A Silicon Valley School That Doesn’t Compute (2011)(nytimes.com)
nytimes.com
A Silicon Valley School That Doesn’t Compute (2011)
https://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/23/technology/at-waldorf-school-in-silicon-valley-technology-can-wait.html
23 comments
Most of the notable alumni are in the entertainment industry: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Waldorf_school_alumni
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Can't tell if no-tech education is actually better, or just the result of the pendulum swinging back the other way.
The Waldorf school, especially the one in Silicon Valley, has one of the lowest levels of immunization rates of children in the state, if not the country.
The simple fact that the parents and school reject what is well-understood science speaks volumes, in my opinion.
The simple fact that the parents and school reject what is well-understood science speaks volumes, in my opinion.
Do you have a source for this?
The Silicon Valley one has a stated school policy that requires students and faculty to follow state law.
http://waldorfpeninsula.org/about-us/immunization-policy/
The Silicon Valley one has a stated school policy that requires students and faculty to follow state law.
http://waldorfpeninsula.org/about-us/immunization-policy/
EDIT: I've missed that personal belief exemption is no longer allowed. Anyway, what's below shows that it WAS an issue, and quite recently. Also while kids should be vaccinated now due to the law it still tells something about ideas parents hold.
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"We require parents to follow all state laws regarding immunization" actually allows "personal belief exemptions", since it is a part of laws.
And few links from few years ago:
SF: https://www.sfwaldorf.org/uploaded/docs/gs/gs_health_and_ill...
Also "On the other side of the bay, about two-thirds of the students at the private Waldorf School in upscale Los Altos Hills didn’t have the proper immunizations." - https://www.mercurynews.com/2015/01/26/measles-outbreak-low-...
In general official Waldorf policy is that there is no policy
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"We require parents to follow all state laws regarding immunization" actually allows "personal belief exemptions", since it is a part of laws.
And few links from few years ago:
SF: https://www.sfwaldorf.org/uploaded/docs/gs/gs_health_and_ill...
Also "On the other side of the bay, about two-thirds of the students at the private Waldorf School in upscale Los Altos Hills didn’t have the proper immunizations." - https://www.mercurynews.com/2015/01/26/measles-outbreak-low-...
In general official Waldorf policy is that there is no policy
I wondered about this also, especially in the wake of the recent CA law that eliminated personal belief exemptions. The article linked below talks about various CA Waldorf schools, but not the SV one. Also, it specifically talks about the personal belief exemption, which isn't available anymore.
I should note that the medical exemption rate is up since this change in law, [1] perhaps owing to abuse of the medical exemption, or perhaps owing to people who have a legitimate medical need now being forced to get a doctor's note, instead of just being able to opt out based on personal belief.
1: http://www.latimes.com/science/sciencenow/la-sci-sn-vaccine-...
I should note that the medical exemption rate is up since this change in law, [1] perhaps owing to abuse of the medical exemption, or perhaps owing to people who have a legitimate medical need now being forced to get a doctor's note, instead of just being able to opt out based on personal belief.
1: http://www.latimes.com/science/sciencenow/la-sci-sn-vaccine-...
Please include a source, so others can evaluate the accuracy of what you are claiming.
Another commenter included a source: https://www.precisionvaccinations.com/waldorf-association-sc.... The article gives the rate of non-medical exemptions (for immunizations) for some Waldorf schools, but doesn't give the state average for NMEs (which, as an aside, seems to have been legislated away in California recently). Nevertheless, the numbers are over 50% which seem staggeringly high for an exemption rate. It's also not surprising that a school that embraces technological asceticism has its share of parents who embrace the anti-vax movement.
If you’re thinking about having your child attend a Waldorf school, you should know they are a haven for anti-vaxxers. I found out about this when I looked into one for my daughter. More info: https://www.precisionvaccinations.com/waldorf-association-sc...
Same with us. We were looking to send our kids to a school like this and once I saw the vaccinations rates I turned around and never looked back. There are plenty of schools in the Bay Area that have as good, if not better, levels of education without the luddite-mentality of anti-vaccinations.
If your kid is vaccinated already, then what is the worry? They are immune; right? So your concern is primarily ideological.
