From Susan Howard, WECAN Coordinator |
We hear reports of daffodils in bloom from some of our members, while others of you are in the grips of winter snow storms. The weather, like so much else this year, is difficult to predict. In this Winter News Update, we would like to share with you some glimpses of our ongoing work, as well as recent and upcoming events.
Much of our communication with our members and friends is taking place on our WECAN Community Hub this year, with nearly 900 members engaging in conversation and sharing resources. We invite you to join us there as well, by writing to WECANCommunity+subscribe@wecan.groups.io. We look forward to hearing from you!
with warm wishes to all in these turbulent times,
Susan Howard
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Uncharted Waters
Holly Koteen Soule, WECAN Board Member
Founding Member of the ad hoc WECAN Early Childhood Research Group
The year 2020 brought unprecedented challenges to us as individuals, as families, as institutions and even as a nation. We have been tested mightily by social isolation, racial justice protests, and political chaos. Individual and collective acts of kindness, empathy and courage- humanity at its best- has kept our lifeboat from being swept out to sea but nevertheless, brought us face-to-face with existential questions that we usually keep at bay.
As Waldorf early childhood teachers, we have had to ask ourselves:
How flexible and creative can I be?
What IS the essence of Waldorf education?
From where do we get our inner strength and conviction?
Early childhood educators are used to being calm centers in stormy times, but in this situation, we have been dealing with extreme levels of uncertainty- for ourselves, our families, the parents of the children in our classes, our colleagues in our schools. We continue to be in uncharted waters as a culture, a school movement and as Waldorf educators.
On many occasions I have found myself wondering what is REALLY happening? Why did the whole world need to push the pause button? Is there a shining opportunity under the surface of this phenomenon that will only be open for a short period of time and then close again, like flood waters after the rainstorm?
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News from the WECAN Board
Although the Board is unable to meet in person this year, we have frequent zoom meetings and have been working to support our members with the challenges we are all currently facing in this unusual school year. Our work includes a focus on Diversity, Inclusion and Equity work, which was the theme of our annual conference held online earlier this month. At the conference the full board presented an statement, which you can read here: WECAN Board Accountability Statement.
As mentioned in our December Annual Appeal letter, we are very excited about welcoming three new WECAN Board members: Keelah Helwig, kindergarten teacher and early childhood chair at the Waldorf School of Garden City, NY; Anjum Mir, parent-child teacher at the Westside Waldorf School, Pacific Palisades,CA; and Gabriela Nuñez-Plata, co-founder of the Ak Lu'um Waldorf Community School and Yaxkin Early Childhood Teacher Training in Playa del Carmen, Mexico.
The Board has several zoom meetings planned in the coming months. Our next full board meeting will be in early June, probably still through zoom. We very much look forward to opportunities to meet again in person!
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Inclusion, Diversity, Equity and Access: The WECAN IDEA Committee
Thank you to all of you who have reached out over the last few years to express an interest in working with WECAN on issues of Inclusion, Diversity, Equity and Access (IDEA). We are heartened by the work happening in our WECAN member programs all over the continent.
This fall, the WECAN IDEA committee put out a call for letters of interest from individuals inspired to support the IDEA work through committee membership. We were fortunate and delighted to receive letters of interest from a rich array of colleagues, all of whom had much to offer by way of personal and professional experience in this realm.
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Toward a Kinder, More Compassionate Society - February WECAN Conference |
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Nearly 900 Waldorf early childhood educators from North America and around the world participated in our February online conference! This event was a historic moment in our collaborative work toward greater Diversity, Inclusion, Equity and Access in our movement. We centered our colleagues who are Black, Indigenous, and People of Color, and for the first time, we invited a keynote speaker from outside the Waldorf movement to help us to expand our awareness and work toward the kinder, more compassionate society we all know is possible.
