State should pay for choice
MR Hannan is right in at least one respect (Free schools are a free ride, Letters, March 1). Parents are indeed delighted that the Government is willing to pay for Steiner education. Why wouldn't they be? Parents in nearly all European countries and the rest of the English-speaking world get Steiner education for free, provided by their state, just as Andy Hannan gets his choice paid for. Why should Exeter parents who want Steiner education be treated as second class because they are not living in Germany, Holland, Scandinavia or the USA, or because they make different choices to those of Mr. Hannan?
Why should choice be extended only to those who can afford to pay for private education? For many years local authorities have enjoyed a monopoly in their right to set up new state schools. They now appear to have lost this monopoly as successive governments look for the diversity of provision that may yet give our children what they deserve.
Exeter is fortunate to be acquiring a Steiner Academy.
It confirms the city's position as a place of innovation and forward thinking. It will not be based on an "occult" or hidden philosophy: check "anthroposophy" on Amazon and place your order.
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The only "belief system" that has a place in a school worthy of the name is the belief that children must be educated to make their own choices and find their own way in life, learning to question everything.
We must all make our own minds up about the Government's wider educational policies, but next time we read about what can be learned from the excellent school systems of countries such as Finland (with its many Steiner schools), we might wonder what that success is based on. The answer, in a word, is choice.
Alan Swindell
Principal designate, Steiner Academy Exeter
2 Comments
by kalla77
Friday, March 15 2013, 2:45PM
“"Parents in nearly all European countries and the rest of the English-speaking world get Steiner education for free, provided by their state, just as Andy Hannan gets his choice paid for. Why should Exeter parents who want Steiner education be treated as second class because they are not living in Germany, Holland, Scandinavia or the USA, or because they make different choices to those of Mr. Hannan?"
At least for Germany this is not true. Not only Steiner Schools, but all private schools in Germany are partly funded by government. But this doesn't cover all the costs. So there is no Steiner school in Germany, where Steiner education is free.
The city of Hamburg is planning to transform a public elementary school into a public Steiner School by 2014, which would then be free of charge.
I startet a petition with the german skeptics society against this school: http://tinyurl.com/a4ch8pn (international supporters are welcome) ;-)
It seems like the projects is raises more and more questions at the moment and the school authorities are allready starting to row back.
André Sebastiani”
by andyhannan
Thursday, March 14 2013, 8:47AM
“Alan Swindell makes some interesting points (State should pay for choice, Letters 7 March) when replying to my critique of academy and free schools in general and the Exeter Steiner Academy, of which he is Principal Designate, in particular. However, as might be expected, I take issue with him in a number of respects.
First, not all parents are delighted that the government is willing to pay for Steiner education, particularly those who resent the fact that the establishment of his school means that there will be fewer places in Exeter for those who do not want a Steiner education for their children. The extension of choice for those who want a Steiner school results in its reduction for those who do not.
Secondly, the mere fact that other countries provide state funding for Steiner schools (although in Germany this does not cover all the costs) is no reason why we should do so in the UK. Since long before the establishment of so-called free schools our state-funded education system supported some schools with a religious affiliation, such as voluntary aided or controlled C of E or RC schools. Providing they are not academies these 'church' schools must follow the national curriculum in full. Steiner free schools, however, follow their own curriculum. Of course, the Steiner movement tells us that anthroposophy, the belief system that underpins it, is not a religion, but a 'philosophy' or even a 'science' (sic). It is thus not open to Steiner schools to claim that they should be state funded so that they can provide for the special requirements of a significant religious group whilst maintaining a mainstream educational approach, as, for example, C of E and RC schools have done.
Thirdly, Steiner education is not innovative or forward thinking. It is based on the ideas of Rudolf Steiner (1861-1925) who claimed that he had access to a higher consciousness through a clairvoyant knowledge of the spiritual world, through what he called his 'occult experience'. I agree wholeheartedly with Mr Swindell that schools should educate children to make choices and find their own way in life, learning to question everything. However, a Steiner school is not capable of achieving this given its theoretical underpinnings.
Finally, yes Finland did come first in the recent global league table published by the education firm Pearson based on data obtained in 2006 and 2010. However, the next European country was the UK which was ranked sixth, just above Holland and significantly above Germany and the USA. Finland's lofty position is undeniable, but it cannot be attributed to its Steiner schools. Finland has over 3,000 state-funded 'comprehensive' schools for 7-15 year-olds, but according to Freunde Waldorf Finland only 17 of these are Steiner schools.
Nowhere, of course, does Mr Swindell deny that Steiner's guiding ideas involve notions of karma, reincarnation, astrology, homeopathy, gnomes and a racial hierarchy of spiritual development. I echo his call for readers to find out more for themselves. I am sure that the more parents know about this bizarre cult the less likely they are to entrust their children to its followers.
Andy Hannan (Labour County Council candidate for Priory & St Leonard's, Exeter)”