Tag Archives: waldorf education
karmic consequences (quick guide for teachers)
While browsing my documents I found a helpful little guide for teachers. It’s written by Robin Bacchus (PhD!). He is (or was) a program director at a Steiner teacher training program. The document is called ‘Karma and Reincarnation for Teachers’ and may still be available online but I couldn’t find it. On page 9, there […]
‘can a child’s karma or destiny be that of a victim or bully?’
I first thought about posting this as a comment to my previous post, but I think it deserves a post of its own. It comes from the comment thread on the Quackometer post. I think I’ve blogged about this document, published by a waldorf school, before. I think it’s absolutely essential to understand how things […]
ecswe’s principles and aspirations for waldorf steiner education
There are texts that people who are interested in waldorf education ought to read, whether they’re parents, supporters, politician or perhaps even critics. This is one such document; it’s a statement by the ECSWE (the European Council for Steiner Waldorf Education). It (the letter introducing to the principles) begins by explaining what a waldorf school […]
world teachers’ conference 2012
At the Goetheanum in April. The theme this time: Rudolf Steiner‘s art of education was meant to serve the whole world, not just a single continent or country. That said, the question must be asked: What is it about this educational method that is universal? Universal in this education is that an I, or a person, or a Self wants […]
‘no anthroposophy, no steiner values’
This is a tricky one. My first reaction was: there are two alternative interpretations here, either the people at Leeds Steiner school don’t know what they’re doing or they’re trying to mislead or deceive the public. Neither alternative reflects very well on Leeds Steiner school, which is a member of the Steiner Waldorf Schools Fellowship […]
‘too densely incarnated’
The Hague Circle’s meetings are among the most important meetings in waldorf education. This is a report from the most recent meeting, which took place in Dornach a month ago. Claus-Peter Röh, a leader of the pedagogical section at Goetheanum addressed the dynamic between “upper” and “lower” in both teacher and child, and how these […]
computers — and the ‘spirit’
Here’s yet another article on waldorf education and technology. (See earlier post.) As always, what kills these ideas is, has always been and will always be the fanaticism with which they are pursued. It’s good to go out playing instead of spending every minute in front of the screen. But there’s more to this than […]
history and clairvoyance
Roger Rawlings has found a quote about the teaching of history in waldorf schools. ‘This is from the description of a Waldorf teacher’s guide, published by the Rudolf Steiner College Press. The subject is history. The subtext is clairvoyance. “The History curriculum for fifth and sixth grades in a Waldorf school follows the thread of […]
reading and writing in waldorf
People will object that the children then learn to read and write too late. This is said only because it is not known today how harmful it is when the children learn to read and write too soon. It is a very bad thing to be able to write early. Reading and writing as we have […]
wiechert on depression
Christoph Wiechert of the pedagogical section at the Goetheanum says that waldorf education offers a solution to the problem of depression and other social ills: So archaisch seine Feststellungen daherkommen, Christof Wiechert begründet sie immer wieder mit neuesten Forschungen aus der Hirnforschung. Die jetzige Gesellschaft nennt er eine entgrenzte Gesellschaft, die zwar nicht alles erlaube, […]
SWSF threatens to sue critics if they GO TOO FAR
A friend (whom I thank for both ideas and the title!) sent me a link to this mindblowingly stupid Spring newsletter by the Steiner Waldorf School Fellowship in the UK. It’s actually shocking to see how many lies and how much deception they manage to squeeze into such a short text. Here it is [pdf], […]
‘how can we see our children more clearly?’
