Steiner Education Australia is a proud member of the International Forum for Steiner/Waldorf Education.
They have recently updated their website and it provides links to the international Waldorf Resources website, essential characteristics of Waldorf education, the World Waldorf list and up to date information and news from around the world.
Go there →This page is created by the Pedagogical Section at the Goetheanum on behalf of the International Forum for Steiner/Waldorf Education. We are dedicated to supporting Steiner Waldorf Teachers worldwide by providing the best possible resources and articles.
Children and teenagers are the reason why there are nurseries, playgroups, kindergartens and schools in the world. The young generation is the true principal for all those who care for our children’s wellbeing. With this website we want to support all those who are connected to this task.
In the categories Foundation, Early Childhood, Teaching Practice, Self Development and School Management you will find collections of articles focusing on various aspects of preparation. How can a school lesson or a sequence of activities for the kindergarten be prepared? What is important for very young children? How may a parents’ evening be planned and what are the preconditions for cooperative school management?
This website focuses on the conditions needed to plan and implement learning opportunities in schools, kindergartens and wherever children and teenagers are being cared for. We also address questions connected to personal and professional self development.
The Forums enable, support and encourage the worldwide exchange of ideas and concerns among teachers.
A list of international conferences, adult education courses and more is available in the category Events. Please do not hesitate to contact us with information about any other event you would like to publish here.
Dear practicing teachers and educators at Waldorf Steiner Schools worldwide: Your cooperation is invaluable to keep this site alive and stimulating.
Please contact the editor with your suggestions, ideas and contributions: info(at)waldorf-resources.org
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What’s Love got to do with Education?
By Dr. Jennifer M. Gidley
Dear friends working in Steiner schools,
I want to let you know about my new book: Postformal Education: A Philosophy for Complex Futures. It is drawn from my Steiner-inspired PhD on evolution of consciousness and its implications for education. One of the main purposes of my book is to present Steiner philosophy and pedagogy in a way suited to the 21st century.
This short blog piece is extracted from the book.
In a world of high-stakes testing, league tables for primary schools as well as universities, funding cuts, teacher shortages, mass shootings in school campuses, and rising rates of depression and suicide among students who miss out on university entrance, how do we decide what should be the core values in education?
I believe the most important value that is largely missing from education today is what I call pedagogical love. In Chapter 8 of Postformal Education: A Philosophy for Complex Futures, I explain why love should be at centre-stage in education. I introduce contemporary educational approaches that support a caring pedagogy, and some experiences and examples from my own and others’ practice, ending with some personal reflections on the theme.
Why do we want to educate with and for love? We live in a cynical global world with a dominant culture that does not value care and empathy. We live under the blanket of a dominant worldview that promotes values that are clearly damaging to human and environmental wellbeing. In many ways our world, with its dominance of economic values over practically all other concerns, is a world of callous values.
Canadian holistic educator, John Miller points to the subjugation of words like love in contemporary educational literature in the following quote from his 2000 book Education and the Soul: Towards a Spiritual Curriculum:
“The word ‘love’ is rarely mentioned in educational circles. The word seems out of place in a world of outcomes, accountability, and standardised tests.”
British educational researcher, Maggie MacLure speaks about the obsession with quantitative language in education in the UK: “objectives, outcomes, standards, high-stakes testing, competition, performance and accountability.” She argues that the resistance to the complexity and diversity of qualitative research that is found in the evidence-based agendas of the audit culture is linked to “deep-seated fears and anxieties about language and desire to control it.” In such a context, it is not hard to imagine that words like love are likely to create what MacLure calls ontological panic among the educational audit-police.
In spite of these challenges several educational theorists and practitioners emphasise the importance of love—and the role of the heart—in educational settings. If young people are to thrive in educational settings, new spaces need to be opened up for softer terms, such as love, nurture, respect, reverence, awe, wonder, wellbeing, vulnerability, care, tenderness, openness, trust.
Arthur Zajonc has developed an educational and contemplative process that he calls an “epistemology of love.” Mexican holistic education philosopher, Ramon Gallegos Nava, refers to holistic education as a “pedagogy of universal love.” Other important contributions to bringing pedagogical love into education include Nel Noddings extensive writings on “an ethics of care”, Parker Palmer’s “heart of a teacher” and Tobin Hart’s deep empathy.”
All of these theorists and more are introduced and discussed in Chapter 8 of Postformal Education: A Philosophy for Complex Futures (Springer, Netherlands) published August 2016.
http://www.springer.com/us/book/9783319290683
Both eBook and Hardback are available to purchase from September 2016.
See also my Amazon Author page: www.amazon.com/author/jennifergidley
Go there →
This 100-page manual is a valuable resource for Class Teachers looking for practical and inspiring material for morning circle.
Background chapters include:
The main body of the manual outlines a series of exercises for ‘Vikings-in-Training’, designed to facilitate an optimally healthy incarnation process for the 9th Year and beyond. A DVD features 12 video clips of children working through the sequence.
An audio CD includes songs and verses, including 6 verses of the Volospa in Old Icelandic.
To order Vikings, Gods and Giants, please contact diane.tatum@optusnet.com.au
The cost of Vikings, Gods and Giants is $75, plus shipping and GST.
Go there →A collection of early phonetic readers is available from Jalmar Press.
For information about the readers, and details on how to order, please see the attached information.
