Times of Change

Dear friends and colleagues,

We would like to inform you of some important changes in our organisation. Beginning in October 2020 our beloved colleague Philipp Reubke will be connected to the worldwide movement of Steiner/Waldorf early childhood education in a new way.

Philipp will leave his role as member of the Coordinating Group in IASWECE to take up a co-leadership role in the Pedagogical Section in Dornach. This is an important moment not only for Philipp but also for the whole early childhood movement. For the first time, we will have someone in the Pedagogical Section from our own field of expertise. Of course, we know that the Pedagogical Section leaders’ interest and dedication span all life phases from birth to age 21 and it goes without saying that the present and past section leaders have always supported the early childhood movement in many ways. But in the hearts of many early childhood colleagues it will still feel different to know that ‘one of our own’ has now taken on this task. In IASWECE we have great hopes for the ways in which Philipp in his new role will be able to strengthen and further our pedagogy in the many places worldwide and help us to develop new insights and ways of meeting the many challenges that stand before us.

Transition moments are also moments of reflection and we have asked Philipp to give an impression of his time as member of the council and coordinating group of IASWECE (see below). From our side we feel deep gratitude for the many years of warm, passionate dedication with which Philipp has given himself to his many tasks in IASWECE and we will cheerfully remember his humorous, playful, creative way of bringing lightness into heaviness. Philipp will continue to stay in close collaboration with IASWECE and thus we are not really saying goodbye to him but look forward to exploring with him new windows of unknown opportunities.

In this time of change we are also very fortunate to welcome Lourdes Tormes-Granados from Spain as a new member of our IASWECE Coordinating Group. Lourdes has a long-time connection to IASWECE as a member of the council and board, and we are grateful that she will join us. Among many other activities, Lourdes will help IASWECE to support the work with the very young child in the first three years of life and to strengthen the connection with our Latin American colleagues. Also included below is a picture (see below) of Lourdes’ aspirations for this new task.

Dear friends, we hope that our news lifts you for a short moment above the uncertain times we are all going through and about which we will speak in our upcoming newsletter. In the meantime, we wish you good health, strong spirits and deep trust in the resilience of life itself.

On behalf of the Council, the Board and the Coordinating Group of IASWECE

Clara Aerts

Philipp Reubke

Questions

Do you remember how it happened that you became a Waldorf teacher? Or why you chose another profession? Or why you sent your child to the Waldorf Kindergarten where he or she is now?

Was it the same with you, that the question or invitation of another person played a decisive role?

Could you help us with this vacation camp for children? Could you do maternity leave substitution in my kindergarten? Could you make an introduction to our regional kindergarten? Could you work on the board of trustees of the International Association of Waldorf Kindergartens as a representative of the Waldorf Kindergartens in France? Without these questions I might never have become involved in Waldorf Education.

Click here to continue reading.

Lourdes Tormes-Granados

Dear colleagues,

At the end of the summer, here in Spain, the weather can change drastically very quick. And after a very hot sunny day, suddenly the wind, the rain, the storm…and then peace again, and a new brightness comes through the effect of this nature’s little revolution.

After a long long time being an early childhood educator in Madrid, and after many years of collaboration as a country representative in IASWECE, tasting different tasks here and there, suddenly came the storm, through a question from my colleagues: “As Philipp will no longer be active in IASWECE, would you like to be a new member of our Coordinating Group?”

The first impression, that I probably share with all my colleagues in the council but also with many of you who know Philipp very well, was to really understand that Philipp would no longer participate in our circle as he enters the Pedagogical Section. How will we do without him? His presence, his humour, his creativity, his inner commitment, his social being and much more have been cornerstones in our international work. But immediately I realised that in his new position, we will still work together and he will still bring all these qualities to the world of the early childhood.

And then, what a change for my life! I would no longer enjoy the daily presence of the children, which is a gift as we all know. But taking a new step in the care of the global early childhood is also a huge opportunity for me to develop another side of being an early childhood educator. I face this new challenge with joy and strength, ready to listen to all the needs and to learn from others, as well as making available whatever my possibilities are. I am deeply grateful for this opportunity.

Warm greetings!

Lourdes Tormes

From The Pedagogical Section

Dear Friends of the worldwide Kindergarten and School Movement of Rudolf Steiner and Waldorf School,

Claus-Peter Röh and Florian Osswald have been leading the Pedagogical Section of the School of Spiritual Science in Dornach since 2010 and feel it is time to transfer this leadership task into other hands. This is due the appointment to new tasks as well as for age reasons. For some time now, a Search Commission, in which the International Forum of the Waldorf Education Movement (formerly the Hague Circle), the IASWECE (International Association for Steiner/Waldorf Early Childhood Education) and the Goetheanum Leadership were represented, has been working on nominating their succession. After an intensive pro- cess, a new leadership team for the Pedagogical Section has been nominated.

We are very pleased to have found in Constanza Kaliks and Philipp Reubke two people who will gladly take on this task. Both bring a rich pedagogical experience with them and already know many areas of the Kindergarten and School Movement as well as training and further education in this field.

Philipp Reubke brings his intensive experience from the worldwide Waldorf Kindergarten Movement into the work of the Pedagogical Section. At the same time, he is responsible for the school movement in France as a member of the board of the Fédération Pédagogie Steiner-Waldorf en France. He will begin work in the Section in the fall of 2020 and will be fully responsible for the Section in the coming year.

Constanza Kaliks worked for many years as a teacher and trainer in Brazil, before she came to Dornach to take over the leadership of the Youth Section at the Goetheanum. Sometime later she was appointed to the Executive Council of the General Anthroposophical Society (AAG). She is also involved in the formation of the General Anthroposophical Section.

At the beginning of 2022 she will assume full leadership of the Pedagogical Section and hand over leader- ship of the Youth Section. This will allow a smooth transition in close collaboration, as Claus-Peter Röh will hand over the leadership in mid 2021 and Florian Osswald at the beginning of 2022.

We are pleased to be able to inform you of these changes.

With best wishes for your work and kind regards from the Pedagogical Section

Claus-Peter Röh and Florian Osswald