An “initiation to the principle of combustion”. On May 30, a teacher from the Steiner-Waldorf private school in Wintzenheim, near Colmar (Haut-Rhin), lit a fire in the middle of the classroom. His students must inhale the smoke. Supposed to awaken their “individual thought”, this “sensory experience” in chemistry class mainly suffocates children, who cough and spit. Two parents file a complaint.
Steiner-Waldorf schools continue to make headlines. Regularly singled out for being hotbeds of measles, these establishments, which educate 2,500 students in France, are accused by the Interministerial Mission for Vigilance and the Fight against Sectarian Abuses (Miviludes) of promoting anthroposophy, an esoteric movement founded by the Austrian occultist Rudolf Steiner (1861-1925). The novelty is that elected officials are taking up the subject. Socialist municipal councilor of Strasbourg, Pernelle Richardot seized the Miviludes and is currently collecting testimonies from parents. For her, the Steiner schools, particularly present in Alsace due to the geographical proximity to Germany and Switzerland, “are not simply a place with an alternative pedagogy”. “Behind, there is an esoteric movement, anthroposophy”, she warns, indignant that the municipality of Strasbourg (Bas-Rhin), led by the ecologist Jeanne Barseghian, continues to subsidize the Steiner school of the city, located in Koenigshoffen, up to 12,000 euros. Interview.
L’Express: Near Colmar, two complaints were filed by parents of students against a Steiner school following an “educational experiment”: a teacher lit a fire in a closed classroom and inhaled smoke to children…
Pernelle Richardot: It is extremely serious. This off-contract establishment in Colmar, one of the oldest Steiner schools in France, had already made a name for itself by being the epicenter of a vast spread of measles. For Rudolf Steiner, the vaccine would prevent the souls of children from blossoming. Similarly, these Steiner establishments did not implement health protocols during the Covid pandemic.
Do you see in the action of this teacher a link with Steiner pedagogy? The federation of Steiner-Waldorf schools in France defended itself by putting forward a simple “individual initiative”…
Contrary to what the federation claims, this is not a personal initiative. When you read Rudolf Steiner’s texts, you discover a very particular relationship to fire. At Saint John’s Day, there are initiation rites during which children must jump over a fire. Not long ago, these ceremonies were still organized in the courtyards of Steiner schools, videos attest to this. One of the mothers who filed a complaint also testified to this rite of passage.
The teacher in question is now on sick leave, which is practical. Because there is a real law of silence in these schools. Whatever the facts, even serious ones, such as bullying and bullying between children, the process is always the same: parents should not ask questions. We should not ask where the funding and registration fees go, which can be staggering depending on the school. We do not ask questions about the teachings, when, for example, a “teacher” explains that the monkey is descended from man. The parents who came to testify in my office spoke of great guilt. We are not in a normal school with a director, a nurse, a CPE… The parents find themselves faced with officials who practice familiarity, and they are put under pressure. They are assured that their children are maladjusted, that they will not be able to return to the normal national education system. It is a real anguish for these parents. Some have told me how difficult it is to withdraw their children from these establishments, especially since they have often experienced difficulties in traditional schools.
But it must be understood that Steiner schools are not simply a place with an alternative pedagogy. Behind, there is an esoteric movement, anthroposophy, founded by Rudolf Steiner. There is a Church, the Community of Christians, a cult always created by Steiner. There is also biodynamics, an agricultural system based on pseudoscientific rites devised by Steiner, with dances in the fields or preparations in cow horns. The Steiner school in Strasbourg, although under a simple contract, even refused to pay tribute to Samuel Paty, on the pretext that children should not be polluted with what is happening outside.
“I asked Jeanne Barseghian, the mayor of Strasbourg, to apply the precautionary principle”
The federation of Steiner schools officially assures that their teaching is distinct from anthroposophy…
It’s wrong. Eurythmy, an esoteric dance rite created by Rudolf Steiner and his wife, Marie, is practiced there. A former student told me that it was a compulsory class every morning. Girls are not to wear earrings or dark outfits, and are asked to have their hair tied back. The Steiner Federation can say whatever it wants, Steiner has written about fire or about infectious diseases, and his teaching is reproduced in these schools.
There are two categories of parents. Many put their children there because they have problems in national education. They often confuse Steiner with alternative pedagogies, such as Montessori. There is also a trial period. If parents, or an older child, are critical, they are told to go elsewhere.
But there are also some who totally adhere to this doctrine, and who are in Anthroposophical networks or in the Community of Christians. They place their children in Steiner establishments from kindergarten onwards. One of the two mothers who filed a complaint in Colmar is in this case, and it is even more violent for her to get out of there.
What are the current actions?
There are many filings of reports with Miviludes. The parents started talking when the elected officials started asking questions. But it is often a long process. We contacted the Secretary of State for Citizenship, Sonia Backès, and Miviludes. It is our duty as elected representatives of the Republic.
Where does your commitment to this subject come from?
I deeply believe in the values of the Republic. I have always been suspicious of all movements, religious or not, which practice indoctrination. A sect like that of Rael is well identified. But the anthroposophists, they slip through the cracks, while we have teachers in these establishments who are clearly not trained, and there is no real follow-up. In the small sections, teachers even have their hair done by students. As an elected official and mother of three children, this raises questions for me.
When I announced on Twitter that I had seized the Miviludes, I had a series of reactions qualifying this interministerial mission as “dispensary”. I was also accused of being in the pay of “masons”. It really is conspiracy logic. Then, when you go to see the profile of these people, you often come across antivax.
Is it legitimate for the town hall of Strasbourg to subsidize the Steiner school located in Koenigshoffen? The magazine Strasbourg, newspaper of the municipality, did even in 2020 the promotion from her kindergarten…
The Michaël school in Strasbourg benefits from public aid of more than 12,000 euros. I asked Jeanne Barseghian, the mayor of Strasbourg, to apply the precautionary principle, while waiting for the next report from Miviludes, which had already pointed out the risks of sectarian aberration in these schools. The Mayor of Strasbourg refused on May 10, despite the request of the Socialists, Communists, Renaissance and Republicans.