf
Steiner sent with summer information packet
-the first lecture of Study of Man
-the first lecture of Rudolf Steiner's
Three Lectures on the Curriculum
Required reading for
the basic education courses include:
Rudolf Steiner, Study of Man
Rudolf Steiner, Practical Advice for
Teachers
Rudolf Steiner, Discussions with
Teachers
Rudolf Steiner, Waldorf Education for
Adolescence
Rudolf Steiner, Balance in Teaching
Rudolf Steiner, Love and Its Meaning in
the World
Rudolf Steiner, The Work of the Angels
in Man's Astral Body
Rudolf Steiner, The Education of the
Child
C. von Heydebrand, The Curriculum
E.A. Karl Stockmeyer, Rudolf Steiner's
Curriculum for Waldorf Schools
Early Childhood
Education students will also need:
Rudolf Steiner, Understanding Young
Children
Karl K?nig, The First Three
Years of the
Child
Freya Jaffke, Toymaking with
Children
It is assumed that
anyone going into teaching work in the Waldorf schools will have a copy
of each of the following and be familiar with the contents:
Rudolf Steiner, Knowledge of the Higher
Worlds and Its Attainment
Rudolf Steiner, Theosophy
Rudolf Steiner, Occult Science
Rudolf Steiner, Philosophy of
Freedom
Rudolf Steiner, Christianity
as Mystical
Fact
Rudolf Steiner, The Spiritual Guidance
of Man
Rudolf Steiner, The Younger
Generation
Rudolf Steiner, Kingdom of
Childhood
In addition, the
following are strongly recommended as very useful references:
Rudolf Steiner, The Festivals and Their
Meaning
Rudolf Steiner, The Cycle of
the Year as
a Breathing Process
Rudolf Steiner, Man as Symphony of the
Creative Word
Rudolf Steiner, The Poetry and Meaning
of Fairy Tales
Grimm's Fairy Tales (Pantheon
Edition)
Padraic Collum, Children of Odin
H. Baravalle, Teaching Mathematics in
the Waldorf School Plan
D. Harrer, Mathematics for Elementary
Grades
H. Niederhauser, Form Drawing
R. Kutzli, Creative Form
Drawing, Vol. 1
and Vol. 2
Roy Wilkinson, Man and Animal
Ren? Querido, Man's Responsibility for
the Earth
J. Sterit, And There Was Light
D. Harrer, Chapters From
Ancient History
D. Harrer, Roman Lives
C. Lindenberg, Teaching History
B. Zahlingen, Plays for Puppets and
Marionettes
Nancy Foster, ed., Let Us Form a Ring:
An Acorn Hill Anthology
Seasonal
story and song
books from Wynstones Kindergarten: Summer, Autumn, Winter, Spring,
Gateways, and Spindrift
Waldorf promoters have argued that there are
special summer courses for public Waldorf school teachers that don't
include Anthroposophic content. A public school teacher who took one of
those programs reported to me that there was a whole section of the
Rudolf Steiner College library that was "off limits" to the trainees!
That's rather strange behavior for a teacher training college.
The argument is specious for two
reasons. First,
a public Waldorf school ("Waldorf Method" or
"Waldorf-inspired") will be
likely to hire teachers who have had the full Waldorf training program;
certified Waldorf teachers are more desirable than partly-trained
teachers; indeed, some public Waldorf schools advertise that their
teachers have both Waldorf and State certifications. Second, the
"sanitized" courses actually contain a lot of Anthroposophy, i.e.,
things that only Anthroposophists believe. One example will suffice for
this presentation. Teachers who took the public school teachers program
at Rudolf Steiner College in the summer of 1996 gave the author this
handout:
The mood of the fairy
tale, even in a quite superficial sense, is truly the means to prepare
human souls, such as they are today, for the experience of what can
shine into them from higher, supersensible worlds. The simple fairy
tale, approaching modestly with no pretension of copying everyday
reality but leaping grandly over all its laws, provides a
preparation in
human souls for once more accepting the divine, spiritual
worlds. Rudolf
Steiner 1911 [sic]
Understanding this sheds quite a
different light
on what Waldorf teachers are up to when fairy tales are the primary
literature (recited by the teacher, not read) in kindergarten and first
grade.
What's remarkable about the Waldorf teacher
training is what's missing. Waldorf teachers don't study any of the
other educational theorists in more than a cursory fashion. They aren't
given any training in core academic subjects at all. They don't study
classroom management. In Waldorf, devotion to Anthroposophy is all.
Everything else is supposed to take care of itself-somehow.
