Pacifica Journal A bi-annual newsletter published by the in Hawai'i No. 52, Vol.2 2017

A Journey Starts with a Single Step: Renewal,” “The Art of Education,” “About the Curriculum— The Seventh Asia Waldorf its essence and its flexibility,” “The Changes in Constitution in Students towards Middle school and High school,” “The Teacher Conference Changes in Attitude of the Teachers’,” “The School body as Van James, Honolulu, Hawai’i a health-giving Organism for Children, Parents and Teach- ers.” Always deep in content, warm and light in presentation, In the lush green foothills below Emei Shan, the high- Wiechert’s talks addressed new teachers just beginning their est of the four sacred Buddhist mountains of China, more journey and, at the same time, enriched the longtime profes- than 900 international Waldorf educators gathered for the sional educators with his varied story delivery, comments on biennial Asian Waldorf Teacher’s Conference (AWTC); the current, cutting-edge research, and delightfully humorous theme: Cultural Identity and Individualization in Educa- anecdotes. His presentations never failed to inspire. tional Practice. Over 50 morning and afternoon workshops given by in- Organized by a large local team of teachers, administra- ternational tutors explored and shared the teaching practices tors and parents, mostly from the Chengdu Waldorf School, and artistic activities from many fields. There were forums the first Waldorf school in China, the conference was skill- in the afternoon where participants discussed the general fully guided by Li Zhang and Zewu Li with sponsorship phenomena and challenges in Asian Waldorf educational and focus from Nana Goebel of the Friends for Rudolf practice. In addition, there were many wonderful perfor- Steiner Education. In the pleasant springtime weather of Sichuan, from April 28 to May 5, the AWTC was the culminating event of many years of work that have helped to steer and encour- age in a positive direction the fast-growing development of in Asia. Christof Wiechert, mas- ter Waldorf educator and former leader of the Edu- cation Department of the School of Spiritual Science at the , gave the morning keynote lectures on the following themes: “Little children are great Teachers,” “Empathic attention and dia- logue is basic nourishment for every child,” “The Teacher’s Profession and continuous Anthroposophical Society in Hawai'i, 2514 Alaula Way, Honolulu, Hawai'i Email: [email protected] , www.anthrohawaii.org is already planning a youth conference and an Asian high school conference is being discussed. Before each morning lecture of the conference the en- tire assembly of teachers learned a Chinese folk song and an English round based on the Chinese proverb, A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. As the 100th anniversary of Waldorf Education approaches it is quite amazing to think that this worldwide movement all began with a single, humble, yet courageous, step in central Europe and is now making noticeable footprints in Asia, thousands of miles away. What many participants took away from this conference was that many more steps are needed in the future if the intentions behind those first steps are to be fulfilled. mances in the evenings, such as student concerts of a very Photos of the Asia Waldorf high caliber, adult (parent and teacher) community dramatic Teacher's Conference in presentations, and a professional international Emei Shan, China. performance. The venue, the Emei Grand Hotel, had never hosted an event of this size before with such an international character. The food included a very wide buffet of Chinese dishes and the opportunity for western participants to try their hands at eating with chopsticks. The AWTCs began some twenty years ago with small steps: Asian teachers gathering at roundtable meetings, called by Ms. Goebel, following the annual Asia-Pacific Anthroposophical Conferences. These meetings grew and evolved into their now-familiar form in Taiwan, Thailand, India, the Philippines, Korea and Japan over the years. The time has arrived for countries to hold their own conferences, as many have been doing already, in their own languages. If an AWTC, an all-Asia teacher’s conference, is to be called again in the future it will be from an Asian country that wants to host and organize it, not from outside Asia. This makes perfect sense now that the various Asian Waldorf schools are on a strong, self-determined footing. Thailand

2 7th AWTC—Emeishan, Sichuan, China 3 For 7th Asian Waldorf 题亚洲大会 Teacher's Conference 以五月 [Editor’s note: AWTC name tags were framed in different 峨眉杜鹃的名义相聚 colors to indicate the groups people were in or the tasks they had.] 在初夏的调子里 We meet 不同的颜色 In the name of Emei Rhododendron 拼接斑斓的色板: And tune in At the beginning of summer, 红的 Different colored pieces 是行动者 Making a beautiful rich pallet: 用身姿说话 在与世界的关联中

