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December 2011 | 3,50 €
erziehungskunst special Waldorfpädagogik heute
40 years
One world – one idea
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2 CONTENTS | IMPRINT 4 H. Kullak-Ublick: Conveying an interest in the world 4
7 G. Goldshmidt: Building intercultural bridges in Israel 7 P. van Alphen: Waldorf education among the Maasai 10 A. Schubert: Pupils helping children: CultivArte in Buenos Aires 12 The flame of anthroposophy in Taiwan. An interview with Chun Su 14 A Hungarian Waldorf school fights the crisis. An interview with Éva Farkas 17 D. Winter: A homoeopathic dosage. The USA is a developing country with regard to Waldorf education 20
22 Statements and congratulations I 22 N. Göbel: For an education in human dignity 23 Statements and congratulations II 26
27 V. Hacken: The control rooms in Berlin and Karlsruhe 27 M. Maurer: Bernd Ruf. From bobby to special needs teacher 30 H. Kullak-Ublick: Nana Göbel. …and yet she moves you! 33
36 N. Göbel: Can ”Waldorf” survive in Hungary? 36
37 O. Girard et al.: The potential of WOW Day 37
43 S. Koolmann: Are you still giving or already gifting? 43
46 erziehungskunst spezial Waldorfpädagogik heute Volume 75, Issue 02, December 2011, circulation 77,000 Publisher: Bund der Freien Waldorfschulen e.V., Wagenburgstr. 6, D-70184 Stuttgart, Tel.: +49 /(0)7 11/2 10 42-0 Editorial: Mathias Maurer, Lorenzo Ravagli, Dr. Ariane Eichenberg
Titelfoto: Wolfgang Schmidt
Editorial advisory board: Christian Boettger, Hans Hutzel, Martina Wiemer-Brettreich, Henning Kullak-Ublick Editorial address: Wagenburgstraße 6, D-70184 Stuttgart, Tel.: +49/(0)7 11/2 10 42-50/-51 | Fax: +49/(0)7 11/2 10 42-54 Email: erziehungskunst@waldorfschule.de, Internet: www.erziehungskunst.de Manuscripts and consignments should be sent only to the editorial address. The authors are responsible for the content of their contributions. Translation: Christian von Arnim Design: Maria A. Kafitz Production: Verlag Freies Geistesleben, Maria A. Kafitz Publishing house: Verlag Freies Geistesleben, Postfach 13 11 22, 70069 Stuttgart, Landhausstraße 82, D-70190 Stuttgart Tel.: +49/(0)7 11/2 85 32-00 | Fax: +49/(0)7 11/2 85 32-10, Internet: www. geistesleben.com
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EDITORIAL
Into the mainstream Dear readers, Real friends are not convenient. Friendship does not just mean love, peace and harmony. A friend is a reliable counterpart who will occasionally also tell you the unvarnished truth. A friend stands by you – in good times and in bad. And he gives help – always and without selfish intent. That was the motif which led to the establishment of the Friends of Waldorf Education 40 years ago. To the present day they look after the Waldorf school movement worldwide and help it to thrive without any advantage to themselves. Such help ranges from voluntary service, without which the social infrastructure in Germany would collapse, through the development of Waldorf initiatives on the smallest scale in an African village, to deployments providing emergency education in war and crisis zones such as Gaza and Chengdu. Their commitment to a free school system is not always without risk. This is where education and politics meet, often with insoluble tensions between them. Another motif to which the Friends feel an obligation: in 1921 Rudolf Steiner put forward the idea of establishing a world schools association ”on an international basis”. ”I am convinced,” Steiner said in The Hague, ”that the most important matter with regard to the social development of humankind is the establishment of such an association which awakens a feeling for a real, concrete, free intellectual life in the widest circles. When such a mood is present throughout the world, then Waldorf schools will no longer have to be set up as niche schools which are tolerated by the state, but then, where a free intellectual life really does set up schools, states will be forced to give full recognition to these schools on their own terms without any kind of interference by the state.” That has nothing to do with any kind of cultural Waldorf imperialism but relates to all people who have a ”feeling” for the social necessity of a free school system and its worldwide interconnection. Therein lies the future task of the Friends. We hope to be able to support this work: this special edition of erziehungsKUNST appears online for the first time also in English and Spanish. ‹›
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Mathias Maurer
2011 | December erziehungskunst special
A friend stands by you – in good times and in bad. And he gives help – always and without selfish intent.
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4 INTRODUCTION
Conveying an interest in the world by Henning Kullak-Ublick
Globalisation has arrived – not as a horror show or promising utopia but as a reality of life which affects every person.
As I write these lines, the EU debt crisis is keeping finance ministers across the world on the edge of their seats. Safety nets are being spread not just to catch banks but whole states so as to protect them from the speculation of out-ofcontrol financial markets. While that is going on, my son and his German-Korean girlfriend are visiting his Cuban de facto brother-in-law in Miami while my eldest daughter is enjoying the children she has had with her husband of Turkish extraction; another daughter emigrated to the Dominican Republic three weeks ago, the fourth currently plans to stay at home. Facebook’s users will soon provide the company with an international customer database of more than a billion entries. Never mind data protection: the global spread of the Internet means that information, pictures and other slivers of awareness pulse across the world in split seconds and place us in a kind of cosmic ringside seat which demands completely new forms of attention from us. Globalisation has arrived – not as a horror show or promising utopia but as a reality of life which affects every person. This fact is neither good nor bad, it simply is. It is, nevertheless, impossible to talk about globalisation without in the first instance accepting that, despite all the promises, it has brought above all an increase in war, poverty, hunger, disease and homelessness for the majority of humankind, while the minority can indulge in luxury unimaginable for most people.
Learning to intervene actively in world events A second development is no less significant than globalisation. For some years now, more people on our planet have been living in cities than in a natural environment and increasing numbers of us in one of the growing mega-metropolises which no longer function except as gigantic machines; our world of ideas, from which these cities have also grown, have become our environment. In this process humanity has opened a new chapter in its evolution: we can no longer delegate responsibility for the world to nature, governments or the gods because its further development has long been our responsibility, whether we believe it or not.
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”Children should receive two things from their parents: roots and wings.” Where the journey takes us is determined by ourselves as freely acting people. In 1992 the slogan ”Think global, act local” emerged from Rio de Janeiro, encapsulating in a down-to-earth way how a global culture of responsibility can arise. But as simple as this slogan sounds, as difficult it is to put into practice: without living thinking, an interest in the world and resolve nothing will come of it. That is why it is one of the central educational tasks of the present time to develop these three capacities on every continent, in every culture. Anyone who wants to find their bearings in the future must first learn to trust their own experiences, their own senses and thoughts, and their own heart. They require people around them who work creatively, places in which they can develop trust in people, test out their own powers and share them with other children.
Anyone who wants to find their bearings in the future must first learn to trust their own experiences, their own senses and thoughts, and their own heart.
Waldorf education builds on people’s ability to develop It is these requirements which are causing people all over the world to look for alternatives to the state school programmes. In doing so, many of them encounter Waldorf education because instead of relying on standardised programmes, they place their trust in the ability and the will of adults and children to develop. Rudolf Steiner’s numerous suggestions for teachers all have as their objective to let children become active themselves. Waldorf education works neither with a closed canon of knowledge (input) nor does it strive to achieve standardised results (output). On the contrary, it stimulates children to discover for themselves how they can harmonise their thinking, feeling and will – a very demanding path of schooling across all ages and stages of development. How else are they one day to find their unique task in the world? It is this different view of the human being, and the educational tools it produces, which allows Waldorf educators to work with children and adolescents under the greatest variety of conditions. More than a thousand Waldorf schools and more than two thousand Waldorf kindergartens have in the meantime been set up worldwide to enable children to experience a true education beyond the increasingly standardised knowledge contents.
2011 | December erziehungskunst special
Waldorf education works neither with a closed canon of knowledge nor does it strive to achieve standardised results.
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6 INTRODUCTION
› Creating space for the encounter with the unfamiliar Creating space for the A Waldorf school cannot be installed. It requires local people with initiative who encounter with build up something new, often in the face of resistance. Every Waldorf school has the unfamiliar. its own particular character which includes its cultural, social and religious environment while at the same time taking account of those things that make us human across all frontiers. Acting locally and thinking globally thus becomes an immediate experience because it is the binding relationships between people which create the space for the encounters in which children and adolescents can learn subsequently also to perceive the other, the things that are unfamiliar, and include them in the scope of their interest. ”Children need roots and wings,” Johann Wolfgang von Goethe called it.