Concealing Anthroposophy: Prayer and Ritual
Waldorf schools use various denials and
subterfuges to conceal Anthroposophy. Here's a particularly interesting
one from the parent handbook of a publicly-funded Waldorf school:
A prominent aspect of the Novato Charter
School's educational community is a nature-based philosophy. As
parents, educators, and administrators of this community, we believe
that humans have a connection with all life forms on our planet, and
with the universe that sustains us. We believe that nature
serves as a
common ground for all cultures. Observation and
acknowledgement of our
natural environment allows us to more fully celebrate our likeness,
appreciate our differences, and come together as one in
learning about
ourselves and the world around us. (Blue Oak Charter School, 1998, p.
8)
The high-sounding idealistic language
covers the
crucial issue, which is, just what is a "nature-based philosophy?"
Perhaps they're talking about a world view, the business of religions.
The handbook states further:
"The Earth, the universe, and the natural
elements are acknowledged and celebrated in a variety of ways..."
(ibid.)
In Waldorf schools, "the elements" are earth,
air, fire and water. These ancient "elements" are illusions concealing
the activity of "elemental spirits," respectively, gnomes, sylphs,
salamanders, and undines. "Acknowledging" and "celebrating" are acts of
worship. We're not talking about ecological science here. The writer is
trying to appeal to New Age spirituality, popular in Marin County where
the school is located. I think it's good for a Waldorf school to appeal
to New Agers, they are its obvious constituency, but Novato Charter
School is a public school! A grace before meals is suggested:
Earth who gives to us this food,
sun who makes
it ripe and good, sun above, earth below, our loving thanks to you we
show. (ibid.)
This prayer is by Christian Morgenstern, a
friend of Rudolf Steiner, and is used in Waldorf schools worldwide.
Thanks can only be given to a person or a deity. Here the earth and the
sun are personified, as is done in a nature-worshipping religion. All
the mentions of the sun should be seen with the understanding that in
Anthroposophy, Christ is a "sun being."
Who should kindergartners thank for
their snack?
It would be appropriate in a public school to thank the
teacher who gave
them the food, the grocer who made it available, the trucker
who brought
it to the market, the farm workers who picked it, and the farmer who
grew it. If they did that, they would be learning real gratitude, not a
religious relationship to cosmic bodies.
Waldorf students pray at the opening of every
school day. This tradition continues in public Waldorf schools, despite
the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment. Back in 1919 Steiner
knew that praying would be problematic, even in private schools, and
told his teachers to cover it up:
A teacher: Would it be a good thing
to let the
children speak a kind of morning prayer?
Dr. Steiner: That is something that can be
done. I had also had it in mind. I will say something about it
tomorrow. We will also talk about a prayer. But there is just one
thing I should like to ask you. You know, with these things the outer
form is of the utmost importance. Never call the verse a "prayer" but
a "school opening verse". Do see to it that people do not hear the
expression "prayer" used by a teacher. This will go a long
way towards
overcoming the prejudice that this is an anthroposophical school.
The biggest mistakes we make are with words.
People will not get out of the habit of using words that are
detrimental to us. (Steiner, 1986, p. 45)
Below is an eyewitness report of a traditional
opening ritual for the lower grades. The wording of the prayer will be
slightly different in different schools because they are
translations of
Steiner's original in German:
Clock time registers 8:50. Miss Bronte [2nd
grade teacher] sweeps to the back of the room to turn off the lights
and then she says, "Let's have a golden tone this morning. Who has
never done this?" A few students raise their hands. Miss Bronte
chooses Ariana to ring the golden tone. With great enthusiasm and
anticipation, acting as though she has never done this before, Miss
Bronte holds the xylophone for Ariana, who with a flick of the wrist
creates the golden tone. The class listens quietly in the darkened
room.
Next, Miss Bronte strikes a match against the
grey rock on the nature table. In unison the class says, "Candle,
candle, burning bright, thank you for your loving light."
The students
stand and cross their arms in front of their chests and
recite a verse
by Rodolf Steiner that I am told is the one verse said, with some
variation, in every Waldorf classroom between first and
fourth grades:
The sun, with loving light,
Makes bright for me each day.
The soul, with spirit power,
Gives strength unto my limbs.
In sunlight, shining clear,
I reverence, O God,
The strength of humankind
Which thou so graciously
Has planted in my soul,
That I with all my might
May love to work and learn
From thee come light and strength
To thee rise love and thanks.
Students recite the
words clearly. Next, with accompanying hand movements, students sing
another song. Then they snuff the candle with great attention and
ritual. (Uhrmacher, 1991, pp. 108-109)
In the first public Waldorf school in Milwaukee
the wording was changed to make it seem less religious:
The Sun with loving light
Makes bright for me each day
The light within myself
Gives strength unto my limbs
In sunlight, shining clear
I reverence the strength and power of
humankind
That lives in you and me,
That I with all my might,
May love to work and learn.
To me comes strength and light,
From me rise love and
thanks. (McDermott, 1995, p. 38)
This is still a prayer despite the removal of
"God." "Love and thanks" are due to some person or deity; the object
seems obvious, the sun. In Anthroposophy, the "Christ Spirit" is a "sun
being." It requires no great stretch to construe this prayer as being
directed to Steiner's version of Christ.