Red are the people who are doers 坦露赤诚的言语 Speaking through their bodies

Connecting with the world directly 绿者

Their language is frank 是思考者 And full of heart 用另一种语言说

以恒河沙数的比喻 Green are the thinkers The other languages they use 唤起圆满的方式—— Making metamorphoses happen 过去构建起自足 Like the countless 清晰刻画成未来 Sands of the Ganges Past our self-contained structures 蓝是热情者的事物 To clarify forms of our future 用最深远的爱去衬托 他们略有所长

Blue belongs to passionate people 这是巨大的秘密——

Used to mounting with deep love 他们为每一张面孔服务 They have something good

But the most classified secrets 黄色是冥想者

They serve for each open face 法师们和普贤一样

戴着光环 Yellow are contemplators 戳破一个个假相 Those masters are like Samantabhadra With auras radiating 尽善尽美地召唤精神 To expose illusions To summon spirits 不得不说到的紫 In perfection 如同编织的花环 它在那里

Purple it should be said 带着美妙的映射

Is just like the woven flower garland 从立冬

It is there 到立夏 With beautiful protection 路过的人 From the winter it commences 都说好 Onward toward spring People who pass by 来跳舞吧 All say very good! 每个人心中的神明 So, come and dance 聚合或散开 Everyone has a deity in his heart 或者歌唱 Gathering or separating 我们都可以好 ------or singing We all are fine and sound. 李泽武 2017，5，6，晨 --Zewu Li, May 6, 2017 4 English Week in China This year, the course has taken place for the fifth time Christoph Jaffke, , Germany and it was held for the third time in a large Buddhist temple: Tian Tai Temple, Hong An, in the Hubei province, [First printed in Waldorf Resources, November 2016, waldorf- about three hours drive from the city of Wuhan. resources.org. Translated from the German by Karin Smith.] This was the first time that the conference was organized and hosted in cooperation with the China Waldorf Forum (CWF), a group which might be considered the pioneering body of a future Chinese Waldorf Association. It has been important for us, right from the start, to include daily artistic practice for the teachers in the programme. This year we enjoyed English eurythmy with Claudia Fontana (USA) for the fourth year running and we did speech with Tessa Westlake. The seminars in meth- odology and didactics were split into three groups: Grade one to four worked with Christoph Jaffke, grade three to five with Monica Boyd and grade six to eight with Petra Eiermacher. This was also the first time that we offered a basic course for everyone: Ben Cherry, the pioneer of Waldorf education in China, introduced us to selected motifs taken from The Foundations of Human Experience. In no other country has the Waldorf movement Many of us returned to his thoughts again and again in developed as fast as in the People’s Republic of China. their study groups. In 2011 there was just one Waldorf school in Chengdu; Three evenings were reserved to practice story-telling. three years later there were already 51 schools. Today, In this course we explored how to use our voice and body the movement includes over 75 schools and over 300 language effectively with children of various age groups. kindergartens. Christoph Jaffke reports here from the Our own practice, combined with observing others, helped 2016 English Week in China. to create an intensive learning atmosphere. In all the cours- At the moment the China Waldorf schools are still es we laughed a lot. Many of the participants described the supported by a large number of mentors, mainly retired experience of story-telling as crucial and helpful. colleagues from New Zealand, Australia, the US and In the course of the conference we tried to think of ways Europe. There are part-time courses for teachers’ further to establish a professional, part-time course for Waldorf education in six different cities, often with more than a English teachers. This coming spring, at the end of April hundred participants and usually running for three years. 2017, Chengdu will be hosting the Asian Waldorf Teachers’ Teaching English is a huge challenge for the schools. Conference, this is the seventh such conference, held for The country has been cut off from English speaking coun- the first time in The People’s Republic of China. Up until tries for many years. Therefore there are only a few teachers then we will hopefully be a little closer to answering the of English as a foreign language who have mastered – ac- question of where and with whom such a course may be cording to common criteria – a somewhat comprehensible established. pronunciation and a solid level of English. Most schools are still in the pioneering phase and can only afford to employ Prof. Dr. Christoph Jaffke was an English teacher at the part-time teachers. Many schools suffer from a high level Waldorf School Kräherwald in Stuttgart from 1967 to 2000. of teacher fluctuation. The required number of lessons Today, he travels extensively in Europe, the Americas and Asia as can rarely be taught. A further difficulty arises from the a lecturer and school