Types of discourses about Anthroposophy in relation to Waldorf education (Part 1)

Abstract

This paper (in two parts) outlines various types of discourses of Anthroposophy from the perspective of scholars of Waldorf education, offering a commentary on each one. The aim of the paper is to help provide a framework for scholars, students of Waldorf education, teachers and anyone who wishes to make informed judgements about the possible relationships between Waldorf education and anthroposophy. It makes a basic distinction between an individual’s relationship to anthroposophy, which can be based on belief, conviction, or experience and which they are totally free to have, and the position of an institution like a school or university to the theory underpinning Waldorf education. The main problem that Waldorf education has in being taken seriously by the academy and the public is the association with esoteric and apparently unscientific aspects of Anthroposophy. Gaining acceptance for Anthroposophy as a legitimate science of the spirit is worth striving for but Waldorf education cannot wait that long. The discourses described include the charismatic nature of the anthroposophical movement, whether it is a religion or ideology, whether everything published in Steiner’s name is Anthroposophy, Anthroposophy as a ‘theory of everything’ or grand narrative, Anthroposophy as an esoteric schooling and path of meditation and finally as a science of the spiritual. In the final section the paper addresses the possible role of Anthroposophy in teacher education and as a basis for Waldorf education. I argue that Steiner should be referenced like any other author, and anthroposophy should be referenced as a cultural phenomenon and studied using the appropriate hermeneutic methods. Ultimately if anthroposophy is seen as a spiritual activity of thinking and not as a body of knowledge, the relationship between Waldorf education and anthroposophy is not one of formal allegiance but of individual activity.