In Northern California, a public school teacher
who had taken Waldorf teacher training got permission from his school
board to present "a simple, multi-cultural study of stories from six
world religions." In a Waldorf journal that he apparently figured his
public school colleagues wouldn't see, the teacher bragged to his
Anthroposophical colleagues about how he managed to stage a
full-fledged
Anthroposophical ritual in his public school classroom:
On the last day before
vacation, I led the children in a Winter Solstice Celebration. The room
was cleared, except for a red covered table arranged with a wreath of
evergreen branches and mistletoe. A few sprigs of holly, with its red
berries, completed the circle which surrounded an angel holding a
lighted candle. A few crystals and some winter animals complemented the
arrangement. The children each had a candle and we spiraled into the
center, each lighting our candle. All the while we sang a simple
solstice song that goes, "Down with Darkness, Up with Light." The
simplicity and magic of the moment was very moving and powerful. Winter
Solstice, with its obvious astronomical importance, is the easiest
aspect of the Christmas season to emphasize in a public school. So, for
a brief moment, we all felt like ancient Druids worshipping the sun.
This celebration ended what was for this public school teacher a very
special month. (Peterson, 1995, p. 22)
Concealing Anthroposophy: Cult Science
Beyond the explicit content of prayers and
rituals, Anthroposophy is present implicitly in many Waldorf lessons.
"[I]n the great tableau of the main lessons from Class 1 to 12, you
teach the child/student in clear, separate terms, about all possible
spiritual matters. The curriculum is indeed, in a veiled way of course,
Anthroposophy" (Whitehead, 1993, p. 27). Anthroposophical influence is
most obvious in Waldorf science teaching, which ranges from odd to
bizarre. My son David was taught, in seventh-grade physics at the San
Francisco Waldorf School, that Newton was wrong, and Goethe was right
about color. The following example is from the lesson book of a high
school senior in the flagship school associated with the West Coast
teachers college:
Newton continued to
elaborate on his Theory of Colors. He determined that specific colors
came about because all the other colors were absorbed. For example, a
blue shirt, is determined as blue because the shirt has absorbed every
other color, and has emitted (reflected) only that blue. Though his
theory has been proven incorrect, it is essential to learn
about many of
Newton's theories in order for us to better understand the scientific
frame of mind. . . . Just one of the many aspects of Newtonian physics
that we have adopted is Newton's Particular (particles)
Theory of Light.
(Charren, 1988, npn.)
This is totally backwards, yet there are no
corrections by the teacher. Newton's theory of why a blue shirt appears
blue has not been proven incorrect; it is as valid today as
it ever was.
Newton's theory of light particles was rejected by later
science, and it
didn't have any influence on the development of today's quantum theory.
It is quite incorrect to say that it "has been adopted."
Another place that Waldorf science differs
radically from the rest of the world is in physiology.
Anthroposophy has
its own physiology. Steiner taught that the heart does not pump blood,
blood moves itself. "Naturally, people began to think that the heart is
really a pump that mechanically pumps the blood through the body,
because they no longer knew that our inner fluids have their own life
and therefore move on their own. They never dreamed
that the heart is
only a sense organ that checks on the circulation of the fluids in its
own way." (Steiner, 1985, p. 112) The author, along with another PLANS
board member, had the bizarre experience of hearing public school
teachers defend this doctrine to the Twin Ridges school board in Nevada
County, California. They sincerely believed what their Waldorf mentors
had told them, namely, that this was cutting-edge science and the
subject of current university research. To prevent parent revolts, this
doctrine is usually skirted in Waldorf classes. The lesson block on
circulation will be taught in an ambiguous way without mentioning the
pumping function of the heart.
The following is from a seventh or eighth grade
lesson book that was proudly put on display at the San
Francisco Waldorf
School.
Name: Laurel
Organic
Chemistry Test
[Teacher's note]
Excellent comprehension of the material, Laurel
I. Short Answer
1. Describe the
nature of sugar in relationship to the four elements of nature. Use
examples from our experiments to illustrate.
Sugar is always
found in liquid form in NATURE. Sugar has a very strong relationship to
fire as we saw in our experiment (the nature of sugar). We saw how when
we placed some sugar into a crucible, it burst into flame (highly
combustible after advancing [to] its middle form a caramel -like
substance). It also has an affinity to air (as we saw from the smoke
that arose) and water because we saw that it was highly
soluble. Not
very strong relationship to earth.
[Teacher's note]
Perfect!
Parents might feel proud that their elementary
school student had a class in organic chemistry. On the face of it, it
sounds advanced. Who'd imagine the class would be about "the four
elements?"