mentor. fact that – unlike for class teachers – there is no specific professional education or training for Waldorf teachers of English as a foreign language. Monica Boyd, an experienced Canadian teacher, has been travelling through China for the last five years and has been working with English teachers at various schools. She and the author have founded the “Conferences for Wal- dorf English Teachers“ in Guangzhou in 2012 which has attracted between fifty and seventy participants per year. 5 Flowforms in China while sounding like ‘Flowform’ when spoken in Mandarin, is Ian Trousdell, Emerson College, England a new combination of characters meaning an enriched joyous harvest. In Chinese it is 福樂豐. Our aim is to enable Flow- Emerson College has been the center for Flowform®, the form® to enter into Chinese culture effectively, bringing the figure-8 dynamic flow water-quality improving technology, joy, peace and fascination it has brought to so many in the since its invention by one of the College’s early teachers, John West also to Asia. In fact, we find their insightful perception of Wilkes, in 1970. Many Emerson students and visitors have its simultaneous artistic, technical and healing qualities more been fascinated by the heart pulse water flow of these extraordi- pronounced than in the West, with many saying how much narily artistic ‘biomimicry’ works, using nature’s best methods of improving water. Since that time colleagues inspired by John and his wonderful insights into water have taken up Flowform design and project installation in many countries, but not much has happened in Asia. And now, since I have been carrying on John’s Founda- tion for Water’s research work into energy in water on Emerson campus, we have realized even more how closely Flowform® design and concepts about water quality are to Asian culture. This has led to a renewed interest in taking Flowform® there, and in particular to China. Hence since early in 2016 I have been focusing on introducing Flowform® to China, following up on some earlier contacts with people who are active in Waldorf Education and Biodynamic endeavors there. This has resulted in a container of ceramic vases being sent to our Guangzhou distributor Mr Tsau Weiguo where they are now beginning to sell well in those networks, and landscape molds being sent to our Hangzhou distributor Mr Yang Qingfeng and Amerigo Sivelli for casting in concretes for school, kindergarten and commercial projects. We are setting up a new Flowform® company there, as the basis for future work. It is called Fulefeng Ltd, which 6 it is suited to traditional Asian culture, which has learned so of mainstream education in the West, hostage to the myopic much from the workings of nature. strictures of scientific management techniques that should never So Flowform® is now at a new stage, with the aim have been allowed out of the foundries of Bethlehem Steel, spare to develop a strong business which can solve water issues in a thought for Myanmar’s young. China while also helping socially too. There is growing inter- Thingyan, the water festival – over fifty interested parents est from an increasingly wide network of people including and teachers did indeed join us for the two-day introduction the Cheung Kong Graduate School of Business, China’s top to Steiner education at the Royal Resort’s ballroom. Elisabeth MBA university. In the coming year, we hope and envisage, and I are teacher colleagues at the Steiner Academy in Frome, in there will be much more development in our work to help England, Elisabeth in the kindergarten and I now in class five. water and enter the China as a new part of Chinese culture, We have both given plenty of adult presentations in our time bringing anthroposophical benefits of harmony and healing but have perhaps never experienced so deferential an audience through the pure action of rhythm and flow. as we did in Myanmar. The attendees listened intently as we did As we make our next steps we also plan to find signifi- our puppet show, nodded respectfully when we met their eyes cant investment into Fulefeng Ltd to help it grow healthily in and joined in enthusiastically as we stepped and skipped around such a huge market. Anyone with ideas or contacts concerning the ballroom (and yes one participant did smack into a column, any of this work are invited to contact me at ian.trousdell@ though not actually at this venue). It was hard to gauge from the flowform.net few questions at the end of the two days whether participants shared Harn’s – our host – enthusiasm for Steiner education or whether they were just very keen to find an alternative to Waldorf in Myanmar the existing fare that they could afford and that seemed to give [First published in the Anthroposophical Society in Great prominence to the English language! Britain Newsletter, Summer 2017]

