"The healthy social life is found,
When, in the mirror of each human soul,
The whole community finds its reflection.
And when, in the community,
The virtue of each one is living"
Rudolf Steiner

The Silver Tree is a relatively new school located in the beautiful Hills of Perth, Western Australia. It commenced operation as a playgroup in 1996, and in 2002 provides care and teaching for children aged from 2 to 10 years. About 40 families attend the school. The Silver Tree’s Mission is to provide quality education for children in the local area, in line with the indications for teaching given by Rudolf Steiner.

The school is owned by an incorporated association, and run by an elected council, which employs teaching staff.

As a school grows, different organisational styles are needed to ensure that the work is carried out professionally. If the need for a new method of organisation can be anticipated, then some of the trials of a growing school can be dealt with more satisfactorily.

Even more important than this, there is little doubt that the way in which a school (or any institution) is organised affects the work done within the organisation. The form of organisation can have positive or negative effects. In a school, it is vital to be aware of the extent to which the organisation is supportive of, or stifling of, individual teaching efforts.

A Steiner school is particularly challenged in this regard, as Rudolf Steiner made an effort to outline ways in which social life could be better structured. Arguably, a Steiner school which makes no effort to understand or organise itself with regard to these principles is not a Steiner school.

One model of organisational development sees a relatively informal pioneering stage followed by a bureaucratic stage, followed by a mature stage where the groups are able to work informally about the structure that exists and is taken as a given. In these terms the Silver Tree is currently moving into the bureaucratic stage, needing to give certainty to roles and responsibilities within the school.

In 2001, a study group was started at the Silver Tree to investigate the questions of the nature of the threefold social order and school organisation. It was originally coined the "Structural Organisation Study Group", a name dumped by the first meeting thereof, which then settled on the name above. The soul of the school is something greater than its formal structure, but the title serves to remind us that the structures that we create will have an immense influence on the way in which the soul of the school is able to grow and express itself in the world.

After a few meetings late in 2001, in which introductory readings were discussed, the group entered summer/Christmas recess with a plan to systematically investigate the concepts in 2002. It was agreed that the focus of the group for the year ahead was in understanding, rather than in trying to actually create a school structure from the beginning. It was also agreed that the study group would be open to all and sundry, from other schools and from the community, rather than only to those who had a stake in the school.

The "SOS" group scheduled to meet at the school on the following dates (all Tuesdays) and from 7 to 9 pm, with the topics as noted. All are welcome to attend even if merely to listen. At present the group is convened by the author, who is eager to hand this task over to another for 2003.

2002

20 Feb Presentation on the Threefold Social Order

19 Mar Focus on the Economic Sphere

16 Apr Focus on the Cultural Sphere

14 May Focus on the Sphere of Rights

11 Jun Review of the foregoing

10 Sep Preparation for a role-play

5 Nov Role-play

10 Dec Review of the year and Plan for 2003.

Although the focus is on the functional differentiation proposed by Steiner, the group will consider a wide range of approaches.

The Silver Tree, currently based on rented premises, is growing and looking to put down some permanent roots. The school hopes to secure land through purchase or a long-term lease, and to start building a beautiful home. In the enthusiasm, it would be easy to forget the organisational structure that we will take with us to the new site.

Just like the building of the school in material terms, we need to have a long term staged plan for the development of the organisational structures of the school.

The Threefold Social Order outlined by Steiner is not meant to be a Utopia, or to somehow solve everyone’s problems for them in and out of itself. It has its roots in the aftermath of World War One, when Steiner was asked to turn his mind to the question; what is the healthiest way for people to order their affairs in modern society?

Modern Pluralist Democracies owe a debt to the French Revolution, which was itself less than democratic, but which gave us the motto, "liberty, equality, fraternity".

Steiner teaches that each of these aspects of the modern form of governance is relevant to a different part of our social lives.

We need to have liberty in our cultural lives, freedom in our expression and learning, in our spiritual pursuits.

We need to have equality before the law, and in the constitution of those bodies that govern our life of Rights.

We need to develop fraternity in our economic life, brotherhood in the way in which we deal with the natural resources of the world.

