5 ms·

could you elaborate?

by odessacubbage 7y ago

knolax 7y ago
There are a lot of conspiracy theories surrounding Waldorf Schools. Some say that it's a cult.
- Nasrudith 7y ago
  To be fair it was based upon occultist principles. Saying it was based upon a cult is technically correct. Whether that it is currently relevant is another question - most of the criticisms I have seen is about being antivaxxer.
- bildung 7y ago
  IMO it would be false to not describe Waldorf pedagogics as a cult. Steiner literally said he got his insights through visions where god spoke to him. And most axioms of Waldorf pedagogics have been been empirically falsified in the past decades. Luckily the parental household still is the strongest indicator for intellectual outcome of the kids. And as the kids in Waldorf schools are usually self-selected from middle and upper class households, one usually hasn't many dire social or economic problems in a class. So all in all the negative effect of Waldorf schools isn't big.
The_rationalist 7y ago
From Wikipedia Authors, scientists, and physicians including Michael Shermer, Michael Ruse, Edzard Ernst, David Gorski, and Simon Singh have criticized anthroposophy's application in the areas of medicine, biology, agriculture, and education to be dangerous and pseudoscientific.[17][11][12][13] Others including former Waldorf pupil Dan Dugan and historian Geoffrey Ahern have criticized anthroposophy itself as a dangerous quasi-religious movement that is fundamentally anti-rational and anti-scientific.[14][15][16][17][18] They are anti Vax, believe in "Lucifer" and their single source of truth come from Steiner "visions" aka hallucinations under psychedelics or more likely blatant lies.
- odessacubbage 7y ago
  i think people overestimate how much of the goofy theosophy stuff is actually part of the day-to-day education, it serves more as window dressing than anything else tbh. it's odd and in some ways anachronistic but at it's core i think the waldorf model works well because it treats children as children rather than products and liabilities. frankly the weird hippy bullshit was better than being treated like a potential school shooter because you have problems at home.

could you elaborate?

knolax 7y ago

There are a lot of conspiracy theories surrounding Waldorf Schools. Some say that it's a cult.

Nasrudith 7y ago
To be fair it was based upon occultist principles. Saying it was based upon a cult is technically correct. Whether that it is currently relevant is another question - most of the criticisms I have seen is about being antivaxxer.
bildung 7y ago
IMO it would be false to not describe Waldorf pedagogics as a cult. Steiner literally said he got his insights through visions where god spoke to him. And most axioms of Waldorf pedagogics have been been empirically falsified in the past decades. Luckily the parental household still is the strongest indicator for intellectual outcome of the kids. And as the kids in Waldorf schools are usually self-selected from middle and upper class households, one usually hasn't many dire social or economic problems in a class. So all in all the negative effect of Waldorf schools isn't big.

The_rationalist 7y ago

From Wikipedia Authors, scientists, and physicians including Michael Shermer, Michael Ruse, Edzard Ernst, David Gorski, and Simon Singh have criticized anthroposophy's application in the areas of medicine, biology, agriculture, and education to be dangerous and pseudoscientific.[17][11][12][13] Others including former Waldorf pupil Dan Dugan and historian Geoffrey Ahern have criticized anthroposophy itself as a dangerous quasi-religious movement that is fundamentally anti-rational and anti-scientific.[14][15][16][17][18] They are anti Vax, believe in "Lucifer" and their single source of truth come from Steiner "visions" aka hallucinations under psychedelics or more likely blatant lies.

odessacubbage 7y ago
i think people overestimate how much of the goofy theosophy stuff is actually part of the day-to-day education, it serves more as window dressing than anything else tbh. it's odd and in some ways anachronistic but at it's core i think the waldorf model works well because it treats children as children rather than products and liabilities. frankly the weird hippy bullshit was better than being treated like a potential school shooter because you have problems at home.