Elisabeth leads a doll-making workshop. Paul and Harn under the watchful eye of the Buddha. The teach and test pedagogy of state, monastic and private So there we were at the rather up-market looking Royal schools in the country seems the antithesis of what a child-cen- Reward Resort. “Will you be wanting the banquet room (think tred education should be. Of course there are many in Myanmar ballroom with columns and big stage) or the upper meeting who recognise this, but this is a country in the throes of seismic room (with all the technology and opening out onto roof top change and the educational system is a behemoth whose future verandah with parasoled tables)?” the bookings’ manager asked. is of great importance to a wide range of interested parties. Some Now I’m no dancer so the wedding banquet room was more than of these parties may be beginning to release their stranglehold a little intimidating (how do you navigate the columns when on it, but we are some way from clarity around what it may locked in a waltz?), but when Harn assured us there would be become and indeed what is currently possible. What is clear is more than fifty people coming, there really was no choice. Still, that many parents do not want to see their children go through they had a blackboard and there would be plenty of room for the soulless education they endured, so, even though our visit some morning circle activities, so perhaps the Royal Reward coincided with one of the country’s main annual holidays – The Resort’s ballroom was not such a bad place to launch Steiner five-day teachers’ course we ran after this parent course was more Education on the good people of Pyin Oo Lwin after all! The reassuring. Not all the twenty plus teachers and would-be teach- schools of Myanmar were in their equivalent of summer holi- ers who began the course were able to complete it but the dozen days, which for many of the poor children of Myanmar meant that did all wanted to be interviewed for jobs in the new school. summer school, essentially the same old rote of learning and They were good people. Some were in their early twenties testing as normal school. While it is easy to despair at the state and full of enthusiasm and drive, others in their forties and

7 with life experiences, in some cases way beyond what most of us 'Retirement'?! would experience in our own relatively affluent circumstances. Dan Maslen, Hyderabad, India There were also at least twenty other (would-be) teachers who were unable to attend the course but would be keen to join [First published in the Anthroposophical Society in Great future workshops. Given that relative to the big cities of Yangon Britain Newsletter, Summer 2017] and Mandalay, the population of this town in the hills is small, it feels that this time of opening up in Myanmar may be a time where Waldorf education would be very welcome. Already seeds have been sown by Kate Bryant from New Zealand and others in the flourishing monastic kindergarten in Lashio, while Bhante Mokkhita, the Buddhist monk who as a child attended a Waldorf kindergarten in Germany, is establishing a Steiner initiative in his monastery near Inle Lake. Elisabeth and I met Harn at the ‘Transitions’ conference in Dornach at Easter 2015 and have kept in contact since. With little more than an unshakeable determination he has sought to plant a seed of a different form of education in Pyin Oo Lwin. During the ten days we were with him, he signed the contract for the rental of a one and a half acre piece of land on the outskirts of town. This land was dry with a rather In case you are a teacher, and occasionally wonder how dark and run-down cottage the only building on it, but there you might survive the transition into so-called ‘retirement’, I are established trees, there’s bamboo, there are palms, there’s would like to assure you that there are lots of possibilities of potential. There are many hurdles – the lack of funds, the lack expanding your horizon and gaining a second wind in very of clarity around the status of an ‘international’ school, uncer- unexpected ways! tainty around levels of interest among parents etc. – but things Since leaving Kings Langley School last July, happen because of people. Harn and his wife Mayle, in their one thing led to another – and I have found myself traveling quiet, calm yet resolute way seem to be people who can make to India and Australia! things happen. So Elisabeth and I are up for helping as best we In Hyderabad, Southern India, I taught on a new eurythmy can by being the first kindergarten and class teachers there from training initiative run by Chrystal Hayn, and Diana and August this year, with a couple of apprentice teachers each with Dan Skinner from the UK. There are currently fourteen very us learning on the job and, hopefully, able to take hold of the enthusiastic young (mostly Indian) students on the course, reins after a year. We will continue to give workshops in the whom I thoroughly enjoyed teaching in spite of the heat town and to talk to whoever has an interest in what Waldorf and pollution. This was followed by seven weeks of teaching education has to offer. We will appreciate the contact with our eurythmy, geometry, form drawing and music in the Abhaya brothers and sisters in Inle Lake and Lashio and will warmly Waldorf School on the outskirts of Hyderabad. The children welcome Waldorf practitioners like the delightful eurythmist, were very receptive and proudly shared their work at the end Frida Glasmacher from Wuppertal in Germany, who joined of term festival. – These ventures into India have led to further us for our teachers’ course and seemed to always have just the invitations to three schools next year. After Christmas I flew out right exercise to illustrate the point we were bringing. I’m sure to Havelock Island – which is part of the Adamans – where I anyone able to visit will be as overwhelmed by the warmth and spent three weeks teaching on an upper school oceanography kindness of the people, the lushness of the flora and the sheer course run by ‘Waldorf diversity of the land as we were. Worldwide’. The group consisted of Dutch, Indian and We are indebted to ‘Die Freunde der Erziehungskunst Chinese students. The Andamans are tropical islands often Rudolf Steiners’ for facilitating our visit. Harn and we are subject to storms, cyclones and tidal waves. They were flat- determined that the school should be open to all children but tened by the 2004 tsunami but have now recovered, with most such are the exorbitant costs of rental in Myanmar (the very coastal houses rebuilt. Some of the islands are still inhabited ordinary piece of land we rent is worth over $1 million, while, by primitive tribal communities who have resisted modern in comparison, an average teacher’s salary is $50 per month) civilisation to this day. It was an amazing experience just to we will depend on donations from abroad to achieve this. So if be there. The oceanography course was a great success and will you are able to support this initiative or if perhaps a school is be repeated next year. interested in twinning with our new school, we’d love to hear After this I flew to Australia to help out at the Newcastle from you! Waldorf School just north of Sydney. I taught a geometry main [email protected] lesson to a combined Class 6/7, eurythmy and form drawing [email protected] throughout the school, and enjoyed working with these earthy,

