this is a collection of older posts from my regular blog.
these posts were written between 2007 and August 2008.
posts and comments written between August 2008 and Spring 2009 are *poof* gone.
i won’t be adding any new material here.
if you wish to contact me, further details can be found at my blog or you can talk to me on twitter.
july 22, 2009: comments are re-enabled, for the time being.
if you post a comment, be aware that any responses from me may be delayed.
unfortunately, lots of links seem to be broken. I’ve tried to fix some of them, that is, the ones I’ve found.
… när de finns inom skolvärlden, skriver Thomas Österberg i Dagen. Jag vill både hålla med och inte. Jag tror att farliga ideologier är farliga, och verkar de sedan i det fördolda, är det en mycket förvärrande faktor. Antroposofin är kanske inte den farligaste av ideologier—även om har sidor som potentiellt är mycket farliga, så är knappast dess farlighet ett konkret faktum (än)—men möjligheten att verka i skymundan gör den faktiskt värre än många andra.
Om det bara vore fråga om en personlig andlighet för dem som “utövar” den, må det vara hänt. Men antroposofin verkar inte på det sättet. En strategi är just att verkar ute i samhället—med andra människor än de egna anhängarna, med människor som inte vet vad antroposofi är. Den antroposofiska människosynen är tämligen förfärlig—men människor kan inte göra den bedömningen så länge antroposoferna blandar bort korten. Ett exempel är just hur man använder “vanliga” ord som betyder något helt annat på antroposofspråk. Här är min ordlista för att dechiffrera (eller: låt oss kalla det, markera de ord som på antroposofiska betyder något vi andra inte anar!) herr Dahlin et al i SvD i söndags (ursprungligen från VoF-forumet):
Personlig utveckling = att vara antroposof.
Utforska tänkandet = gå över tröskeln till den andliga världen.
Vetenskaplig stringens = andevetenskapligt dravlande.
Konstnärligt prövande = kopiera den antroposofiska stilen.
Självreflektion = leder till att man blir antroposof.
Kritiskt tänkande = Jo, antroposofer är mycket kritiska. Mot hur saker går till i den vanliga, riktiga världen.
Hela personligheten = hela personligheten bör vara antroposof! Förstås!!
Och så kan man fortsätta. Men detta är Rudolf-lingo, och det är det viktiga att notera. Vill man veta vad sakerna faktiskt egentligen innebär, då måste man läsa Rudolf. Men kärnan i det hela är ju att Steiner-begrepp används för att motivera varför en “pedagogik” är förträfflig—med ett språk som lätt passerar som “normalt.”
Frihet är ju också ett koncept som antroposofer kör hårt på i marknadsföringen. Men det finns ingen frihet i en waldorfskola—det säger mig min personliga erfarenhet, för jag var inte stöpt i en antro-form. Se även vad prof. i pedagogik Michael Uljens har att säga om den waldorfska friheten. (Uljens diskuterar även frågan om ideologifria skolor—något han menar inte kan existera, det är, så att säga, inte praktiskt möjligt.)
Österberg har självklart rätt att det är att vilseleda att inte kalla bönen för vad den är. Men redan Steiner talade om för antroposoferna att bönen i skolan aldrig ska kallas för en bön, den ska kallas för språk, eller vers. Bönens lydelse och det ritualiserade läsandet varje morgon—är det “bara” en vers, varför inte välja en ny varje ur en vanlig svensk diktbok? varför just Steiners uppenbart spirituella “språk”?—talar ett entydigt språk: det är en bönliknande text, ett andligt mantra.
Det är fel att inte ge barn (och föräldrar) frihet att ta ställning till detta på korrekta grunder. Bönen ska rätteligen kallas bön, och förläggas utanför ordinarie lektionstid. De barn som inte vill delta, ska ha all rätt att avstå. Men så fungerar inte waldorf. (En annan andlig övning som barn bör ha rätt att avstå är naturligtvis eurytmin—det är en övning som rimligen inte bör ingå i ordinarie lektionsutbud.)
****
Missa inte heller Roger Rawlings insiktsfulla essäer om waldorf och antroposofi. I det här sammanhanget är t ex “religion?” och “arts” läsvärda.
Edit 2009-07-22: Rogers sidor flyttade hit.
Bo Dahlin intervjuas: “De undervisar inte om en särskild lära.”
Det är naturligtvis helt sant—det är ingen som säger att waldorflärarna undervisar om en särskild lära. Waldorfskolan är dränkt i en väldigt särskild lära, det är kärnan i kritikers argument. För eventuella läsare kunde Dagen möjligen ha påpekat [edit: det gjorde de visst! my mistake!] att Bo Dahlin är medlem i antroposofiska sällskapet. Han uttalar sig alltså i egenskap av antroposof, i minst lika stor utsträckning som han uttalar sig i egenskap av professor.
Dahlin menar:
Påståendet att antroposofin har inflytande över pedagogiken anser han generellt sett inte är relevant.
Det är naturligtvis mycket relevant. Utan antroposofi, ingen waldorfpedagogik. Antroposofin är waldorfpedagogikens motiv att existera.
Dahlin:
Antroposofin är en andlig livsåskådning, det kan man inte förneka. Och pedagogiken bygger på antroposofin. Men livsåskådningsinnehållet blir aldrig något inslag i undervisning. I princip i alla fall, man kan inte veta hur enskilda lärare gör.
Nej, livsåskådningsinnehållet blir aldrig—en sanning med modifikation—föremål för direkt undervisande åtgärder. Man föreläser inte för barnen om Steiners doktriner, och ingen waldorkritiker skulle ens föreslå något sådant. Dock är antroposofin där från bröjan till slutet på skoldagen—och sipprar gärna in i hemmen också, medförande märkliga idéer om än det ena och än det andra.
Bo Dahlin anser att skolorna håller en rågång mellan läran och pedagogiken. – Ja, absolut. En del av den antroposofiska åskådningen är att varje människa ska utvecklas utifrån sina möjligheter och i frihet. Då kan man inte predika någon särskild lära.
Visst kan man det. Återigen, ingen säker att antroposofer predikar. Däremot finns antroposofin redan i argumentet som Dahlin gör. Dahlin talar om “människa” och “utveckling” och “frihet”—dessa koncept har betydelser på antroposofiska. Och de betydelserna överensstämmer inte med vad vi andra avser med dem. Därför är det Dahlin gör här något väldigt signifikant: han använder antroposofiskan, men han mörkar att där finns en antroposofiska—svenska parlör man måste använda för att dechiffrera honom.
Eftersom man inte för fram något religiöst budskap är det fel att placera skolorna bland de konfessionella, menar han.
Det är naturligtvis helt osant, och det tror jag att Dahlin också känner till. Antroposofin är andlig, till hundra procent en fråga om tro och inte vetenskaplighet. Antroposofin är fundamentet för waldorf—den är waldorfs mening. Därför är waldorfskolor naturligtvis konfessionella till sin natur. De bygger sin verksamhet på en andlig världsåskådning som påverkar varje aspekt av barnens skoldag.
- Det kan mycket väl vara så om man lämnar skolan före årskurs nio. I Waldorfskolor sparar man visst ämnesinnehåll till de högre åldrarna. Tanken är att man ska gå alla tolv år och då blir det ingen eftersläpning. Det visar också vår utvärdering.
Deras utvärdering är ett skämt—den är ett antroposofiskt beställningsverk. (VoF-notis. Mig. Steinerkritikk.)
Hur ska barn som inte lärt sig läsa, skriva och räkna ordentligt kunna komma ikapp kunskapsmässigt? Det säger ju sig självt. Carl-Olof Fägerlind, som arbetat som naturvetnskapslärare på waldorfskola under en period, tycks hålla med. Men jag rekommenderar Dahlin att även titta på tråden “Överlevde jag waldorf? En så kallad utbildning” på VoFs forum. Mot bakgrund av de metodologiska och övriga problemen med Dahlins rapport, så anser jag att de rösterna är värda att ta på stort allvar.
Dahlin tycker dock att de inte varit så öppna om andligheten…
Skolorna har inte hittills varit så tydliga med detta. Att bygga på en andlig grund är inte detsamma som att vara konfessionell, tycker jag.