Denial
In the private Waldorf schools, it's
always been
necessary to appeal to mainstream parents. There aren't enough
Anthroposophists to support the schools, so the majority of
the students
will be from "outside" the group. From the beginning, the schools have
taken care to conceal and deny the Anthroposophical content of the
education. In a brochure given to parents in San Francisco,
where my son
attended, and also used by some other schools, there is only
one mention
of Anthroposophy. Board of Directors member John Bloom wrote:
Anthroposophy informs the education, the
curriculum, and the teacher training. It is the basis for
the school's
values, priorities, and organization. However, it is not
taught in the
school. (Bloom, 1991, p. 2)
Let's deconstruct this a bit. If A is
"the basis
for" B, then we can say that B is based on A. But when A "informs" B,
what is that relationship? It's an intentionally vague statement. It
must mean that at least some of the content of B comes from
A. Expanding
Bloom's statement, then:
The school's values are based on
Anthroposophy.
The school's priorities are based on
Anthroposophy.
The school's organization is based on
Anthroposophy.
Some of the teacher training is
Anthroposophy
Some of the curriculum is Anthroposophy
Some of the education is Anthroposophy
Anthroposophy is not taught in the
school.
At which point a loud clang of cognitive
dissonance should sound. Regarding the aspect of church-state
separation, would a public school be acceptable if it stated:
The school's values are based on
Catholicism.
The school's priorities are based on
Catholicism.
The school's organization is based on
Catholicism.
Some of the teacher training is
Catholicism
Some of the curriculum is Catholicism
Some of the education is Catholicism
Catholicism is not taught in the school.
Indeed, a "Catholic Method" or
"Catholic-inspired" public district school or public charter school
describing itself thus would simply not be believed. Anthroposophy is
getting away with it because people don't know what it is.
A Racial Theory of History
Madame Blavatsky, drawing from Hindu traditions
about events of history being predestined to occur in cycles,
defined an
elaborate system of wheels within wheels. In Theosophy's cosmology,
seven Planetary Conditions (Mantavaras) each contain seven Life
Kingdoms; each Life Kingdom contains seven Global States; each Global
State contains seven Root-Races; and each Root-Race contains seven
Sub-Races. Sub-Race periods are 2160 years long, 1/12 of the
astronomical period of the precession of the equinoxes, called the
Platonic Year. Anthroposophy adopts this scheme directly.
Anthroposophy's Sub-Race periods are therefore "Platonic Months."
According to Theosophy and Anthroposophy, the
present time is in the "Earth" Planetary Condition, the "Mineral" Life
Kingdom, the "Physical-Etheric" Global State, the "Aryan"
Root-Race, and
the "Aryan" Sub-Race. Why are the smaller time periods called "races?" Because, according to divine plan, humanity, which has always been
present throughout cosmic history, is supposed to evolve through higher
and higher racial forms. According to the plan, the races whose
evolutionary tasks are done are supposed to die out. The
actions of evil
deities flawed the plan, however, and so "left behind" races still
exist. Steiner taught:
We are within the great Root Race
of humanity,
which has peopled the earth, since the land on which we now live rose
up out of the inundations of the ocean. Ever since the Atlantean Race
began slowly to disappear, the great Aryan Race has been the dominant
one on earth. If we contemplate ourselves, we here in Europe are thus
the fifth Sub-Race of the great Aryan Root Race. The first Sub-Race
lived in the distant past in Ancient India. And the present-day
Indians are descendants of that first Sub-Race, whose spiritual life
is still extant in the ancient Indian Vedas. The Vedas are
indeed only
echoes of the ancient culture of the Rishis. At that time
there was of
course no writing yet - there was only tradition. Then came the
second, third and fourth Sub-Races. The fourth Sub-Race adopted
Christianity. Then, halfway through the Middle Ages, we see that the
fifth Sub-Race formed itself, to which we and the neighboring nations
belong. (Steiner, 1985a, p. 220)
This mythology, of the Aryan race
originating in
Atlantis, migrating to Asia and then west to Europe, provided what was
claimed as a scientific foundation for racism and anti-Semitism in
Steiner's time. The mythology can be traced from its origin
in Blavatsky
to Steiner and the Ariosophists, like List and Lanz in the next
generation, and on to its tragic finale with Nazi theorist
Rosenberg and
the Holocaust (Goodrick-Clarke, 1992, Rosenberg, 1993). It's difficult
to believe that there are still people studying and promulgating this
pseudo-historical theory today; they'd have to be Neo-Nazis or wearing
cult blinders. There are neo-Nazis in Europe who follow
Steiner (Staudenmaier,
date unknown), but the overwhelming majority of Anthroposophical
publications reject Naziism while at the same time defending a racial
theory that formed part of the philosophical foundation of
Naziism (e.g.
Kerkvliet, 2000). The examples that follow are all from Anthroposophic
presses.