International network of Waldorf education
”All real life is encounter.” Martin Buber
In the course of the years, the Waldorf schools have formed an international network in which they can exchange views and experiences and support one another. Alongside the many direct partnerships between schools, various institutions have also developed which serve this exchange: the Pedagogical Section at the Goetheanum is a significant reference point because it keeps directing attention to the anthroposophical basis of Waldorf education. The Hague Circle is the international convention of Waldorf schools. After a lengthy preparatory period, this group has been successfully turned into a truly representative convention of the world school movement. People from all continents meet at regular intervals both to discuss the concrete concerns of individual countries and also to obtain a better understanding of global development. Within this network, the Friends of Waldorf Education play a special role: they help local people with initiative to do their work also under the most difficult of economic or political conditions. This issue celebrates various fields in which the Friends are active. This work has become increasingly diverse in the last 40 years. The Friends obtain funds for local initiatives and for the deployment of emergency education in disaster areas, they arrange work in schools, kindergartens and curative education homes throughout the world for young people and organise international conferences such as for example the Asian Pacific Waldorf Teacher Conference. ”Liberty requires fraternity and fraternity requires liberty, we bring them together!” might be one way to characterise the work of the Friends. They encourage people from all over the world to collaborate and thereby place lived fraternity alongside technical globalisation: it is always real people who lend it a human face. ‹›
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Building intercultural bridges The Tamrat el-Zeitun Waldorf school in Shefaram, in the Arab part of Israel, is doing pioneering socio-cultural work by Gilad Goldshmidt
Waldorf schools are built by people. In the Shefaram Waldorf school there were three: Mazen Aiub, who lives there. He is an experienced teacher and school director. Mazen had been friends for many years with some Waldorf teachers in Harduf (a neighbouring place in which the first Waldorf school in Israel was set up) and became acquainted with anthroposophy. He took the decision to establish an Arab Waldorf school for the children in Shefaram. His dream was shared by Stefanie Allon, an experienced kindergarten teacher who had been working for a long time for Arab-Jewish cooperation in the education sector, and Ori Ivri, a Waldorf teacher at the Harduf school.
Shefaram lies in the Arab sector of Israel. The school embarked on its eighth year on 1 September of this year. The Tamrat el-Zeitun Waldorf school has three kindergarten groups and five classes with a total of 155 children – teaching takes place in Arabic.
Training for Arab teachers The idea was to develop a Waldorf school as a place of education and culture for the children in the Arabic sector of Galilee. The initiative started in 2003 with a small kindergarten in Shefaram. At the same time a Waldorf teacher and kindergarten training course was developed for people in the Arabic sector of Galilee. The training was intended to take account of the specific needs of the future Arab teachers; some lessons were taught in Arabic, for example, and the study of anthroposophy was related more to education in practice. The kindergarten work was successful and in 2007, after there were already two full kindergarten groups and a small toddler group, we dared to start with the school. The first teacher was Lahna Hisballa, an experienced art teacher in a municipal school, who had graduated from the Waldorf seminar and took on the first class with much courage and enthusiasm. Lahna, a strong, warm-hearted and decisive woman, had to deal with many issues which emerged for the first time with us. She had to teach the children the difficult Arabic script, bridge the gap between written and spoken Arabic, decide on what system of symbols she would use for arithmetic, introduce art as a method into a cultural space in which it was only
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A Waldorf impulse in the › Arabic cultural area is confronted with questions and tasks which we in the Jewish sector in Israel cannot even begin to imagine..
seen as a subsidiary medium, and much else. But she took the first class with enthusiasm and today – five years later – we have five classes with more than 150 children who enjoy a good Waldorf education. One can only marvel when one thinks of the difficult tasks with which the teachers, parents, initiative group and children have to cope. A Waldorf impulse in the Arabic cultural area is confronted with questions and tasks which we in the Jewish sector in Israel cannot even begin to imagine. Some examples in illustration.
A school for all religions People from three religions live in Shefaram: Muslims, Christians and Druze.
Left: Market stall in Shefaram. Right: Joy on the first day at school
People from three religions live in Shefaram: Muslims, Christians and Druze (until the nineteenth century Jews also lived here – a church, mosque and synagogue stand in close proximity in the centre of the old town). But in recent years the three religions have moved apart in education: there are hardly any schools left with children belonging to different religions. This trend is also apparent in culture and in the relationship between people. The Waldorf school takes children from all three religions and tries to educate them on the basis of general principles of humanity. In this context the festivals are a special challenge: we celebrate all festivals of the three religions with all the children together. Religion lessons present a great challenge in such a situation.
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Women play the key role There is a battle ongoing in modern Arabic culture about the role of women – in the family, in cultural life and in the economy. Women are traditionally disadvantaged, they are not allowed to voice their opinion in public or take much responsibility for themselves. But in the school it is mainly women who stand in front of the class: female class and subject teachers are the rule and women send their children to us. As a consequence the school becomes a place where women can express their independence and talents, a fact which is the cause of a variety of conflicts.
Women are traditionally disadvantaged, they are not allowed to voice their opinion in public or take much responsibility for themselves.
Economic problems Last year, after many battles and conflicts, the school was recognised as a private school by the education authority. Parents must pay school fees because the state only finances half the school costs. That is difficult for many parents. Then there are the investments (building, furniture, garden …), which also have to be paid. The school has been in a difficult financial situation for some years.
Difficulties of collegial management From the beginning we have been committed to the idea of collegial management and an education based on freedom, but these ideals are extremely difficult to turn into reality. Arabic culture has a very strong authority principle within it. Parents, above all, but also the authorities and teachers who have not gone through a Waldorf training demand – consciously or unconsciously – authority. A free school which is carried by the teachers on their own responsibility can only be built up by working through drawn-out disagreements with parents, the association directors and, indeed, among the teachers themselves. In its eight years, the initiative has had much success with the children, above all in the educational sphere. But we can also see that the greatest difficulties and challenges which we have had to face lie in the cultural sphere. Thus the school becomes a place of socio-cultural change, a fact which brings with it much enthusiasm and joy, but also hard work. ‹›
The author: Gilad Goldshmidt is one of the four directors of the Israeli Waldorf Education Forum and founding teacher of the Harduf Waldorf School.
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But we can also see that the greatest challenges which we have had to face lie in the cultural sphere.
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Waldorf education among the Maasai by Peter van Alphen
The Maasai continue to live as herders and are battling against the growth of a western lifestyle.
Left: A Maasai women on the way to the water point. Right: Children in the second class of the Mbagathi Waldorf School during water colour painting.
A group of Maasai near the border between Kenya and Tanzania has become interested in Waldorf education. The Maasai continue to live as herders and are battling against the growth of a western lifestyle. They feel that the future of their traditional life is uncertain, particularly as a result of climate change. During the most recent three-year drought from 2007 to 2009 many of their animals died and the tribe got into great difficulty. In this insecure situation many families turned to the education of their children as the only long-term hope. Some of the children of these Maasai were financed through mentorships from the Friends of Waldorf Education and development aid to attend the Rudolf Steiner School in Nairobi. Each time that the children returned home for the holidays, the parents were surprised by the change in them. They exuded self-confidence, their language ability had grown and they had clearly learnt a lot. The parents asked themselves where these changes came from.
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The tribe sent four members for Waldorf teacher training, kindergarten training and primary school teacher training. These teachers will soon require mentors and support to develop an education for their children which is in accord with the specific nature of their culture. The first task will be to rediscover the stories which were told in the evening around the fire in families or the community. These stories were the original form of education. They united people and communicated meaning to life. The real challenge is integrating African elements into Waldorf teacher training. Of course African stories are told in African Waldorf schools, appropriate for the age of the children and the lessons. Of course the diversity of the culture, history and geography of Africa is taught so that the children can find their roots as Africans. But there will nevertheless be areas in which a specific African way of education still needs to be discovered. In the meantime, a new five-year project has started – under the financial lead management of the Friends – to support kindergarten and school initiatives as well as training and advanced training for teachers in Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania. As a result, teachers who have attended the training modules can be supported in applying what they have learnt and in their further development. The kindergartens and schools in these three countries are seeking and need such support which, ultimately, must have the aim of making the teachers independent of trainers from abroad and enabling them to establish their own training in their countries. ‹› The author: Peter van Alpen is a Waldorf teacher, musician, eurythmist and co-founder of the Centre for Creative Education in South Africa.
