Waldorf Problems

 

 

BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE

From second grade through high school, I attended a Waldorf school in suburban New York. After graduation, I enrolled at a prestigious college — and soon dropped out. I then attended a second college, briefly, before enrolling at a third where I finally gained my academic footing. I earned a BA and an MA in English literature. Subsequently, I became a college instructor, a magazine writer, and a book editor. I am now semiretired. My wife and I will soon observe our 40th wedding anniversary.

During the last few years, I have spent considerable time researching and writing about Waldorf education, Anthroposophy, and Rudolf Steiner. When I began studying Steiner’s books and lectures, I had only a vague idea of what I might learn. Much of what I dug up startled me. In setting out the results of my research on my Web sites, I quote Steiner extensively. Steiner’s own words constitute the most telling possible indictment of the intellectual and even spiritual barrenness of Anthroposophy and, by extension, the Waldorf school movement.

Some Anthroposophists now level ad hominem arguments at me, as if attributing real or imagined faults to me somehow refutes my arguments. But ad hominems are, by definition, invalid. Maybe I’m a great guy, or maybe not so much — but either way, the words I’ve written will stand or fall on their own merits. Throughout, I have told the absolute truth to the best of my ability. To ensure the reliability of each essay, I periodically review all that I’ve written and, if appropriate, make revisions. Please read as many of my essays as you like, and draw your own conclusions.

P.S. I wrote preliminary drafts of a few Waldorf-critical essays late in 2007, when my health was poor. After recovering, I reviewed and revised that work, and I unhesitatingly commend it to your consideration. During that same bleak period, I posted a few messages that — as friends correctly told me — overstated my criticism of Waldorf schooling. A mini-brouhaha ensued. My correctly stated position is that parents considering Waldorf or Steiner schools for their children should investigate the schools carefully. If they find that a particular school fervently embraces Steiner’s doctrines, they almost certainly should send their children elsewhere. You will find this position reflected and, I believe, substantiated in my essays.