Det går väl på ett ut…
Dahlin igen:
Bo Dahlin menar att man även inom teologin och religionspsykologin börjar skilja på andlighet och religion – där andlighet står för en mer öppen inställning. – Man erkänner att det finns en andlig dimension i tillvaron, men det är öppet vad man fyller den dimensionen med.
Ärligt talat så tror jag att Dahlin har fel. Vad skulle skillnaden vara? En tro på det övernaturliga jämfört med en annan tro på det övernaturliga?
Han anser att beslutet att lägga ned lärarutbildningen är ett tecken i tiden. – Det ligger i linje med någon slags standardisering och homogeniseringen av all utbildning, som följer i spåren av effektiviseringen.”
Tja, det har ju debunkats tillräcklig. Nedläggningen av lärarutbildningen beror på att Steiner-litteraturen och kursplanen saknade vetenskaplig grund! Det är väldigt enkelt!
Och så…
“Waldorf har en dold andlig agenda”
Tja. Det finns väl en sak jag skulle uttryckt bättre, vid närmare eftertanke. Nämligen:
Men så mycket efter som jag var när jag slutade i sjätte klass. Man kommer inte ikapp, när man inte kan läsa eller räkna.
För även om jag var efter i alla ämnen så kunde jag faktiskt läsa—det kunde jag när jag började första klass. Räkna kunde jag också, för det arbetade jag ikapp hemma.
Mening nummer två i det stycket är egentligen avsett som en beskrivning av den allmänna nivån—all undervisning låg många år efter den vanliga skolan. För mig märktes det ändå mest i att jag saknade kunskaper i samtliga skolämnen—men läsa var ändå en grej jag aldrig hade några problem med. Läste i skolan gjorde vi däremot inte.
Kunskaperna bland eleverna var i allmänhet urusla. Möjligheten de skulle ha kommit kapp under de åren efter jag slutade räknar jag som obefintlig.
Stockholms universitets Anders Gustavsson och Stefan Nordlund besvarar debattartikeln i söndagens SvD–med en replik betitlad “Rudolf Steiners kurser fyller [sic] inte måttet.”
De konstaterar att det visat sig, föga förvånande, att stora delar av kurslitteraturen på waldorflinjen är Steiner-baserad. Vetenskapligt vederhäftig litteratur lyser med sin frånvaro.
Dagen skriver om waldorflärarutbildningen. Och gör helt rätt som nämner antroposofin redan i artikelns första stycke.
… kopplingen mellan Waldorfpedagogik och den antroposofiska läran har alltid varit kontroversiell.
Nu tar också DN upp frågan om waldorflärarutbildningen.
Kursplanen innehåller litteratur som förmedlar naturvetenskapliga felaktigheter värre än flum, konstaterar Stefan Nordlund, dekanus på universitets naturvetenskapliga fakultet.
och
Stefan Nordlund, dekanus vid den naturvetenskapliga fakulteten, motiverar beslutet: - Delar av kurslitteraturen är inte bara ovetenskaplig. Den är dessutom farlig och förmedlar felaktigheter som är värre än flummiga. Vi har stöd i vår uppfattning både på den humanistiska och den samhällsvetenskapliga fakulteten.
Bo Dahlin uttalar sig i försvar av antroposofin och waldorfskolan. Han hävdar att Norge och Finland har statligt finansierade waldorflärarutbildningar. Samtidigt är han nog mycket väl medveten om den kritik som finns mot waldorfskolan i bägge länderna—i synnerhet i Norge—och att det tillåtande perspektiv som han tror sig se faktiskt inte existerar. (I Norge har t ex waldorfskolan ingen läroplan fastställd—norska skolverket anser inte att waldorfläroplanen uppfyller de akademiska krav man ställer.)
För Rudolf Steinerhögskolan återstår nu att finna ett annat svenskt universitet som inte har en lika kärv inställning till dess kursplan som Stockholms.
Varför inte Karlstads universitet?
***
Kåre Bremer, Stockholms universitets rektor, kommenterar på sin blog debattartikeln i Svenska Dagbladet. Bremer har tillbakavisar debattinläggsskrivarnas kritik och han har även tagit del av waldorfutbildningens litteratur, om vilken han har följande pärla att till omdöme:
Det är fakultetsnämndens ansvar att garantera utbildningens vetenskapliga kvalitet, ja faktiskt att ”sätta sig till doms” som insändarna iuttrycker det, över innehållet i den utbildning som universitetet förmedlar, och litteraturen håller helt enkelt inte måttet. Jag instämmer helt med nämndens bedömning, efter att ha tagit del av delar av kurslitteraturen. Delar av innehållet är inte bara vetenskapligt ohållbart, det är helt enkelt osant.
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I söndagens Svd rycker antroposofins apologeter ut i försvar av waldorfpedagogiken och utbildningen av waldorflärare–waldorfskolan kan nog med fog påstås vara den antroposofiska rörelsens mest lönsamma och ideologiskt sett mest värdefulla tillgångar. Som redan Rudolf Steiner, antroposofins guru, påpekade: antroposofins, och waldorfpedagogikens, mål och mening är att ersätta en felaktig världsbild med en korrekt, det vill säga, en antroposofisk sådan. Och det är det som waldorfskolan strävar mot, även om eleverna många gånger är så okunniga om rörelsens ursprung att de knappt hört ordet antroposofi, trots att skolan genomsyras av antroposofin. Det är förstås en form av indoktrinering.
Likaledes försöker antroposofins försvarare föra allmänhet och föräldrar bakom ljuset. Detta gäller i synnerhet i waldorfskolefrågan. Man vet mycket väl, att om människor kände till mer om Steiner, om antroposofi, och om de doktriner som styr waldorfskolan, då skulle de flesta hålla sig långt borta från den här rörelsen. Det är bakgrunden till debattartikeln i SvD. Den trovärdighet som har förlänats waldorfrörelsen, sedan en waldorflärarutbildning inkorporerades i verksamheten på Lärarhögskolan, är en svår förlust för de antroposofiska doktrinerna som, på grund av sin inneboende, allvarliga ovetenskaplighet, aldrig kan uppnå akademisk kredibilitet på egen hand. Waldorfpedagogiken, och antroposofin som utgör fundamentet och existensberättigandet i waldorfpedagogiken, är nämligen inget annat än en clairvoyant gurus irrlära. Rudolf Steiner, den österrikiske ockultisten som många felaktigt uppfattar som en “reformpedagog,” producerade en kopiös mängd ovetenskapligt strunt (och en ansenlig skara blåögda anhängare) genom en märklig blandning andeskåderi, teosofi, kristendom, pseudovetenskap och rasistiska och antisemitiska doktriner.
I många andra länder (Norge, Australien, Storbritannien, Tyskland, USA, för att nämna några) finner man ett livligt ifrågasättande, och mycket substansfull kritik, av antroposofins anspråk och föresatser inom skolan och på andra områden. I Sverige, däremot, tycks debatten ha resignerat: här är vi vana vid att de antroposofiska verksamheterna finansieras genom skattemedel. Vi är vana, så till den grad att antropsoferna till och med lyckades nästla sig in på en statlig högskola för några år sedan. Stockholms universitet, som tog över lärarutbildningarna från Lärarhögskolan i Stockholm, ställer däremot högre krav på utbildningars vetenskapliga grund—inte mer än rätt; universitetet bedriver verksamhet på universitetsnivå, och håller sig inte med kursutbud i New Age-anda. Om antroposofin välkomnas som en förment trovärdig pedagogisk utbildning, bör astrologer inbjudas att hålla alternativa kurser i astronomi och homeopater att hålla läkarutbildningar på universitetsnivå.
Debattörerna i söndagens tidning berör några punkter som är särskilt värda att bemöta. Den första handlar om det forskningsprojekt man refererar till, ett projekt som påstås ha utfallit mycket positivt för waldorfskoleformens del. En av undertecknarna, Bo Dahlin, var för övrigt huvudansvarig för forskningen. Dahlin är antroposof—han är medlem av antroposofiska sällskapet—och professor vid Karlstads universitet som publicerade forskningsrapporterna. Det är dock missledande att presentera forskningsprojektet på det vis som artikelförfattarna gör. Det minst allvarliga problemet är att samtliga delrapporter är behäftade med förödande metodologiska och innehållsmässiga märkligheter. Det mest allvarliga är att projektet och slutresultatet, trots att det publicerats på Karlstads universitets förlag, inte har utvärderats av oberoende parter. Projektet är nämligen helt och hållet ett ideologiskt beställningsverk, formulerat och finansierat av en antroposofisk stiftelse. Det har varit en självklar utgångspunkt ända sedan projektet inleddes att man ska få fram resultat att utnyttja som slagträ i debatt och för politiska syften.