” The first task will be to rediscover the stories which were told in the evening around the fire in families or the community.” 2011 | December erziehungskunst special
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Pupils helping children: CultivArte in Buenos Aires by Andreas Schubert
The CultivArte team
About ten years ago, a wonderful project started in one of the suburbs of Buenos Aires, in San Fernando: some pupils in class 11 of the Rudolf Steiner School in the district of Florida worked as part of their social work experience in one of the Comedores in San Fernando. These are places where children from the poorest backgrounds are given free meals. The task of the pupils was to look after the children during the long wait in the queue. In doing so, they observed the chaos which sometimes breaks out. They had the idea that something creative should be done with the children. They recalled the games and stories from their own time in school and simply made a start with them. And thus a task was suddenly born solely from the perception of the needs of the children. Two of those pupils, Natalia and Soledad, have continued the project to the
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present. Many new pupils have joined. Today there are about 40 young people, former pupils from the upper schools of the various schools in Buenos Aires, who have committed themselves. On three afternoons during the week and on Sunday they look after kindergarten and school children. They only have a small room for that, which is much too small for the 20 children who sometimes turn up, and then they simply have to use the road. The young people who ten years ago were the first children in the project can also do drama, make music and do photography. Each day the young carers must go to the homes of the children, collect them and take them home again. The effort is worthwhile because it strengthens the contact with parents and neighbours. In the meantime, ”Pachamama” has been added, a market garden in which the young people grow vegetables in the afternoons. A big dream is to get their own, larger room soon so as to be able to start with regular kindergarten work. ‹›
The author: Andreas Schubert. Physics degree. Founder of the Überlingen Waldorf School and upper school teacher there for physics, maths and history. Regular courses at the teacher training seminars in Madrid, Lisbon, Buenos Aires; support for the development of the upper school in the countries of South America, particularly Argentina, Brazil and Columbia. Board member of the Friends of Waldorf Education.
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A big dream is to get their own, larger room soon so as to be able to start with regular kindergarten work.
Left: Baking rolls together. Right: Having a snack and a break from sword fighting games
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The flame of anthroposophy Ben Cherry and Ya Chih Chan in conversation with Chun Su, founder of the Ci Xin Waldorf School in Ilan, Taiwan
Our ethos is for a working culture of genuine dialogue and discussion.
Reaching our ideals in education has to go hand in hand with the development of democracy in society.
Ben Cherry and Ya Chih Chan | Ms Chun Su, how do you explain the enormous growth of the Ci Xin school? What challenges did you face? Chun Su | Ci Xin started its first class in 1999, on the property of the kindergarten. By the third year there were 45 children in grades 1, 2 and 3. In September of the same year, our Foundation for Anthroposophical Education made a contract with the Ilan government, establishing a new model of co-operation between the two. We received the current school property and approximately 90 percent financial support. By the time the new venture opened in 2002, the role had increased to 128 children, with 12 teachers and other members of staff. Now, nine years later, we have just begun an experimental class 10 and overall there are 560 children and more than 50 teachers and staff members. Our ethos is for a working culture of genuine dialogue and discussion. It is always a joy to witness new doors opening in the lives of colleagues and we try to acknowledge this in each other. Perhaps one can say it is largely through positive thinking and appreciation of colleagues that we have been able to go through the difficult times. We are also deeply grateful to all the Anthroposophists and experienced Waldorf teachers from around the world who have helped us. Without their support and teaching we could not have achieved what we have today. BC / YCC | Have you had to compromise the spirit of Waldorf education through becoming a government school? CS | Taiwan is very different from Europe or the USA. Although we are moving towards being a democratic country, one can see, through the influence of outmoded values and past colonial attitudes, the democratic spirit being suppressed and twisted. We are still a male-dominated society, so women’s opinions are not easily accepted. Reaching our ideals in education has to go hand in hand with the development of democracy in society. When we encounter difficulties with government officers or policies, we try to be patient. If we can understand their situation, space opens up for compromise and negotiation.
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Being a government school, we are bound by state regulations as regards fees, administrative procedures and financial reporting. The whole college, consisting of teachers and staff members, share responsibility for the development of the school through working groups and curriculum development. There are two core groups – one consisting of seven teachers who overview what is happening in the school and plan for the future, the other comprising representatives from the parents, teachers and Foundation. Our main challenge in administration is to re-negotiate our contract with the authorities so as to simplify the bureaucracy and come closer to the educational ideals of Waldorf education. This will need changes in national regulations.
Chun Su, founder of the Ci Xin Waldorf School.
BC / YCC | What attracted you to Waldorf education and why have you stayed with it for so long? CS | The basis of Waldorf education is anthroposophy and this speaks to the different cultures. Dialogue can take place between them. We are also challenged to develop team work as a new cultural deed. Through it we have the possibility of developing an education movement which echoes the spirit of the social reform movement with which I have been involved in Taiwan for most of my life, since long before I met Waldorf education. This strengthens my will to continue studying anthroposophy and practicing Waldorf education. In these years of practicing it, I have never stopped learning. I have learned to let the past go and carry hope and seek guidance for the future. I feel I am becoming transformed in the course of time. My life is nourished through the work I do, and when I am strong I wish to bring nourishment to others too.
BC / YCC | What would you do differently if you had the opportunity to begin again? CS | I would say it depends on the timing and the social conditions. I would like to be able to do more for children from broken and struggling homes, helping them
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The basis of Waldorf education is anthroposophy and this speaks to the different cultures.
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› rebuild their relationship with parents, while providing free Waldorf Education for poor families. It is also my hope to call on the wisdom and skills of healthy elderly people as a positive resource for the school community.
My wish is for the Waldorf educational movement to become an instrument for changing social consciousness.
BC / YCC | How do you expect Waldorf education will develop in Ilan and Taiwan in five or ten years’ time? CS | My wish is for the Waldorf educational movement to become an instrument for changing social consciousness. The way forward depends on schools working together in such a way that we can integrate different perspectives and plan the future, especially in the areas of curative education, high school development and supporting state schools to become Waldorf schools. One day I look forward to there being a Waldorf education college, perhaps even a Camphill community. Then of course there is the need to publish anthroposophical and Waldorf education books in Chinese. We are in the process of setting up a sustainable fund for supporting the high school as well as poor families, and in the long term to deepen and promote healthy agriculture, medicine, curative education and an elderly people’s home in the school community. It will also provide a reasonable salary for our non-state qualified teachers. I look on Ci Xin as a flame for anthroposophical development in the north and northeast of Taiwan. ‹›
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A Hungarian Waldorf school fights the crisis An interview with management consultant Éva Farkas
Erziehungskunst | Ms Farkas, there are in the meantime 25 Waldorf schools in Hungary which were all started within a few years of each other. How do you explain this rapid growth? Éva Farkas | The really enormous growth of the last 20 years can be attributed to the fact that anthroposophy already had deep roots in Hungary even before the system changed. When after the collapse of the previous system the legal prerequisites were also given for the establishment of kindergartens and schools, parents with initiative founded the first schools. The education they offer also fits in very well with the highly individual sense of self of Hungarians.
Éva Farkas, whose daughter attends the Kékvölgy Waldorf school in Pilisszentlászló, is a member of the supervisory board of Kékvölgy AG.
EK | Only some of the Hungarian Waldorf schools are financed by the state. How do they nevertheless ”survive”? ÉF | Some Hungarian Waldorf schools are indeed financed by the state, whereby state support merely covers up to 40 percent of the overall costs. The rest must be financed from parental contributions and other sources, such as for example with the help of donations from businesses. The financial survival of the schools is a very pertinent issue as the system of state finance is undergoing drastic changes, the consequences of which are not yet clear, businesses are having to make savings as a result of the economic crisis, including in the amount they donate, and the financial capacity of parents is also under critical strain. EK | How do the Waldorf schools in Hungary collaborate? Are there different types of Waldorf schools? ÉF | The Waldorf schools in Hungary launched an association in 1997. Externally, the Hungarian Association for Waldorf Education is primarily concerned with representing the interests of its members; internally it is occupied with the cooperation among the schools and kindergartens as well as with further training and the supporting bodies of the schools. There is a uniform type of school in Hungary, the differences arise from whether the school has an upper school or ”only” a lower and middle school.
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The really enormous growth of the last 20 years can be attributed to the fact that anthroposophy already had deep roots in Hungary even before the system changed.
The Easter festival is celebrated at the Kékvölgy Waldorf School with recorder playing and Easter grass.
