Is this true that more pupils from Steiner schools go to universities than from state or private schools?

[Octavia09]

I have seen these news somewhere and simply cannot believe in it. It was written that Steiner pupils succeed because they start slowly and then develop hunger to studies and thus do better than kids at state schools for example. I thought that Steiner is just a money-making sect.

[Jellykat]

Hmm, Well i've known about 30 people who were Steiner educated, not one went to University, even though their parents' could've afforded it!

My DS2 went to a Steiner nursery (i used to clean instead of fees)i think it's o.k at that age, but my problem with the Steiner outlook,is that it hasn't progressed in years and years..the 'dollies' with no faces,the blended 'rainbow' colours, the avoidance of
corners where possible etc etc,doesn't seem to equip pupils for RL,a lot seem to struggle once that secure environment comes to an end.

Maybe that result was based on percentages,-there aren't that many up to 16/18 yr old Steiner schools in the U.K. surely?

[seeker]

Most Steiner schools don;t do a levels - so the university entrands would have had to go somewhere else to do them after Steiner.

[Rannaldini]

this is made up rubbish

[Octavia09]

May be this is the way to get more people into the sect by brainwashing them.

[Dukeleto]

I know one person who was Steiner educated, and she is the most motivated, independent, well-balanced person I know. Obviously this is not a representative sample, and she was educated abroad anyway.

My view is that like any educational philosophy, Steiner will suit SOME kids extremely well. Obvious proaganda for OR against should probably be disregarded.

[chippy47]

Probably not but I know for a fact that more Steiner educated people are re-incarnated than the rest of us.

[GrimmaTheNome]

It might be true that a high proportion of pupils who've been to a Steiner school at some point do go to university simply because they have parents who are actively making some sort of choice about their education, IYSWIM - but in the absence of data this is pure speculation. Parental involvement often outweighs most other factors.

[MrsFlittersnoop]

I know a several lovely, bright, well adjusted and very successful adults who were Steiner educated, and interestingly enough NONE of them went to university to get where they are in life today!

[TubOfLard]

"Independent school pupils are four times more likely to attain an A* at GCSE than their non-selective state sector counterparts and twice as likely to attain an A grade at A level. A much higher proportion go to university; however studies have shown a deterioration in the performance of independent school students at university, compared to state educated students who may have learned to overcome disadvantages."

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Independent_school_(United_Kingdom)

[Madsometimes]

What TubofLard said. Steiner schools are independent schools, children are more likely to go to university than state school chidren. Not sure how Steiner compares to other indie schools though.

[MmeLindt]

I would imagine that it has to do with the parents taking a more active stance towards their children's education that the average UK parent.

Some of my German friends went to Steiner schools. Some went to Uni, some didn't. They are all pretty high on the woo scales though.

[WhatsWrongWithYou]

Chippy, don't forget they are also more likely to be on a higher plane....

I think this has to be nonsense; I know lots of Steiner-educated adults and very few of them are university-educated; those that are tend to have come to it later than usual, in their mid-20s.

Some I have spoken to have been bitter that, when at school, they weren't selected to be amongst the chosen who were deemed worthy of aspiring to university - there was no implication that a degree could be open to anyone who was reasonably bright and with the capacity to apply themselves.

Many feel they wasted years travelling and doing casual jobs when they could have finished their formal education and embarked on a career much earlier.

I believe a more formal system of academic qualifications has now been introduced in some schools, but with a very limited range of subjects available; whether this will increase figures for university entrance remains to be seen.

[marialuisa]

I know a famous academic who went through the Steiner system (and his area is as business-oriented and un-Steiner as you can get!). About 75% of the steiner kids I know personally went to University and they have a variety of jobs (none of which include running a steiner bookshop!).

[skybluepearl]

I only know one steiner kid who went on to uni. Maybe there is some confusion about an article i read in the papers this week.

i think i read that a high percentage ( 75 % or something )of young adults studying very academic degrees (gps/dentists) etc went to public school. While only 10% of children have a public school education.

Maybe Steiner schools are considered to be part of teh public school system - i don't know? Most of the public schools round here are the opposite of Steiner in their approach.

[Grumpystiltskin]

I'm a dentist, I went to a state school where only 30% of us got 5 A-C's. In fact, the majority of my peers went to state schools, but there were a significant number from private schools. My state sixh form tried to stop me applying to dental school.

[willow]

Chippy - pmsl

[radicalsubstitution]

Zombie alert!

[LeeCoakley]

Sorry Megan but I can have an opinion on anything I want. I assume that's what you meant; the double negative confused me a bit.

[MarkH1]

Megan, I only managed to read the first 3 lines of your reply. Hopefully at University they will teach you how to write in paragraphs.

[saythatagain]

Megan: did they happen to touch on a subject called English at your school?

[claraschu]

Megan, I'm sorry people are being rude to you. Plenty of people on this forum don't write in beautiful, lucid prose divided into elegant paragraphs, and I thought what you wrote was both heartfelt and eloquent. It is annoying when people who have no real firsthand experience of something start criticising it violently. If everyone's prose style is a reflection on their schooling, we can assume that the school system in general is not great.

I have visited several Steiner schools in the US (doing children's concerts), and my impression is that one or two of them were wonderful schools and one or two were not so wonderful, (which is similar to my impression of other schools in general).

[mortimersraven]

For goodness' sake, don't be cruel!

Megan is as entitled to her opinion as all of you. The fact she is the product of a Steiner school puts her in a good position to comment on it in an informed way!

Sounds like you're all being pretty snobby.

Megan has put her point across rather agressively but the core of it makes perfect sense and in fact dukeleto said it more succinctly further up the thread - like any educational philosophy, steiner will suit some kids

[cantreachmytoes]

I went to a Steiner school for almost all of my schooling (also started at a state primary, which I only left because we moved). I enjoyed the curriculum - I also enjoyed my first school too.

Forget about statistics, forget what people do after school etc., look instead at the anti-bullying policy and its implementation.

I would possibly send my child to a school with the Steiner curriculum, but knowing (in theory and practice) how the schools approach bullying, I could not put my child in such a potentially vulnerable situation.

[onadifferentplanet]

I am not a lentil weaving tree hugging hippy and would not describe myself or my family as 'woo' in any way but I chose to send my youngest to a Steiner School unlike my three older ones who all went to selective academic schools. I chose Steiner because I looked beyond the 'ooo it's all gnomes , strange drawings and dancing round toadstools ' and went and looked for myself. Ds started at 11 he is almost 15 now and I have no complaints he has gone from a quiet introverted child to an outgoing confident one with a breath of knowledge which far exceeds my expectations. I have no doubt he will like my others go on to University.
As someone commented up thread Steiner will suit some children exceedingly well, my ds is one of them .
I wonder how many of the doubters and critics have actually set foot in a Steiner School