8 grounded, and often cheeky children. The three-week block a common cultural ‘language’ with which we identify. Shared ended with some wonderful eurythmy on stage at the Easter customs, norms and values such as table manners or greetings Festival. It was strange to be celebrating Easter as the autumn are part of it and provide some orientation. We are rarely aware leaves fall! I also ended up directing and composing music for of these small daily rituals because we have mastered them Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Nights Dream performed by an from a very early age on. Yet, when we go abroad we are soon adult theatre company called Prospero Players who are con- confused. The rolling head motion of the Indian people can nected with the school. cause despair in Europeans because they don’t understand if So, you can see that you need not be afraid of retirement it means yes or no. German bus timetables which tell you the – there is so much work to do, especially in countries where exact times of the buses’ arrivals and departures, precisely to Waldorf Education is still in the pioneering stages! The freedom the minute, are another cultural peculiarity. that is still possible in those countries, and the devotion and However, culture is not fixed, it has no clear boundaries. enthusiasm of the school communities, is most refreshing after For the anthropologist Clifford Geertz, culture is a ‘web of having worked for so many years in Europe, where regulations significance’ in need of interpretation or ‘thick description’, as can sometimes stifle the original spirit of Waldorf Education. he puts it. The following example shows that this is not so easy: Dan Maslen: [email protected] “There is an Indian story – well, it was told me as an Indian story – about an Englishman to whom someone explained that the world rests on a platform which rests on the back of an On the Back of the Turtle: Culture and elephant which rests on the back of a turtle. So, the English- man asked what the turtle rested on. On another turtle. And Waldorf Education this other turtle? ‘Oh, Sahib, then there are only turtles, all Katharina Stemann, Berlin, Germany the way down.” (2) [First published at www.waldorf-resources.org, February 2017] It is clear: To cautiously approach another culture is a complex business, but it is perhaps easier to do it in a foreign culture rather than in our own. But this is the craft: to learn to reflect our own habits. As Steiner said to the first teachers at the first Waldorf school: “We dare not be simply educators; we must be people of culture in the highest sense of the word. We must have a living interest in everything happening today, otherwise we will be bad teachers for this school.” (3) Cultural Stakeholders Everyone is a cultural stakeholder: culture is created indi- vidually at every moment. James Clifford in ‘Writing Culture’ says that everyone ‘writes’ culture. (4) If we look for instance at the literature curriculum for schools in Europe, it is clear that Shakespeare and Schiller have to be included. But what about female authors or unknown writers from non-Western countries? A particular curriculum is an important cultural Are we aware that every choice of lesson content has to do agent, but we have to be aware that with our choices we cre- with ‘selection’, ‘construction’ and ‘focus’? When the teacher ate a specific focus. Edward Said, in his famous publication chooses literature for the learners, there is indeed a differ- ‘Orientalism’, points out that the ‘Orient’ has been ‘oriental- ence whether the author is male or female, has an urban or ized’ through western science and literature; through the way rural background, which religion they belong to and so on. the Western world perceives the Orient. (5) With this article I want to encourage teachers to reflect upon A culture which reinvents itself creates something powerful. their own pedagogical narratives. Such reflections may help Eric Hobsbawm shows in ‘The Invention of Tradition’ (6) that to develop a clearer perception of the pupils in school and certain “traditions” are now created as historic fction in order kindergarten, to choose culturally meaningful lesson content to re-establish norms and structures. This phenomenon can and to critically question our own focus. I am also including be seen as a reaction to today’s ever present societal changes. examples drawn from some of the first research papers into Today we observe revivals of old festivals and rituals in many questions of culture at Waldorf schools. cultures around the world. These revivals are interesting for us Lost in the web of significance? as educators because they bring old traditions to our attention and help to re-enliven them. What is culture? To put it simply, it is that which connects Karin Smith, a Swiss mentor and potter, explained to me us as a society, that which unites us. In a ‘cultural area’ we speak