asks the Steiner Waldorf School Fellowship in the UK [pdf]. I have a suggestion: remove the esoteric glasses. They seem to cause the strangest blur to your vision. Anyway, ‘How can we see our children more clearly?’ is the title of an SWSF conference taking place at the Rudolf Steiner House in London over Easter […]
hereford academy’s visions
The first — and still the only — publicly funded Steiner school in the UK is the Hereford Steiner Academy. This is from a document entitled Report of the governors for the year ended 31st August 2010. It seems to be a statement of their vision: To enable children to have a full experience of […]
‘this is normal for cults, they are seclusive’ (waldorf)
This article in Austrian newspaper Der Standard is interesting and worth running through google translate (I have written small summaries of important points below). It includes an interview with a researcher at the education department at the University of Vienna. He is quite critical of waldorf edcuation. „Die Schulpraxis der Waldorfschulen ist ein Gemengelage aus […]
misinformation by the independent
From an old article in the Independent: After the First World War, Steiner was denounced as a traitor to Germany for suggesting Upper Silesia should be granted independence – and the political theorist of the new National Socialist movement (Nazi party) claimed, mistakenly, that he was a Jew. He was the victim of a personal […]
eurythmy, a homeopathic dose of fun (awsna conference)
An AWSNA conference this summer [pdf]. From page 1, the intro: Our ability to meet the adolescent today is deeply dependent on understanding Rudolf Steiner’s overarching conception of child development. When we weave together the practiced observations of the doctor with the experience of the teacher, the genius of Waldorf Education becomes apparent. Oh really? […]
wool horses
To anyone who thinks waldorf offers education without pressure and allows children to develop at their own pace: you have no idea what it’s like for children like me. You don’t understand what it’s like to get detention in kindergarten because you’re not able to sew hairs and ears fast enough on a wool sock […]
the specifically waldorf
Waldorf defenders regularly seem to want to chop the heads off of us critics when we say that what’s specific to waldorf is anthroposophy. When the waldorf training institutes say the same things themselves, it’s ok. Seemingly. Here’s what the London Waldorf Seminar has to say: The course aims to provide a foundation in the […]
nzz interview with heiner ullrich
There was an interesting interview with Heiner Ullrich in NZZ yesterday. Heiner Ulrich is professor of education and has written about waldorf education. I found a couple of his replies particularly interesting. The first of the two questions deals with the — sometimes misguided — reasons parents have for choosing waldorf: Sie suchen ein Arbeitsbündnis […]
‘what higher beings have done before birth’
In a publication [pdf] by the pedagogical section at the Goetheanum, there’s an article by Christof Wiechert on ‘An Education for our Time’. In it I read: ‘It is pointed out [by Rudolf Steiner] that the religions tend to focus on the after-life as the time where everyone’s future lies while forgetting about the time […]
understanding (the ‘real’) anthroposophy
(Whatever that is.) On DC’s improbable science blog, there’s a discussion going on right now. Begins around this comment.* The latest one is this however; Jan Luiten wrote: Please don’t become an anthroposophist of the kind you think of as an anthroposophist, rather stay a critic, stay who you are. You mentioned the “standpoint of […]
essentials of waldorf education (hague conference 2009)
Can waldorf schools ditch ‘spiritual science’ and still be waldorf schools? Can they ditch what Rudolf Steiner taught and still call themselves waldorf or steiner schools? It’s question which has been discussed over and over again, here on this blog and elsewhere. (Only yesterday I wrote this, but I think I’ve written better and more […]
the waldorf (steiner) movement’s double bind
ThetisMercurio has written an immensely important guest post on DC’s Improbable Science. This time, it’s about the issues related to the racial doctrines contained within anthroposophy and the history of the anthroposophical movement, which isn’t quite as pleasant as the majority of its adherents likes to imagine. To me, though, a far bigger problem than […]
comment
Via @thetismercurio I found this blog post. I think it brings up several important criticisms of waldorf education, including one of my pet topics, the delay in teaching literacy and the discouragement of reading and writing. I think this is one seriously harmful aspect of waldorf pedagogy. Waldorf proponents either don’t acknowledge that it happens […]
books are not natural
Yesterday, I tried to reply to a point someone calling herself ‘Waldorfmommy’ was making on Steve Sagarin’s blog. She explained to MarkH why there were no books in waldorf kindergarten (there aren’t books in school either — at least not during the early years). He had asked, in school, and got the usual evasive answers. […]