Anthroposophy and Ecofascism 111

Continuing my commentary on the 34th paragraph of Peter Staudenmaier's Anthroposophy and Ecofascism.

It is true that Waldorf pedagogy has proven itself to be on the forefront of progressive trends over the last century. But this is not, as Peter Staudenmaier supposes, because Steiner picked and selected from among the best trends of his day. Rather, Steiner founded a pedagogy based entirely on what he felt was best for the education of children – often with quite detailed explanations – and these same general trends subsequently and quite independently entered into the general “progressive" stream of education in bits and pieces. It is not uncommon for ideas to enter the world simultaneously and independently (for example, the gasoline engine) and this appears to be the case with many of the techniques of Waldorf that are now common among "progressive" schools. So the causality Peter Staudenmaier offers is false: trends in progressive education did not "create" Waldorf in Steiner's mind. Indeed, in most cases where there is a demonstrable link the direction is the reverse: progressive education borrows from Waldorf.