› EK | Your school in Pilisszentlászló was founded by parents. Which parents see the Hungarian Waldorf schools as an alternative to the state school system? ÉF | There are many reasons why parents want a Waldorf school for their children. There are parents who deliberately decided in favour of a Waldorf school as a result of their convictions. But there are also the parents of so-called problem children who are looking for a loving environment for their children who are rejected elsewhere; then there are those who come because of the community. When the time approached for my daughter to start school I was simply looking for a school where I could be sure that my child would be loved and well looked after, where she would be supported in her personal, individual development. I had no idea about Waldorf education at the time, but when I read on a website that here the body, soul and spirit of the children are nurtured I knew that we were in the right place. EK | And why do Hungarian educators become Waldorf teachers? ÉF | Some teachers feel too restricted in the state system, some are missing something, like Judit Gyarmati, one of our teachers. After the birth of her daughters she had the feeling that what she was doing before with passion and commitment was no longer enough, that something was missing. She was searching for years, voraciously studied books during her maternity leave, and never found the right thing. But then Waldorf education appeared in the form of the school which was started in
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Pilisszentlászló and postgraduate training beckoned. Suddenly everything was clear. Here school makes sense, as she says. Here she can be who she is. I recently met her in the woods: I was walking my dog and she was taking her class out. In response to my question what she was doing in the woods, she answered: mathematics. Our children really are lucky – with such teachers school is fun! EK | How compatible are the Hungarian school leaving exams? ÉF | The Waldorf curriculum must conform to the state system in classes 4, 6, 8 and 13. But able children can do justice to the state expectations in all classes, whereby weak pupils also have problems integrating in the transition classes. EK | How is your Waldorf school integrated into its social environment? ÉF | Our school has been a firm part of Pilisszentlászló for seven years. Our arrival was not without problems. We devote a lot of attention to maintaining contact with the village community: we also teach Slovak in our school, the minority language here. When the foundation stone was laid for our new school building, the people of the village celebrated with us and the shared children’s day was a great success. We hope that the Waldorf community will integrate into the village community even better with further projects, such as agricultural ones, for example. EK | The Kékvölgy Waldorf school faces new challenges: financial ones with a new school building and conceptually through a new health centre, a home for the elderly and plans for biodynamic agriculture. What does the immediate future look like? ÉF | We are working towards an assessment model with the help of which we will soon be able the classify the parent initiatives we receive to determine which projects we can actually put into practice with our limited resources. The chosen projects are all given a mentor within our private limited company which was specially formed for that purpose. The mentor should accompany and support the projects. Ideas include a cultural festival, a regional travel agent, a home for the elderly, a restaurant, an organic soup kitchen, a bicycle and moped hire business, a workshop for people with disabilities, a health centre, a building machinery hire business, a pottery workshop, services such as PR and communication, management consulting, IT, accounting, advertising. ‹›
2011 | December erziehungskunst special
When the foundation stone was laid for our new school building, the people of the village celebrated with us.
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A homoeopathic dosage The USA is a developing country with regard to Waldorf education by Dorit Winter The man in the street in the USA has never heard of ”Waldorf”.
The salaries in Waldorf schools are embarrassingly low. The teacher training facilities could also do with being better off.
There are 166 Waldorf institutions in the United States of America. That is not many for the third largest country in the world. By comparison, the Netherlands, in 135th place in terms of size, has 92 institutions. The man in the street in the USA has never heard of ”Waldorf”. Waldorf salad – yes. But ”Waldorf schools”? Blank. With few exceptions, the American Waldorf schools are in a constant battle for sufficient numbers of pupils. The schools are stressed, the teachers also – and don’t even mention the budgets. The salaries in Waldorf schools are embarrassingly low. The teacher training facilities could also do with being better off. There are not enough students and therefore not enough well-trained teachers. Finally, Waldorf education itself is threatened by cosmetic operations and lack of resistance against the oppressive weight of mainstream culture. Such conformity is seen as the solution to the problem of lack of pupils and low salaries. On the other hand, it is precisely this opportunism which drives away people who are looking for Waldorf education. Fortunately there are, nevertheless, some who find us and respect what they find. At the end of October, an article about Waldorf education, which first appeared in the New York Times (http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/23/technology/atwaldorf-school-in-silicon-valley-technology-can-wait.html?_r=1&emc=eta1), spread like wildfire through the American Waldorf movement. It was seen as the great breakthrough for the Waldorf movement even if it contained little information about what makes this system of education different. It was focused on Silicon Valley where many staff of the Internet companies based there send their children to the Waldorf school: ”Not a computer to be found. No screens at all,” it says in the article. The school was presented by the author as an oasis where ”real engagement comes from great teachers with interesting lesson plans.” He made clear that the staff working in the computer industry see the limits of this technology and appreciate the human values of Waldorf education. Ironically this was noted from an outside perspective in a historic moment in which we ourselves have the greatest difficulty in adhering to our convictions. On the other hand, the existence of the 166 Waldorf initiatives in the USA is
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something of a miracle. Of these initiatives, 118 are schools, 32 kindergartens and 16 teacher training facilities. As they are funded solely from school and student fees as well as private donations, their existence depends on the number of pupils. Although all schools have forms of assistance, school fees are high. In San Francisco and its surroundings one can easily pay 17,000 dollars per child per year. At San Francisco High School the school fees are currently 28,700 dollars. Is it not a miracle that there are still enough parents who value Waldorf education for their children and are able to afford it? And that there are sufficient numbers of idealistic teachers who survive on inappropriate salaries? But it is equally remarkable that these schools, which depend on school fees, are still independent of the state and continue to be able to work from out of their deepest roots, from out of anthroposophy. We are a homoeopathic drop in the ocean; but then, we all know: homoeopathy works! ‚›
The author: Dorit Winter is Director of the Bay Area Centre for Waldorf Teacher Training, near San Francisco
2011 | December erziehungskunst special
Left: Dorit Winter in conversation with a student. Right: Children at play in the Bay Area.
We are a homoeopathic drop in the ocean; but then, we all know: homoeopathy works!
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Stefan Leber: former member of the Federal Executive
It is a pleasure to see the Friends of Waldorf Education, 40 years on, operating at the height of their powers. At the time it was young people, former pupils or still at school, who discussed and debated starting such an organisation. The problems were the same then as now: how can the assistance for future work be created today? That is an incredible undertaking. The part which still belongs to the future must take action in the present and under those conditions achieve something that is to be fruitful in the future. The people who were involved at the beginning are still active today: Nana Göbel and Bernd Ruf – a happy undertaking!
True friends of humanity
Jürgen Schweiß-Ertl: Managing Partner of the Mahle Foundation
Internationally operating foundations need partners actively working at an international level. The expertise of the Friends of Waldorf Education in a large number of countries and regions of the world and their help in the frequently not so simple transfer of funding abroad is an important basis for the international activity of the Mahle Foundation in the field of education. The Friends of Waldorf Education did not just choose their name arbitrarily: in them we really do meet true and active friends of humanity. The very best wishes for having been there for 40 years!
Germany’s best export product
Christof Wiechert: Pedagogical Section at the Goetheanum/Dornach
When the Waldorf school came into existence, Rudolf Steiner pressed for the establishment of a world school association to strengthen this cultural impulse worldwide. Such an association never came about. But 40 years ago a window of opportunity occurred through Ernst Weißert: the Friends of Waldorf Education came into existence. And as I have come to know the Friends in their worldwide activity, they serve the cultural impulse of education in an exemplary manner. Wherever I went – the Friends had already been there: as helping enablers both for individuals and communities. I am eternally grateful to Nana Göbel und Bernd Ruf. The Friends are Germany’s best export product: active, helping, supporting; in short: friends.‹›
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For an education in human dignity The Friends of Waldorf Education – their history and their tasks by Nana Göbel
The Waldorf school movement has been international from the start: the Waldorf School in The Hague was founded in 1923, a school in London in 1925, further schools in Basel, Budapest and Oslo in 1926, and one in New York in 1928. But money was short from the beginning. The Friends of Waldorf Education were founded on 10 October 1971 to serve this education movement. A sense of new beginnings and reconsideration of the societal and social tasks of the Waldorf school movement characterised the establishment of the Friends of Waldorf Education by Ernst Weißert and Manfred Leist. These founders were acting out of the sense of a new beginning which was prevalent at the time. The Waldorf school movement was to reflect back on its societal and social tasks. However, the Friends remained no more than the germ of an idea because the many tasks of the two Waldorf pioneers in the German Association of Waldorf Schools left no time for developing this new association which was intended to be an instrument of mutual economic support. In 1976 former pupils from Germany, Holland and England approached Weißert with the idea of doing something for a ”world school association”. As a result the International Aid Fund was set up, to which many people continue to donate, and from which schools and kindergartens are funded.
The Friends of Waldorf Education were founded on 10 October 1971 to serve this education movement.
Ambassador of a free education system The basic idea was to create a school system in which those involved in the education process could themselves structure education and teaching without state intervention. This vision was not to be restricted to western Europe. Beyond that, the aim was to support Waldorf education also in countries in which schools were not funded by the state and to enable children to attend school whose parents did not possess sufficient money for that.
2011 | December erziehungskunst special
The basic idea was to create a school system in which those involved in the education process could themselves structure education and teaching › without state intervention.
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Andreas Schubert at the ”weltwärts” partner conference in Karsruhe.
› Interconnecting and supporting Waldorf worldwide From 1976 to 2010 the Friends of Waldorf Education funded 684 Waldorf educational facilities to the sum of almost 67 million euros
From 1976 to 2010 the Friends of Waldorf Education funded 684 Waldorf educational facilities to the sum of almost 67 million euros – money which they raised and received from private donors, foundations and the government (above all from the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation). The Friends have never become a foundation, which means that they do not accrue money but forward donations and in this sense act like a ”bank for gifting”. In all these years they were always intent not to restrict funding to schools and kindergartens but also to include curative education institutions, social work initiatives and the corresponding training. Year by year funding expanded beyond western Europe and the USA to South America and southern Africa and, finally, eastern Europe and Asia. In parallel to the economic support, the Friends have built up a worldwide network and in many cases have helped schools with development questions, supported them to meet political challenges and promoted the collaboration among schools. From the beginning, a clear distinction was made between the finances required
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to run the Friends and the donations received for the worldwide educational movement. One hundred percent of donations are forwarded without deductions. Whenever an urgent task arises, we seek people and institutions who want to help and provide donations. For as long as necessary in this world, the Friends will continue to work to ensure that children have a chance of growing up under conditions of human dignity. ‹›
The Friends have never become a foundation, which means that they do not accrue money but forward donations and in this sense act like a ”bank for gifting”.