Antagligen helt oavsiktligt bjuder dock artikelförfattarna på en liten bit—pytteliten, men dock—av sanningen bakom waldorfskolan. Man vidlåter att ett waldorfpedagogiskt mål är waldorflärarnas personliga utveckling, en utveckling som främjas på waldorflärarutbildningen. Det här handlar, i klartext, om antroposofi. Det handlar om att utvecklas som antroposof eller till antroposof. Denna väg är förstås oundgänglig för den antroposofiska rörelsen—utan att waldorflärarna är indoktrinerade i rätt tänkande, kan de inte förvänta sig att waldorfskolebarnen ska bli det. Och vi talar om framtiden för den antroposofiska rörelsen—om den antroposofiska kosmologin, om de mänsklighetens utvecklingsstadier som ligger framför oss. Om den själarnas andliga utveckling som leder, genom reinkarnation, till evolution istället för devolution. Inte med ett enda ord nämner dock artikelförfattarna de dogmer om barnets utveckling som waldorfpedagogiken bygger på. Dogmer, som inte någon gång sedan Steiner formulerade dem för ungefär 100 år sedan har funnit något som helst vetenskapligt stöd.
“Ett gott lärarskap,” skriver de, “omfattar hela personligheten.” De glömde visst bort att specificera att alla delarna av personligheten ser lite lustiga ut i en utomstående betraktares ögon: den fysiska kroppen, astralkroppen, eterkroppen och Jaget. En fullödig antroposof—och, naturligtvis, en god lärare—måste ha utvecklat alla delarna. Andlig utveckling är god karma. (Dålig karma leder till att man återföds som till exempel afrikan—själarna är internationella!—eller handikappad.) Att författarna talar om “vetenskaplig stringens” (inom andevetenskapen? ja, det är en annan femma!), “konstnärligt prövande” (den som sett antroposofisk konstnärlighet vet att dess världsliga uttryck är häpnadsväckande homogena och bristen på originalitet slående), “självreflektion” (i antroposofisk mening: återigen, ordens betydelser är så uttänjda att språket snart inget betyder) och “kritiskt tänkande”—det är löjeväckande.
Den mänskliga frihet som artikelförfattarna nämner som waldorfskolans företräden är en frihet med antroposofisk modifikation. Antroposofer använder nämligen inte ordet frihet som andra människor använder det. En själ som är rätt skolad—andligt utvecklad—är “fri.” Att tänka antroposofiskt är att vara “fri.” Materialister är ofria, naturligtvis. När antroposofanhängarna talar om att det inte går att få entydiga, vetenskapliga svar på “… hur unga människor bäst får möjlighet att utvecklas och mogna,” då menar de en viss sorts utveckling och mognad. De talar inte, som den oinsatte läsaren kanske antar, om metoder för att bäst ge unga kunskaper och färdigheter de behöver. Hade de talat om det, hade det faktiskt varit möjligt att finna vetenskaplig forskning om detta. Men andlig mognad går inte att mäta. (Fast dess bieffekter går att skönja—om inte annat från alla de invektiv som waldorfelever och waldorfförsvarare gillar att slunga ur sig.)
Några godtagbara vetenskapliga belägg för waldorfpedagogikens förtäfflighet existerar, mig veterligen, inte. Det är inte så konstigt. Antroposofin och waldorfrörelsen syftar inte till att ge barn kunskaper på det sätt som man i allmänhet förväntar sig av en pedagogisk rörelse som driver pedagogiska institutioner. Skenet bedrar, och den antroposofiska agenda som alltför länge höljts i dunkel, förtjänar att exponeras. Waldorfskolan är en av den antroposofiska, sekteristiska rörelsens frontorganisationer—en arena för att föra mänskligheten, och i synnerhet, barnen mot antroposofi och andlighet. Waldorflärarutbildningen hör inte hemma på en statlig högskola. Överlag har samhället varit alldeles för tolerant—och, framför allt, betalningsvillig—när det gäller de antroposofiska verksamheterna. Man har alltför ofta översett med antroposofins tillkortakommanden. Om den antroposofiska rörelsen vill utbilda inkompetenta, indoktrinerade lärare bör de göra det i egen regi, och skapa sig sin egen trovärdighet. På universitetet har den ockulta “vetenskapen” inte en passande hemvist.
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artikel i DN.
http://blog.lindenfors.se/?p=73
Men apropå barn med icke-fungerande inre organ… I antroposofisk mening så finns det nog många icke-fungerande barn… Vad Lindenfors glömmer är förstås de andliga organen. Det är de som inte utvecklas som de ska, om barn uppfostras icke-antroposofiskt. Så alltså finns det massor med andligt stympade barn här i världen! Och hur ska vi då vandra in i nästa tidsålder? Vi behöver ju tillräckligt många andligen utvecklade ledare! (=antroposofer!) Och om inte vetenskapen kan observera och diagnostisera de här outvecklade andliga organen så beror det på att vetenskapen inte är clairvoyant nog. Så det så!
Hittills.
Ang. “forskningen.”
Och här.
Fast jag gillade mest kommentaren från Steinerhögskolans talesperson…
VoF uppmärksammar waldorfforskningen från Karlstads universitet.
Hur ska man se till att en viss undersökning leder till önskat resultat? Man kan finansiera undersökningen, det är en beprövad metod. Man kan noga precisera vilka frågor undersökningen ska besvara och hur. Om man inte är säker på att det räcker kan man dessutom handplocka personerna som ska genomföra undersökningen. Självfallet väljer man då personer som man vet har den rätta tron. Om personerna dessutom har akademisk förankring, så kan undersökningen, oavsett metodologisk standard, presenteras i någon universitetsrapport och passera som “vetenskaplig forskning”. Ännu bättre!
Här är brevet som Dahlin & co skrev till deltagande skolorna samt kritik av studien.
Norska steinerskolor har ingen läroplan, och skolorna är för usla, underförstått.
Misshandel waldorfskola i Tyskland.
Der Spiegel uppmärksammer Judith von Halle, en antroposof som lever på luft, gör tidsresor och upplever Jesu lidanden på korset som om det var hon själv, hon t o m får stigmata.
http://www.eurosurv eillance. org/ViewArticle. aspx?ArticleId= 18945
“The municipal health centre of The Hague (GGD) has implemented several outbreak control measures. Since the outbreak was initially limited to the specific anthroposophic population associated with the two schools, measures were aimed at this target group. All parents of children attending the two schools received an information letter. MMR vaccination was offered to all unvaccinated children and to the family members of cases.
However, the school authorities had rightfully predicted that very few would use this opportunity, as most parents in this community had deliberately chosen not to immunise their children. In total, only 10 vaccinations were administered (two to adults, eight to children).
“In the last few years the infectious potential of measles seems to be increasing, with outbreaks currently being reported in the United States [8] and several European countries including Italy [9], Spain [6], Switzerland [10] and the United Kingdom [11], some of which were also linked to antroposophical communities [12]. Based on the high overall vaccination coverage and the low incidence of measles, The Netherlands appears to be near to the 2010 WHO Euro measles elimination goal [13,14]. However, there is strong social clustering of people who deliberately (on various principal grounds) choose not to vaccinate. As a result, a large measles outbreak associated with religious or anthroposophic communities can still occur.”
Norwegian press reports (http://www.nrk.no/nyheter/1.6168068) that the curriculum of the norwegian steiner schools hasn’t been approved by the national school board. The steiner schools are unwilling to abide by the requirements the authorities have posed–for example, regarding the academic level of the education. Authorities say that they have to live up to the minimum standards that have been set and are supposed to be applied to all schools. As long as the steiner schools don’t, their new curriculum won’t be approved, regardless of their insistance that they need to follow their own “philosophy”. The requirements include improving the academic standards in norwegian, maths, english and computer skills. Until last year, the steiner schools were given a special permission to use the old curriculum–but that won’t be happening now. The responsible authority doesn’t want to say yet what the consequences might be. The ministry of education is now going to have a say regarding the steiner schools’ appeal to revoke the negative decision on the new curriculum. A spokesperson for the steiner school association says that over the course of 12 years, steiner students learn just as much as public school students. (=> that’s a lie worth repeating!)
