Testimonial From the 2000s

Extract of a conversation taken from The NZ Association for Gifted Children

Note: the following conversation doesn’t mention the Titirangi Rudolf Steiner School by name so we cannot be 100% certain that the events described by both “Been there done that” and “Another steiner parent” took place there. However, they sound extremely familiar, and having been at TRSS for over a year ourselves, these people paint an exact picture of what we experienced at that school.

What makes us firmly believe that the events depicted come from TRSS is “Another steiner parent”’s mention of the departure of 20 families from the school some years ago. This event did happen at TRSS and was mentioned by more than one parent we talked to. Such a power struggle would only happen in a private school; there are only two private Steiner schools in New Zealand, and the other is too small to have survived such a massive exodus.

Author: Been there done that

Date:   05-01-2005 11:52

Steiner schools are like every other school - only as good as the teacher in front of the class and only as good as the management group (college of teachers - no Principal) - and even more difficult to deal with if there are problems because the ideology is considered pararmount (in a religiously zealous way) and more important than the children's learning needs. If you get a great one go for it, if you get a dysfunctional one it will be worse than any state school you can possibly imagine - because there is usually a total denial of problems! Well and truely burnt?! Anonymous.

Author: Been there done that

Date:   06-01-2005 10:46

I was part of a group of parents who chose not to walk away from the Steiner school that we were involved with but to work very hard on behalf of all the children to get recognition of the problems and changes made. We could see children other than our own being affected and we did not think it was a morally or socially responsible thing to do to pick up our children and run (this is now exactly what I think we should have done). We had some very articulate and able parents in the group who understood anthroposophy but we could not make headway against the denial even as a group. I saw with my own eyes what was happening, as a mother help. I have no arguement with the Steiner educational philosophies, which is exactly why we chose that form of schooling, it only does not suit children when it is not in reality being delivered as stated, just as any mainstream school that claims to meet the individual potential of every child child and cannot actually deliver that. A third of the class left within a term and many more were to follow. Children left the school needing remedial reading and other remedial classes and one child I know left significantly emotionially distressed. This was not a case of children who did not fit with that type of schooling - this was a case of a school failing to deliver what it promised - to the children. Anon.

Author: Another steiner parent

Date:   10-01-2005 10:37

I was very interested to read the comments about Steiner schools from "been there done that". My child is currently at a steiner school and although I love the philosophy I am concerned about the over zealous attitude of a group of teachers and parents that seem to run the school in the way they seem fit and are almost bullies in their approach. This attitude appears to filter down to the children who are nasty to each other and this beahaviour is defended by the school and not dealt with adequately. It seems to be the children whose parents are the most involved in the school that behave the worst and their parents are supported because they are considered to be good steiner patents regardless of what is actually going on at home. There is a complete denial of issues and to the point that there seems to be a policy if there is a problem, that person needs to look at themselves first and the complainents themselves are in question not the problem itself. Problems then seem to take on a life of their own as they are discussed amongst the faculty who seem to conduct a whitch hunt to prove the complainent to be problem and not the school in any way. I have persevered with this process and have been very diappointed with the outcome every time as nothing is ever resolved. I heard that a couple of years ago about 20 families left the school because they had issues with certain staff and parent groups. I worry that the effect on my family is not worth the wonderful things that a Steiner education offers. It's almost like everybody is trying to make it work for them also while denying the issues that are actually going on. I feel I have myself had to put aside basic values I hold just to be able to continue with this school. I know I'm not the only one doing this. I hear from friends at other stiener schools that the issues don't seem to be as intense there as they are at our school. I keep hoping more people will leave and the rest of us can get on with recovering the schools spirit. There seems to be more focus on doing things to suit certain dominant groups within the school rather than with what is actually best for the children. The attitude toward anything considered not anthroposophically correct changes depending on who is involoved and snobbery and judgemental attitude is a joke. I would love to hear from others who have had similar experiences to ours.

Author: Been there done that

Date:   13-01-2005 09:48

Just wanted to thank you for your post 'Another Steiner Parent' because what you describe is very familar to me. I have deliberately not outlined all the gory details of our experiences. However, your experiences sound very similar to ours. I have come to the conclusion that what we were experiencing was a 'cult mentality' which bore no real relationship to meeting the needs of the children. The adults concerned, who refused to confront the issues regarding children's welfare and education, were there for their own agenda and needs not infact the children's. My only reason for posting is that if anyone else is having such negative experiences, feeling alone and doubting their own sanity I hope they will read this and trust their own instincts - some settings are like a 'poisioned chalice' and cannot be made whole. A healthy spiritual setting should bear healthy fruit - 'love, joy and peace', not the outright dysfunction we observed, and I agree with you about the bullying.

After my first posting I had a discussion with a friend whose children are at another Steiner school and she agreed a Steiner education would have been right for my child, given what my friend understands about the philosophy. She also believes GT children can be catered for in such settings and explained very ably why this was so.

While the philosophy may be good, the way it is delivered may not be. After our Steiner experiences I understand exactly what was behind the whole Cambridge High School scandal. I know exactly what it would have have cost that small group of people who worked so hard to bring the truth into the open. I also understand that their concern would have been not for the students who were doing fine but for those vulnerable students who were not getting a fair deal, or treated well and in fact were being disregarded in terms of their right to a genuine education.

There will be no rush of other parents to answer your post A.S.P but if it helps one or two who are being told that what they know to be true is 'off beam' and the fault is solely in them and their lack of understanding or committment - then I hope it helps. We also had anthropohosy constantly used as an excuse for poor teaching and poor management - I think Rudolf Steiner - a big thinker and a genius- would have be horrifed to see what is done in his name.

Enough from me then?!

Author: Anonymous

Date:   13-01-2006 11:30

The Titirangi Steiner School in Auckland in our experience was a very dysfunctional school - we have not been there for some years but were very committed to Wardolf education and left because of the things we experienced there. I do not have any recent experience to offer but talking to a friend today (who is up with the play re. Steiner education and has children who attend Michael Park school in Ellerslie) the suggestion is that Titirangi is still "very messy". Michael Park like all pioneering schools has also has it challenges but, unlike Titirangi, has not tried to sweep these under the carpet and sounds like it has worked hard to address the educational issues that impact on its students and families. Perhaps this is because it is an integrated school and therefore is required to meet certain educational standards, while still being entitled to retain its special character, to obtain government funding (which makes it more financially viable for a greater range of families). Don't know about other Steiner schools around the country sorry - have heard good things about the Wellington school from some families we know whose children do attend or have attended that school. Much as I feel uncomfortable being so direct about a school, many of whose community have only the best intentions, I am responding to those of you who would like to be alerted as to which schools you should check more carefully. A.