Our work on the conference theme continues, as we now explore how to develop new approaches to storytelling, festival celebrations, songs, and circles in ways that are true to the foundations of Waldorf Education. Having been stimulated by a lively and inspiring presentation of working with BLM principles in a non-Waldorf setting, how do we translate this into our work as Waldorf early childhood educators? How do we develop new approaches to the art of education?
We invite you to join in this action research through webinars, zoom conversations and sharing resources on our new WECAN Community Hub subgroup called 2021FebruaryConference Communications. Resources from the conference are posted there. and are available to be shared.
A heartfelt THANK YOU to everyone who contributed to this historic event:
Keynote speaker Laleña Garcia, who launched us into a whole new exploration of our work with ourselves and with our children
Panelists Leimomi Apoliona Brown, Sondi Eugene, Teresa Price and Meggan Gill for their courageous sharing of their BIPOC experiences and perspectives to help us all expand our awareness
Keelah Helwig, Juliana Pinto McKeen and Meggan Gill for being the bridges between participants and Laleña Garcia through conversation and question-and-answer sessions
Nancy Blanning, Jessica Oswald and Magdalena Toran, for giving us glimpses into their own work in the brave space we are creating together, where we are working on these important challenges side by side
Puppeteer Aimee De Ney and her helpers Marjorie Rehbach and Kendra Cooley for sharing the Snoqualmie story of "Pushing Up the Sky" through shadow puppetry
Performers Oxana Chi and Dr. Layla Zami for their creative exploration of fusion movement as an art for the future
Workshop presenters and affinity space facilitators who shared their gifts and ongoing work with conference participants
the incredible WECAN Conference Team, whose work behind the scenes made it possible for us all to come together in this unique way
And our Sponsors for their generous support of this work. Click here for a full list of sponsors and exhibitors and links to their websites.
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Fundraising for Projects around the World: South Africa |
We hope that you will join us in our support for the Centre for Creative Education in Cape Town, whose early childhood training courses have been specially designed to meet the particular needs of educare centers in the townships and rural areas of South Africa. The students in this Waldorf training have created what they call the Foundation for the Future of Humanity, as they seek to transform their society through the education of young children. To read more about the Centre's work and how it is affected by the pandemic, click here.
We are pleased to announce that we raised over $4000 for the Centre at the February conference. More support is needed, and if you would like to make a donation, it is not too late! You can make a donation for "South Africa Fundraiser" via PayPal, send a check to WECAN, 285 Hungry Hollow Road, Spring Valley, NY 10977, or contact info@waldorfearlychildhood.org for more information.
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Teacher Education Update
Ruth Ker, Teacher Education Coordinator
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A closer connection amongst the Teacher Training Institutes continues to be fostered with regularly scheduled, well-attended zoom calls. Important discussions have happened around bringing more diversity into our trainings, on-line teaching formats and tools, emphasizing the young child’s need to know there is morality in our world, birth to three training requirements, and working with individual questions from our member institutes. In this mutually supportive environment, goodwill thrives amongst our member institute colleagues.
Although, during Covid-19 restrictions, most teacher training venues are using on-line formats, WECAN’s Teacher Training Expectations have remained the same. Member institutes are keeping records to indicate how their usual in-person requirements are being honored during this necessary time of on-line presence.
Our Institute Teacher Education Membership Handbook has gone through several edits. Here is the link to the most recent version.
Welcome to our new Associate member, Centro de Desarrollo Antroposofico in Cuernavaca, Mexico. The TEC looks forward to making a site visit to this teacher training institute, which has been in operation since 2013, as soon as travel is possible again. Congratulations also to the Early Childhood Teacher Education Center at Sophia’s Hearth and to Rudolf Steiner Centre Toronto for being the first Member institutes to have completed their self-study processes and receive WECAN endorsement for their birth to three educator trainings. One other Full Member Institute has made application and is in process with their birth to three self-study and there have been other inquiries as well.