In a blog on Dagens Medicin. Mats Reimer blogs about courses in anthroposophical medicine–anthroposophical courses have, apparently, been certified by some agency (IPULS) for medical educations. Reimer writes that it would be just as crazy to let Jehova’s witnesses hold courses in blood transfusion medicine as it is to let anthroposophists hold courses in medicine. Their medical practices are just as unscientific, and the main problem is that anthroposophical medicine is founded upon the clairvoyant teachings of Rudolf Steiner. Diseases are seen as spiritual problems, and the cures are spiritual. Flatulence is caused by imbalances in the astral body, for example.
Reimer writes about how he used to work as a school doctor in a public school, and was confronted by anthroposophists antipathy towards vaccination, because the school nurse also worked in the adjacent waldorf school. The nurse even distributed material to discourage vaccinations. Reimer questions the anthroposophists belief that suffering through spiritual “enhancements” such as measles and other diseases is worth the price the children are paying. Some anthroposophists, however, chose to vaccinate their kids in Reimer’s office… when disease was already spreading. Reimer says he’s disappointed that the anthroposophical course is certified by IPULS and that the public welfare sector contributes money to anthroposophical clinics such as Vidarkliniken.
Or, at least, one third of Swedes do.
The Christian Swedish newspaper, Dagen, introduced their new article series on New Age beliefs, by presenting results from a survey. Interestingly, one third of the respondents state that they believe in reincarnation. (One in three Swedes might not react with shock at Rudolf’s teachings–they might agree I’m shocked) Even more people believe that it is possible to get in contact with those souls who, according to Steiner, populates that place between death and rebirth. And over 40% of respondents think that the meaning of life consists in learning more about the spiritual. Over 60% believe the so called alternative medical practices can cure people. Around 70% believe that the spiritual can be found in nature, in sex or in love. Over 40% believe in the capacities of psychics in finding lost items or persons. 85% believe positive thinking can change reality. 45% believe there are
invisible energies that can be utilized in healing. 65% think that what religious teachings one adheres to is unimportant—the important thing is finding inner spiritual experience.
Well, I think anthroposophists fit right in. I’m the one who’s in the wrong place.
There will be articles on alternative medicine, a new age festival (the No Mind-festival–the festival for those who are so open-minded that their mind fell out of their skull), etc. Great stuff. Or not.
work hard at stifling any critique–anytime, anyplace. To boost their own self-conficidence, they use the names of lawyers, who they pretend are more than their imaginary friends, to threaten the waldorf antagonists and anyone who’s got the guts to publish (or, rather, leave undeleted on internet discussion boards) anything that could harm the anthroposophical movement and anything that could deter prospective parents from waldorf schools (or scare away, or sow doubts among, those who’ve already been snared by the glossy, deceitful propaganda). By now, they’ve had critics banned (without prior notice or warning) and messages and whole threads deleted. Examples of web discussion boards that have caved to the pressure of these gangsters are Mumsnet, Green Parent, Times Educational Supplement’s forum, BBC’s discussion board, Mothering, and perhaps some I’ve forgot. (Not to mention their watchdog activities on wikipedia.)
Recent example of the threats can be found at the critics’ list. (More posts: here, here, here, and I think there’s tons more of discussions there on the subject.)
In response to the silly use of old threats that don’t really matter–unless those you threaten don’t know much about the situation–I posted on the Swedish Sceptics’ forum about this issue. Quite a boring little thing, but the threats one anthroposophist seems to be launching unscrupulously towards people who dare tell the truths and opinions he doesn’t want to read/hear, originate a few years back in connection with the Sceptics’ magazine. The post, in Swedish, can be found here. All the MN-threads and posts that were deleted on the anthroposophists demands have been saved, and when I’ve time I will look through them and perhaps repost some stuff on the blog.
(This is basically a re-post of my message at the critics’ list.)
Until now, I have apparently entirely missed the latest 2 issues of the Swedish Humanists’ magazine. They have articles on waldorf!! And it is good! The first one (Humanisten, no 1, 2008) is written by Patrik Lindenfors, who researches evolutionary biology at the university of Stockholm. His article “What do you do in a waldorf school?” is published online here (in Swedish, I’m afraid): http://www.humanisten.se/lasartikel.php?id=65
Three of Lindenfors’ children went to waldorf kindergarten, which led him to his determination to share information with other prospective parents, so that they can know what awaits them before entering the kids in the school. He also says he wishes to highlight the pseudoreligious aspect of waldorf, which should make waldorf count as a religious school. One problem, he writes, is that there are an abundance of information on waldorf and anthroposophy, but all the official sources tend to be silent on many issues. What is advertised is creativity and those things parents usually like. “Unfortunately, this is not the truth,” he writes. He then explains briefly Steiner’s occult philosophy, evolution, Atlantis etc. (you know ;). It is easier to accept Steiner if you’ve already bought other new age-concepts. “The strong influence of New age philosophy in waldorf pedagogy makes waldorf schools comparable to the religious free schools,” he continues.
Confronting waldorf teachers with such aspects of anthroposophy as the hypothesis of Atlantis or reincarnation only leads to denial–they say these things don’t even influence the operation of the school. “This is only true in as far as Atlantis and reincarnation aren’t spoken about in the classrooms. Anthroposophy nevertheless permeates waldorf education, although other reasons for specific practices are often stated.” As an example, Lindenfors mentions TV–why are waldorf schools recommending that children don’t watch TV? (I won’t torture you with the explantion, it’s well known–except among waldorf PR people *roll*) Lindenfors also explains how Steiner viewed the child’s development, the 7-year periods and such goodies. (Very concise, it’s excellent. The waldorfians should employ him to write their info-material. It would just be more accurate.)
Importantly, he stresses how and why Steiner’s developmental “philosophy” causes a suppression of children’s curiosity, and how it leads stunt to children in their development so that they will match the anthroposophical norms. He mentions how the superficial creativity of the blocklesson books really isn’t creativity at all–it’s simply copied from the blackboard, because children learn through repeating and taking after tha authority (the teacher). “Instead of being trained in free creativity, the children are limited by arbitrary rules surrounding the artistic expression, which makes the art uniform, graphically as
well as thematically.”
He writes:
“If there was anything I didn’t grasp during my years as a waldorf parent, it is how the early waldorf years are characterized by one authoritarian teacher who suppresses the children’s curiosity and who advocates rote-learning and copying off the blackboard.[...] The number of web sites created by angry parents to former waldorf students, people who feel deceived, is indubitably large. Why aren’t the anthroposophists upfront about their real views and intents? In this respect, waldorf mostly resembles a missionary church. It’s not the adults they want to get to, we’re not the target–it’s the children they want.”
He makes a point of how futile it is to try to criticise the role of anthroposophy in waldorf. The point is, he says, that people who send their kids to other religious schools are aware of the agenda and agrees to it.
“The glossy language and the nice colours in the brochures of the waldorf schools don’t tell the whole truth. On the other hand, lots of information is available on the internet and in the literature on the real contents of anthroposophy. Information is often conveyed by disappointed parents. With this article I want to join them. All we want is to make other parents seek knowledge and to think things through–before they subject their children to waldorf pedagogy.”
And–joy and merriment–I also got issue no 2, 2008. It contains a reply from pro-waldorf professor Dahlin (steinerkritikk.no has articles on his research, I have written about it before too, can’t bother to try and find the links–but it’s on the critics’ list and on this blog) and Lindenfors reply to Dahlin in turn.
Northernrefugee tells the story of A Very Alternative Education, about her family’s experience with waldorf, and she writes:
In telling our story, two strands are apparent; the deception and secrecy in recruiting parents to the Steiner movement, and the hierarchical racial belief system upon which the whole of anthroposophy is hinged.
