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RE: Welcome – Striving after truth
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Pete Karaiskos
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Jul 15, 2005 20:02 PDT
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Hi Baandje,
Welcome (again <G>).
baandje wrote:
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PK wrote: “And so there is a conflict, perhaps, between their
responsibility as a teacher, which I think Steiner was trying to
identify in the first quote ‘He (the teacher) must never compromise with
untruth’…”
*
I honestly can’t remember if I posted this on Waldorf-Questions the
other day. I was working on a response to your original topic, which was
longer and went into greater detail. Perhaps you could repost it?
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Hopefully I'll be able to get access to it after the weekend. I'm as
locked out as everyone else. But, I have to say I like what you have
written below much better.
| | Anyway, I had written:
That’s not the way I interpret that or necessarily experienced things. A
couple of sentences later in that same paragraph, you’ve quoted Steiner
as saying: “Our teaching will only bear the stamp of truth if we are
intently striving after truth in ourselves.” So the conflict as Steiner
identifies it has to do with truth versus untruth in one’s inner life.
The ‘teacher’ aspect is secondary at that point, as I see it.
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I both agree and disagree. I think what Steiner was saying, of course,
had do do with truth versus untruth in one's inner life. But I think
there was an implicit expectation that included a warning that this
should be *especially* true of teachers - that teacher should attain
this inner truth, more importantly that it should, perhaps, be a
prerequisite to teaching. I don't believe Steiner took the role of
teachers lightly - he expected a lot of them (as some of us also do).
It seems he felt strongly that untruthfullness could undermine Waldorf
education.
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For the most part, I believe Steiner was sincerely exploring meaningful
questions pertaining to human morality. I know most Steiner-Waldorf
people believe that. And they believe that, as Steiner students and
anthroposophists, they’re continuing those very same spiritual
explorations.
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Yes, I agree with this.
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My experience though has been that many and even the majority of
anthroposophical teachers simply have not reached the level of inner
moral development Steiner was speaking of; have not evolved the capacity
to deal with many of the issues that arise, in an honest and truthful
manner.
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You mean Anthroposophical Waldorf teachers here, yes? People who teach
Anthroposophy generally tend to be a little more clear about what
Anthroposophy is and they approach the teaching of the subject openly
and with some level of understanding.
It has been my experience that Waldorf teachers, on the other hand, tend
to be less cognizant of the nuances of Steiner's philosophy, again
generally speaking, and sometimes develop attitudes and even robotic
colloquializms to placate parents or to disguise their lack of
understanding.
| | What I’ve seen is that teachers very often deal with issues in
the contrived and, to put it bluntly, dishonest manner we discussed in
another post: making this or that decision based on what’s supposedly
‘spiritually best’ for the situation.
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Yes, and this is what makes me a little uncomfortable about the Steiner
quote. When Steiner says "The teacher must be one who is true in the
depths of his being", is Steiner really saying "truthful" or have I
misunderstood? Could "true in the depths of his being" mean true to
Anthroposophy? True to the spirit of Anthroposophy that says what is
*spiritually* best for the child/situation takes precidence over what is
physically (for lack of a better term) best. Obviously, the source
"Waldorf Education - A Family Guide" intended the statement to be read
as "truthful" but it could be taken either way.
With this second interpretation, that "truth" means Anthroposophical
truth, what Steiner may have been saying is that teachers must remain
true to Anthroposophy - and if that is the case, then here could be a
directive from Steiner that the nature of Anthroposophy MUST be revealed
in Waldorf schools.
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The idea that teachers somehow know what’s spiritually best, is a smoke
screen that’s thrown up to hide the fact the individuals involved have
not developed the strength of character to see these issues through in
an open, inclusive and communal manner. And the paradox here is that
teachers who act and work this way, believe they’re following Steiner’s
indications with regards to never compromising with untruth. Yet it’s
exactly this sort of dishonesty of soul that Steiner was in fact warning
of.
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I think Steiner was not ashamed of Anthroposophy. I think he intended
that every Waldorf teacher should be an Anthroposophist. I also think
he knew the general public would not be eager to accept Anthroposophy.
I don't think he intended for schools to hide the nature of
Anthroposophy from parents. But there is no question many Waldorf
schools DO hide the fact that Anthroposophy permeates Waldorf education
and by doing so, they greatly undermine Steiner's intentions.
Pete
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