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Walter Hiller: Software AG Foundation, Darmstadt
The establishment and the still valid motif of the Friends of Waldorf Education can be seen as the practical expression of the fact that they take the idea seriously that Waldorf education is an impulse of humanity. Proof of that is the more than thousand Waldorf institutions worldwide of whom many have received emergency or development assistance through the Friends of Waldorf Education. With a core staff of professionals and a circle of experienced volunteers, a lot of state money has been obtained for Waldorf projects. The international voluntary services are also – apart from the experience which the young people acquire – a help for institutions throughout the world working out of anthroposophy. With these services the Friends make a considerable contribution to helping the Waldorf impulse work globally. The Software AG Foundation has for many years had an invaluable partner at an international level in the Friends of Waldorf Education, both with regard to the exchange of information and in funding projects. With deep gratitude for the past, we look forward expectantly and confidently to our future cooperation.
My wish: a partner school for every Waldorf school
Hans Hutzel: Board Member of the Association of Waldorf Schools, Stuttgart
In school I always report about the work of the Friends. I am keen that my colleagues and particularly the pupils should know through WOW Day that they are part of something bigger. That broadens the horizon, puts one’s own concerns into perspective and releases one from the apparent force of circumstance. For me the Friends are a door opening to the world. My wish: it should be part of the educational profile of every Waldorf school in Germany to have a partner school abroad arranged through the Friends.
Initiative for initiatives
Thomas Jorberg: Board Member of GLS Bank
What are the Friends for? – What a question! Because without friends our lives would be sad, isolated, simply not alive! And the same applies to the Friends of Waldorf Education. They give courage and comfort to people all over the world to continue with their work. They establish ties, work within a network, make friendships in all parts of the world. That also allows help to be given in the form of money. For thousands of young people they create the opportunity, while serving abroad, to serve in friendship. The Friends have taken the initiative to enable initiatives. We congratulate them as friends very warmly on their 40th birthday. ‹›
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The control rooms by Valentin Hacken
The office of the Friends of Waldorf Education is situated in the school grounds of the Free Waldorf School in Berlin Mitte When one enters the room on the otherwise quiet landing one is met by a hive of activity. Files from the many projects which are looked after each year are piled up against the walls. San Francisco, Sao Paulo, Santiago, Mexico City, Lima, Dakar, Cape Town, Sarajevo, Florence, Zagreb, Istanbul, Jerusalem, Bangkok, Guangzhou – even these few examples from last year’s work make ”international” as an attribute of the Waldorf movement come to life. Each of these places, some of which you first have to locate on a world map, has its own history. The schools, kindergartens, homes, institutes and social institutions possess a biography. The people who work there and their impulses are known. They are not stored under a number system for applicants but under their name and request. In Berlin I sit facing Nana Göbel. She has just finished decisively answering a last email. ”The requests are very varied,” she explains. From financial support through advice about new school buildings, school organisation and conducting
2011 | December erziehungskunst special
Berlin Office
› Staff of the Friends in Berlin
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› negotiations with local authorities to teacher training. ”In many countries there
An international aid fund helps schools in need
Karlsruhe Office
is no law about private schools comparable to Germany,” she says. Many tasks can require a massive effort in unfavourable conditions. The difference between land prices and the average income of the population makes it impossible in many countries to erect school buildings with own money, the considerable travel costs to the next Waldorf seminar make a solid training impossible for many a future teacher: those are two of the many possible cases of project funding through the Friends of Waldorf Education who in this context work to find the money which is then gifted. The money for free disposal – not donations tied to a specific purpose – or their ”International aid fund” is available at short notice for emergency situations and urgent projects. But most donations are solicited from partners, friendly foundations and also from the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and are forwarded to the projects without any deductions. In doing so, Berlin checks in detail ”that no running costs are taken on,” Goebel says. The schools must manage their finances responsibly and are also given advice in that respect. She and her staff have been travelling around the world for years. They visit institutions on all continents; they see schools which are protected spaces against violence and hunger and represent the only hope for many children of a life in freedom. Berlin also arranges mentors for schools and children, organises WOW Day and produces a newsletter. The office maintains contact with the greatest variety of organisations and since 2001 also has official relations with UNESCO. So the world-encompassing network of the Friends of Waldorf Education leaves Alexanderplatz and Cape Town just a few underground stops apart. ‹›
”This was actually once our meeting room, but now…” it’s another office. Christian Grözinger, head of the voluntary services section in Karlsruhe guides us together with Michaela Mezger through the convoluted rooms. The office of the Friends of Waldorf Education has grown rapidly since 2002. In the meantime 35 permanent staff are employed here in various areas of voluntary services and emergency education. The largest department is voluntary services. More than 600 people – mostly adolescents and young adults – are currently despatched from Karlsruhe to the places throughout the world where they are to be deployment. Many different motivations and ideas can lead to an application. The office in Karlsruhe is involved from the beginning. Together with previous volunteers it organises orientation weekends for applicants, helps them to get a more precise idea of what they want to
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do and finds an institution for them which needs their services. Most of the places are provided through programmes financed by the state (FJA, weltwärts) but there are also opportunities financed privately and by the Friends of Waldorf Education. Alongside looking after the volunteers abroad and the places where they work, there has also for some years been an ”Incoming” provision which arranges work for volunteers in Germany. This has become increasingly popular since the end of military and alternative service so that places can now even be arranged for Germans in Germany. Since 2006, the Friends of Waldorf Education have also been operating a further programme, mainly developed by Bernd Ruf, the head of the Karlsruhe office: emergency education. The team of doctors, psychologists, educators and art therapists lead ”crisis interventions”, says Michaela Mezger. The six to eight weeks directly following traumatisation through natural disasters or wars are decisive in deciding whether people can come to terms with these events or whether they become psychiatrically ill and develop post-traumatic stress disorder. It is during this period that emergency education intervenes to stabilise the situation. Specially developed measures based on Waldorf education give children and their families protection and the possibility to integrate their experiences into their biography. The aim is to give them the experience that they are valuable, in control and effective and thus to activate their forces of self-healing. The deployments in Lebanon, Gaza or, currently, in Japan are undertaken on a voluntary basis. Karlsruhe is the point at which personal commitment and the need in various places around the world intersect. ‹›
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Staff of the Friends in Karlsruhe
Voluntary services and emergency education worldwide.
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From bobby to special needs teacher Bernd Ruf has one motif in his life: helping where help is needed by Mathias Maurer
It started in a party building …
… and in the living room
As a 17-year-old at the Goethe School in Pforzheim, Bernd Ruf and a number of other pupils wanted to know about the philosophy which stood behind the Waldorf school. Under a picture of August Bebel, one of the founders of the German Social Democratic Party (SPD), in the party building, their then teacher, Stefan Leber, explained it to them. What Leber told them proved such an inspiration for Bernd Ruf that in 1973, in class 12, he decided to found a Waldorf school. The school was indeed founded in 1977 but he first had to complete his studies in Mannheim, something which he financed with a permanent job in the police. As early as during his years with the police he came face to face with his life’s task in a concrete form: how do people react in extreme situations and how can I help them? Six years later he started his work in education as an upper school teacher in German and history at the Karlsruhe Waldorf School, a period that lasted 21 years. In 1987 the Friends of Waldorf Education found themselves with a staffing crisis on their hands. There was no managing director. Who was to do that task? Bernd Ruf offered his services, his living room serving as the Karlsruhe office at the time. And this is where the decades-long collaboratioin with Nana Göbel began; both are managing directors of the Friends to the present day. The one in Karlsruhe, the other in Berlin. Ruf’s activities extended throughout the world with the growing Waldorf school movement, particularly in social flashpoints and crisis zones: Africa, South America and in the 1990s, after the fall of communism, across the whole of Eastern Europe. The Karlsruhe Waldorf school was the first UNESCO school; as a result the Friends were invited in 1993 to Geneva to the International Conference on Education with a large Waldorf exhibition. Now things began to take on a momentum of their own. No longer just a matter of collecting donations, as the flow of money grew to undreamed of dimensions, professional project management was required: in cooperation with the German Ministry of Economic Cooperation (BMZ), the Friends have so far transferred almost 50 million euros to all parts of the world – based on the system 75 percent from the BMZ, 25 percent from the Friends.