Anthroposophy informed every decision in the classroom, from the ignoring of bullying, which is seen as a past life issue, and to interfere would disrupt the karmic path, to forcing our left handed seven-year-old to knit right handed, because left handedness is seen as a karmic weakness. Children’s safety is treated with an insouciance that would frighten the most carefree, because there is a belief that guardian angels watch over the children.Our questions were met with silence, obfuscation and distortion, even lies. There is a prejudicial conviction among anthroposophists, an irritating conceit, which can stun some people to silence, or attract others searching for spiritual certainty.
These communities pander to separation, with talk of outsiders, and by generating a fear of the world beyond theirs. This propagates a sense of cult, as does the fanatical fundraising and working towards a common goal for the community.
and
A prerequisite for Steiner teachers is to walk their own spiritual path; perhaps many are so far at the bottom, that they felt unable answer us. The grasp of anthroposophy by some teachers is clearly so tenuous it can only arouse pity, as they balance a precarious equilibrium between certainties of esoteric spiritual truth and not really knowing.
It’s an absolutely horrific story (of a horrific experience), but for many of us who are aware of the darker sides of waldorf, the story is eerily familiar. Not, perhaps, mainly because bad things happen–bad things can happen anywhere–but again, the problem is how the adults, those responsible, deal with issues that arise. Or I should rather say: how they don’t manage to deal. Their “philosophy”, anthroposophy, doesn’t give them the tools they need for real life, for working with children and education. Even if the teachers have climbed the spiritual ladder, they aren’t in possession of the skills they need. They could, of course, explain anthroposophy–but the thing is, they won’t, because the parents aren’t in the right place to receive the truths anyway, so it’s better to play dumb and uninformed. The spiritual aspects are concealed or smoothed over in front of suspicious parents.
In waldorf, children who are bullied are believed to deserve it (which is exactly what happened to me, and many others–though anthroposophists will go to any lenghts to deny this):
We had ineffectual meetings, where talk about temperaments and star signs baffled us; a constant chant that our daughter was winding us up, not telling us as it was, that the children being bullied were attracting it.
Perhaps most importantly, there are things about waldorf that should make people think twice about its blessings, blessings that stay well without of reach of the children who are at the bottom of the pecking order (and others aren’t so well off either):
While our children were there, they and others had bruises from stones thrown, were kicked while being held down, had clumps of hair pulled out, scarred hands from scratching and clawing, older, larger children against smaller, fights were common occurrences; they were taunted, had notes passed around class about them, votes in class about who should be allowed to go to parties, constant sneers, put downs and name calling. These weren’t one off events. This was how it was at the school. There were ringleaders and bystanders but no protectors. The adults didn’t “see”. Some children just gave up; you could see it in their eyes, in their expression of broken hopelessness. Some parents were overwhelmed by the way the teachers deflected and twisted the situations. Anthroposophical parents often had a sort of karmic acceptance of these horrors, or occasionally used archaic punishments. My children came home with tales of their friends being shut in the larder on bread and water, being hit, locked in rooms; these parents swung wildly between cruelty, neglect and idolisation.
The waldorf school I once went to publishes a newsletter (pdf). The most recent issue of it, commences with a poem by Hans Möller, who also wrote the curriculum for the Swedish waldorf schools. The poem includes the following lines:
En sång dold i varje människa [a song hidden in each human being]
Broderskapets fulltoniga sång [the sonorous song of brotherhood]
För alla länder och riken [for all nations and countries]
För alla folkslag alla minoriteter alla [for all peoples for all minorities all]
Sammanvävda i jordens öde [weaved together in the destiny of the earth]
Var och en med sitt särskilda uppdrag [each and every one with their special task]
For some of them that would be dying out… but hey, that’s a task too:
Races would never become decadent, never decline, if there weren’t souls that are unable to move up and unwilling to move up to a higher racial form. Look at the races that have survived from earlier eras: they only exist because some souls could not climb higher. [Steiner, Das Hereinwirken geistiger Wesenheiten in den Menschen.]
A race or a nation stands so much the higher, the more perfectly its members express the pure, ideal human type, the further they have worked their way from the physical and perishable to the supersensible and imperishable. The evolution of man through the incarnations in ever higher national and racial forms is thus a process of liberation. [Steiner, GA10 Knowledge of the higher worlds, chapter XI.]
Today is Norway’s 4th of July–more accurately, it’s the “syttende mai” or the “nasjonaldag” (excuse the wrong-spelling…). Norway is, with a few exceptions (for example, its waldorf schools and Tarjei ;)), a very decent country. And there’s steinerkritikk.no; hooray!
(Unfortunately, the bow has too much white and too little red. We’ll do a more accurate Norway bow next year, if we remember. And make sure the blue Swarowski-crystal can actuallt be seen, it can’t know. (It’s blue and placed right at the middle of the bow.))
The spiritual tasks
As always, Rudolf Steiner himself had very important things to say about Norway. In fact, in 1910, he made a lecture trip to Norway–”The mission of folk souls in connection to the Nordic-Germanic mythology.” In November 1921 he returned, to talk about the future spiritual tasks of Norway and Sweden. (The wisdom related below comes from the Swedish edition of The future spiritual tasks of Norway and Sweden, Telleby, 1998.)
According to Rudolf, the hearts of himself and the Norwegians had found each other in the higher spiritual worlds. In the aftermath of the big catastrophe–WWI–he thinks it’s necessary to gain a deeper knowledge about the European folk souls, in order to deal with societal difficulties, and he scolds those who didn’t care about developing such a knowledge which could have avoided the misery of those past years.
Norway, he says, will have a special task in the future, because in the Norwegian corner of Europe there will exist people who take the true spiritual progress of humanity seriously. The Nordic spirit is particularly apt for spiritual insights, and can exert an inspirational influence on the rest of the western nations. But… “The earth has really become a cosmic mole hole for the human species,” he says, though humans are still related to the devine, spiritual forces in space! The problem is, humans lack knowledge of their true selves, they’ve lost themselves. They’re losing contact with the heavens. Things are bad, but anthroposophy is here to save us! To make us progress, instead of regress! Spirituality has to win over rationalism and intellectuality. Anthroposophy will have to help people experiencing themselves as heavenly beings with life between death and rebirth, rather than simple earthly creatures. The anthroposophical knowledge about the higher worlds has to be brought out in society, it has to be made known.
We’ve got to talk about what was before birth and before conception, says Rudolf, that which we bring with us to this earthly existance. That god rules the world is probably true, but we need to know how he rules the world in different nations–because it’s not a uniform heavenly government. There’s something enigmatic about the peninsula of Norway and Sweden, he says, something that not even all Swedes and Norwegians can understand (no shit!). But there’s also something incomprehensible, for the Nordic peoples, in the southern European characters, behaviours and desires.
On history, Steiner says that external history is not true–only history seen from, and interpreted through, anthroposophy can be true. Without it, the spiritual angle is lost, and truth too. For the anthroposophical observer, it’s been made increasingly clear that the spiritual disappears more and more from, or is paralized in, from the southerns European nations, while the spritual grows in the north. People in the north you see, are still capable of receiving the devine teachings, to know the gods–that is the higher spiritul hierarchies–are walking beside them. Therefore, he urges, we’ve got to take spiritual testimonies seriously.
Gods walked with Norwegians
This may come as a surprise, but according to Rudolf, it’s a fact, back when the gods walked on earth as the teachers of humanity, the nordic peoples still lived in a state of naïvety. This will mean one thing: the nordic peoples will be the teachers of humanity. The Norwegians (and the Swedes, but he seems particularly fond of the “western half of the peninsula”–perhaps because the talks were given in Oslo, or as it was called then, Kristiania) will teach the spiritually retarded peoples of the world, not what they (I would say we, but I can hardly count myself, unspiritual as I am) have learnt from other humans, but what they once learned from the gods!
The Norwegians are the conveyors of devine knowledge!–what’s that for “syttende mai,” pretty fab, right?
We also learn that geography is pretty important. Human beings don’t grow up from the earth, like asparagus, but are born down to the earth from above. It’s absolutely no fluke whether you’re born a Norwegian or a Swede. It’s the souls that strive to be either Norwegian or Swedish. Or any of those.
The nordic deeply influences other parts of the world–the spiritual impulses that spread from here, that is. The nordic gods are not geographically isolated, their powerful tentacles are striving to spread the impulses. (Please please, can they be stopped by armed intervention?)