Yes, it's 100% ideological. I don't want to associate with people who don't believe that vaccines are necessary to prevent illness. They probably have other beliefs that go against science and I don't want those people in my life, or my childrens' lives.
For individuals, vaccines aren’t 100% effective at preventing infection. Primarily, they are useful to increase the herd immunity of large groups, and limit the scope of outbreaks— this only works if enough of the community has been inoculated.
In every measles outbreak, some of the victims are indeed vaccinated. Being unvaccinated based on a whim (as opposed to kids with immune deficiency, on chemo, etc) hurts everyone.
Discussed at the time: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3145080
Just wanted to say that this article is what got my attention of Waldorf in the first place and was the seed that grew into today!
I read this same article back then. When we were looking to relocate to San Francisco we toured that same exact school! Loved the school, but didn't love Silicon Valley that much and decided to move to Portland instead (the vegan scene + public transport wins over SF).
This school does actually have a more strict no-screens policy than other Waldorf schools (we toured many). They had a lovely campus and our kids are doing great at the Swallowtail Waldorf school here outside of Portland.
I like Waldorf because no matter where you move in the world there is usually a Waldorf school, and while they are all a bit different in their implementations, they share core values and I feel would make the children feel at home in a similar way.
I read this same article back then. When we were looking to relocate to San Francisco we toured that same exact school! Loved the school, but didn't love Silicon Valley that much and decided to move to Portland instead (the vegan scene + public transport wins over SF).
This school does actually have a more strict no-screens policy than other Waldorf schools (we toured many). They had a lovely campus and our kids are doing great at the Swallowtail Waldorf school here outside of Portland.
I like Waldorf because no matter where you move in the world there is usually a Waldorf school, and while they are all a bit different in their implementations, they share core values and I feel would make the children feel at home in a similar way.
> "Technology is a distraction when we need literacy, numeracy and critical thinking."
What about assistive technologies, to help students with special needs? This statement (by a person the author interviewed, not the author) implies that technology can only get in the way. This is definitely not true in the case of literacy and numeracy.
What about assistive technologies, to help students with special needs? This statement (by a person the author interviewed, not the author) implies that technology can only get in the way. This is definitely not true in the case of literacy and numeracy.
This actually, I struggled in the low tech environment. In grades school because I didn't have good handwriting (still don't) and access to word processors helped a bunch.
I also pretty much have to teach myself everything from what I read off the internet, given the fact that I can't take notes very effectively and don't pay attention in class.
> “The idea that an app on an iPad can better teach my kids to read or do arithmetic, that’s ridiculous.”
> “writing is unfortunately like painting; for the creations of the painter have the attitude of life, and yet if you ask them a question they preserve a solemn silence. And the same may be said of speeches. You would imagine that they had intelligence, but if you want to know anything and put a question to one of them, the speaker always gives one unvarying answer. And when they have been once written down they are tumbled about anywhere among those who may or may not understand them, and know not to whom they should reply, to whom not: and, if they are maltreated or abused, they have no parent to protect them; and they cannot protect or defend themselves.”
—- Plato, on reading and writing.
> “writing is unfortunately like painting; for the creations of the painter have the attitude of life, and yet if you ask them a question they preserve a solemn silence. And the same may be said of speeches. You would imagine that they had intelligence, but if you want to know anything and put a question to one of them, the speaker always gives one unvarying answer. And when they have been once written down they are tumbled about anywhere among those who may or may not understand them, and know not to whom they should reply, to whom not: and, if they are maltreated or abused, they have no parent to protect them; and they cannot protect or defend themselves.”
—- Plato, on reading and writing.
Pretty awful article that does nothing to explain the philosophy of this school. (If there is one?) Third graders multiplying 4 and 5 together without calculators, teachers cutting apples to teach fractions ... I'm pretty sure every school around the world uses these methods. Is there anything less vapid about this school's philosophy? Perhaps the article's author spent too much time on the iPad growing up ...
It's a pretty controversial educational movement, because of its connections with Rudolf Steiner. There's plenty of info to be found online.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waldorf_education
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waldorf_education
And they think the performance is best explained by the school's eclectic education style and shunning of new tech?
Edit: Desnarked (it was worse before)