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Early Childhood Teacher Education Center at Sophia’s Hearth |
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Rudolf Steiner Centre Toronto |
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From the Membership Office
Laura Mason, Membership Coordinator
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The membership office asks organizational members to report significant changes to their programs every year and we typically receive a handful of reports. When we sent out our substantive change survey this fall we expected a large response and we did, in fact, hear back from 70% of our member programs.
As expected, the majority of change reported was in response to the COVID pandemic. Almost all programs reported at least a few of the following common changes: increased (in some cases exclusive) time outdoors, masking of children and/or educators, decreased program hours, isolated cohorts/pods, different mix of ages due to isolated cohorts/pods, closed parent and child programs, minimized or eliminated after school programs, changes to how/if food is served, virtual meetings, no parents in buildings, limited to no community festival celebrations, increased staff hours for cleaning or in order to maintain pods, some online programming.
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WECAN 2019- 2020 Annual Report
2019-20 was a unique and challenging year, marked by the 100th Anniversary of Waldorf Education, the arrival of the pandemic, and social justice protests.
We are deeply grateful for the resourcefulness, flexibility, initiative, creativity, and steadfastness of our colleagues, friends and donors during this challenging year, and would like to provide you with a picture of the highlights of the work of our Association in 2019-20.
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World Association of Puppetry and Storytelling Arts |
We are excited to share the news of the formation of the World Association of Puppetry and Storytelling Arts! Here is a brief description by Janene Ping:
"We are hoping to be an easily accessible resource worldwide for Waldorf colleagues to find stories, puppet shows, workshops and more. We have a video archive growing that is a marvelous kaleidoscope of different styles of puppetry presentation. This summer our 7th annual conference will highlight a continuation of BIPOC themes with a focus on world wide indigenous wisdom.
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Our membership includes Nancy Mellon, Andrea Gambardella, Suzanne Down, Connie Manson, Estelle Breyer, Janni Nicol, Aimee DeNey, Majorie Rehbach, Jennifer Aguirre, and myself.
In our first issue of the Puppetry Journal, fellow artists and teachers share stories of their work during past months of living with the pandemic. These are indeed stories of resilience ~ overcoming the fears, restrictions, and challenges of isolation that we have all experienced.
Looking forward to further collaboration!"
Janene
Click here to read the Journal and find information on becoming a member of the World Puppetry Association.
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Looking Forward to the Upcoming Spring Gateways
Nancy Blanning, Gateways Editor
Dominating everyone’s thoughts at this time are the challenges we face from the COVID pandemic. The requirements for safe-gathering in our programs have forced many changes and caused us to ask what is truly essential to Waldorf early childhood programs. The newly formed WECAN Research Group, initiated by Holly Koteen-Soulé, opens the upcoming issue of Gateways with many questions to help assist us in the process of discerning what really matters in our work with young children, families, and colleagues. What do we keep, what do we change, what do we add?
Two articles look into the “basic basics” that we know are important but may forget to appreciate fully. One article considers imitation as a pathway into life and purposeful activity. A second considers the art of transition—the make-it-or-break-it moment when directing a change of activity.
Equally strong in our minds is the urgent call to act to establish diversity, equity, inclusivity, andracial justice in our communities and schools. The conversations begun in the fall issue of Gateways continue. Consideration of story-telling, some new stories to picture diversity and beauty, and a journey into the skin color of puppets give us more to think about and ideas for our own classrooms.
This gives you a taste of what you will find. Much more awaits Gateways readers in the Spring 2021 issue.
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Child of Nature
By Rikke Rosengren
Nature has a unique potential as a platform for children to grow and experiment. Child of Nature emphasizes children’s curiosity, their natural need for movement, and how to optimize the possibilities for children’s development outdoors. Parents, teachers, and care-givers will learn practical ways to give children the chance for adventurous play and sensory stimulation, and to support a pedagogical foundation for education that is based on children’s healthy development.
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By Helle Heckmann
Five Golden Keys celebrates families embracing life with the child under 7 years. Sleep, movement, mealtimes, rhythm, and care. With these five golden keys, Helle Heckmann offers a simple and practical approach that addresses the young child’s needs in the best possible way.
