WhyDontYou I'm on this thread elsewhere but I've changed name to write this. I went to a Steiner school and I can verify this and which one to MNHQ but I won't in PM or on this thread.
I can categorically tell you that teachers in my school did alter how they were when observers were there. Looking back it is somewhat normal I guess, everybody behaves differently when observed. But some teachers definitely toned down the "Steiner" bits more. As kids there was nothing sinister to us in this. We did make fun of those teachers though! So I would be very surprised if you saw exactly how schools were, because many people who observed our classes didn't see the whole story. It wasn't a radical difference, but it was different.
And another thing to keep in mind is that the hardcore teachers in particular have made a personal and emotional commitment to the school and system. They don't teach in it, they live it. These people were SO happy to be observed by observes they perceived as friendly and show how special their life is, how unique and different and better they personally were.
There was such an underlying air of specialness in the school amongst the teachers and imparted to pupils. We were aware that our system was different, that it was (and we were) misunderstood by the rest of the world, and that we were separate to it. In fact, i remember a video a few years ago from a school essentially saying "We're so special we don't have competitive sports, we have sports day based on the original olympics. Now nothing wrong with that, but the emphasis on their specialness made me feel queasy. It's embarrassing to write, but we essentially looked down on people who weren't part of the Steiner system. This included kids joining the school in teenage years who came from "state schools" who watched TV and would drink fizzy drinks regularly.
I also have personal experience of safe guarding not being met. I know of three other cases from when I was at school where the school essentially closed ranks and didn't contact social services when they absolutely, unequivocally should have. Social services were part of the outside world. In some cases an anthroposophical doctor was brought in. But not the outside world people. One of these instances led directly to my friend became very unstable mentally and having to leave school. With no exams. This friend was a A-grade student and always had been in the top of the class.
I related the details of these things I'd witnessed to varying extents to someone a few months ago. They'd suffered trauma as a child (and were wanting to put their child in a Steiner school) and were totally triggered by what I'd said. I'd never spoken about the incidents all together before and to be honest it took me a few days to recover from it. As a mother, it's utterly shocking.
And what is hard to stomach about the whole Steiner thing is that everybody who works there appears to be so caring about the individual child's development. They really care. They appear so empathic. And some of them do care and are empathic. Often they're the ones who are not totally Steiner. The hardcore Steiner teachers though were the ones who - looking back, I never realised at the time - also had this uncaring, hard side. I'm not saying they didn't pander to us, that's fine and normal, but the attitude they gave the parents was slightly different to the one they gave us. The only time parents seemed to view it was - and this I found out years later - when there had been a big problem and the parents were talking about removing their child. The people who had a proper life outside the school and anthroposophy system, who watched TV etc, were attracted to the school because of the child-centred aspect of it. They therefore didn't put their religion/believe in Rudolf Steiner's system above their humanity.
For my own DC I would have LOVED a school that had a similar curriculum to Steiner, but was fully integrated with safeguarding standards and systems of mainstream schools. And with no pseudo-science or religious crap. I think the system is brilliant for kids today in terms of the arts and crafts and music (including eurythmy even though I usually hated doing that!) as a lot of it is good for brain regulation in similar ways to mindfulness techniques that are becoming more researched. It adds quiet to an otherwise stressed and noisy life out kids have. I love that we learned geometry in maths main lessons (muscular morning lessons lasting 2-4 weeks) by drawing and colouring and making shapes. I love that we learned our times tables rhythmically. There is a pedagogical creativity that could well be applied to all children.
But nothing is worth putting my kid in a school where I can't be sure that they're fully safe, including not being blamed for academic failing or being the victim (or perpetrator) of bullying.