Cultic Studies Review, Vol. 2, No. 2, 2003, Page 98
Why Waldorf Programs are Unsuitable for Public Funding
Dan Dugan
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 façade 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:
1. 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.
2. 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
Why Waldorf Programs are Unsuitable for Public Funding
Dan Dugan
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 façade 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:
1. 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.
2. 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