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Understanding Child Development: Rudolf Steiner's Essential Principles for Waldorf Education
Edited by Angelika Wiehl and Wolfgang-M. Auer
Translated by Margot Saar
The result of the editors’ many years of experience as Waldorf educators and trainers, this selection of Rudolf Steiner’s source texts on childhood includes scholarly commentary, supplemental essays on sensory development and imitation, suggestions for studying the texts, and a discussion of the future of childhood. An essential resource for Waldorf educators and teacher education programs!
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Tell Me Another Story
Edited by Louise deForest
A second collection of stories gathered from Waldorf early childhood teachers throughout North America longing to share what they love with those who love children.
Because it is in the sharing—the telling—that a story comes alive, the more you tell stories, the more you will hear, “Tell me another story.”
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The Child from Birth to Three in Waldorf Education and Child Care
by Rainer Patzlaff, Claudia McKeen, Ina von Mackensen, Claudia Grah-Wittich
This is a companion volume to Developmental Signatures: Core Values and Practices in Waldorf Education for Children Ages 3-9, originally published in Germany. The English-language edition includes an introduction by Susan Howard and a list of resources available in English. Beautifully illustrated throughout with full-color photographs.
This book is available only until our inventory runs out.
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AWSNA, WECAN and APWE invite you and your colleagues to join us in celebrating our past and planning for the future. More information will be posted soon on the WECAN website. |
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Upcoming Events
Exploring the World of Birth to Three and Why It's So Important
March 5-6, 2021 - Sunbridge Institute
An interactive workshop with Anna Ruth Myers of The Nurtured Child and Meggan Gill of City of Lakes Waldorf School exploring developmental insights and practices for working with infants and toddlers and how this work fits into the bigger picture of Waldorf pedagogy and school organization. Presented virtually over Zoom.
For information, visit www.sunbridge.edu or contact Barbara Vitale at info@sunbridge.edu or 845-425-0055 x20.
Calling It Like it is: Uncovering and Dismantling Racism in the Waldorf Movement
March 19-20, 2021 - Sunbridge Institute
Teachers Conference for Waldorf educators and administrators, with facilitators Meggan Gill of City of Lakes Waldorf School, Keelah Helwig of The Waldorf School of Garden CIty, Vicki Larson of Green Meadow Waldorf School, and Heather Scott of the Waldorf School of San Diego. Presented virtually over Zoom.
For information, visit www.sunbridge.edu or contact Barbara Vitale at info@sunbridge.edu or call 845-425-0055 x20.
Spring Workshop
Online March 6h & 13th - Dancing Hands & Frolicking Voices
Two consecutive Saturdays 11am-6pm EST, 8am-3pm PST.
Join us as we gather to celebrate spring and new beginnings beautifully embodied in the gesture plays of Wilma Ellersiek. Move with Spacial Dynamics, sing, make a fluffy bunny, and have small group discussions offering support and inspiration. If you're unable to join us "live" you may view the videos on your own time through the end of March. Register by March first for the early bird discount and a rejuvenation surprise.
For more information email Lynn St. Pierre at dancinghandsfrolickingvoices@gmail.com
Educators' Friday Rejuvenations
Online Every Friday - Dancing Hands & Frolicking Voices
4:30-6pm EST, 1:30-3pm PST
Come join us to unwind from the week’s stresses and move into your weekend with a sense of freedom and spaciousness! We will mainly use the practice of Spacial Dynamics along with verse, contemplation, journaling and drawing briefly, singing, discussion in small groups and deep relaxation techniques.
For more information email Lynn St. Pierre at dancinghandsfrolickingvoices@gmail.com
Regional WECAN Gathering for Early Childhood Teachers in Northern California and Nevada
April 17, 2021
Online 9:00- 12:30 PT. Cost $20.