Jewry as such has long since outlived its
time; it has no more justification within the modern life of peoples,
and the fact that it continues to exist is a mistake of world history
whose consequences are unavoidable. We do not mean the forms of the
Jewish religion alone, but above all the spirit of Jewry, the Jewish
way of thinking. (Steiner, 1971, p. 152)
These blacks in Africa
characteristically suck
in, absorb, all light and all heat from the cosmos. And, humans being
humans, this light and this heat from the cosmos cannot pass through
the entire body. It does not flow through the entire body, but it
stops at the skin. In this way, the complexion itself becomes black.
Consequently, a black in Africa is a human who absorbs and
assimilates
as much light and heat from the cosmos as possible. As he does this,
the forces of the cosmos work throughout that human. Everywhere, he
absorbs light and heat, really everywhere. He assimilates them within
himself. There really must be something which helps him in this
assimilation. That something is mainly the cerebellum. This is why a
Negro has an especially well developed cerebellum. This is linked to
the spinal marrow; and they can assimilate all light and heat which a
human contains. As a consequence, especially the aspects
which pertain
to the body and to metabolism are strongly developed in a Negro. He
has a strong sexual urge as people call it, strong instincts. And as,
with him, all which comes from the sun light and heat
really is at the
skin's surface, all of his metabolism works as if the sun itself is
boiling in his inside. This causes his passions. Within a Negro,
cooking is going on all the time; and the cerebellum
kindles the fire.
... And we, Europeans, we poor Europeans, we have the thinking life,
which resides in the head. ... Therefore, Europe has always been the
starting point of everything which develops the human
entity in such a
way that at the same time a relationship with the outside world
arises. ...
When Negroes go to the west, they cannot
absorb as much light and heat any more as they were used to in their
Africa. ... That is why they turn copper red, they become Indians.
That is because they are forced to reflect a part of the light and
heat. They turn shiny copper red. They cannot keep up this copper red
shining. That is why the Indians die out in the West, they
die because
of their own nature which does not get enough light and
heat, they die
because of the earthly factor. ...
Really, it is the whites who
develop the human
factor within themselves. Therefore they have to rely on themselves.
When whites do emigrate, they partly take on the characteristics of
other areas, but they die more as individuals than as a race. The
white race is the race of the future, the race that is working
creatively with the spirit. (Steiner, 1980, p. 67)
White humankind is still on the path of
absorbing the spirit deeper and deeper into its own essence. Yellow
humankind is on the path of conserving the era when the
spirit will be
kept away from the body, when the spirit will only be sought outside
of the human-physical organization. But the result will have to be
that the transition from the fifth cultural epoch to the sixth
cultural epoch cannot happen in any other way than as a
violent battle
of white humankind against colored humankind in myriad
areas. And that
which precedes these battles between white and colored humankind will
occupy world history until the completion of the great
battles between
white and colored humankind. Future events are frequently
reflected in
prior events. You see, we stand before something colossal
that'when we
understand it through spiritual science we will in the future be able
to recognize as a necessary occurrence. (Steiner, 1974, p. 38)
What relevance does this early-20th-century
racism have to Waldorf schools today, especially to public Waldorf
schools? There are three reasons to be concerned:
First, teachers study
racist texts for their training, and consequently, racist
materials will
always be present in the schools. Second, the Theosophical theory of
history is the framework for the history curriculum. Third,
teachers may
use racial criteria for treating students and teachers differently.
Consider the following consequences:
1. Much
of the Steiner material that
Waldorf teachers must study is from lectures in which Steiner
free-associated from topic to topic. Discussions of his racial theory
are scattered throughout his books. Some of the books that are required
reading for Waldorf teacher training include racist material, for
example, Knowledge of Higher Worlds, Theosophy, and Conferences with
Teachers. In any Waldorf school, public or private, these books, and
many more, will be used for reference by the teachers.
2. The
Waldorf curriculum was designed by
Steiner in a "spiral" plan that cycles the students repeatedly, with
increasing detail, through what Steiner called the "evolution of
consciousness," the development of the mythical Aryan race over time.
The first cycle is the first and second grades. In the first grade,
fairy tales are used. These contain, according to Steiner,
the unwritten
ancient wisdom of the Aryan race. In the second grade, the lives of
saints are studied, bringing the students into the Christian era.
The next cycle is the third and
fourth grades.
In this cycle the students are immersed in what Steiner taught were
the holy books of what he defined as the two "cultural streams" of
humanity, Jewish and Aryan. In the third grade they study Bible
stories. In the Fourth grade they are immersed in Norse mythology,
believed by Germans of Steiner's time to be the ancient scriptures of
the Aryan race.
The third cycle is the fifth and
sixth grades.