9 recently how she had talked to some Peruvian teachers about local minorities are heard. Waldorf education needs to be con- the old Andean ceramic traditions. Through her, they became nected to the place, the time and the people it addresses. (9) aware of the great treasures of pre-columbian ceramics in their I now want to explore some examples in which local tradi- country and how they could use these treasures in their own tion is expressed in Waldorf education. Carlo Willmann asks teaching. This is just one example of how the international in a research project how the specific ‘Waldorf tradition’ of exchange in the Waldorf movement can open up new inner the so-called ‘religious education’ is implemented in a non- and outer horizons. Christian context. For his project he has studied the Waldorf schools Sekem in Egypt as well as the , Shefar’am and Jerusalem schools in . Willmann shows that Steiner coined an educational con- cept of religion which touches on feelings and will, such as trust, a sense of awe, reverence etc, and is not concerned with the content of a particular religious denomination. This is implemented through the so called ‘pictorial method’, using language, gestures, pictures, metaphors, symbols and parables which are usually accompanied by religious motifs. In Euro- pean Waldorf schools we therefore find religious songs, season tables, the celebration of Christian festivals, myths, legends etc. Culture and Waldorf Education Willmann found that religious education is a central aspect For a number of years now, the Waldorf movement has of teaching at the Sekem school and in his research conversa- been concerned with the question of how Waldorf education tions he often heard the sentence ‘everything is religion’. In can be implemented in, say, Russia, Australia or Japan. Mar- the context of Islam, education is a part of the religious life. tyn Rawson, co-editor of the Waldorf curriculum in English, “To illustrate this point we may refer to a regular practice used justly asks if educational habits can simply be copied. “Some in the teachers’ meetings which the founder of Sekem, Dr. ideas may be good in one situation but don’t make sense in , told me about. Islamic tradition refers to another. Because children in Germany learning knitting with Allah by 99 different names. They all express one of the posi- wool, does this mean that knitting with wool is standard even tive aspects of God and allow our incomplete human mind to in countries that do not traditionally knit with wool (perhaps understand the incomprehensible being of God a little closer. they weave with cotton)?” (7) The teachers regularly meditate on one of Allah’s names in Neil Boland, a Waldorf teacher in New Zealand suggests their conferences and relate it to their educational practice. that it is a sign of ‘total cultural colonialism’ (8) in Waldorf If ‘The Patient One’ is one of Allah’s names, the teacher can education (as indeed in other aspects of culture) when, for meditate this name and therefore find inspiration to practice instance, the Shepherds’ Play is performed in the hight of patience in their own teaching.” (10) summer in New Zealand while the sweat runs from the actors’ Narratives foreheads as they are dressed in sheepskins and wooly hats. What do teachers at the Israeli schools and the Sekem The annual Christian festivals, mainly Christmas, Easter, St. school choose in terms of Waldorf narratives such as legends, John’s and Michaelmas, are firmly connected to the seasons symbols and stories? in Europe. They are placed in the calendar according to the Willmann describes how prayers, verses and stories drawn position of the sun and the moon. People often experience from Arab culture and from Islam are used at Sekem. At the a particular mood in nature at particular times of the year. Israeli schools a specific curriculum for classes one to eight has Easter, which is celebrated in the European spring, has to do been developed. For example, the Jewish legends of the great with new growth, while Christmas, at the Winter Solstice, Rabbis are told in grade two; in grade four the narratives are celebrates the return of light at the darkest time of the year. It centred around some of the Old Testament, such as Judges, is therefore crucial to examine how Christian festivals relate Samuel, Joshua or the stories of Deborah and Gideon. The to local events and moods in nature. Is it not our task to ques- story of David is focused on in grade five. tion if verses, annual festivals or Middle European narratives It can be said that the choice of narrative is an expres- are suitable in other cultural settings? Boland’s research with sion of culture. Taking the examples above, we suggest that Waldorf teachers with a Maori background in New Zealand teachers examine the importance of the cultural bias for the shows that Waldorf education is perceived as euro-centric and pupils, how it might help them to find their identity in place that its place in local culture or in multicultural settings has and time. Stories, such as the ones chosen in Sekem, can for never been thoroughly investigated by schools or professionals. example convey cleanliness or purity as an important cultural Boland proposes to scrutinize the curriculum and its connec- virtue. The stories of the Rabbis, in the Israeli context, express tion to the local context; we need to find out if the voices of courage and wisdom.

