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Dear Colleagues,
One of the tasks of Waldorf education is to help our young people preserve and cultivate a range of tangible and intangible feelings and capacities. These are sometimes referred to as the implicit curriculum – not written, assessed, or prescribed in that way we typically think of curriculum, but arguably of greater importance. High on our list of “intangibles” are the feelings of wonder and awe.
Awe has recently become a subject of scientific and academic interest, including books and university studies. Dacher Keltner’s book, Awe, The New Science of Everyday Wonder and How It Can Transform Your Life is a very readable example of this emerging interest. However, anyone who works with children is already far ahead on this topic and knows first-hand the importance and impact of awe and a sense of wonder and reverence. Awe is a consistent thread in Waldorf education, from our youngest children all the way through high school. We do a great deal to support and cultivate these important feelings. Our carefully chosen stories, songs, poems, verses, and many, many aspects of the curriculum provide this, plus our own interest and enthusiasm.
Keltner offers a helpful framework for educators for these feelings and demonstrates their health-giving and meaning-making importance: “Awe is the feeling of being in the presence of something vast that transcends your current understanding of the world…. Awe is the emotion we experience when we encounter vast mysteries that we don’t understand.” Looked at this way, we see the crucial role of awe and wonder in encountering the unknown and learning - a child’s daily work.
Our task as adults is to protect this sense of wonder and to provide opportunities to experience it. Many awesome, wondrous experiences are linked to nature: the constantly changing canvas of the sky, the magic of spider webs, the activity of insects, birds in flight, eggs that hatch, a rainbow - the list is almost endless, but in our hurried, highly processed lives, it may take a little work to keep this alive. If our children come to school on four wheels, not two legs (the majority of our students), we may need to encourage them to take a moment to feel the weather, look up at the sky, and prompt them to tell us what they see. An instructional video could do this, but how much more meaningful to go to the window or step outside! Perhaps our children, like many, have never seen the full majesty of a starry sky. Is there some point in the middle grades where we can arrange a field trip that will allow them to have this breath-taking experience? In an age of screens, our long vision is healing and calming - and will allow us to seek and find the awe-inspiring.
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Einstein reminded us that “imagination is more important than knowledge”. Experiences and images that inspire awe also inspire wonder: “I wonder why….” can lead us far. Young children are naturally wired to be scientists, explorers of the unknown, filled with a natural curiosity and wonder at the world. It is our task to support and nurture this, to allow it to thrive and continue as an essential support in an age of increasing climate and planetary anxiety. We need to give them a firm foundation and a capacity to feel respect and responsibility. Wonder and awe build this.
Gratitude and the giving of thanks walk hand-in-hand with wonder and awe. Despite the drumbeat of overwhelmingly heavy news, we can be lifted up by moments of wonder at this amazing world. It is a totally free, readily accessible antidote and tonic that is available to each one of us - and it is our responsibility to ensure that our young people receive a healthy dose on a regular basis and that we also take it in so we can greet our students with enthusiasm and optimism.
Wonder and awe lift us up, fuel our optimism, and renew our sense of hope and trust. If we can cultivate awe, wonder, and gratitude in our children, we give them a gift for life, and we strengthen their resilience and optimism. Awe and its companions, wonder, gratitude, and reverence strengthen positive connections to the earth and others.
As we look toward the official start of Spring, may we all appreciate awe-inspiring moments of everyday life as well as those provided by the grand and mysterious.