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Bernd Ruf in Tanzania
”I owe a lot to others.” A second huge area of work also opened up in the 1990s through the simple question addressed by a young man to the Friends as to whether he could do his alternative service abroad. That led to the creation of a worldwide network of ”foreign deployments”; 7,000 young people on alternative or voluntary service, including women, have since passed through the organising and helping hands of the Friends. With the ”Incomer” project, running since 2000, it now also works the other way round: young people coming to Germany from abroad to work in special needs facilities, kindergartens and schools. A new boom is becoming evident with the abolition of military service last July. In 2006 Bernd Ruf discovered a further field of activity: emergency education. As Waldorf pupils from all over the world were invited by Mayor Schuster to Stuttgart for the Waldorf youth festival during the football World Cup, war broke out between Israel and Gaza: a group of disabled pupils was unable to return to their homeland. Ruf helped them back and experienced nights of bombing and refugee camps – and, above all, traumatised children. Ruf helps these and other children in war zones and areas hit by natural disasters such as Lebanon, Chengdu, Gaza, Haiti, West Sumatra, Kyrgyzstan and Fukushima with a special programme to regain their inner equilibrium. More than twenty times he and his team of doctors, therapists and education staff have in the meantime provided help. There are requests from all over the world to train teachers in emergency education.
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It all began with a simple question addressed by a young man to the Friends
Emergency education
›
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› That growth can no longer be managed on an honorary basis or from a small office
Crisis management in school, locally and around the world
Bernd Ruf gets things moving for which a single human life is not long enough.
which at that time was still located in the grounds of the Karlsruhe Waldorf School. In the middle of a shopping centre, the Karlsruhe office of the Friends today holds 50 staff – and space is already tight again. But Bernd Ruf wanted more. He was still working as an upper school teacher and until 2005 he was on the board of the German Association of Waldorf Schools. In 2003 he trained as a special needs and curative education teacher while setting up not just one school but a whole school complex which he has been managing ever since: the Parzival Schools in Karlruhe. The centre today comprises five schools: one special needs school, one school for pupils with learning difficulties, and one curative education school with a work experience programme attached. It also has a Waldorf kindergarten, a special needs kindergarten and an integrative child creche. In 2011 it added the Karl Stockmeyer School, an inclusive school based on Waldorf principles. His particular interest is in the ”intensive classes” in which young people who have fallen through all the safety nets are taught and looked after. This is also where Bernd Ruf has met his former colleagues from the police again. ”They are actually part of the faculty,” Bernd Ruf says, for the school centre lies in a social flashpoint of Karlsruhe. He is not exaggerating: bullet-proof vests hang on the backs of the chairs in the school offices. Ruf has so far managed to get finance for his school buildings and the operation of the schools completely from public funds. The funding bodies in the city and region are thrilled. Indeed, Bernd Ruf appears to be good at politics: in the boardroom a photo gallery provides documentary evidence that he has shaken the hand of almost all the major politicians – from Chancellor Angela Merkel to the former defence minister Guttenberg. One is left with the impression that Bernd Ruf is a workaholic and jack-ofall-trades; he gets things moving for which a single human life is not long enough. At the end of our interview he says: ”I owe a lot to others.” ‹›
Bernd Ruf on emergency education deployment in Haiti and Japan.
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… and yet she moves you! Nana Göbel – a portrait by Henning Kullak-Ublick
”What we need is action, not reflection!” – words spoken by Nana Goebel at a meeting of the international convention of Waldorf schools, the ”Hague Circle”. Neutrality is not her thing. When Nana Göbel gets excited about something, things happen – when she gets angry, you know about it. In sum total, a lot more happens than we ever learn about. Her childhood was spent in Pforzheim. Anthroposophical home, ”my kindergarten was my grandma”, Waldorf school. ”I was a model Waldorf pupil,” she says: in the morning she was already out picking flowers; she loved her class teacher Erwin Miorin, strict, precise, demanding, a pupil of Herbert Witzenmann. Her father, Thomas Goebel, was so involved with his Goetheanistic studies that he did not interfere in the development of his children with educational programmes. ”He did what he wanted,” says Nana Göbel. The children had to assist and they would often be at the kitchen table picking mistletoe berries from the twigs to prepare their father’s medicinal experiments. At the weekend she would go collecting rocks with the Waldorf teachers Wolfgang Schad and Stefan Leber. ”I grew up looking at things,” she remarks about her childhood. Wolfgang Schad, her class guardian in the upper school, supported her interest in nature and its development. ”In the class above us they were into social
Neutrality is not her thing.
›
Nana Göbel and Bernd Ruf with German International Cooperation Minister Heidemarie WieczorekZeul (middle) during the laying of the foundation stone at a curative education school in Beirut.
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› awareness,” Göbel recalls. There Stefan Leber was in charge of the class of her
At school she read Steiner.
She was one of the first pupil representatives to sit in the college of teachers
subsequent comrade-in-arms Bernd Ruf. The teachers had been unconventional, enthusiastic and demanding. The atmosphere had been rougher than today, Göbel says, ”but the interest in the pupils was there. That is why political correctness was not necessary.” At 16 they ejected their minister from religion lessons, at 17 they started a working group with Stefan Leber on the threefold structure of the social organism. Rudolf Steiner’ book West and East: Contrasting Worlds was – it appears – a prophetic reference point. With some classmates she read Education of the Child in the Light of Anthroposophy. She asked Wolfgang Schad what anthroposophy was. He responded – outside school. She wrote her final year project about the threefold structure of reptiles with him as her supervisor – a project which, although he accepted it, he did not asses because he had ”not undertaken research” on that subject. The pupils used the free space they were given by their teachers to organise pupil conferences, from 1975 international conferences. Nana Goebel and Bernd Ruf were the first two pupil representatives to be elected into the college of teachers at the Pforzheim school. At the international Waldorf pupil conference in The Hague they met Jörgen Smit, the head of the Youth Section and subsequently the Pedagogical Section at the Goetheanum. The decision to do something for the world school association which Rudolf Steiner had in mind arose from the preparations for this conference. In 1976 a group of young people went to Ernst Weißert, the leading personality of the German Waldorf school movement at the time, to present to him the idea of the world school association. At the end he ”gifted” them and their comradesin-arms the association of the Friends of Waldorf Education. In 1978 Nana Goebel was elected to the board of the Friends of Waldorf Education” on which she has sat ever since. In the autumn of 1985 she began to study classical archaeology in Tübingen, Munich and Bonn and from 1983 to 1986 she worked with Jörgen Smit in the Youth Section. As early as class 12 she knew that she wanted to do ”something big” for the world. In class 13 she wanted to found a free university to promote a free cultural life. She was, however, always in demand to take care of the money – not for her ideas. So it was only logical for her to undertake a banking apprenticeship with the GLS Bank from 1987-1997, then to work for the GLS Treuhand, edit the GLS Bank’s Bankspiegel magazine and look after microcredits. In 1997 she moved to Berlin to start her work as managing director of the Friends;
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Foto: Markus Lau Hintzenstern
OFFICES AND PORTRAITS
”We want to shift the power of money back to the individual.” from 2002-2007 she was on the council of the Anthroposophical Society in Germany and from 2003 was its general secretary. I ask Nana Göbel what motifs have turned out to be the truly supporting ones in the course of her work. The answer comes immediately and decisively: it is one’s obligation as an individual towards the world. Money means power. ”We want to shift the power back to the individual,” she says. At no time has she ever wanted to accumulate capital but has always sought to be a bank for gifting: ”We only pass the money on.” Be it a children’s crèche in an African township, a school in Hungary, a kindergarten in China or an Israeli-Arab school: Nana knows the people who work there, often knows their families, their concerns, their woes. It is not programmes which convince her but always people who take responsibility with heart and soul to ensure that something happens. That sometimes leads her to be accused of subjectivity. But the thing is, is there any way past the subject in a new undertaking? Who other than the subject can act with presence of mind? Every single application which reaches the Friends is discussed at the monthly board meetings and a decision is taken. But it is always people who are trusted. ‹›
2011 | December erziehungskunst special
Already at school she knew that she wanted to do ”something big” for the world.
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36 PROJECT OF THE YEAR 2012
Can ”Waldorf ” survive in Hungary? by Nana Göbel
The freedom-loving Hungarians, who were always able to maintain a liberal attitude in socialist times, elected a right-wing nationalist government in 2010 whose effect can be felt in a variety of social fields – including schooling. A new schools act is to be adopted in December which contains a binding national curriculum, the separation of lower and middle school, financing depending on the qualifications of the teachers (and no longer on a per pupil rate), the binding assessment of teachers and school organisation, special training for directors, etc., etc.