Please join us for a morning of renewal. Teresa Ferrari, Anthroposophic Nurse Specialist, will address self-care for the teacher by looking at the 12 fold, 7-fold, 3-fold human and the individual. How can we include rhythm and care of the senses in our own daily practice? There will be time to hear from each school- a short report of how you are and one step your school has made in regards to pandemic and economic challenges and initiatives in diversity, equity and inclusion. There will be breakout groups to share what is working and what are seeds from this past year for future tending.
For more information contact dianejohndavid@sbcglobal.net
Early Childhood Teacher Education - New Completion Track
June 14-July 2, 2021 - Sunbridge Institute
Waldorf Early Childhood Teacher Education Completion Track. New cohort enrolling in low-residency program for highly experienced lead Waldorf early childhood educators looking to earn a full WECAN diploma. Financial aid available. Fully-accredited M.Ed or MALS option.
Program Directors: Nancy Blanning and Leslie Burchell-Fox, MSEd.
For information/application, visit www.sunbridge.edu or contact Barbara Vitale at info@sunbridge.edu or 845-425-0055 x20
Introduction to Waldorf Early Childhood Education
June 20-25, 2021 - Sunbridge Institute
Summer Series course presented over Zoom.
info@sunbridge.edu or 845-425-0055 x20.
School Renewal and the Heart of Change - Waldorf Education Conference
Online June 22-25, 2021
How do our principles inspire us to courageously change ourselves and our schools and training institutes? How do we work out of love and interest to really realize the potential of Waldorf education in North America in the 21st century?
AWSNA, WECAN and APWE invite you and your colleagues to join us in celebrating our past and planning for the future. More information will be posted soon on the WECAN website.
Therapeutic Aspects of Our Work - Summer Workshop with Dr. Lakshmi Prasanna
Online June 27th - July 2nd - Dancing Hands & Frolicking Voices
Our work and play will include lecture and discussions, the developmental movement of Wilma Ellersiek in the form of loving touch, gesture plays and large movement plays for summer and autumn, singing in the mood of the fifth, Spacial Dynamics, making plant-dyed pocket story aprons and puppets, and more. Space is limited for those "live streaming" so register early to save your place. Friday Rejuvenations are included with your registration! If you're unable to join us "live" you may view the videos on your own time through the end of July.
For more information, contact Lynn St. Pierre at dancinghandsfrolickingvoices@gmail.com
Waldorf Birth to Three Educator Training
Training starts July 3, 2021 - West Coast Institute
July session at Sunrise Waldorf School, Duncan, Vancouver Island; fall & spring at the Vancouver Waldorf School in North Vancouver, BC
This is a 14-month, birth-to-three-focused option of the part-time Early Childhood Program. It runs for eight weeks over 14 months, comprised of three weeks in two summers (July) and a week in November and February of the first year. If there are Covid restrictions, our courses will start online.
Waldorf Early Childhood Educator Training
New cohort starts July 3, 2021 - West Coast Institute
July session at Sunrise Waldorf School, Duncan, Vancouver Island; fall & spring at the Vancouver Waldorf School in North Vancouver, BC
This is a part-time program of 5 weeks per year over 2 years comprised of 3 weeks in July and a week in November and February each successive year. If there are covid restrictions, our courses will start online.
The World Association of Puppetry and Storytelling Arts - Summer Arts Conference
Online July 29-August 1, 2021
Storytelling and puppetry performances from around the world, puppet crafting workshops with master artists, interest group discussion sessions, "seed planting" for collaborative endeavors.
For more information and to register, contact worldpuppetry@gmail.com
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Join WECAN by becoming an Individual Member!
Membership benefits include:
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A subscription to the Gateways Journal (includes the Fall 2020 and Spring 2021 issues)
- WECAN News Updates
- A 10% discount on WECAN book sales
- Discounts on registration fees at the East Coast and Pacific Northwest WECAN Conferences
- Regular email messages that include research digests and reports on activities, conferences, and events within WECAN and IASWECE (the International Association of Waldorf/Steiner Waldorf Early Childhood Education).
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