There are people in the north too, who don’t bother to investigate the inner spiritual, but rather occupy themselves with the outer, empirical sciences (that really, according to Rudolf, are more abstract)–not good. The only way to not be egoistical is when you care about the spiritual.
Well, back to Norway. Back then, when the Norwegians learnt from the gods, the cosmic plan made them develop a special character. The Norwegians of today have to apply their spiritual capacities and extract their sprititual knowledge of the past, using their spiritual understanding. Their special character and capacities extend beyond death, it’s got to do with the eternal life of human beings. Humans have a mission of their own souls here on earth, but they also have a higher spiritual mission. The Norwegians, or their souls, might even have special tasks after their deaths. Those Norwegian souls that pass death’s door will possibly have a special task–because of their character and the specific constitution of their minds–of stimulating their fellow souls in the post-death world, they can give those souls something of the Norwegian folk character, something of the spiritual that they–or at least som of the Norwegians–have a rare access to.
Those who have rightly lived their lives as Norwegians, will inspire their co-existing souls after death, and they will be their teachers in regards to the nature secrets… Because in the spiritual realm, the souls have to be educated about the secrets of the earth, just as those on earth need to be educated on the secrets of the spiritual world.
And would you know, the Norwegians are superiour to the Swedes–when it comes to penetrating the secrets of nature! However, we will all die out if we fail grasping the spiritual.
Love your critics
The Norwegians have a mission. And I think that is the battle against Waldorf schools and the silly anthroposophists! Steiner was wrong, the Norwegians don’t need anthroposophy, neither does anyone else. Stupid rubbish, is what it is. Failure to grasp the spiritual is the first step towards progress, and real humanness. Steiner says that those who hate anthroposophy do so because they are too lazy, too convenient… but, the thing is, he’s a liar. He imagines people hate anthroposophy, when it’s apparent that sensible people simply see that anthroposophy, and Steiner, are wrong. He’s got a message to those who dislike us critics though: it’s shameful to be praised by critics, because if you are, then you know that the anthroposophical strivings have taken a wrong turn somewhere!
Thus, the defenders ought to be happy as long as we criticize them, and they ought not to go on about how horribly mean and what bullies we are–because if we praised you instead that would be much worse!
Swedish progressive pedagogy of the early 19th century
An essay about CJL Almqvist in Svenska Dagbladet October 3, 2007, caught my eye (it dropped into my RSS reader today, for some reason I can’t really get). Almqvist was an author as well as a teacher and a headmaster. It’s often said, by waldorf proponents, that Rudolf Steiner was ahead of his time, which isn’t true, and that he was a pedagocial reformer, which isn’t true either (he basically just applied his occult beliefs on educational practice). Well, here are some of the ideas put forth by Almqvist, almost a 100 years before Rudy:
- The importance of seeing to the students individual needs and strenghts. Education must be adapted to the individual, and every student must be encouraged to take an active role in their learning.
- Learning must be based on the students desire to learn, and their own interest for it. Desire and interest can’t be forced upon them, but have to grow from within.
- The student should be able to progress faster (or go slower) than his peers, without having to wait for others to develop to where he is.
- Thus, he emphasized personal activity and individuality in education and teaching.
- The subject matter has to be revised and reevaluated as the times change. The students must be prepared for the society they will live in. Almqvist thought the old school system was all too focused on theology and classical languages. (Though, on contrast to theology, he thought christianity was still to be a subject in school.) He meant that the students need to learn modern languages which are needed in society, like German and English. Mathematics and natural sciences were important too.
- He stated that the teacher must teach vividly and appear to his students as a human being, someone who is present, enthusiastic and engages his students, ‘electrifies’ them.
Reasons to become a Waldorf teacher
A series of articles in Svenska Dagbladet deals with the issue of depressive illness. An interviewee who had suffered from depressive bouts for years, decided to train to become a waldorf teacher. She wanted the ‘holistic’ concept–a solution for life. She said that her religious background partly explains why she went for waldorf. She wanted everything from everyday life solutions, such as biodynamic farming, to the artistic and the feeling of community, to the big spiritual issues. The teaching she experienced as too tough, so she had to give it up, but she found the anthroposophical community to be ‘healing.’ (Well, aren’t this quite a fab example of waldorf teachers becoming teachers without having what it takes to be a teacher–all aspects of it–because they want the Spiritual Life and a Solution to their problems.) Back then, she didn’t want to take pharmaceuticals, but later, when she really had to because the depression turned more severe, she found that they worked ‘fantastic.’ (Which is, I gather, a whole lot better than the anthroposophical remedies that really don’t work at all…)
Swedish artist inspired by anthroposophy, theosophy and mysticism
An exhibition (Traces de Sacré–Traces of the divine) in Paris shows the work of Hilma af Klint, a 20th century modernist painter. Dagens Nyheter writes that she was inspired by anthroposophy, theosophy and mysticism. The exhibition is called Traces ). Well, I don’t know. There’s a sample of her art in the article. She took part in spiritual seances already in 1879, and 1908 she met Rudolf Steiner.
New book about children growing up in religious cults
Dagens Nyheter as well as Swedish television has taken notice of a new book about how it is to be a child growing up in a religious cult; Sektbarn [Children in religious cults]. Dagens Nyheter Söndag included a text (taken from the book) about life in Hare Krishna, as well as an interview with the author, journalist Charlotte Essén, and an interview with the ex Hare Krishna member. In an interview on TV, Essén said that the main problem for the children are the isolation from society and the vilification of outside society and its population and the elaborate social control that the children are subjected to. She thinks that society needs to look closer at these environments. In Hare Krishna, the children were dressed up, singing songs, getting enough food to eat–every time outsiders were there to see them, the fancy facade was purely for appearances sake and to advertise the movement. Religious verses were deemed more important than actual school work. The outside world was painted in a negative way–people were ‘meat-eaters,’ materialistic, out to get the Hare Krishnas, people were evil… Children were forced to work with farm chores. The dog they had died, due to malnourishment (he didn’t get meat). Punishments were systematic and consciously perpetrated–one usual way to punish was locking the child into a dark closet. Another treatment was cold showersWhen someone became ill, it was because of sin, and they didn’t give the children medicinces, only indian folk remedies. The ex-member says she’s surprised children didn’t die–with all the diseases and the policy of never treating bacterial illnesses with antibiotics. Once, though, children had to have their stomach pumped at hospital–they had eaten too many apples, because they were so starved after having fasted. She has to live with a kateter today, because of the numerous urinary infections she had as a child–none of them were treated with anything other than spiritual remedies. What does Hare Krishna say? They say there are always someone who complains or isn’t happy–that’s not Hare Krishnas fault. If some Hare Krishnas did something wrong, it was those individuals that did these wrongs–it should not reflect on Hare Krishna. Isolated cases, nothing wrong about the movement. Moreover, those who complain are ’subjective.’ (Oh… naturally… they must be…) In the interview with the author of the book, she says that these cults teach children not to think for themselves, and they are manipulated to be afraid of the outside world; they are psychologically abused, and often they are also physically abused. She considers them to be victims of crime. (Unfortunately it seems that these articles aren’t available online, so you have to get hold of the actual paper version to read them.)
Scientology–Proposed tax-funded school scrutinized before opening
Lots of people are raising doubts since it became known that a proposed tax-funded school based on scientology’s pedagogical doctrines (‘applied scolastics’) was going to be established in the Boston area. I still am unsure if there are any scientology schools in Sweden.
Religion–a figment of imagination
A New Scientist article about the origins of religious beliefs. Human beings might be practicing religion as a consequence of the capacity for imagination, and particularily the imagining of the after-death. (Which is quite interesting, even from a Steiner/anthroposophy perspective–he’s got it all, myths, tales, reincarnation, souls that live on, etc.)
DN skriver att Waldorfskola strider för att få ta över Drottningholms skola.
Mälaröarnas waldorfskola, som nu befinner sig i en annan lokal på Mälaröarna (inte Drottningholm utan i Svartsjö), bespetsar sig på att ta över driften av den kommunala skolan på Drottningholm. Kommunen har beslutat att man inte längre önskar driva en kommunal skola på Drottningholm, och planerar därför att en privat aktör ska ta över. Mälaröarnas waldorfskola önskar fler elever samt att ta över en ny lokal. Det tycks vara meningen att de elever som idag går i Drottningholms skola ska fortsätta sin skolgång i den friskola som kommer att ta över driften, och det kan alltså befaras bli en waldorfskola.