Account 13 042 010 at the Gemeinschaftsbank, sort code 430 609 67, purpose: 3801 Ungarn
In this situation the Hungarian Waldorf schools will only survive if the Association of Waldorf Schools (Magyar Waldorf Szövetség) manages to preserve at least some room for manoeuvre in the political negotiations. But that is, above all, a financial challenge which the Hungarians cannot manage on their own as the cuts in government budgets in recent years have led to funding for the Waldorf schools being reduced to 50 percent of wages and operating costs. The schools have thus reached the limit. Many parents have in the meantime become unemployed and are not able to pay school fees. As a consequence, the schools can no longer adequately fund their association. The recognised ”Waldorf House” further training institute must be maintained and further expanded in order to be able in future to award qualified degrees and carry out assessments. The Association of Waldorf Schools must continue to exist to draw up amendments for the draft legislation, ensure the continuing supply of class teachers, make the Waldorf curriculum suitable for approval and, finally, train its own directors. In short, the attempt is being made to make the best of a miserable situation. Previously, Hungary was described as the ”happiest barrack in the socialist camp”. Today Hungary is a sad barrack in the capitalist camp. European solidarity is now required . We can help our Hungarian colleagues and do everything in our power to ensure that there will continue to be Waldorf education in Hungary. ‹›
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The world enters the classroom The potential of WOW Day Never have so many Waldorf institutions from such a variety of countries participated in a WOW Day than in Rudolf Steiner’s anniversary year. The result was 210 Waldorf schools from 24 countries. That is a fifth of Waldorf schools worldwide. WOW Day this year took place in a greater context: all European Waldorf schools were called upon to take part. With almost 700 Waldorf schools in Europe, the number of participants is extraordinary. The current figures for 2011 are not yet available, but for comparison: last year pupils from 150 Waldorf schools in 15 countries collected 320,000 euros on a single day. That money benefited 52 Waldorf initiatives in 22 countries. Since 1994, Waldorf pupils throughout Europe have collected a total of two million euros through WOW Day, one hundred percent of which have been passed on to Waldorf initiatives. A great surprise was the participation of five countries outside Europe: Brazil, Canada, the USA, South Africa and India. That makes WOW Day a worldwide action with enormous development potential which, on the one hand, supports Waldorf initiatives in need and, on the other, fetches the world into the classroom. ‹›
Pupils help pupils through fund-raising worldwide
von Olivia Girard
Three birds on a stick, Finland A rainy autumn afternoon in central Finland. The leaves on the trees are slowly turning red and yellow. The streets are empty. But wait – a few people are about – more and more of them – they’re running. What’s happening? Pupils, parents and teachers of the Jyväskylä Waldorf School have organised a race in the park for WOW Day: much laughter, music and sodden, happy people. Organising the happening has been worthwhile. It has strengthened the school spirit – and helped the WOW projects.
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38 WOW DAY
The whole school chasing WOW Day. Photo: Heli Enberg
Victory! The teachers were the fastest and deserve good prize money for WOW Day. Photo: Keiju Saikkonen
› There is a tradition in all Finnish schools to spend one day doing voluntary, charitable work. In almost all higher schools for 14 to 18-year-olds the young people take part in such annual projects offered by UNICEF, Amnesty International, the Red Cross and others in order thereby to help people in need. WOW Day is our way of participating in the worldwide network of support. We do it in our own way. The idea of WOW Days is a wonderful one. It communicates a real concept of the inequality in the world. It makes the need for assistance more immediate and easier to understand if those whom one is helping are in a certain way just like we are and do the same things as us. It is also important that one does not shock the children too much, that the images and materials show the good things one can do with a project, not just the loss and heart-breaking hardship. That makes it easier particular for younger children to deal with. It is important for them to see that there is hope, that one can help and that help is effective. On WOW Day we catch at least ”three birds on a single stick” – as we say in Finland. We give concrete help by collecting money for people in need. We extend our awareness of what is happening in the world by doing that. And it also does our own community good if we take a step back and turn towards others – at least once a year. Perhaps there is a particular reason why the idea of the WOW Days has such an easy time of it in Finland. The idea, namely, to do something for others – because all other events connected with the school are about collecting money for the latter itself or for individual classes. Extending our view is extremely pleasing. This year the WOW Day activities in Finland increased by more than a thousand percent. Half our schools were involved on this occasion – thanks to the joint effort of the teachers and the Finnish Federation for Waldorf Education. Another important factor was the help of the Friends in Berlin and the cooperation was good. We hope that WOW Day stays. Most schools which participated supported WOW Day projects this year. But individual schools have started to reflect more deeply on questions of internation-
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alism and how it can be made visible in the life of the school. Devoting one day in the school year to this question is not too much. All it needs is a bit of imagination to combine international questions with the daily life of the school or school projects. We are excited about the way that this event might develop in the next few years and how we can improve WOW Day further so that it continues also in future to play the important role which it has taken on in our school movement. ‹›
by Pia Pale, Federation for Steiner Waldorf Education in Finland
Colourful ribbons in Benidorm, Spain Our teachers in classes five to eight spoke to us about the pleasure of the experience of sharing and helping and the importance of Waldorf schools. They told us that Waldorf schools had a different kind of education which accompanied the children in their development and taught them what they needed at that time. At the end of our conversations we all wanted to help. Classes 5 and 6 made a wall carpet with spring motifs, classes 7 and 8 learnt how to make armbands out of wool thread. Later, at the Eco Altea fair, we raffled the wall carpet with great success because many visitors bought raffle tickets. We sold the armbands for one euro each at the school’s stand. After two days of work at the fair we received our reward, a nice sum of money. The next opportunity to take action for WOW Day came with the Michaelmas festival. We tied a rope between two trees and encouraged the visitors to tie a band with their name to it in return for a small donation for WOW Day. We had pleasure and fun, and that for a good cause. ‹›
2011 | December erziehungskunst special
by Lluna, Class 8
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40 WOW DAY
Cleaning shoes in Budweis, Czech Republic
by Katerina Kozlova, class teacher of class 6
The Waldorf school in Budweis in southern Bohemia took part in WOW Day for the first time this year. This premiere opened the eyes of the pupils in classes 5 to 8 to the world, but also those of the passers-by who walked through the town square on 29 September. We prepared our programme for the inhabitants of Budweis in the spirit of the European Year of Volunteering. It consisted of a public service by the pupils of class 6 who offered to clean the shoes of passers-by. While this was being done, they were able to sit on comfortable chairs, have a break, read the newspaper or play chess. If passers-by with children came, other pupils played board games with them while the shoes were being cleaned. The pupils brought the mood of the 1920s to life by dressing up in clothes of the time. At that time it was common to have one’s shoes cleaned in the public square. Pupils from classes 7 and 8 accompanied the shoe cleaners with Czech and English songs of the time. Information boards told passers-by about the purpose of our action. Pupils from class 5 sold silk scarves they had dyed themselves. Because the press had written about WOW Day and the action was supported by the mayor, many people came and we were busy the whole time. The day we spent in Budweiser town square was very successful and there was great enthusiasm. It was not just the money which was earned which was important, but also the feeling of togetherness with other Waldorf schools which were cooperating for the same action on this day. We succeeded in earning about 10,000 crowns (approximately 385 euros). We are very much looking forward to next year. ‹›
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Marathon for the world, Berlin WOW Day is an opportunity to deal with real challenges outside the classroom. After the enjoyable summer holidays we take a look inside ourselves in class 5: what opportunities are there to share our affluence with others? For my class 5 pupils it was never a question whether or not they should be involved in WOW Day, but they wanted to know how they could achieve the best possible results. As class teacher, it would also be nice to have a direct link to the curriculum and the greatest possible personal responsibility for the pupils. As one of the themes in this school year is the Olympic Games, it quickly became clear that we would find something to do with sport. When we then discovered that the Berlin marathon was to take place in Michaelmas week, everything was clear. We decided as a class to take part in the mini marathon. We had six weeks until the event which we used to the maximum by running up to six kilometres each day. The mood in the class was fantastic and the children supported one another so that the slower runners, too, improved. Each morning (in main lesson!) we ran through the parks of Berlin-Dahlem and around Schlachtensee lake nearby. Occasionally parents and grandparents joined us – and even their dogs. On warm days we treated ourselves to a quick dip in the lake at the end. We worked with great concentration in the following lessons and managed to finish the theme of the main lesson without any gaps. The community among the children grew daily and new friendships formed. The boys in particularly revelled in the intensive training for the run, although it was the girls, as it turned out, who provided the greatest surprise on the day of the marathon. All the children had the task of finding ten people to sponsor them in support of our ”Marathon for the world”. Sponsor letters were written for that purpose and beautiful posters were made which the excited parents held up on the day of the
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42 WOW DAY
› race as encouragement. The actual run itself was a highly emotional experience
by Svenja Büntjen, class teacher at the Berlin Rudolf Steiner School
for the children. On the one hand they were running through the wide streets of Berlin and through the Brandenburg Gate, all of which had been closed off for them, and on the other they were racing against almost 10,000 other pupils. When the children reached the finish their faces revealed pride and satisfaction. Once the sponsorship money had been counted, the joy at almost 3,000 euros was even bigger. In arithmetic, where we were just practicing working with decimals, the pupils were busy working out money and race times. All the practice sums were directly related to this experience. ‹›
Battling the dragon in Zagreb, Croatia
by Tatjana Kellett (parent), Nikolina Matetic Pelikan (parent)
We are happy and also a little proud: we took part in a WOW Day for the first time. For our Michaelmas plays we chose a park with a lake nearby which is visited by many parents and grandparents with their children at the weekend. The weather was magnificent! We crossed a river to search for the magic potion which gives you strength for the battle with the dragon. We went through fire on stilts, threw horseshoes and struggled through a labyrinth at the end of which a dragon awaited us. Many children enjoyed our games, even young people who only knew about fighting dragons from computer games. We even had a real horse! WOW Day showed us what a good thing it is to go out of the school and mingle with other people. The actions were not just a good opportunity to show our school in its best light, there was also a completely new feeling of community ‹›
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TEST
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Are you still giving or already gifting? A little test – for Christmas. by Steffen Koolmann
Making a gift is basically a good and, indeed, a popular thing – particularly at Christmas. In the event that there happens not to be a suitable cultural or historical occasion available for making someone a gift (which can happen, after all), business has come up with all kinds of ideas (for example the promotion of Valentine’s Day or the institution of Mother’s Day). The question is (only): Are we aware of the process which is triggered by making a gift – if yes, what is it; if no, why not? In order to dig a little deeper to find an answer to this question, there just happens to be a little test1: Categorise the following events by their socio-economic qualities. Which process do you see as a gifting process and accord a particular socio-economic quality to it? Give a point for each process which you consider to be a gifting process.
