1. Are Waldorf schools racist? If Waldorf teachers don't consider race when assessing a child, then why are some of Steiner's most racist condemnations in Waldorf teacher training materials? Why are Waldorf teachers training from books that are 100 years old? Certainly, in 100 years, new training materials could have and should have been produced which removed any trace of racism from Waldorf teacher training IF race now isn't important to Waldorf education. When confronted with this paradox, Waldorf associations claim the teachers don't study or apply the racist parts of Steiner's writings. Of course they apply the temperaments, large and small headedness and lots of invisible notions when assessing children, but they stop short when they come to something very visible to them race. We are to believe that Waldorf teachers, who study Steiner's racist ideas by night, discard those ideas when they lace up their combat boots and hike to school in the morning. Do Waldorf teachers ignore race when assessing children?
Are Waldorf Schools racist? For the quick answer, see here, and here.
2. Will Anthroposophy be taught to my child? All you need to know, as parents, is that despite immersing ourselves in Anthroposophy, and immersing the school in spiritual rituals designed around Anthroposophy, and despite designing the curriculum around Anthroposophy - despite Anthroposophy directing everything from the tone of our voice to the clothes we wear, to the ideas in our heads, and despite that our teachers have paid for and gone to Waldorf teacher training for years to learn Anthroposophy, Anthroposophy will NOT be taught to your children. Why would we want to do that? What we really want is a school that produces graduates who don't have a clue about and couldn't give a hoot about the spiritual philosophy their teachers have devoted their lives to. We put all that Anthroposophy stuff aside when it comes to your child. We will teach your child the truth! Of course, if the truth happens to be confirmed in Anthroposophy, we certainly can't help that. And of course some things we know have yet to be discovered so we may as well teach those things too. As Rudolf Steiner said:
“You need to make the children aware that they are receiving the objective truth, and if this occasionally appears anthroposophical, it is not anthroposophy that is at fault. Things are that way because anthroposophy has something to say about objective truth. It is the material that causes what is said to be anthroposophical. We certainly may not go to the other extreme, where people say that anthroposophy may not be brought into the school. Anthroposophy will be in the school when it is objectively justified, that is, when it is called for by the material itself.”Will Anthroposophy be taught to my child? For the quick answer, see here.
3. Will a Waldorf teacher stop "bullying"? OK, let's not get hysterical here. Children picking on each other is not "bullying". Children need to work things out - it's part of how kittens grow up. One day one child is being "bullied", the next day it might be exactly the same child. One day it may be only two or three children picking on the child - the next day, it may be the child's karma to have the entire class - even the teacher if necessary - helping the child work through this. See how that works? So next time a parent describes "bullying" in a Waldorf school - remind them that if the "bullying" hadn't worked itself out, the "bullied" child might still be carrying karma from a previous life. The "bullying" so to speak is actually cleansing the child. And remember, this comes at the expense of all the other children who have had to be the "bullies" - in order to help this child. Their own karma may suffer and they may need to be
Will a Waldorf teacher stop bullying? For the quick answer see here, and here.
4. What if my child doesn't fit in? Lots of parents hear stories about children who don't "fit in" to Waldorf. This simply doesn't happen. Sure, some children "fit in" right away while, for others, it may take twelve or more years before they can fully accept their karma. "Fitting in" isn't what's important. What's important is - how will you and your child handle what looks like a "bad" fit to you. Will you pull your child out of their Waldorf school, and destroy the child's chance to repair their karma from a previous lifetime, or will you ride it out - confident in the knowledge that not "fitting in" was your child's destiny? That's a whole different story. This situation gets more complicated if a child has siblings that do "fit in". How can it be the school's fault if, for the sake of the siblings, they hide problems like "bullying" from the parents? Of course, the school can't be held responsible when the school decides your child doesn't "fit in" - and that holds true if they decide your spouse doesn't "fit in".
What if my child doesn't fit in? For the quick answer see here.
