Conscious Choice: Steiner's Chicago Legacy Shines Brightly

June 2003

Steiner's Chicago Legacy Shines Brightly

by Claudia M. Lenart

The pre-schoolers gather round a candlelit table; holding hands they sing the blessing. Soon they will eat organic bread rolls, which they helped bake. This is snack time at Waters Edge School, a Waldorf initiative and a brainchild of Rudolf Steiner — this one located in the north Chicago suburb of Wauconda.

These kids’ world is free of Barbie and Bob the Builder. Neither commercial characters nor plastic toys enter this space. Simple toys made of natural materials allow imaginations to soar. Wooden sticks become boat oars and blue silks are transformed into an ocean. Fairy tales, nursery rhymes, and songs punctuate the rhythm of the day.

My 4-year-old son, John, is a student at Waters Edge School. Although we are at the beginning of our journey into Waldorf already it has deeply touched our lives. Coincidentally, or perhaps fatefully, I first learned about Waldorf education and Rudolf Steiner three-and-a-half years ago when I took an assignment to write about it for this magazine. In the course of my research, Waldorf embraced my soul. This was the education I wished I had had; this was the education I was determined to give to my son.

The seeds Steiner sowed have touched the lives of many in this region, from Chicago to Southeastern Wisconsin and beyond. Steiner’s ideas radiated from anthroposophy, a spiritual view of the human, and there were anthroposophists in Chicago as early as 1914.

The Rudolf Steiner branch of the Anthroposophical Society in Chicago is comprised of about 100 members. The main activity of the branch is to pursue anthroposophy through study groups and to make available books relating to anthroposophy through the branch library. "What Steiner provides is a spiritual, developmental path appropriate for Western man," explains Gordon Edwards, branch member, chairman of the Anthroposophic Press, and former board member of the Chicago Waldorf School and Esperanza, (Steiner’s program for the developmentally disabled). "Steiner indicated that it is possible for man to have direct experience of the spiritual world in full waking consciousness," says Edwards. "His ideas are all based on his insights into the nature of the human being and his insights into the spiritual life."

There is no proselytizing of anthroposophy; Steiner believed people should come to know higher worlds through their own searching. Many people discover anthroposophy through its work that encompasses education, art, agriculture, healing and life purpose.

Starting with the Children

The best-known and most widely accepted idea of Steiner’s is Waldorf education. Steiner designed the Waldorf system in 1919 for the children of workers at the Waldorf Astoria cigarette factory in Stuttgart, Germany, at the request of factory owner Emil Molt. His creation was based on his theory of the three developmental stages. Early childhood, until age 7, when children learn best through physical activity and play; age 7 to 14, when children learn through feeling and the imagination; age 14 and up, when children can begin to develop their intellect.

Waldorf schools are rich in the arts and storytelling. Seasonal festivals, fairy tales, myths, and legends feed a child’s creative spirit. This educational approach was way ahead of its time, applying the theory of multiple intelligences and sensory experiential learning some 60 years before the theory was introduced in our culture. Teachers create the educational experience and the same teacher stays with the class from first to eighth grade. Teachers also run the school.

While Waldorf is based on anthroposophy, the philosophy is not taught to children. "The whole idea of Waldorf is not to fill a child up with information and not to inculcate a dogma, but to allow children to develop into adults who can think for themselves," says Edwards.

Parents who send their children to Waldorf schools are not necessarily students of anthroposophy. "There is a wide range of reasons people send their children to our school," says Colleen Everhart, high school chairperson and drama teacher at Chicago Waldorf. "Some are familiar with anthroposophy and want an education based on that, others follow a holistic way of living and eating organic food; others want an alternative form of education."

One of the reasons I chose Waldorf is its focus on creative thinking; it’s an opportunity for my son to transcend our commercial culture. Other parents at Waters Edge say the environment is beautiful and they intuit that it is right for their children.

Waldorf opened in New York in 1928. Although there were individuals in Chicago trying to start a school since the‘60s, it wasn’t until 1974 that the Chicago Waldorf school was opened. There are more than 140 Waldorf schools in the U. S. today. Besides Chicago Waldorf, there are four others in the Chicago area, all started in the mid-to-late‘90s, and all are in varying stages of development. Great Oaks in Evanston goes to eighth grade with some combined grades. Four Winds in Warrenville goes to eighth grade. Singing Winds in Oak Park will go to fourth grade next year. Waters Edge in Wauconda has been an early childhood and kindergarten program up until now but will soon venture into a multi-age enrichment program for children in first to third grade. There are also four Waldorf schools in Southern Wisconsin.