Why do I make gifts? Do I make gifts at all?
Category A 1. Putting out bulky items for refuse collection. 2. A court-ordered fine.2 3. The souvenir from the four-week holiday in the Black Forest. (Look, I thought of you and brought something nice back for you…). 4. The invitation to the evening looking at slides (about the four-week holiday in the Black Forest). 5. The return invitation: a private reading from the (still) unpublished volume of own poetry (approx. 100 poems). Category B 6. Giving someone a friendly look… 7. Giving someone attention… 8. Giving someone abilities… 9. Giving someone time… 10. Giving someone a listening ear…
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› Category C 11. Support for education and studies. 12. Promoting a free cultural life, art and culture. 13. A legacy. 14. The establishment of a foundation. 15. Writing a small contribution for the magazine Erziehungskunst. What kind of gifting type am I?
Analysis – a small selection of gifting types: Add up the points you have awarded – in total and separately by category. Good luck with your analysis. You have awarded… 15 points: This means that you actually – from a material point of view – should no longer have any possessions at all (and will in turn probably be dependent on gifts from others). You have placed yourself – from a social perspective – wholly at the service of the world; i.e. actually done everything right. I hope you can make ends meet – all the best for the future. 0 points: You should do the test again – this time with more time and inner calm. Or alternatively read the following books: Rudolf Steiner: Economics – The World as One Economy; Rainer Hank: Erklär mir die Welt; GLS Treuhand e.V. (ed.). Only a gift will help here. 5 points in category A: You tend to be a giver type – you like to give something of yourself rather than gifting something to someone else. That is not a bad thing – perhaps just a little bit one-sided. Tip: re-examine this attitude (it might also be of help to seek advice from those around you in this respect). 0 points in category A: You are clearly living alone on a remote island and have no social contacts – hence there is no giving and gifting for you. You did not really need to do the test at all. Nevertheless (or precisely because of that): thank you very much for taking part. All good wishes to you. 5 points in category B: You are the type whom everyone likes to have around: as a colleague, neighbour , life partner, boss, fellow traveller, fellow road user… The friendly TV licence fee collector dreams of you when he pushes the doorbell. Question: How do you do it? Can it be learnt – or is one born that way? 5 points in category C: You have really understood the idea of the threefold structure of society (that makes you part of a small, select group – congratulations!). Please spread your knowledge as fast and relentlessly as you can. If on top of that you are also a good speaker – then you are the depository of all our hopes with regard to economic and social questions. 1 point for gifting process 15: The editor will be eternally grateful to you. A tip: set aside
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twice as much time beforehand in your diary than you have available or originally planned – your nerves and health will thank you.
Notes:
1 Urgent note from the author:
Concluding remarks: Rethinking gifting… … means primarily: • The gifting process is as much a part of the economic process as the purchasing and lending process. • The economic quality of gifting cannot be separated from the social component: gifting is social economics put into practice. • The individual gifting process is socially unique, cannot be repeated, cannot be reversed (”A gift is a gift, taking it back is theft”). • Gifting is the bridge between the past (what is) and the future (still freely to be), i.e.: the – free – transfer of what has become to an (uncertain) future potential. • Gifting particularly has a socio-economic quality when it is done without expectations and focuses on ”opening up new spaces”. • Gifting should also be seen as detached from material things: making a gift of … time, ideas, empathy, involvement, sympathy – those are new, forward-looking gifts. Also, and particularly, for an economy which is ”sufficiently supplied” with material things. … comprises: • the quality of meaning – gifting with meaning • the quality of awareness – gifting with awareness • the quality of stimulation – gifting to stimulate • the quality if interest – gifting from an ”interest in others” • the quality of opening up – gifting to enable the opening up of (still) invisible spaces • the quality of expectation – gifting without expectation (for example of gratitude as ”reciprocal gift”). ‹›
About the author: Prof. Dr. Steffen Koolmann occupies the Chair of Economics and Society in the Economics Department of Alanus University and is Prorector. He is head of the Institute of Education Economics, Mannheim, and freelance consultant for charitable organisations (Institute of Management in the Social Economy). Kontakt: steffen.koolmann@alanus.edu
2011 | December erziehungskunst special
There is no generally valid answer to this test in the sense of ”right or wrong”, but there is the possibility of determining what type of gifting person you are if at the end the points are added up and compared with the model types. At this point the author expressly points out that this is done at your own risk and no kind of liability can be asserted against the author. Readers who see little point in such tests are invited to skip this part and go straight to the concluding remarks. (But it would be a pity in some ways.)
2 In Germany, about 100 million euros in fines are ordered to be paid to charitable institutions each year. The author assumes here that this does not refer to the readers of this contribution.
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46 SERVICE & INFORMATION
Information worldwide:
Literature:
Voluntary services: Pupil exchange:
Taking action:
Questions to Friends of Waldorf Education?:
freunde-waldorf.de (Waldorf support worldwide) waldorfschule.info (List of schools worldwide) iaswece.org (Kindergartens worldwide) khsdornach.org (Curative education, social therapy worldwide) paedagogik-goetheanum.ch (Educational research) steineroz.com (Network Australia) ecswe.org (European Waldorf association) iao-waldorf.de (Further training in Central and Eastern Europe) whywaldorfworks.org (Waldorf School Association in North America)
Freunde der Erziehungskunst: Waldorfpädagogik weltweit, Dürnau 2001 Freunde der Erziehungskunst: Waldorfpädagogik, Dürnau 1994 Leber, Stefan (ed.): Anthroposophie und Waldorfpädagogik in den Kulturen der Welt. Verlag Freies Geistesleben, Stuttgart 1997 Ruf, Bernd: Trümmer und Traumata. Anthroposophische Grundlagen notfallpädagogischer Einsätze. Ita Wegman Verlag, Stuttgart 2011
freunde-waldorf.de/freiwilligendienste (Voluntary services) wechsel-wirkung.eu (Pupil exchange)
freunde-waldorf.de/spenden-helfen (International donations) freunde-waldorf.de/spenden-helfen/patenschaften (Becoming a mentor) freunde-waldorf.de/spenden-helfen/projekte-die-hilfe-brauchen (Direct suppport) freunde-waldorf.de/wow-day (Worldwide pupil commitment) freunde-waldorf.de/notfallpaedagogik (Disaster assistance)
Project funding, mentorships, WOW Day, PR berlin@freunde-waldorf.de Voluntary services: freiwilligendienste@freunde-waldorf.de Emergency education: notfallpaedagogik@freunde-waldorf.de
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Rudolf Steiner Education A survey of the work of Waldorf Schools throughout the world
Education Towards Freedom was first published in 1976, and since then has sold over ten thousand copies in English. When it appeared, there were around 100 Steiner-Waldorf schools throughout the world; now there are almost 1000 schools worldwide, as well as many separate playgroups and kindergartens. During this time, Steiner-Waldorf education has become increasingly known in the mainstream, and increasingly valued for its alternative approaches to children's learning and development. The great breadth and richness of the approach is what has attracted so many parents to its schools and books like Education Towards Freedom have helped them make the informed choice to take a different route for their children. The book covers all aspects of Steiner-Waldorf education and divides it into the pre-school years, the first eight years (starting about age seven), and the last four years (from 14 to 18). There are also sections on the rhythm of the day, specific subjects, the use of textbooks, and school in the modern world. Frans Carlgren: Education Towards Freedom 272 pages, paperback, ISBN: 9780863156519, Floris Books: www.florisbooks.co.uk
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