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Recommended Reading - PLANS Bookstore
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Critical Works
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Washington, Peter.
Madame Blavatsky's Baboon: A History of the Mystics, Mediums, and Misfits
Who Brought Spiritualism to America.
A good history of how Anthroposophy came to be. Blavatsky, Besant,
Krishnamurti, Steiner, Gurdjieff, Ouspensky; tales of all the
characters. Well-researched and fun to read. New York: Schocken Books,
1995.
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Ankerberg, John, with John Weldon, Craig Branch.
Thieves of Innocence.
Evangelical Christians are the only contemporary religious group that
has caught on to the spiritual mission of Waldorf education. See
Appendix A, by Craig Branch, "Anthroposophical Education: Occult
Revelation and the Waldorf Schools." Eugene, Oregon: Harvest House
Publishers.
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Henry, Mary E.
School Cultures: Universes of Meaning in Private Schools.
A Cultural Anthropology thesis comparing two schools, academic and
Waldorf. Good research, uninspired academic style. Skip chapter two, "A
Symbolist and Postmodern Theory of Culture."
"Just how well Waldorf students "do" in comparison with
other schools is unclear. Few statistics or even qualitative reports are
available, because the testing notion is antithetical to Waldorf ideals,
and research on Waldorf schools that is not merely promotional writing
is rare." (p. 80)
(A Washington State University thesis.) Norwood, New Jersey: Ablex
Publishing Corp. 1993.
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Hirsch, E.D., Jr.
The Schools We Need: Why We Don't Have Them
Hirsch supports his arguments with research results. At the end he has
a glossary that deconstructs all the popular buzzwords of education. The
buzzwords of Waldorf are found here. "Prospective teachers and members
of the general public are bemused, bullied, and sometimes infected by seductive
rhetorical flourishes like 'child-centered schooling' or bullying ones
like the dismissive words 'drill and kill.' These terms and phrases pretend
to more soundness, humaneness, substance, and scientific authority than
they in fact possess." New York: Doubleday, 1996.
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Imelman, J.D., and P.B.H. van Hoek
Hoe vrij is de Vrije School?: een analyse van de antroposofische pedagogiek.
Nijkerk, Netherlands: Uitgeverij Intro, 1983.
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Singer, Margaret Thaler
Cults in Our Midst
The country's leading authority on cults, Margaret Thaler Singer, calls
on her nearly fifty years of expertise to write the definitive book on
cults. Written with author and former cult member Janja Lalich, Singer's
first book is a shocking exposé that reveals what cults are and
how they work. Cults in Our Midst offers vital information on how to
help people escape cult entrapments and recover from the experience.
This compelling book debunks commonly held myths and answers perplexing
questions about cults. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1995.
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Storr, Anthony
Feet of Clay: Saints, Sinners, and Madmen: A Study of Gurus.
A psychological analysis of self-appointed seers, purely policitcal
megalomaniacs excluded. Analyzes Steiner and many others including Freud
and Jesus. Steiner gets high marks. New York: Free Press, 1997.
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Critical Works in German
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Guido und Michael Grandt
Waldorf Connection: Rudolf Steiner und die Anthroposophen
Written on the back cover:
Die Anthroposophie genießt weithin den Ruf, eine tolerante,
hochgeistige Weltanschauung zu sein; die Waldorfpädagogik wird von
vielen Eltern als Kreativität und Selbstwertgefühl
fördernde Alternative zum Unterricht in einer Regelshule
angesehen. Zu Unrecht meinen die Journalisten Guido und Michael
Grandt.
Die Autoren (deren Schwarzbuch Anthroposophie 1997 vom Markt geklagt
wurde) vergleichen Anspruch und Wirklichkeit der Waldorf Connection
anhand der Öffentlichkeitsarbeit der Anthroposophen, der Rezeption
der Lehren Rudolf Steiners und anhand von Theorie und Praxis der
Waldorfpädagogik. Sie dokumentieren die okkulten und
rassistischen Anteile an der Weltanschauung Steiners und gehen der Frage
nach, inwiefern diese noch heute in der Anthroposophie nachwirken.
Sie setzen sich ausführlich mit dem pädagogischen Konzept und
dem Unterricht der Waldorfshulen auseinander und erörtern den
Einfluß der Anschauungen des »Meisters".
Taschenbuch - 365 Seiten - 2., korr. Aufl. (1999) Alibri, Aschaffenburg
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Anthroposophical Works
Exemplary publications from the hundreds available from the cult of Rudolf
Steiner
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Querido, René
The Esoteric Background of Waldorf Education: The Cosmic Christ Impulse
This book is based on the spiritual understanding of the cosmic Christ
impulse and its relevance to our time. The author provides us with
practical suggestions for the inner life of the teacher as well as
insights into the structure of the curriculum. He addresses the
questions of one's relationship to the cosmic Christ, how to relate to
our colleagues, and what the consequences are of these relationships for
the students in our care. The author also invites the reader to a
practice of the Foundation Stone Meditation.
