Here's a sample from the review:
The first parent tour we went on was the Seattle Waldorf School, and boy are they a trip! We had some idea of the Waldorf curriculum going in. We dutifully read the full-color glossy book they had sent to our house a few weeks earlier. We’d poked around the website. We liked the idea that the kids have the same class and teacher through all of 1st-8th grade. We liked the idea of a well-researched, pre-set curriculum. The geekling is in Suzuki violin, after all, so we’re no stranger to strict lesson plans with lots of parent involvement.
We got there and were taken to the music room (all Waldorf kids learn to play violin, so it was stuffed with string instruments), and encouraged to look at laminated books of classroom work produced by different grade levels. The very polite and perky admissions officer told us that these books contained the best work produced by Waldorf students. She seemed to think this was something to be proud of. It sounded more to us like an apologetic admission that not all of their students produce this level of work.
There was also propaganda from the national Waldorf organization, one with a sexy headshot of Julianna Margulies and a blockquote about how much Waldorf education had taught her about critical thinking. That’s good, we thought, our daughter could be an actress who’s good at critical thinking!
More telling, however, is one of the comments on Ms. Davies' blog - from "Josh" a Seattle Waldorf School student. Note the racism:
After years spent involved in the Seattle Waldorf School and community, and now after leaving, I feel like I left a cult. What I am about to say is from direct experience that I could only see and understand after years spent there. What I am about to report, I see clearly now, after leaving and returning to the "real" world outside of Waldorf.
ReplyDeleteFirstly, there is a dogmatic belief in karma that justifies bullying and cruel treatment by teachers. This is inherent in the Waldorf belief system and is pronounced at Seattle Waldorf. I think this system of education appeals to many traumatized, wounded souls. Due to that, I think there is an actual blindness to the abuse that happens. There is a culture of disrespect throughout the whole school and each and every child is impacted by it in one way or another. You may have sent or want to send your child there to protect them from the harshness of life, but the ironic thing is how incredibly harsh of an environment Waldorf is compared to other schools, including public. Emotional abuse is rampant and unchecked. Since parents aren't usually present when it happens, and it tends to be hidden from you, you will first probably blame yourself and your own parenting when your child starts acting depressed and stops thriving. Most children can't articulate the abuse that is going on with them and then they blame themselves. I witnessed this at SWS in my own child and other children.
Please be aware this school follows a religion, anthroposophy, which I now see has many "cult" characteristics. SWS only hires teachers who subscribe to the belief system of anthroposophy and that, along with other odd beliefs, is kept SECRET. The lack of transparency is the biggest contributor to the cult-like environment. This system sucks you in, and you don't even realize what has happened until you're in so deep (financially, relationships, commitments) you wonder how you will leave. For example, your child will be so far behind academically by 3rd and 4th grade that you feel it would be cruel to place your child, unprepared, into another school when they are already lacking confidence in this "easy" environment. Also, your child becomes so frightened of the outside world that they refuse to leave for fear that what awaits them in the demonized outside world is even worse than what they are already experiencing It was very, very hard to leave. My proof is now in the results of our leaving, though. My child is doing wonderfully at a different school and we are no longer paying $15K a year for a sub-par education that had to be supplemented with tudors. Nor are we paying anymore for bullying, emotional abuse and harm to our child's self esteem.
I used to think Waldorf was great for all children. Then I started to see it was only good for some. Now I firmly believe it is not good for any child.
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