Another useful view of the organisation of a Steiner or like school is given by Joel Wendt. Wendt says;

Wendt goes on to explain how these roles fit into a threefolded school organisation.

The author’s preferred title for this area is "The enabling sphere" or "enabling body". The word economic is too much of a turn off and a catchall, and may well have a different meaning to the one it had in 1920. Having said that, this sphere is immense, involving any action turning the products of nature into products suitable for human use, as well as the usual idea of monetary transactions. Steiner had far-reaching ideas about the way in which people are apparently paid for their work, which would be a study of its own, and one which the school must eventually come to grips with. It would be too difficult to try to include it here.

A school is a cultural institution, and the work of a school is teaching. The role of the economic sphere in a school is to enable the teaching to take place.

There are a number of challenges there. One is that the enabling body must try to do its task without trespassing into the area of deciding what is to be taught. Another is that the enabling body should try to be innovative in the way in which it fulfills its function. Still further, the enabling body should not partake in enabling activities that are in contradiction to the ethos of the cultural institution.

Activity that enables the teaching might consist of such activities as the following, but the list is not exhaustive;

Of course, in order to do all of these things, the enabling body has to enable it. In other words, the money has to come from somewhere.

At the Silver Tree, the money currently comes about half from the Commonwealth Government, half from fees paid by parents, and some small amount from fundraising and donations.

There are some problems with this. Money from the Government can be expected, over time, to have a deleterious effect on the freedom of the institution. I know there are many schools in other countries that would love to have money from the government, but the point needs to be appreciated, not passed over in the enthusiasm to get money.

Joel Wendt suggests that there are problems with the reliance on fees paid by parents, too. We are used to this arrangement, so this may require some thought. Wendt says that fees are a tax on parenthood.

Where to turn?

Wendt points us in the direction of fundraising and donations, currently a small part of the income of the school. He brings us back to a point made by Steiner, that the cultural sphere should be funded out of the surplus of industry.

Now a school is not, despite the best attempts of government propaganda, an industry. If a school is going to be funded out of the surplus of an industry or industries, then they will need to be undertakings separate from the school, and involved with the school on a free basis.

Note that the first Waldorf School was enabled in this very way, out of the surplus of the Waldorf~Astoria cigarette factory in Stuttgart, Germany.

In other words, schools need freely giving corporate and individual patrons. Not advertisers, mind. Not "you scratch my back..". Not "try our particular brand of computer in your playgroup". Freely giving.

How do we find such benevolent commercial entities ? There are only two ways. Look and find them, or create them ourselves.

Wendt gives us a useful picture of the parent body of a school as forming a chalice in which the teaching can take place. The economic activity intended to support the school can be a part of the forming of that chalice. The activity is separate from the school, but linked so long as there is generosity and interest in place.

The economic sphere creates the physical body of the school.

The sphere is often linked to the French revolution banner of "Fraternity".

Steiner was no fan of self-sufficiency in the extreme way in which people sometimes pursue it. He went so far as to say that it is economically healthier to make a coat for someone else than to make one for oneself. He was trying to drive the point home. Steiner foresaw that in the future, people would feel each other’s needs more deeply than we do now.

Note that in creating an enabling body for a school, there are not the restrictions of size or criteria for membership that constitute the other bodies. Executive positions can expand with interest, and there is perhaps no limit to the scope for enabling activity, within the ethical bounds referred to above.

Last Year, at the Silver Tree, the Parents and Friends Association was formed, ostensibly to engage in fundraising and community building in the school. This body is perhaps the embryo of the enabling body of the school in the future.

This is the sphere of teaching within a school, it is the central work of a school to provide teaching. A school is therefore a cultural undertaking, endeavour or enterprise. It is not an industry, and we do not produce an industrial product. We do not have customers. As soon as someone speaks of the parents as the customers of the school, they are viewing the school through the eyes of the economic sphere. Education is a pivotal part of the cultural sphere.

It is here that, other things being in order, the work of the teacher can occur. The teacher is responsible for the teaching relationships, between teacher and student, teacher and class, teacher and fellow teacher. The nurturing of these relationships allows the spiritual realities behind the teaching work to have effect in the world.