Är eleverna och föräldrarna införstådda med vad det innebär? Waldorf är en religion, inte en pedagogik.
Är de medvetna om att waldorf innebär att eleverna kommer att be morgonbön, tala med andevärlden i eurytmin, fördröja–in absurdum–den intellektuella utvecklingen? Att skolskötseln, traditionerna och hela den idémässiga atmosfären kommer att följa en clairvoyant ockultists läror från runt 1900?
Hur kommer det sig att det verkar förutsättas att eleverna och föräldrarna på Drottningholm bara ska acceptera detta som om det vore en vettig, normal, och fungerande pedagogik vilken som helst? Informerar de föräldrarna om att vad waldorf innebär, så att de kan göra ett övertänkt val? Det finns, antar jag, andra skolor i kommunen, på andra mälaröar, så de står ju inte utan alternativ. Däremot är det ju farligt att tro att de berörda ska nöja sig med att fortsätta i den geografiskt närmsta skolan, och hålla till godo med waldorfpedagogik–men man tänker sig kanske att man kan lura dem in i detta, genom att tiga om waldorfs fundament. Låtsas att det är ‘bara’ en pedagogik. Låtsas att det på intet sätt är undermålig kvalitet på undervisningen och att kopplingen antroposofi-waldorf är insignifikant.
Föräldrarna i Drottningholms skola…
… har kämpat hårt för att behålla skolan kvar som kommunal.
De lär säkert vara ännu gladare över att skolan inte bara kan bli privatdriven, utan även tokstollig i kubik.
Om det inte blir något av övertagandet av den kommunala skolan, kan det vara slutet för waldorfskolan på Mälaröarna, säger representanten för skolan, J. Tovatt. Det är väl för mycket att hoppas på, dock… Han ‘känner’ att det kanske är så att kommunen vill ha en annan sorts friskola på Drottningholm. (Kanske en med riktig pedagogik, önskade resultat och med bas i något slags förnuft??)
Och just det, så intervjuar de en lärare i Mälaröarnas waldorfskola. Hon säger att eleverna trivs. Det gör de ju alltid i waldorfskolor…
En utomordentligt intressant diskussion har pågått på VoF:S forum, Överlevde jag waldorf? En s.k. utbildning.
Om bristande kunskaper, oförmåga att hantera “problem,” skapande verksamhet som är allt annat än skapande, antroposofiska behandlingar som leder till att barn lider istället för att bli botade, osv.
Dagen skriver om att ta bort uppdelningen av skolor i konfessionella och icke-konfessionella. Meningen är ju ändå att de ska följa exakt samma regler, och att “predikande” inte ska förekomma under lektionstid. Det är väl kanske ett ännu bättre alternativ för att bli av med det helt idiotiska problemet att waldorfskolor räknas som icke-konfessionella.
Birgitta Nilsson tycker att en bra väg att gå är ta bort skollagens formulering om konfessionell inriktning, eftersom den bara skapar förvirring. Lagen bör utgå från att det är läroplanen som bestämmer innehållet i undervisningen – och det räcker, anser hon. – Det konfessionella, det måste vara utanför undervisning, säger hon.
Den inre spirituella aspekten av mitt väsen har fått en diagnos. “Carol” har genom imponerande tankeverksamhet slutit sig till följande:
Now, in returning to the WC gang, I’d like to mention that I also took the opportunity to take a peek at Zooey’s blog and noticed something very peculiar therein. Whereas the top section of his home pages contains an minimalistic urban horizon image (in black and grey), within the his site, one can find many images of examples of organic anthroposophic creativity. The question which thus rose up in MY soul can be formulated as such; what does this ‘tell’ about Zooey’s unconsciously chosen position within the broad ’spectrum’ which clearly distinguish heavenly and demonic influencial powers? From my personal perspective, I can distinguish a firm, however refined, hold of ‘egoism’ by way of the chosen urban image which I see as a creative reflection of an inner spiritual aspect of Zooey’s being (call it a piece of Zooey’s soul map). Otherwise, throughout the sections of his site in which I investigated, I found organic anthroposophical creative forms, transcribed quotes of Rudolf Steiner himself, comments by both sympathizers and critisizers of spiritual science, Zooey himself constituting one of the latter (from the comments in which I saw his name signed).
With this type of light shone towards the WC gang, I find that Zooey, and the rest of the WC gang for that matter, to varying degrees and ‘colorings’, look more like cowardly CHICKENs in that they most definitely cling to and keep Anthroposophy ever SNUG and present in their daily lives, all the while, in some form or another, they despise and/or defile it, and yet- in REALITY they unconsciously NEED it in a raw and selfish manner to ensure for themselves a comfort zone, for the purpose of guarding themselves against powerful Ahrimanic forces which ALREADY DO flow freely within their souls (Diana ?) however, most definitely not as severely as their potential can permit.
Tom, in all, I thought to point out how both Peter S. as well Zooey show a certain quality of Egoism- firm, still solidly unrelenting and yet refined (artistic) as reflected somewhat in the darkened horizonal urban image placed up at the top of Zooey’s blog website.
Jojo :D
Aningen mindre imponerande var tankeverksamheten som låg bakom utnämnandet av mig som en Heinrich Himmler (Himmler, som dessutom, ironiskt nog, var inne på detta med ockultism och esotericism) på anthroposophy tomorrow-listan:
Yep, they’ve got real Nazis in the Hole, in the Unthinkable Facility. While their historical pundits and revisionists are turning every stone to exhume anthroposophical Nazis from the 1930’s in Germany, Göring, Goebbles, Himmler, Mengele, and Hitler himself are all alive and kicking today in the Unplumbable Toilet, the WC [min kom.:waldorfcritics-listan].
Take Heinrich Himmler, the very father of the dreaded SS. He is resurfacing in the Hole these days in the guise of “Zooey”[...]
“Zooey” has been very active in the Unthinkable Facility lately, going on about anthroposophists being a threat to the world because many parents choose not to vaccinate their children against gcommon childhood diseases like measles. But she’s also got a tiny local hole of her own with eight dwellers, and here’s a neat little piece from a message she posted there on Friday:[min kom.: länk.]
[...]
The hole-creatures don’t have the guts to say that anthroposophists don’t deserve to live (like Himmler), but they imply that nevertheless too by claiming they’re killers, because there’s at least one character, namely “emmanuel”, who echoes Dr. Mengele by implying forced mass-sterilization of anthroposophists because they are killers (posted Saturday):
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/waldorf-critics/message/3351
[...]
Goebbles has been raising his voice for a long time in that dark place (the Abyss), and every once in a while we’ve seen a glimpse of Adolf, but this time we have Himmler ( SS Reichsführer) and Dr. Mengele showing up. Good going, so-called “critics”, my dear Constipated Ones — Goebbles would also be proud of you.
Tarjei kanske kan förtjäna epitetet The Squeak Of Waldorf? För om Thebee är The Voice of Waldorf, vilket PeteK visar* – med all önskvärd tydlighet – är en korrekt beskrivning av fakta, då är väl Tarjei åtminstone ett litet råttpip, en rap eller ett litet kvitter?
* I en av mumsnet-trådarna (tjena, [Thebee], avstängd??? ;)). PeteK:
Nice try Sune… but you ARE The VOICE OF WALDORF – and that is confirmed by how many waldorf sites link to your website. 500 you say? That’s impressive. Yep, you ARE the very embodiment of the Anthroposophical Movement – dishonest, deluded, fanatical and sinister. You ARE what Anthroposophy stands for. You should be proud of it – not try to hide it. C’mon, it’s what you spend your entire life defending – at least be honest about what you’re doing Sune. You are LYING to promote Anthroposophy. We all see it anyway… whether you admit it or not. Nice job!
Smittskyddsinstitutet varnar, och rekommenderar att vuxna ovaccinerade ser till att vaccinera sig.
De flesta barn i Sverige vaccineras mot mässling, men bland barn i familjer som avstått från vaccination, ofta av religiösa eller kulturella skäl, finns grupper av icke-immuna.
I Norge har en Steinerskola drabbats av en mässlingsepidemi, importerad från Österrike.
