A thread came up today on fairy tales and their symbology. I studied fairy tales a good few years ago and one of the things I find interesting with the Steiner education system is their use of fairy tales for children. Many Steiner teachers in schools are convinced (indoctrinated in training?) that these stories were designed for children and developmentally appropriate for children. I know that Alan Whitehead feels the opposite and says that Steiner didn't say fairy tales but did think that local folk tales were of value.
The thing is when you start doing research into the origins of fairy tales you realise that they are quite sordid and dangerous for young children. There is a great deal of sexual content and so on. So it's one of those issues that I've not really broached with Steiner-based teachers as many of them seem to live in a gentle bubble... and I'd hate to burst that.
That said, I like the modern retellings of fairy tales such as when I was a child and I tell these to Springy too. But when people think that fairy tales are developmentally appropriate in Steiner circles part of me wants to say, "Well as long as you choose the ones that have been censored and altered from their original versions".
It's the same for the other parts of the Steiner school curriculum. The Olympics in their original form were homoerotic (no ladies) and involved lots of nakedness, the Norse myths are very bloodthirsty and there seems to be a lot of 'noble savage' stuff that influenced Steiner which stems from the time period he lived in. Archaeology and present historic research have moved on quite a bit and we know that our ancestors were not quite as noble.
That said, I understand that for children it would be nicer to make the world seem like a beautiful place.
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