In these grades the students are taken through the sequence of the
sub-races of the Aryan root race. Here is how a group that proposed a
Waldorf charter school to the school board in Chico, California,
described this part of the curriculum:
The fifth grade language arts curriculum
follows the development of human initiation and mythic
consciousness
from prehistoric times to the times of western history. This
progression starts with Vedic India and the sense that all is
illusion and needs to be renounced; the stories of ancient Persia
deal with the polarities of light and darkness and the human
responsibility for the earth. The ancient Babylonian, Chaldean and
Egyptian myths present the beginning of human consciousness being
anchored in external culture, physical existence and a declining
knowledge of the spiritual worlds. In the ancient Greek myths, the
roles of glorious heroes and their faults leads into historical
biographies proper. (Blue Oak Charter School, 2000, p. 19)
This proposed public school
curriculum is pure
Anthroposophical theory. It's usually covered up better than this.
What could they have been thinking when they wrote "human initiation
and mythic consciousness?" Either the proposing committee was so
immersed in Anthroposophy that they didn't realize that
what they were
writing was so revealing, or they figured the school board just
wouldn't notice. The sequence of ancient India, Persia,
Babylon/Chaldea/Egypt,
Greece and Rome is straight from Theosophical root-race theory. The
"development of consciousness," according to Anthroposophy, doesn't
involve Africa, Asia, the Americas, or Oceania.
3.
Waldorf teachers are trained to consider
the past lives and racial backgrounds of their students. The
director of
teacher training at Rudolf Steiner College, the main West Coast Waldorf
teacher training college, wrote:
In learning to understand a child, it is
important to consider-in addition to hereditary factors,
which include
race, ethnic background, and the biological strands
supplied by father
and mother-what the soul has brought with it out of supersensible
realms. If we deepen this line of thought, we shall take into account
not only the prenatal "gesture," but also the spiritual origins as
they manifested themselves in previous incarnations. In other words,
just as we have applied certain questions regarding our own spiritual
origins, we should without jumping to quick conclusions also consider
to which spiritual streams our students belonged. (Querido, 1995, p.
85)
When I asked teachers at my son's school about
the racism that I found in books we sold at the school, their
answer was
that "some of Steiner is difficult." Anthroposophists think that they
can't be racists since they don't hate anybody. They don't realize that
teaching racial stereotypes, and believing that different races have
different "tasks" in human evolution, and ought to die out when those
supposed tasks are done, is also racism.
Steiner taught that Africans represent a
child-like stage of evolution. Consequently, Waldorf teachers may treat
African-American children and teachers as though they have different
potential than those of European ethnicity. One such incident is
documented in a Waldorf supporter's article about racism in
Waldorf:
A white mother of a successful biracial
(African American and white) child loved her son's Waldorf school but
had to work constantly against teachers who would tell her of the
evolutionary limits of Black children. (McDermott, 1996, p. 4)
An African-American Waldorf teacher who was the
first black teacher hired by the New York Steiner School (in 75 years!)
is suing them for racial discrimination. The legal complaint is
available at:
http://www.waldorfcritics.org/active/articles/charmainecomp.pdf.
Cult-Like Characteristics of Anthroposophy
I describe Anthroposophy as a "cult-like
religious sect." In the U.S., the Waldorf teachers are the majority of
the devotees. The major recruiting effort is towards the parents.
Characteristics that make it cult-like include:
-
Clinging to rejected knowledge
(weird science)
-
Teachers must commit to Anthroposophy for
advancement to full status
-
Secrecy: some core doctrinal material is not
published, but only delivered orally. Revelation of "difficult"
doctrine like the racial theory of history, and the role of Lucifer,
is guarded.
-
Exclusivity: only anthroposophic knowledge of
man leads to right education
-
Closed system: almost all publications are
from the group's own presses and periodicals
-
Jargon redefines common language so public
statements can be deceptive without being "lies", e.g. "child
development."
-
Separation: "us vs. them"; frequent put-downs
of the outside world as being "materialistic," and public schools as
being "damaging."
-
Criticism is
suppressed: No critical dialogue means elaboration, but no
development, of theory. All writers refer back to Steiner.
Due to space limitations, in this
presentation I
will only illustrate the first three points of my list.
Clinging to Rejected Knowledge
In a book explaining the curriculum to parents,
Cusick (1992) illustrates the correspondence of the parts of the plant
to the alchemical processes as they might be presented in fifth grade
botany. I've added the historic alchemical names in square
brackets:
Flower: Centrifugal forces (expansion).
Loosening and refining substances in scent. Optimal rarification and
extension of substance (warmth process) [alchemical "sulfur"]
Leaf: Balance between above and below: watery
substances and processes meet airy ones. In intake of water and
transpiration, in uptake and elimination of gasses above and below
tendencies meet (light process). [alchemical "mercury"]
Root: Centripetal forces (contraction).
Consolidation of substance to the solid state.
Consolidation of forms.