The practice of Education is a central part of the cultural life of a society

Education needs to be free of the overbearing influence of state or corporation. Steiner says;

Steiner does not say that the cultural sphere needs to disengage itself from the others, but rather that it has to be able to stand alone in order to associate freely and productively with them.

Education needs to be the result of the questing of individuals and groups interested in education, not the child of civil authorities interested in matters of right and industrial growth, still less the meat of merchants.

It is vital that we try to define the ways in which the school’s operation is encroached upon by outside influences, which are acting outside of their natural sphere of control.

In the same way, we need to recognise that the way in which our school, and others, are born and develop mirrors the generally accepted forms of organisation in society at large, and thus we institutionalise the encroachment at the micro level. Having a central authority in a school separate from the teachers themselves leaves the degree of encroachment by the other spheres upon the teaching sphere a matter of discretion for the members of authority at any given time. There is no real freedom or responsibility involved.

Freedom in education is a progressive development. There is no doubt that there is more freedom in a democracy than, say, in a totalitarian regime. Having said that, it is better to realise that we are dealing with a continuum, not opposite forms. Some democracies will allow more educational freedom than others. None yet encompass the ideal that Steiner points to. From one point of view we could say that modern democracies are hybrids, with more or less fascist, communist or totalitarian aspects at any given point in time. Certainly some parts of government are not democratic; the military, for example… thus, when encroachment from the rights sphere occurs to an unhealthy degree, we should not be surprised to see military forms in our schools. Similar for capitalist forms, industrial forms etc.

Standardised testing is an example of the encroachment of the state for the purposes of industrial policy and politics. It is a worldwide phenomenon.

As teachers in a school system that does not employ grading as a tool or conditioning system, we need to be wary of the ways in which we change what we do to accommodate the requirements of the state, requirements that, from the lens of the threefold system, are illegitimate.

The litmus test for the healthy operation of this sphere is the question of freedom. If there is one teacher, we should ask, is that teacher free to teach? If there is more than one teacher working together, which is generally the case in a school, the questions are whether the teachers as a group are free to teach, and whether each teacher, within that group, experiences the same ethos of freedom as the group at large.

This freedom is freedom from unwarranted influence, not freedom without responsibility, or without deference to individual rights.

This sphere needs to be recognised as derivative. It comes after the other two. Matters of right only arise where there is more than one person or group trying to cohabit in a society.

In a school, the rights body is responsible for the creation, maintenance and implementation of policies and procedures.

That body is also the face of the school in matters of right between the school and an outside body, such as governments, school peak bodies, other schools, landlords, courts etc.

It is the final point of reference for disputes between individuals within the school organisation, between individuals and groups and between groups.

As ownership is a question of right, the rights body may hold the legal title to the schools assets, which are accumulated via the economic sphere and used by the cultural sphere.

The size of any working group within this sphere would be small, perhaps only up to 7 or so, in order to keep actions efficient. The constitution of the body, however, would need to be as broadly democratic as possible, in order to give the body legitimacy. Against this we must weigh the need for expertise and experience.

More often than not, the activity of the three spheres occurs in a confused and muddy way within schools and other cultural organisations, Steiner/Waldorf schools being no exception. The costs of this are largely hidden and unknown.

Becoming more aware as a community about the nature and requirements of the three spheres in an organisational sense, should have the effect of creating clearer boundaries and roles, and attracting people to tasks for which they are suited and feel comfortable with. Respect and appreciation can flourish. We seek a healthier earthly expression of the soul of the school, and a better environment for its development.

There are probably many examples of threefold organisation which we can learn from, as there have been groups similar to this one in existence since 1920. Hopefully the sharing of this experience with other schools and organisations will bring useful feedback.

Spence, in his introduction to the 1999 edition of Towards Social Renewal, cautions us to return to Steiner’s work often, and to use our own experience and judgement.

The latter point needs to be taken seriously, as Steiner himself says;

The next meeting of the group will be on the 13^th of August 2002, at 7pm at the home of the author. We will bring along various models of school organisation in order to try to identify the operation of each of the spheres.

Sean Burke

June 2002

Caution

The above notes are a working document and an outline of matters for conjecture. They are not intended as a series of immutable conclusions.