Possibly the biggest obstacle for Waldorf schools is finding teachers. Arcturus Education Program in Chicago — which is a Steiner created teacher training program — has helped schools in this part of the country. The three-year program includes a foundation studies year in which Steiner’s worldview is introduced followed by two teacher development years. The program involves theory as well as visual arts, music, and movement classes.

Since founded in 1992, the Chicago-based Arcturus program has enrolled more than 150 aspiring Waldorf teachers, 50 of those earning Waldorf teaching certification. Magda Lissau, Arcturus coordinator, says that many who enroll in the program are interested only in the foundation year as an introduction to Steiner’s work.

Lissau explains that being a Waldorf teacher is not as easy as learning a theory and applying it. "You need to understand the human being as body, soul, and spirit. In practice, you do that through the arts," says Lissau. "In the lower grades teachers don’t use textbooks. The teacher herself has to know how to present various subjects and create a dynamic learning experience in the classroom. It takes commitment to become a Waldorf teacher. You can’t take it lightly, but it is something that is very satisfying. You are a creator."

Waldorf education was actually introduced to Chicago in 1969 in the form of Esperanza Community Services, a program for developmentally disabled children and adults locally based on the city’s Westside. It was started by a group of community activists together with Waldorf educators. Esperanza includes a special education school for children 3 to 21, an early intervention program, an adult training program, and two adult community homes.

Esperanza provides an environment based on Steiner’s philosophy of curative education. Like Waldorf schools, Esperanza provides learning opportunities focused on the arts. Curriculum coordinator Susan Eggers explains that the multi-sensory learning can "teach to those moments that are not developmentally delayed and allows a child to participate in the richness of life."

Influences Beyond

Steiner’s lectures to doctors inspired anthroposophical medicine, a holistic approach that views illness as an imbalance in the life forces. Anthroposophical medicine is strongest in Europe, where there are large clinics. In the Chicago area, there are only a handful of anthroposophic doctors. Doctors Ross and Andrea Rentea opened their family practice, Paulina Medical Clinic, at 3525 W. Peterson Street in 1983. "Anthroposophic doctors, like other holistic doctors, use plant remedies. If somebody breaks a bone, we do not hesitate to use surgery," says Dr. Ross Rentea. "If there is a problem due to an unhappy marriage, we do not hesitate to use psychotherapy. Anthroposophic doctors are called the most eclectic doctors because we will use whatever methods work." He notes that one of the mainstream successes of anthroposophic medicine is the use of Iscar, a mistletoe extract, to treat cancer by strengthening the immune system.

Biodynamic agriculture, the first intentional form of organic farming, was created when farmers asked Steiner for advice. "Steiner believed the life forces of the earth were dwindling because of how people farmed. In addition to sound organic practices, biodynamics uses a farm as an organism in itself, a smaller ecosystem,’ says Bente Goldstein, wife of Walter Goldstein, researcher at the Michael Fields Institute in East Troy, Wisconsin. Bente Goldstein, a former Waldorf teacher, also runs a program called "A Week on the Farm" which introduces children to character-building responsibilities and joys of farm life.

Biodynamic farming came to the East Troy area some 70 years ago via the Zinnikers, a Swiss family. Their presence drew Christopher and Martina Mann to the area to start a farm. They began by using the farm for research and the Michael Fields Institute was founded as a non-profit in 1984. The Institute’s mission is to work toward sustainable agriculture through education and outreach with farmers as well as through independent research. In Caledonia, Illinois, Angelic Organics is a community-supported farm that employs biodynamic practices.

The spiritual dimensions of Steiner’s teaching gave rise to a church. There are 350 independent Christian Community Churches worldwide including one in Chicago at 2135 W. Wilson Avenue. The Christian Community started when the founders of the church asked Steiner to speak on the renewal of Christianity. Since the beginning of the church, priests have received seminary training only in Germany. However, this September, the Chicago Seminary will begin training priests.

The Christian Community sees Christ’s life and death as the pivotal renewal in human history. They believe Christ gives his healing and transforming power to those who seek him, who recognize him, and who follow him.

Steiner’s teachings have also infused the arts with spirit. Chicagoan John Stolfo is a master lazure painter. Steiner employed the lazure art form with the construction of the Goetheanum (pronounced gur-tah-on-um, named for German poet Johann Goethe), an anthroposophical cultural arts center in Switzerland. Steiner believed color has an effect on the feeling life, well-being and health of the observer. Lazure paint, made of natural ingredients imported from Europe, is a process of masterfully using brushes to apply pure translucent color in three or more layers of wash-glazes. "It helps bring a breathing space into interior spaces; the walls become illuminated by inner light," says Stolfo. He said the effect is often described as peaceful. "When you live in color, you live in the soul of the universe."

Claudia M. Lenart is a freelance writer and editor living in Antioch, Illinois. She is editor of Family Time, a parenting magazine in Lake County, Illinois.