__________________________________________________________________
EpiNorth news reports that Norwegian Steiner school kids brough the disease back from a Steinerian trip to Austria where there’s a massive measles outbreak in Steinerland. The children were not vaccinated.
This is just insane…:
Outbreak of measles in Norway imported from Austria
Norwegian Institute of Public Health reports that an outbreak of measles among a group of schoolchildren from Steiner school was registered in Nøtterøy municipality, Vestfold county, Norway in the beginning of April in connection with an outbreak of measles in Austria. Three Norwegian children were infected while they were on a study trip in Austria. These children were not vaccinated against measles due to various reasons. One child has returned back and infected another child attending the same school. Two other infected children are still in Austria. On Wednesday, 9th of April, all children from Steiner school were offered vaccination against measles, but not all parents accepted it. As early as in the end of March health authorities in Austria reported the outbreak of measles in and around the city of Salzburg, but also in Germany (Bavaria) and Upper Austria. About 180 cases were registered. The outbreak occurred originally in Waldorf school (equivalent of Steiner school in Norway), where some parents were against any immunization, according to the ProMED-mail (Global electronic reporting system for outbreaks of emerging infectious diseases and toxins).
Eurosurveillance links recent measles outbreaks in Europe to anthroposophic communitites/ schools in Germany, Austria and Norway.
The initial case series investigation revealed that the common link was attendance of an anthroposophic school and day care centre in Salzburg city. The majority of the pupils were not vaccinated against measles.
The outbreak described here indicates that the anthroposophic community also is an at-risk group of measles spread, because many parents in this group choose not to vaccinate their children with the MMR vaccine [4]. Anthroposophy, based on the writings of the mystic and social philosopher Rudolf Steiner (1861-1925), combines human development with an investigation of the divine spark found in all of nature. The movement has marked education (Waldorf/Steiner schools) and medicine. Anthroposophical doctors emphasise nature-based therapies that support the body’s innate healing wisdom. Antibiotics, fever-reducing agents, and vaccinations are used at one’s own discretion only [5].
More stuff on vaccinations and anthros.
http://www.eurosurv eillance. org/edition/ v13n16/080417_ 1.asp
Although considerable progress has been made since 2002, and vaccine coverage with MMR has increased dramatically, huge outbreaks of these diseases have nevertheless been reported in recent years and are still ongoing in western European countries.[. ..]
In many cases, outbreaks start in environments with a high proportion of susceptibles, for example in anthroposophic groups, which are known for their critical attitudes towards vaccination. These outbreaks may then be exported to the general population, as is currently the case in Salzburg, Austria, where the first cases emerged in an anthroposophic school with very low vaccination coverage.
Efforts must also be made to identify populations with low coverage and tailor strategies to address those communities. Different communication strategies must be identified to target these groups, and a strong commitment is needed to ensure that human and financial resources are also provided.
Some general, but realated, interesting stuff:
http://www.eurosurv eillance. org/edition/ v13n16/080417_ 2.asp
While national programmes still face problems delivering services to geographically and socially marginal populations, the effectiveness of vaccinations in reducing the incidence of what were once common scourges has led to a broader public misapprehension. Internet use and a combination of complacency and scepticism have allowed for the persistent propagation of misinformation via anti-vaccination activists. This has resulted in a stagnation or decrease in immunisation coverage in many countries and contributed to recent outbreaks of disease that threaten the health of Europe and other regions of the world. For example, an ongoing measles outbreak in Switzerland, which started in November 2006, has to date resulted in more than 1,400 cases reported in that country and has been linked to local outbreaks elsewhere in Europe and North America [1]. Other examples include recent measles outbreaks in Austria [2] and large epidemics in Ukraine and Romania, which resulted in tens of thousands of cases over the past five years. Moreover, the geographic distribution of measles in Europe is shifting. While once more common in the East, by 2007 the countries with the most cases, and the lowest vaccination rates, were located in the West [3].
Frank Christensen, f.d. waldorflärarstuderande, har en hemsida, Fronkensteiner!
Robert Smith-Hald, uppväxt i Camphillsamhälle, har många intressanta blogposter om livet där.
Norges Steinerskolor hamnar i kvällspressen igen, denna gång är det korrekt läroplan de saknar, VG.
Steinerkritikk publicerar ett öppet brev från paret Ulvund, det har även publicerats i Dagbladet.
Heller ikke denne gangen har skolen gjort noe galt. Det er som vanlig foreldrene det er noe galt med, og de går så langt at de stiller spørsmålet om ikke vi burde be om unnskyldning. Den uttalelsen slår alle rekorder! [...]
Hvis du påtenker å sende barnet ditt på Steinerskolen, bør du klikke deg inn på nettstedet www.steinerkritikk.no som er et verdensomspennende nettverk for foreldre og lærere som har negative erfaringer med dette skoleslaget.
Post prompted by the ongoing discussion on mumsnet about the meaning of michaelmass in anthroposophy and other interesting anthro-issues!
No dragons were hurt by the furry monster’s teeth during the photo session!
SvD varnar för mässling efter att åtskilliga europeiska länder drabbats av mässlingsutbrott.
Expressen varnar för mässling.
Eftersom jag redan skrivit så mycket om det på sistone ska jag tillfälligt låta bli.
Only a few days since I wrote about vaccinations – among other things about “measles parties” – the last time, but today Orac posted a piece that I though was so important. I quote a small part, but I think anyone considering not to vaccinate should read the whole post.
One of the most obnoxious and idiotic things that antivaccinationists claim is that measles and the mumps are not particularly harmful diseases, and it drives me nuts when I see such claims on antivaccinationist websites. There are even those who advocate “measles parties,” where they intentionally expose their children to children suffering from the measles in order to have their children contract the disease. Why would anyone do something so dangerous to their children? These parents are deluded by the belief that it’s somehow better to become immune by getting a disease “naturally” than becoming immune through the “artificial” method of vaccination. I kid you not.
[---]
Anyone who claims that the MMR is more dangerous than actually getting the measles simply does not know what he or she is talking about, and anyone who intentionally exposes his or her child to the measles is playing Russian Roulette with that child’s life. Australian skeptic and diehard fighter of antivaccination lunacy Peter Bowditch also has a good response to such dangerous ignorance in the form of pictures of the results antivaccinationists can expect to achieve with their work.
My findings at eurosurveillance.org
Recently there are, or have been, outbreaks of measles in France, Austria and Switzerland (the latter mentioned in my last post), too. The recent outbreak in France is reported here, where is stated:
This outbreak underlines the need to achieve higher vaccine coverage among children, teenagers and young adults.
Prior to this there was a smaller outbreak of measles in Denmark.
A recent outbreak in Germany was linked to the outbreak in Switzerland, and occurred in an area with low vaccination rates (note the conclusions about not being able to make these people vaccinate their children):
Of note is that measles vaccine coverage in the affected region is below the federal state average (94.1% for one and 83.9% for two doses among prospective school beginners in 2007). This is due to a regional prevalence of groups with a critical attitude towards immunisation.
Public health authorities expect the outbreak to continue. Vaccination rates may improve county-wide but are unlikely to rise in the population group opposed to vaccination in which the current outbreak is occuring. Local health authorities in Germany and Switzerland maintain cross-border contact and are co-operating in outbreak investigation and prevention measures.
In another report on the same outbreak, the reasons for the unwillingness to vaccinate among the inhabitants of this geographical area was mentioned to be the following:
However, a study conducted earlier in the region currently affected identified three main factors for non-immunisation against measles: physicians advising against vaccination, physicians abstaining from advice, and parental reservations due to alternative health beliefs.
The same report also informs that, during the last 2,5 months of 2007,
Measles specific complications were notified for eight cases (8%). Two suffered from otitis media, and six from pneumonia. Three of the pneumonia patients (aged 10, 27 and 31 years) required hospitalisation. The total number of notified hospitalised cases was 24 (25%). Twelve of them were ≥20 years-old (Table).
There’s an outbreak of mumps in Moldova.
Mumps outbreaks comparable to this one with respect to size and affected age group have occurred recently in several countries, including the UK, the US, and Canada.
Kritiken av Bo Dahlin et al och rapporten från högskolan i Karlstad finns nu uppe i fulltext på norska på steinerkritikk.no. (Se också tidigare avsnitt.)
It is also available in English.
