bluemoon wrote:Steiner Schools have come up before on this forum, I have copied and pasted a quote I found from the link below that Bluegreen posted in 2009:
http://counterknowledge.com/2009/01/
(Just checked this link and its broken I'm afraid)
“Anthroposophy’s entire spiritual doctrine is founded on the root race theory, attatching qualities, good or bad, to different races and skin colours, and ranking them accordingly; this explains how the divine cosmic plan unfolds. It’s hardly surprising there is so much covert reticence surrounding it. And these are not ideas stuck in the past, of a man “speaking of his time”. These are themes in current debate, deliberated over by anthroposophists - teachers in Steiner Waldorf schools - who discuss the cosmic significance of the Aryan race and its task to lead into the spiritual future, or whether dividing humans into separate races, and arranging them in groups of “higher” or “lower racial forms”, is actually “racist”. It’s going on now.”
So perhaps not so far apart after all.....!
Bluemoon
This is a regular controversy on forums to do with education and Steiner. I know Steiner specifically forbade the teaching of anthroposophy to children and they don't learn about it or teach it in Steiner schools. It is a black mark against Steiner and Anthroposophy as far as I'm concerned but the atmosphere in Steiner schools that I'm familiar with couldn't be more different than that quote would imply. They do learn a gentle version of Christianity in Steiner schools.
Just Wondering wrote:Yes! I totally agree, they couldn't be more different. It seems incongruent, except this..http://www.smh.com.au/national/education/wider-horizons-in-any-language-20110525-1f491.html made me wonder. It's impossible to know if the mention of Steiner was the journalist's own assumption or a connection mentioned by 'the school'.
In Sydney there is some student traffic between John Colet School and Kamaroi Rudolf Steiner School as they are in the same suburb and both are seen as 'alternative' educational options for those who are searching.
I don't know if Anthroposophy and Gurdjieff would make comfortable bedfellows (I doubt it) but if a coalition was on the cards, no-one could muddy the waters better than the leaders of the SOP/SOPP/SES/ERT etc, etc, etc.
I think it's the same here in Dublin that parents who are interested in 'alternative' education models like Steiner end up sending their kids to John Scottus because there is no Steiner primary in Dublin currently and John Scottus sounds a bit like it with the emphasis on love etc. In fact I was one of those parents who chose it on that basis. It never occurred to me that 'love' and 'physical violence against children' could be seen as compatible, as to me, love, precludes violence of any kind.
The two systems are polar opposites as far as I've experienced both. One very notable difference is in the case of children's reports home. When I received my 4 year old son's first report, it was a very sad occasion. It was written by X, and as indicative of an attitude to pedagogy, it was a disgrace. A few lines thrown on the page without much thought, at least I would hope not much thought went into it as it was cold, functional as un-child-centred as you could imagine. I still have it and can redact the name and post it if anyone doesn't believe me. The most horrible example of sub-par adminstrative/functional-writing and it was my son's first ever report from school. The contrast with my friend who received a pages-long, warm, beautiful, nuanced story of her child's progress throughout the year from her child's Steiner teacher, couldn't have been more striking.
To me, Steiner teachers embody and walk the walk about what they believe. The SES teachers that I experienced had the talk alright, but didn't 'get it' at all at an embodied, living it, level. I think it's the rejection of feeling and emotion in the SES philosophy that makes it impossible for practitioners to go deeper and know love fully. Sad for them, really*
*more than a bit presumptious of me to say this although I think there is something in it. I emphasise I can only speak from my experience of SESers I met or heard talk and I can't pretend to having been impressed by them. Found it all a bit superficial and 'by rote', mouth is smiling, eyes are glassy, nice until you challenge and then you get shown the teeth (like a dog growling) - that was my experience.