Gratefully,
Liz Beaven
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Professional Development and Teacher Preparation | |
The Alliance Summer PD will be taking place virtually. Details to come in the coming weeks. | |
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Upcoming Learning Opportunities
Center for Anthroposophy
- March 16, 2024 - February 9, 2025, online -Explorations Online 2024-2025
https://centerforanthroposophy.org/programs/exploration-online-2024-2025/
- March 3, 10, 17, 24, 2024, online - From Personality Structure to Organization of Self: How Do the Organs Contribute to Illness or Health? Online
https://centerforanthroposophy.org/kairos/kairos-institute-spring/
Center for Biography and Social Art
- April 14, 2024, online- When you find beauty, you find inspiration
www.biographysocialart.org/public-online-workshops
Members of the Pedagogical Section Council of North America are offering a series of online workshops
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April 6, 2024, online- Collaborative Leadership - Michael Holdredge
https://www.cognitoforms.com/WaldorfTeacherInstitute1/PSCFreeOnlineWorkshops202324
Center for Anthroposophy: Waldorf Leadership Development: Cultivate Your Capacity to Serve in Leadership Positions
- May 11, 2024 - April 2025, online & in-person residency (Keene, NH)
https://centerforanthroposophy.org/programs/waldorf-administration-and-leadership-development-program/
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Summer Professional Development and Teacher Education
Woodland Star Charter School: Summer Professional Development Series
- June 10-14, 2024, Orton-Gillingham Training, Sonoma, CA
- June 17-21,2024, The Art of Teaching, Grades 6-8 & Science, Sonoma, CA
- June 24-28, 2024, The Art of Teaching, Grades 1-5, Sonoma, CA
https://woodlandstarschool.org/
The Sword, the Pen, and the Arrow - Adult Course - Preparing you to offer fencing, archery, and writing to youth in your school
- June 29 - July 5, 2024 - Spacial Dynamics Institute - Mechanicville, NY
https://www.spacialdynamics.com/calendar/2024/level-ii-sword-pen-and-arrow
Gradalis Teacher Training Certification Program
- New Cohort begins June 20th through July 12th, 2024, Denver, Colorado
https://gradalis.edu/teacher-training/
Gradalis Early Childhood Program Concentration
- New Cohort begins June 20h through July 18th, 2024, Denver, Colorado
https://gradalis.edu/early-childhood-overview/
Sunbridge’s Summer Series
- June and July 2024, online
- June 23-28 Early Childhood, Chestnut Ridge, NY
https://www.sunbridge.edu/courses-workshops/summer-series/
Antioch University Waldorf Teacher Education
- 2024 Entering Cohort
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June 24-28, Minimal Online Hours
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July 13-28, Residency in Wilton
https://www.antioch.edu/academics/education/waldorf-education-med/
Center for Anthroposophy: Renewal Courses Summer 2024
- June 30 - July 5, In-Person, Wilton, NH
https://centerforanthroposophy.org/programs/renewal-courses/
Gradalis Teaching as an Art Week: Grade Level Preparation for the working teacher
- July 7- 12, 2024, Denver, Colorado
https://gradalis.edu/teaching-as-an-art/
Center for Anthroposophy: Kairos Institute -Summer Residency with Bernd Ruf: Emergency Pedagogy on Traumatology and Spirituality
- July 7-12, 2024, Wilton, NH
https://centerforanthroposophy.org/kairos/summer-kairos/
Center for Anthroposophy: Renewal Courses Summer 2024
https://centerforanthroposophy.org/programs/renewal-courses/
Journey School Summer Renewal 2024
- July 8-12, Early Childhood and Grades 1-4, Aliso Viejo, CA
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Juley 15-19, Grades 5-8, Aliso Viejo, CA
https://www.journeyschool.net/renewal/
Great Lakes Waldorf Institute- Summer Professional Development Offerings
- July 8-12, 2024, online & July 15-19, 2024, Milwaukee, WI: Feeling for Reality: Developing Skills for Felt-Perception in the Waldorf High School
https://www.greatlakeswaldorf.org/high-school-2024
- July 22-26, 2024, online: Teaching for Black Lives in Waldorf Schools
https://www.greatlakeswaldorf.org/teaching-for-black-lives-course
Center for Anthroposophy: Waldorf High School Teacher Education
- WHiSTEP 2024 – 2026: New Cohort Begins July 14-28, 2024, in Wilton, NH
https://centerforanthroposophy.org/programs/waldorf-high-school-teacher-education/
5th Grade Greek Games Certification Course for Waldorf Teachers
- July 18-21, 2024 - Spacial Dynamics Institute - Mechanicville, NY
https://www.spacialdynamics.com/calendar/2024/level-ii-sword-pen-and-arrow
Gradalis Understanding Waldorf Education (UWE) Program
- September 2024-April 2025, Online
https://gradalis.edu/uwe-mentorship/
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Calling all Doctors!
We are compiling a resource list of people in the Public Waldorf movement who hold a doctoral degree - PhD or EdD. If you hold a doctorate and would like to be included, please email us the following:
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- Your name
- Degree earned and year
- Dissertation title
- Type of research: qualitative, quantitative, or mixed-method
- Area(s) of research interest
- Any current involvement in research or publication
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Thank you to those who have already responded to this request. | |
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For more information:
Liz Beaven, Executive Director
Carly Fedor, Administrative Assistant
Alliance for Public Waldorf Education
1000 River Rock Drive, Suite 218
Folsom, CA 95630
Public Waldorf is a service mark of the Association of Waldorf Schools of North America and is used pursuant to a license.
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