Suctional, absorbtive forces (salt process). [alchemical "salt"]
It may be hard to believe, but this is quite
possibly the content of a fifth-grade botany lesson. It's far from what
anyone outside Anthroposophy would call science. Cusick (p. 29)
illustrates "the temperaments" with a diagram credited to Steiner. A
circle is divided into four pie-slices, labeled:
Melancholic: Attention not easily aroused but
strong quality present
Choleric: The greatest amount of
attention and
strength most easily aroused
Sanguine: Attention easily aroused but little
strength present
Phlegmatic: The least amount of attention and
strength the least easily aroused
This is a revival of the medieval "four humors"
theory of personality. Waldorf teachers are instructed to classify
students according to "the temperaments."
Note that on this page Cusick simply
talks about
"the temperaments," with no qualification that the use of this theory
today is exclusive to Anthroposophists. This is a rhetorical trick that
is used over and over with Waldorf parents. An Anthroposophical concept
such as "the temperaments," "the festivals," or "the elements" is
introduced by being referred to as a fact. The parent simply doesn't
have time to think through the implications of the purported fact, and
is hooked into discussing the issue from an Anthroposophical
perspective.
Teachers Must Commit to Anthroposophy
In most Waldorf schools there are two
classes of
teachers. The senior teachers form a group called the "college of
teachers" that runs the school. Junior teachers aren't invited to join
the college until they are ready to commit themselves to Anthroposophy.
Richards wrote (op. cit., p. 16):
A community is thus created among
the teachers
by the fact that they are students together and are connected through
a meditative life. In almost every school, you will find
some teachers
who do not enter so fully into this consciousness, and they are met
with flexibility. But the teachers who do commit themselves make up
the "college of teachers," who, by and large, govern the school's
affairs.
Thus it is only through passing a
religious test
that a Waldorf teacher can achieve full status, with a voice in the
government of the school.
Secrecy: Guarded Knowledge
There are many things in the Anthroposophical
world-view that are too strange to be revealed unless the
listeners have
been properly prepared, i.e. sufficiently indoctrinated. For example,
Waldorf teachers aren't likely to tell new parents anything about the
role of Lucifer in Anthroposophy. Steiner taught that there
is a trinity
of spirits concerned with the evolution of humanity. The trinity is
composed of two opposites and a harmonizing spirit. The opposites are
Lucifer and Ahriman, taken from the dual gods of Zoroastrianism, the
ancient Persian religion. They are gods of light and darkness in
conflict with each other. Lucifer leads humanity to develop
art, beauty,
flexibility, and religious fervor. Ahriman promotes science, hardening,
and rigidity. Both are necessary for evolution, but either influence is
evil in excess or at the wrong time. The two polar gods are balanced by
the Christ Spirit, whose role is not to redeem humanity but to help it
balance between the opposing tendencies.
Popular Waldorf master teacher
Eugene Schwartz
put it this way in his Waldorf Teacher's Survival Guide:
Most of that which contributes to our work as
teachers, preparation work, artistic work, even meditative work, is
under the guardianship of Lucifer. We can become great teachers under
his supervision, for he is responsible for much that has blossomed in
the unfolding of civilization and culture in the past.
However, if our
goal is only to be a great teacher, if we look on everything else in
the life of the school merely as a distraction from our pedagogical
work, we are in danger of falling prey to Lucifer.
This is one of the reasons that
Steiner wanted
Waldorf teachers to assume responsibility for the administrative life
of the school. Answering phone calls, writing memos and letters,
etc. all those activities that compel us to meet the outside world on
its own terms bring us into connection with Ahriman, who holds the
secret of the future.
If, every day, we can do some
administrative/office work as well as carry out our classroom
responsibilities, we can go a long way towards balancing the
activities of Lucifer and Ahriman. (Schwartz, 1992, p. 54)
A reading of this passage stimulated an
interesting denial when David Alsop, then the head of the
Association of
Waldorf Schools of North America, was interviewed on a Baltimore radio
talk show:
Well, it's obviously problematic, um, ah, my
feeling is that Eugene Schwartz has totally missed the boat here and
the way that he has written this in his book, uh, is misleading and
erroneous and causing a great deal of trouble. In our
Waldorf schools,
and as you know, there are over 650 of them around the world serving
probably 100,000 students. I think you'd be hard pressed to find any
parent in any Waldorf school and even any teacher in any Waldorf
school say that they are under the guidance of Lucifer, and I cannot
understand why Mr. Schwartz wrote this. I can't understand why PLANS
is picking this one quote out of this very obscure book and running
with it like this, but it is just flat out wrong. (WCBM, 1999)
That "very obscure book" is a popular
publication of the main West Coast teacher training college,
where Alsop
has his office. A posting to the Waldorf-critics discussion list
corroborated the relevance of Lucifer to Waldorf education. A parent
wrote:
Gosh, I was at a Waldorf PR meeting once, and
all these gals there were saying how ridiculous it was that
one parent
had become offended when the faculty and staff did a "dance to
Lucifer." The parent, like me, was Christian. I said, "Well, I would
be upset by such a dance, too." And, they all stared at me, then said
Lucifer is actually not Satan but the "light-bearer," see, and
basically that the parent was unenlightened...Sincerely,
Patti M. (M,
1999)
Conclusion
Often, when "difficult" tenets of Anthroposophy
are brought up in connection with either private or public Waldorf
schools, the defense is made that Anthroposophy is not taught in the
schools. They claim that only Steiner's teaching methods are used, and
that they take what's good and discard the nonsense. I believe Waldorf
without Anthroposophy might be possible, but it would be so difficult
that I would be surprised if it ever actually happened.
