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DOMINICAN UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA

Useful Preparation or
Just Nave
Aspirations?
Why Public Schools are Better than the
Idealistic Ways of Waldorf
Taylor Andreozzi

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Taylor Andreozzi
September 5, 2015
Persuasive Essay

Are public schools crippling our kids? Many people, such as John Taylor Gatto, awardwinning educator, argue that the current state of school systems around the nation is failing
students miserably, and so more and more people are turning to alternative schools, such as
Waldorf. These idealistic schools may seem great in theory, with their unorthodox teaching
methods and free-spirit beliefs, but upon further examination it is realized that despite their good
intentions, these schools are impractical and do not thoroughly prepare students for the future.
Instead of sending students to these alternative schools or having them drop out, public schools
should be brought to a higher standard. While there are many public schools that prepare
students for the future and give students the tools they need to succeed, the majority of public
schools are still being held to a lower standard, having too large of classes, not providing the
supplies necessary, and not giving kids the opportunities to get ahead if thats what they so need.
As a student coming from a public school, I fully understand the positive aspects of going
to public schools. I also understand that I went to a very good public high school. My classes had
25 students at most, our music and athletic programs would make it to state every year, and we
had a wide variety of advanced placement classes available to all students. This school, Lake
Washington High School, had approximately 1,400 students at the time of my attendance, but
because of the small class sizes, it was very easy for students to get the individual help that they
needed. My high school was better than most public high schools, but by going to such a great

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public school, it is clear to me now that it is possible to have more public high schools that can
live to this standard. Schools are not already at this standard because there are just so many
schools and so many underpaid teachers that no one cares enough to enforce a progression in the
standard of public schools. That is not to say that all public schools can be perfect, but reforming
public schools to be more like the school I attended would be a step in the right direction.
I developed an interest in Waldorf schools more recently when a friend of mine was
telling me that he did not take a math class in elementary school, and that the school found it
more important that they learned how to knit or dance. I never learned how to knit in school, but
apparently Waldorf schools found it more useful and relevant in daily life for students to know
how to knit, rather than to start learning basic math. This friend of mine told me all about his
time in Waldorf, as he had attended both Waldorf and public school, and was able to tell me the
issues he had with his alternative school, such as lack of preparation, along with the goals of it.
Waldorf schooling is based on an anthroposophical view and understanding the human
being as body, soul, and spirit. The central focus of a Waldorf teacher is to instill and appreciate
the independence of all individuals and treat them all as citizens of the world (Mayes). The goal
of Waldorf education is to help students realize their individual paths through life. They do this
by stressing the ideas of art and beauty at a young age, then personal experiences and the truth in
high school. In order to leave students alone in finding their own paths, they often do not
encourage, or discourage, further education, such as university.
Waldorf schools have a set of values, and in their teachings it becomes very apparent that
these teachings of Waldorf need to be utilized and you need to do it their way in every aspect,
despite the fact that they want students to find their own path. The path that students are
supposed to find on their own is a path that is built from ideals instilled from an early age from

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Waldorf schools. For example, no media is allowed. Waldorf does not recognize media and if it
does it must only be educational. It is a tool, not for entertainment (Chen). The people in charge
are not the most practical people. A lot of decision making is creativity oriented, which seems
like a good idea in theory, but they learn in ways that arent useful. Math in the lower grades are
taught very philosophical and conceptualized but they dont learn basic foundation math.
Reading also isnt a priority until second or third grade. By starting to read or learn math so late,
these students often do not have enough practice and so they are always behind students from
other schools. This is problematic for those students who continue onto higher education or
transfer out of Waldorf in later grades. In Kindergarten students are taught and suggested to be
creative in nature. All the toys are nature related, and as result, classrooms are based on
fairytales. Waldorf learning is experience oriented, which is another sound model, but students
later look back and feel that they should have probably learned more applicable skills. The
schools are also community oriented, which also theoretically is a good idea, but students dont
have a lot of friends or know a lot of people. The education feels the need to be special and kept
a secret from the outside world, Like you dont think of it as a cult, but later when you looks
back its like I was part of a community that harbored special learning techniques. Despite the
fact that Waldorf schools are not catholic or religious schools you still have to take religious
classes. Waldorf schools have proven very contradicting. While they believe students should
create their own path, they make sure that these paths are built from the ideals that Waldorf
shares. They also believe that community oriented schooling is essential, but while building these
communities they are keeping students from meeting other people.
In contrast to Waldorf schools, another option is public school. Public schools are funded
by the public rather than private groups, as result, these schools are cheaper than alternative

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schooling, though they do tend to be much larger. This causes a ripple effect, and can be
problematic in many ways. Although public schools do tend to be significantly larger than
private or alternative schools, students are assigned their schools geographically and this keeps
schools from being overly populated. This is something that many private school students do not
know about public schools. Public schools are that sometimes do not offer all of the advanced
placement classes that students might be interested in, however, to get around this, many public
schools have programs in which students can take courses at a local college while still enrolled in
high school, thus not having to pay for the college courses, but still getting the education and
dual credits. Public schools are not perfect, however, these are the major issues that people tend
to have with them, and I think that there are many ways in which these issues can be worked
around. Public schools are good for students because they are required to have certain things.
They cannot turn down requests such as special help for a deaf student or working equipment for
the sports teams. They must use a minimum amount of the allotted funding for each area,
allowing students to participate in anything the school may have to offer. Often times, Waldorf
schools do not have sports, either because they are too small or simply because they are opposed
to competitive sports. Public schools are also the most affordable option for students and
families, which allows for these families to start saving earlier for college, a path that Waldorf
schools do not even encourage (Mayes).
Although Waldorf schools and public schools both have their flaws, upon discussion with
students who have attended both schools, it was clear that attending public school for grade
school was better for students in the long run. Waldorf schools ironically tend to brainwash
students into thinking certain ways while teaching them to pursue their own paths. Also, by
teaching students to follow independent paths, they do not really prepare students for their future.

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Rather than privatizing public schools, the better plan would be to reform public schools. There
are many public schools around the nation that do cater to the needs of gifted students as well as
struggling students. Instead of sending students to alternative schools where they may not
develop useful skills early enough, it would be better to send students to public schools where
the curriculum is mandated to be at a certain level, if not better.

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Works Cited
Chen, Grace. "Waldorf Education: Four Successes and Four Failures." Waldorf Education: Four
Successes and Four Failures. Public School Review, n.d. Web. 10 Sept. 2015.
This source told many stories about families who were part of the Waldorf system and what they
thought of it. There were eight stories total. Half were success stories and half were failures. This
story was built on primary sources. This was helpful when trying to find more personal examples
of people and Waldorf schools.

Mayes, Robert. What is Waldorf Education? Waldorf Answers. N.p., 2004. Web. 28 August
2015
This source was a very detailed source about why someone should go to a Waldorf school. This
source gave idealistic ideas about Waldorf, and was more about discussing what Waldorf was
initially meant to be, rather than what it has become. This was a good source to use when
discussing with a former Waldorf student because I was able to ask if the schools were able to
reach their intended goals.

"Pros and Cons of Public School Attendance." Public Schools. N.p., 02 Apr. 2012. Web. 10 Sept.
2015.
I went to a public school, so I was informed about what a perfect public school can be life. This
source was very helpful for learning about the problems with most public schools. This source
talked about the good and the bad things about public school education, and I was able to use the
cons for rebuttal.

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