Order from:
Jalmar Press,
PO Box 370, Fawnskin, CA 92333
Rudolf Steiner/Waldorf High School Education Perspectives.
Inspiring articles on teaching science, arts, technology, literature plus guidance for teachers about the development of adolescents by Peter Glasby, Heinz Zimmermann, John Allison, Hans van Florenstein Mulder, Florian Osswald, Sue Simpson, Van James David Garb and other authors who have had many years experience teaching and guiding teenagers.
Contact: Rudolf Steiner Bookshop NSW retail price A$29.95 plus p/p
Go there →Two ‘must have’ books for all Waldorf/Steiner High Schools!
Dr Manfred von Mackensen is a master of pedagogy. These books will be of special interest to all high school chemistry teachers who want to understand the adolescent and how to engage them in their subject. But wider than that, they show how a subject is developed in a way that connects with the world today and integrates different aspects such as the modern economy, technological processes, the environment and more.
Class 9 Chemistry Various themes are covered, such as the nature and production of petroleum, alcohol, home medicines, anaesthetics, vinegar and fragrances.
An essay on ‘Recognising what is human in Education: The structure of the school day, styles of teaching, ideals of Education’ by Peter Glasby is included.
108 pp $30
Class 10 Chemistry
Balance and polarity, fundamental “latent questions” that lie deep in the soul of the young person are here given some answer through the exploration of these three substances. Once again the relationships and connections to the world around us are the framework for the chemical reactions and investigation of the nature of these substances.
These books are published by the Pedagogical Section in Australia.
93pp $30
To order, please contact:
Jennifer West
Mobile: 0414 766 400
Go there →A BOOK TO SUPPORT THE PARENTING, TEACHING AND EDUCATION OF CHILDREN, THEREBY NOURISHING A MORE HARMONIOUS SOCIETY
Digital copy (ISBN 9781301401390) now available for download
To review/purchase, have a look at:
True education has a critical mission to play on the planet. This book illustrates some of the potential pitfalls of certain education streams, and offers ideas to support the liberation of the individual human spirit.
Educating consciousness should become an important focus, enabling free thinking and self directed humans to give unselfish purpose to their lives. For these ideals to flourish, good foundations need to be laid in early life.
This book outlines some of those foundation pathways leading to balanced humans who can contribute to greater balance in our western societies.
“… I would love to see this book being read far and wide by teachers, would-be teachers, politicians and especially parents.”
Sandy MacGregor
Studentsʼ Steps to Success Director CALM Research Centre, Sydney
E: jonathan@teachthechildrenwell.com.au P: (w) +61 7 5471 1752 P: (mob) +61 404 103 662 W: http://www.teachthechildrenwell.com.au
Go there →Based on teaching practices in Waldorf schools
The series Mathematics for the High School was specifically designed with math teachers in mind. Not only are the books a useful resource for gaining familiarity with teaching approaches used in a Waldorf school, but they are also a source of inspiration – offering fresh perspectives and new insights — for courses that have perhaps been taught many times
This book contains experienced teachers’ suggestions for lesson blocks covering topics taught in the 11th grade in the Waldorf curriculum. Themes include:
– Analytical Geometry
– Projective Geometry
– Spherical Geometry
– Sequences and Limits
The emphasis is on projective geometry, since this topic is not very familiar to most teachers.
The material is not only described theoretically, but includes many examples, exercises and “hands-on” hints for the lesson. Some information about the historical background of the major themes rounds out many of the contributions.
Editor: Robert Neumann
Authors: Peter Baum, Karl-F. Georg, Uwe Hansen, Markus Hünig, Klaus Labudde, Rolf Rosbigalle, Stephan Sigler
pdf-file with 288 pages
1. edition 2011
To order PDF and more information see http://www.lehrerseminar-forschung.de/lehrmittel_buecher/shop/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=184
Go there →Neil Carter, well known NZ Steiner educator, received a sabbatical leave grant from the NZ Ministry of Education to produce a Southern Hemisphere Astronomy teaching resource for teachers of class 3 to 8 (9 to 14 year olds).
The accuracy of this resource has been checked by several experts, including two astrophysicists, as well as the education and public programmes manager at Carter’s Observatory in Wellington, NZ.
You can order by contacting Neil Carter at waldorf@clear.net.nz
Go there →Under the Stars is a profound and practical anthology of well researched articles on the principles and methods of Steiner Waldorf Early Childhood Education. The purpose is to help early years educators deepen their insights into Steiner’s inspiring, holistic understanding of children. Rather than recipes, here are the author’s thought provoking insights and principles derived from lifelong work as kindergarten educator. These insights will free up educators to transform their observation of children, their practice and their self development.
Pbk 240pp 9781907359163 A$42.95 NZ$58.95 2012.07 Hawthorn Press
order online at www.footprint.com.au
This 100-page manual is a valuable resource for Class Teachers looking for practical and inspiring material for morning circle.
Background chapters include:
The main body of the manual outlines a series of exercises for ‘Vikings-in-Training’, designed to facilitate an optimally healthy incarnation process for the 9th Year and beyond. A DVD features 12 video clips of children working through the sequence.
An audio CD includes songs and verses, including 6 verses of the Volospa in Old Icelandic.
To order Vikings, Gods and Giants, please contact diane.tatum@optusnet.com.au
The cost of Vikings, Gods and Giants is $75, plus shipping and GST.
Go there →
