 Educational researcher Martin Ashley suggests that the latter role would be problematic for secular teachers and parents in state schools, and the commitment to a spiritual background both of the child and the education has been problematic for some committed to a secular perspective.While anthroposophy underpins the curriculum design, pedagogical approach, and organizational structure, it is explicitly not taught within the school curriculum and studies have shown that Waldorf pupils have little awareness of it.Tensions may arise within the Waldorf community between the commitment to Steiner's original intentions, which has sometimes acted as a valuable anchor against following educational fads, and openness to new directions in education, such as the incorporation of new technologies or modern methods of accountability and assessment.