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Re: [xmca] Rudolph Steiner



There is people in the list that it is certainly more knowledgeable than I am on Waldorf, Mike. And they may want to complement on the historical part. The article is very informative on the topic. And I agree democratic education may be a precursor of fascism, but what can not be? Almost anything, I guess, judging from recent history /histories.

Best,

David




On Jan 9, 2010, at 2:49 PM, mike cole wrote:

The mixture of ideas and their entanglement over history in these two
related threads in this exchange are very sobering. Reading the abstract of the Uhrmacher uncommon schooling article (thanks David) makes it clear that the author eschews making the contacts that come through clearly in Peter's
posting.

So laid back, artsy, democratic education can be the developmental precursor
of vicious rascist fascism. Now there is a thought to contemplate.
mike


On Sat, Jan 9, 2010 at 6:36 AM, David Preiss <ddpreiss@me.com> wrote:

Hi Andy,

I asked a similar question recently here. Please see this reference:

Oberman, I. & Sloan, D. (2008). The Waldorf movement from european cradle
to american crucible, 1919-2008. Edwin Mellen Press.

and the attached paper.





As for their effectiveness, at least here in Chile, they seem to be very
effective protecting children from early consumerism and early
competitiveness, which seems to be the case in other parts of the world
according to communications I got from this list, on and off-line.

Again in Chile: since their emphasis is not on traditional skill drilling,
their effect on standardized measures of learning depends more on the
capital background of the kids´parents and individual characteristics of the children they serve. My own kid goes to a school that adopts some Waldorf
techniques, and I can attest that it works pretty well as regards the
prevention of bullying, emotional development and emphasis on the human
dimension of learning.

If you google them, you will find very emotional pro and anti-Waldorf
advocates. I assume the positive or negative criticism of the Waldorf
movement depends on how it has settled in different countries and schools. In the USA, there is a concern about how secular they really are, so it seems. My own school here in Chile is very secular, although the emphasis on fantasy can be judged by some as "religious". In my view, fantasy in early
childhood is not a bad thing and may help foster an imaginative mind.
Certainly, Waldorf schools seems to be mostly private and it biases their
results. I am not aware of public Waldorf schools.

One of the things that I strongly value from a Waldorf education these days is that it protects kids from the overachievement mania that is plaguing elementary schools and preschool education worldwide because of the misuse of academic testing, a topic of concern for many in this list, and from pseudocientific applications of neuroscience. This attitude to a humane schooling has been as well advanced by constructivist scholars as well such as David Elkind in the USA. I would love to find a school where the humane dimension of Waldorf schooling meets a pedagogy inspired in learning science
and cultural psychology, but this is a non-existing link.

Best,

DP


On Jan 9, 2010, at 10:59 AM, Leif Strandberg wrote:

Hi,

I recommend reading of

Peter Staudenmaier (Vermont USA) Antroposofi och ekofascism (I only have
the Swedish version, perhaps the English title is "Antrophosofy and
Ekofascism"

We have a lot of Waldorf schools in Sweden, and there are some interesting estetichal features in their pedagogy, But their philosophical backrground
(Steiner) is not as "green" as they say - more of a brown nuance

Leif Strandberg


9 jan 2010 kl. 12.46 skrev Andy Blunden:

I have been researching Goethe and his scientific ideas, and after a long
time I came across a book which tells in detail of how his ideas originated and explains them very clearly and convincingly. The point I am interested in of course is the Urphaenomen, a.k.a., unit of analysis, and as Goethe and Davydov both insist, a unit of analysis which is given to the senses.

The author of the book is *Rudolph Steiner*, the same Rudolph Steiner who started up Steiner Schools. I can get an idea of his life and work from Wikipedia and so on, and it certainly is way off the mainstream, if I could put it that way. However, I would be interested in a brief response from
xmca-ers on the success or otherwise of his schools.

Andy
--
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hegel Summer School
http://www.ethicalpolitics.org/seminars/hss10.htm
Hegel, Goethe and the Planet: 13 February 2010.

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David Preiss
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