Waldorf Schools and Perfection

The following comment was submitted anonymously to the last post (“Theory-Induced Blindness”), but, since it doesn’t address the content of the post, I’ve decided to place it here and reply below.

“Steve, I think that the 'perfection' vibe that Waldorf gives off is more about how parents need to adhere to the 'rules' they give to parents about how to raise their children (no television, plastic toys, eat organic food, no media and on and on) This only creates an 'us' versus 'them' mentality. 

The other piece is trying to lead an Anthroposophical based lifestyle ~ which seems to be confusing to those who have the belief and those who care nothing about it. 

Basically it seems to me that Waldorf has an on going identity crisis.”

Many years ago I attended a weekend seminar for young school administrators. I was the only attendee from a Waldorf school. One of the keynote speakers, a well-known psychologist, heard I was from a Waldorf school and commented, tongue-in-cheek, “Well, they [Waldorf schools] must be approaching perfection about now.” Clearly, even in the 1980s, Waldorf schools had a reputation for (pretending to) perfection.

I believe, like dogmatism, this derives primarily from insecurity, and have written about it before (“Rigidity and Dogma in WaldorfSchools—Some Theories”).

I’m not sure what the writer means by “identity crisis”—Erik Erikson, who coined the term, saw it as a challenge to the achievement of a healthy ego in adolescence. As a metaphor for the insecure and unfinished state of Waldorf education, it may be accurate. In that “Waldorf” is profoundly decentralized, however, it’s hard for me to think or write about it in such generalities. 

Ditto with an "anthroposophical lifestyle." I do believe, however, that excesses by some should not lead to the too-easy dismissal of thoughtful positions on television (even the American Pediatric Association agrees that TV is harmful to small kids!), media, toys, and food.