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Blunt, Richard
Waldorf Education: Theory and Practice
This master's thesis is dry and academic, but it gives the most
comprehensive survey of Waldorf pedagogy available. The Anthroposophical
doctrine behind almost every aspect of the system is given in detail. A
must for serious scholars.
"[S]ince his death his thought has become isolated, and
little mention is made of him outside publications by his followers. The
fact that this is the first formal and comprehensive analysis of his
educational thought reveals the neglect that has been shown towards him,
despite the world-wide expansion of the Waldorf Schools Movement...The
main reason for the isolation of Steiner's thought appears to be its
complex and unorthodox foundations, which this analysis has attempted to
organise and clarify..."
Cape Town, South Africa: Novalis Press.
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Childs, Gilbert
Steiner Education: in theory and practice.
A straightforward description of the system with thorough explanations
of the Anthroposophical roots of Waldorf practices. Edinburgh: Floris
Books, 1991
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Cusick, Lois
Waldorf Parenting Handbook: Useful Information on Child
Development and Education from Anthroposophical Sources.
"There are four temperaments because, physically, the human
body is made up of four forms of matter, and each begets its own
soul-mood, or temperament. ... Life is a force not visible unless
one has acquired clairvoyance by spiritual training, in which case it
can be seen as the aura." (pp. 18-19)
Waldorf-trained teachers actually handed this book out to charter school
parents in Nevada City, CA. Fair Oaks, CA: Rudolf Steiner College/St.
George Publications.
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Dumke, Klaus
AIDS the deadly seed: An anthropological and epidemiological
investigtion of a modern epidemic and its significance.
"[T]he world of the micro-organisms can be seen as a
-counter world- to the formed world of the [four] realms of nature. The
external, formless forces in which the micro-organisms are embedded have
a dissolving effect on the mineral world (protozoa), a liberating effect
on the large quantity of compounds fixed by the plant world (bacteria),
and a toxic effect on the inner world of animals and human beings
(viruses). This shows unicellular organisms, bacteria and viruses to be
the invisible, material agents of supersensory effects whose origin
requires investigation by the science of the spirit." (p.
120)
This little book gives a comprehensive introduction to Anthroposophical
"Goethean Science," from flawed epistemology through biological
pseudoscience, and all the way down to the cosmic missions of the Jews
and the Germans! Rudolf Steiner Press.
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McDermott, Robert A., Editor
The Essential Steiner: Basic Writings of Rudolf Steiner.
A good way to get a quick survey of Steiner's work, with helpful
peripherals including a chronology and extensive recommended reading
lists but no index. San Francisco: Harper and Row, 1984.
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Schwartz, Eugene.
The Waldorf Teacher's Survival Guide.
"In the modern path of self-development that Steiner traces,
there are three stages of "knowing." The first is Imagination, wherein
we perceive a world of pictures that are lawful and meaningful. The
second stage is Inspiration, in which we perceive the forces that lie
behind the pictures, and that went into their creation. The third stage
is Intuition. In this stage we encounter the beings who wielded the
forces which created the pictures." (p. 28)
Thanks to the increasing acceptance of Anthroposophy, this formerly
private-circulation booklet is now available to the public. Schwartz
tells how to stage-manage parent evenings to get parents to act like
children, and how Waldorf teachers work under the guardianship of
Lucifer. Fair Oaks, CA: Rudolf Steiner College Press, 1992.
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Steiner, Rudolf
First Scientific Lecture-Course (Light -Course): Ten Lectures
given at Stuttgart 23rd December 1919 to 3rd January 1920.
"Yet as the faculty to apprehend the spiritual aspect of the
World first had to be rekindled and awakened in our time -- a slow and
gradual process -- it must have signified a very great sacrifice and a
severe hindrance for this universal spirit to bring the spiritual truths
from infinite horizons into the narrower range of outlook of his
contemporaries. This sacrifice he did not shun. Even into the anxiously
constraining walls of earth 20th-century scientific thinking he brought
the light of spiritual knowledge, and we who have received this cannot
find adequate words in which to thank him." (from the
foreword)
This booklet will dispel any notion that Steiner was either a scientist
or a good teacher. Trans. George Adams. Forest Row, East Sussex, U.K.:
Steiner Schools Fellowship Publications, 1987. |
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Wilkinson, Roy
The Interpretation of Fairy Tales.
"However, higher powers are at hand. The huntsman is there
as the wise power of destiny. The scissors are signs of his awakened
consciousness. "Red Riding Hood is saved. So is her grandmother
who is refreshed by the bread and wine. It is an act of Holy Communion."
(p. 19)
Wilkinson can be counted on to demonstrate how narrow the
Steiner-dominated mind can be. A teacher training handbook. Fair Oaks,
CA: Rudolf Steiner College Press, 1993. |
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