Melbourne Rudolf Steiner Seminar:

My time at Melbourne Rudolf Steiner Teacher Training

by Alexander Paz

I was in my final year of my Arts Degree at Monash studying social sciences (Sociology and Anthropology) when the idea of becoming a teacher first began to form in my mind as a possible career trajectory. Like many people I knew who had succeeded in high grades through school, I felt a disconnect between my school foundations, and the kind of skills and understandings that would enable me to thrive in life outside of the school system. 

At this time of exploring the possibility of becoming a teacher, I came across the teacher training at Melbourne Rudolf Steiner Seminar. I was exploring alternative models of teaching; seeking to find more holistic practices, and a model that catered to the whole human being growing up integrated, connected, and in a state of flow with the world.

From the outset, the Seminar appeared different to anything I’d previously seen in education. The teacher training was immersed in bushland; the sound of birds whistled through the winds, I could smell cherry blossom and eucalyptus in the air, and the buildings and student work on display conveyed the message of beauty, reverence, and a sense of deep connection with life. I thought: “this place is an education for being – not just a place for earning another certificate!”.

The following year I began my training to become a Steiner Teacher. We sang at the beginning of every day, learning to sing in harmonies and rounds. Each day included being immersed in the arts: music, dance, storytelling, recorder playing, painting, sculpture, knitting and more. The way these artistic pursuits were taught at the Seminar gave me the experience that artistic work can facilitate healing and wholeness. Whilst painting, sculpting, weaving, knitting, I was also processing feelings, and discovering deeper levels of connection with myself and the world.

During my two-year Advanced Diploma of Rudolf Steiner Education, I developed a deeply nuanced appreciation for the realms of childhood and the many ways that children evolve through stages of consciousness and priorities of learning in terms of their balanced integration and wholeness. This developmental understanding informs everything that I do as a teacher – helping me to make school into a place that my students are excited to attend each day.

I can’t imagine a more meaningful career than the opportunity to facilitate children in finding their balance, their connection with the world, and the joy of their unique expression, so that they can live each moment with increasing reverence, wonder and awe. I believe these children have gifts to bring to the world, and it is my role as their teacher to help them discover their gifts and to facilitate them to blossom into their fullness.

I cannot recommend this course enough to prospective teachers, parents, and seekers of meaning and wholeness. This course offers not only a doorway into a fantastic vocation. It also offers the kind of education that many of us missed out on in our own schooling; the kind of education that facilitates us as adults to feel an inner connection with life, with our deepest self, and with a sense of self-defined purpose and meaning. That kind of education is truly priceless.

Alexander Paz

Graduate, Melbourne Rudolf Steiner Seminar

For the full story please click here: My time at Melbourne Rudolf Steiner Teacher Training_SEA

For more information on the Advanced Diploma of Rudolf Steiner Education at the Seminar, click here: Advanced Diploma course info