Research & Reviews
The 2024 AWSNA Conference The Association of Waldor f Schools of Nor th America By Monika Sutherland
The Association of Waldorf Schools of North America hosted its first in-person conference since 2019, after a five-year pause due to COVID-19. The conference took place at the Denver Waldorf School from June 24 to 27, 2024, and was attended by 279 people from the US, Canada, and Mexico. The school’s spacious campus, adorned with students’ artwork, and its numerous gathering spaces for small and large groups, created a vibrant and welcoming atmosphere. Outside, a large tent was festively decorated with f lags sewn by 8th-grade students over many years. Walking into the space, you immediately felt part of something exciting and wonderful.
Pedagogical Section. Constanza spoke on the topic of radiant self and began with a question: Are we, as teachers, able to develop the longing in the soul of our children and young people so that they want more than anything to participate in, to be part of, to be citizens of, this world? Constanza brought the image of the teacher as mediator, ..as one who is coming and going between the world – the vastness, the diversity, the beauty, the complexity of the whole world – and the child who is entering this world having decided to be part of this world and having decided to transform this world but first needing to learn how to live together in this shared world, each one of us different from the other.
The theme of the conference – Radiant Self, Resilient Students, Robust Schools - was brought to life by the three esteemed keynote speakers Constanza Kaliks, Nkem Ndefo, and Simone Shurney. Each keynote presentation was introduced with storytelling and singing by Baba the Storyteller, a West African griot who brought potent themes and truths through stories and call-and-response singing before each keynote presentation. This immersive experience set a beautiful mood and allowed attendees to experience firsthand what teachers strive to bring to children in Waldorf schools - teaching through the richness of stories and images.
Constanza’s talk frequently emphasized the concept of ‘mutuality,’ highlighting that it is this act of positioning ourselves ‘between’ the child and the world that increasingly shapes our ability to become teachers. She reminded us that Rudolf Steiner told the teachers, “If you want to teach, you need to learn to read the human being as a book,” and that teachers need to transform themselves every day to learn to read the human being anew. Continuing to ref lect on the theme of mutuality, Constanza said, “Our deepest commitment is to the reality of the world today. Children are coming not for the world that we would love to offer to them, not the world that we remember from our childhood, but rather this exact world we are in with all the difficulties. The children came to be citizens today.” These experiences of mutuality - to become citizens of the world and to constantly re-learn to read the human being - are the teacher’s task.
On the afternoon before the opening evening of the conference, a special time and space was created for conference attendees of color to gather and socialize. This initiative was well-received, with our colleagues of color reporting feeling supported and strengthened by this offering. It provided them with a safe and empowering space to meet as an affinity group and permeate the space before being joined by all the other conference attendees. On the opening evening of the conference, the first keynote presentation was beautifully presented by the esteemed Constanza Kaliks, who is based at the Goetheanum in Dornach, Switzerland, and serves as the co-chair of the General Anthroposophical and 46 • b e i n g h u m a n
On day two of the conference, the theme of Resilient Students was taken up beautifully by well-known keynote speaker Nkem Ndefo, the founder of Lumos Transforms and creator of The Resilience Toolkit. Nkem defined ‘resilience’ as a combination of strength and f lexibility. Nkem emphasized that both aspects are essential, but our dominant culture overvalues the strength aspect. Said Nkem, “Most people, when asked the question ‘what is resilience to you?’ overwhelmingly