{"id":66166,"date":"2025-05-29T19:14:56","date_gmt":"2025-05-29T17:14:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dasgoetheanum.com\/?p=66166"},"modified":"2025-05-29T19:15:01","modified_gmt":"2025-05-29T17:15:01","slug":"waldorf-schools-in-france-weak-arguments-strong-consequences","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dasgoetheanum.com\/en\/waldorf-schools-in-france-weak-arguments-strong-consequences\/","title":{"rendered":"Waldorf Schools in France: Weak Arguments, Strong Consequences"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Three decades ago, the French state established an \u201cInterministerial Mission to Monitor and Combat Sectarian Aberrations.\u201d Its latest activity report, for the period from 2022 to 2024, was published in April 2025. Once again, it denounces Waldorf schools and fuels public mistrust. Here is a summary.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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On its website, the Mission interminist\u00e9rielle de vigilance et de lutte contre les d\u00e9rives sectaires<\/em> (MIVILUDES) writes: \u201cOut of respect for all faiths and the principle of secularism, the legislator has always refused to define the terms \u2018sect\u2019 and \u2018religion\u2019 so as not to violate freedom of conscience, opinion and religion.\u201d It explains that \u201cFrench laws do not aim to prevent and combat sects per se, but sectarian aberrations\u201d and gives a definition for \u201csectarian aberrations\u201d: \u201cIt is characterized by the implementation by an organized group or an individual, regardless of their nature or activity, of pressure or techniques aimed at creating, maintaining or exploiting a state of psychological or physical dependence in a person, depriving them of part of their free will and having harmful consequences for that person, their environment or society.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Any reasonable person would agree that the exploitation of psychological or physical dependence, the restriction of free will, and any actions that harm a person, their environment or society should be opposed. Waldorf schools aim specifically to promote independence, creativity, free will, and contribution to a healthy social life. In principle, they would applaud the aims of MIVILUDES. So why are they repeatedly denounced in these reports?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

MIVILUDES relies on anonymous statements. The latest report begins with a description of how leaves were lit to make a fire in the classroom during a chemistry lesson, and the children had to stand in the smoke for 5 to 10 minutes. Other parents stated that they \u201cwere not sufficiently informed about the principles and objectives of the pedagogy offered.\u201d Lack of supervision was also reported, in particular in the statement of a young woman who complained that the teaching staff did not react when one of her classmates sexually harassed her for several months.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The report also refers to an investigation done by a private organization, the Comit\u00e9 national d’action la\u00efque <\/em>[National Committee for Secular Activity] (CNAL), based on reports from the Ministry of Education. The CNAL states that it was only able to obtain four reports. In them, it notes practices that do not meet the requirements of the national education standard, conditioning rituals, rejection of technology, confusion between historical facts and myths, and between beliefs, interpretation, and science. It also states that Waldorf schools do not offer any sport activities apart from eurythmy, that \u201cthere is no room for the children’s personal development,\u201d that \u201cnatural sciences are not taught,\u201d and even that \u201cno activities to promote the pupils’ artistic creativity could be observed\u201d. Observations that absolutely contradict everything that is known about Waldorf education! MIVILUDES also relies on government secret services to formulate vague criticisms with opaque sources, claiming safety and pedagogical shortcomings as well as a \u201cstrategy of concealing course content\u201d. The report does not allow the schools or the association that officially represents them to have a say. The document is merely incriminating, and it disregards the principle of the right of appeal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This criticism of Waldorf schools is not enough to label them as a sectarian aberration, so it\u2019s more a matter of raising suspicion. The weak arguments and the lack of a procedure for rebuttal should actually make this report invalid. However, because this is a state institution, many journalists and politicians do not take a closer look and simply label Waldorf schools as \u201csectarian aberrations\u201d without a second thought. Despite the weakness of the arguments, the schools suffer a lot of damage in the public eye, and therefore, the Association of Waldorf Schools in France wants to do something to ensure that the injustice is recognized.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How could this happen in the land of reason and human rights? It seems that we are reaching the limits of universalism. French history is characterized by two forms of universalism: that of the (Catholic) universal church and that of the Enlightenment. The universalism of the church led to excommunications and the persecution of witches and heretics. The universalism of the Enlightenment was equated with the state: anything that looks like autonomy and independence, especially in education, is seen as backward and \u201canti-Enlightenment.\u201d Thus, an ill-conceived universalism turns against the freedom of intellectual life and shows totalitarian traits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In light of this situation, the Fondation Paul Coroze, which supports the training of young people in France in practical approaches to anthroposophy, has been producing a film project over the last two years entitled \u201cPrendre soin de l\u2019humain et de la Terre<\/em>\u201d [Caring for humans and the earth]. Three films, each around 50 minutes long, have just been shown for the first time in a small cinema in Paris: one about biodynamic agriculture, one about Waldorf education, and one about therapeutic education and social therapy. The two experienced directors, Kaori Kinoshita and Alain Della Negra, went on location to show people in their everyday lives without giving theoretical explanations. Even if reason cannot dispel prejudices, it is hoped that concrete, direct impressions will help to convey a realistic picture of the projects of the anthroposophical movement. The films are very moving, aesthetic, and profoundly human. Further screenings are planned throughout France, and the films will soon be available on YouTube.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Translation <\/strong>Laura Liska
Image\u00a0<\/strong>Seat of the French National Assembly, Palais Bourbon in Paris. CC BY 3.0.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Three decades ago, the French state established an \u201cInterministerial Mission to Monitor and Combat Sectarian Aberrations.\u201d Its latest activity report, for the period from 2022 to 2024, was published in April 2025. Once again, it denounces Waldorf schools and fuels public mistrust. Here is a summary. On its website, the Mission interminist\u00e9rielle de vigilance et de lutte contre les d\u00e9rives sectaires (MIVILUDES) writes: \u201cOut of respect for all faiths and the principle of secularism, the legislator has always refused to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":17570,"featured_media":65787,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[8811,8812,8823],"tags":[11658,11659,8824],"class_list":["post-66166","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-france","category-pedagogy","category-reflection","tag-ausgabe-20-2025-en","tag-english-issue-22-2025","tag-spotlights"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dasgoetheanum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66166","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dasgoetheanum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dasgoetheanum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dasgoetheanum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/17570"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dasgoetheanum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=66166"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dasgoetheanum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66166\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dasgoetheanum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/65787"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dasgoetheanum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=66166"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dasgoetheanum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=66166"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dasgoetheanum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=66166"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}