Anthroposophy is
so tightly interwoven into the Waldorf movement that removing it would
leave little but a constellation of pedagogical techniques that, taken
separately, aren't unique to Waldorf.
If there is such a thing as "Waldorf Method" or
"New Waldorf" without Anthroposophy, where are the teaching handbooks
and curriculum resources? Everything available comes from
Anthroposophy.
Where are the periodicals? All the periodicals are Anthroposophical.
Where are the associations, conferences, and conference proceedings?
They are all Anthroposophical. Where is the teacher training? It's all
done by Anthroposophists. Everything in the Waldorf education movement
comes from Anthroposophy.
In the United States this creates a legal
problem if tax money is involved. Public funding of religious teacher
training is illegal, but school districts send teachers to Rudolf
Steiner College for Waldorf training. In hiring teachers, a
publicly-funded Waldorf school can't discriminate against
Anthroposophists; teachers with more Waldorf training should be more
desirable, not avoided. But asking Waldorf-trained teachers to omit
Anthroposophical beliefs is a paradox. Violations are inevitable. It is
impossible for a school board to monitor religious content in a public
Waldorf school. What could they do, have philosophy police monitoring
the school? It's like having a "Catholic-inspired" charter
school. Would
that be allowed? Not likely.
People for Legal and Nonsectarian Schools, Inc.
(PLANS) respects the right of Anthroposophy to exist and to
carry on its
many activities, and the right of parents to choose Waldorf education
for their children. However, PLANS wants to inform the public about the
cult-like nature of Anthroposophy, to give warning about
Anthroposophy's
deceptive practices, and to end violations of the Establishment Clause
of the Constitution. PLANS is demanding that publicly-funded Waldorf
schools be closed or converted to private schools. PLANS is suing two
Northern California school districts for violation of the Establishment
Clause of the First Amendment. The judge wrote:
. . . PLANS has presented evidence that SCUSD
teachers received training in Anthroposophy and that Twin Ridges
sought and employed teachers with Anthroposophical training. As
observed by the Supreme Court, "[w]e cannot ignore the danger that a
teacher under religious control and discipline poses to the
separation
of the religious from the purely secular aspects of precollege
education." Lemon, 403 U.S. at 617. Additionally, as noted above,
PLANS presents evidence that state funds are expended in implementing
the Waldorf teaching method, and that the Waldorf education
methodology is directed by, and grounded in, assumptions about
learning and child development that can only be understood with
reference to Anthroposophy. Assuming, for purposes of this motion,
that the Waldorf teaching method and Anthroposophy are in fact
"inseparable in theory as practiced by defendants," state
surveillance
of the Waldorf education will be necessary to ensure that no trespass
occurs. These "prophylactic contacts" may well result in
excessive and
enduring entanglement between church and state. See Lemon,
403 U.S. at
619.
As is the case with all similar analyses, it
is clear that entanglement "is a question of kind and degree." Lynch,
465 U.S. at 684. Here, PLANS has raised a disputed issue of material
fact concerning the degree of entanglement between church and state
generated by the Waldorf teaching method.
3. California Constitution
Article XVI, section 5 of the California
Constitution provides that "neither the Legislature, nor any...school
district,...shall ever...pay from any public fund whatever, or grant
anything to or in aid of any religious sect, church, creed, or
sectarian purpose." Article IX, ?8 of the California Constitution
provides that no "sectarian or denominational doctrine [shall] be
taught, or instruction thereon be permitted, directly or indirectly,
in any of the common schools of this State."
As discussed above, PLANS has
raised a genuine
issue of material fact as to whether Anthroposophy is so fundamental
to Waldorf education as to be inseparable from it, thereby making
public funding of Waldorf education methods a direct and substantial
(if unintentional) endorsement of religion, and fostering excessive
entanglement between church and state. (Damrell, 1999, pp. 23-25)
As of May, 2003, the case was waiting to be
calendared again by the U.S. District Court, after a decision
of the 9th
Circuit Court of Appeals confirmed PLANS standing, i.e., the right to
sue on behalf of taxpayers.
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Notice
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Copyright 1996-2003 People for Legal and Nonsectarian Schools, Inc.,
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Contact:
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This is a text version of the slide talk given
at the American Family Foundation conference in Orlando, Florida, on
June 14, 2002.
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