Cultic Studies Review, Vol. 2, No. 2, 2003, Page 109
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.)
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.)
