Is Waldorf Religious?

52 Weeks of Steiner – Week 27  (This is part of a weekly serial started on Michaelmas 2023. To see the other entries, please see the post linked HERE and scroll down to the bottom for individual links)

We were not able to form a school based upon a particular worldview at the Waldorf School. Instead from the very beginning I stipulated that Protestant teachers would teach the Protestant religion. Religion is taught separately, and we have nothing to do with it. The Protestant teacher comes and teaches the Protestant religion, just as the Catholic religion is taught by the Catholic priest or whomever the Catholic Church designates, the rabbi teaches the Jews, and so forth. At the present time we have been unable to bring more of spiritual science in other than to provide understanding for our teaching. The Waldorf School is not a parochial school.

Rudolf Steiner
The Renewal of Education GA 301
Lecture 11

Parochial. Had to look this one up.

The Oxford Dictionary defines it as relating to a parish. The Cambridge Dictionary furthers the definition by adding “an area that has its own church or priest”. Merriam Webster expands the definition in even more detail: “of or relating to a church parish; of or relating to a parish as a unit of government; confined or restricted as if within the borders of a parish : limited in range or scope

So Steiner saying “The Waldorf School is NOT (emphasis my own) a parochial school ” means that it is not connected with any church or restricted or limited within the boarders of a particular world view.

But Marina! The teachers are literally taught to use anthroposophy as the foundation for everything they bring to the children! And there are religious stories all throughout the elementary years! How can you say Waldorf education isn’t religious?

Let’s continue on with the above quote for a moment:

Nevertheless the strangest things have occurred. A number of people have said that because they are not religious, they will not send their children to the Protestant, Catholic, or Jewish religion teachers. They have said that if we do not provide a religion teacher who teaches religion based solely upon a general understanding, they will not send their children to religion class at all. Thus those parents who wanted an anthroposophically oriented religion class to a certain extent forced us to provide one. This class is given, but not because we have a desire to propagate anthroposophy as a worldview. It is quite different to teach anthroposophy as a worldview than it is to use what spiritual science can provide in order to make education more fruitful.

We do not attempt to provide the content. What we do attempt to provide is a capacity to do. A number of strange things then occurred. For example, a rather large number of children left the other religion classes in order to join ours. That is something we cannot prohibit. It was very uncomfortable for me, at least from the perspective of retaining a good relationship to the external world. It was also quite dangerous, but that is the way it is. From the same group of parents we hear that the teaching of other religions will soon cease anyway. That is not at all our intent, as the Waldorf School is not intended as a parochial school. Today nowhere in the civilized world is it possible to genuinely teach out of the whole. That will be possible only when through the threefold social organism cultural life becomes independent. So long as that is not the case, we will not be able to provide the same religious instruction for everybody. Thus what we have attempted to do is to make education more fruitful through spiritual science.”

Seems like Steiner was trying to keep religion out of the school, especially from the point of anthroposophy because it was a spiritual science, NOT a religion. But, as many systems do, changes were made to meet the desires of the parents. This is just a snippet of his discussions about keeping religion separate. He mentions it many many times in his lectures to and meetings with teachers and parents. One more example, from a parents’ evening in 1921;

You absolutely do not need to be afraid that we are trying to make this school into one that represents a particular philosophy, or that we intend to drum any anthroposophical or other dogmas into the children. That is not what we have in mind. Anyone who says that we are trying to teach the children specifically anthroposophical convictions is not telling the truth. Rather, we are trying to develop an art of education on the basis of what anthroposophy means to us. The “how” of educating is what we are trying to gain from our spiritual understanding. We are not trying to drum our opinions into the children, but we believe that spiritual science differs from any other science in filling the entire person, in making people skillful in all areas, but especially in their dealings with other human beings. This “how” is what we are trying to look at, not the “what.” The “what” is a result of social necessities; we must apply our full interest to deriving it from a reading of what people should know and be able to do if they are to take their place in our times as good, capable individuals. The “how,” on the other hand, how to teach the children something, can only result from a thorough, profound and loving understanding of the human being. This is what is meant to work and to prevail in our Waldorf School.”

I think he was pretty clear.

Now, I know what you are thinking. What about the content of the lessons? This is where I often chuckle, because you will have families cautious on both ends of the spectrum. You will have some families who feel the curriculum is too pagan, and some families who feel it is too Christian. But the reality is, the curriculum is what you make it. Stories are chosen based on the developmental needs of the growing child, and the themes for each phase of development can be found in stories from cultures around the world. Every culture has saintly people in its folklore. Every culture has a creation story. Every culture has tales with laws that were broken and consequences met. Every culture has stories where struggles must be overcome. Find the stories that will resonate most with your children and meet them where they are.

If you’d like to ponder this topic more, I speak about the spiritual aspect in education in THIS POST and overcoming our own discomfort in THIS POST and cover a few of the whys for specific story themes in THIS POST.

If I could say anything to a parent who is curious about Waldorf education I would say this: Keep an open heart.

Until next time,
Marina