10 Seasonal Festivals The Curriculum in Kiswahili, Arabic, French… Annual festivals, recurring regularly and according to a A Waldorf “curriculum” cannot be compared to an ordinary specific rhythm, are an important cultural element and a curriculum with a fixed content. It is rather an open concept, key to the child’s ‘anchoring’ in place and time. Festivals and it is culturally open and oriented towards individual, social, rituals mirror cultural traditions and provide a meaningful regional and contemporary development. framework for anthropologists’ research. (11) For the people As Martyn Rawson puts it, “A Waldorf curriculum ap- themselves, festivals and rituals are important events which proaches the task of preparing children and young people for provide stability and orientation and through which they can the challenges in the world in quite a different way. It describes express – often subconsciously - their cultural background. experiences, activities, themes, story material and phenomena For her doctoral thesis, Vera Hoffmann has examined the that can provide children and young people with learning annual festivals at the Waldorf schools in Kusi Kawsay, Peru contexts in which they can form and shape themselves, school and Nairobi, Kenya. (12) The Andean Waldorf school Kusi their abilities, cultivate their feelings, define and re-define their Kawsay is situated on an altitude of 3000 m near Cusco. The relationship to the world and others and above all, to develop school’s annual cycle follows the old Andean customs, for new ideas.” (7) example the ritual to honour ‘Pachamama’, Mother Earth, Teachers are constantly faced with the task of bringing is celebrated with the whole school community. Nairobi new life to the curriculum and to align their own cultural Waldorf school, with its more international focus, used to background with the children’s development. In Australia, celebrate Christian festivals but, as Vera Hoffmann reports, Aboriginal stories have been scrutinized by Waldorf teachers the school is now trying out new forms. Today, it celebrates in order to find suitable stories to be told in the appropriate the annual ‘Festival of Light’ which draws on elements of all age groups. (14) major world religions. Furthermore, a curriculum can reflect societal changes as Silviah Njagi, a kindergarten teacher at the Nairobi Wal- the following example from Japan illustrates: The pupils in dorf School and lecturer at the East African Teachers’ Seminar, grades four to eight at the Fujino Steiner School learn Japa- describes the change from the dry season to the wet season nese Calligraphy. However, in grades four to six they learn the as an important moment in the annual cycle of kindergarten typical ‘print’ style, called Kaisho. In grade seven they learn and school. “For the nature table we take bare twigs, stones Gyosho, a ‘cursive’ style. Finally, in grade eight, they learn the and ants which look for food during the dry season. And then, Koso style which is not used very often anymore but which suddenly, around the middle of March, the strong rains start reflects a change of consciousness and artistic expression. (14) and everything turns green within two days. This is a moment Alain Denjean writes about the curriculum in various cul- of nourishment and now it is timely to celebrate the rainbow tures: ‘Not long ago, a colleague who teaches German pointed festival with all the colours of the transitional period.” (13) out to me that she discusses Dietrich von Bern, a character in Furthermore, Njagi mentions the African tradition of storytell- the Nibelungenlied, at length because he symbolises an ideal ing. She realizes again and again that it is easy for the trainee for young people: He did not use the defeat of the enemy to teachers to tell stories; it is part of their culture. build up his own power and self-confidence but rather tried to honour the rival in order to create a better world in peace together with him. So, she said smiling, this is exactly the attitude towards other human beings which I find in Nelson Mandela. In her joy I saw the richness of the curriculum which does not stipulate to read the Nibelungenlied with South African students but rather finds open doors in every culture; open doors to reflect on anthropological issues which inspire the students’ souls at the right moment in their development.’ (15) This example is interesting on two levels. One, it challenges every teacher to find the didactic content in her own culture. Two, it can also encourage teachers to look for examples in other cultures which allow the learners to expand their horizon. Is an international Waldorf curriculum possible? Chris- toph Wiechert, the former head of the Pedagogical Section at the Goetheanum, sketches the following picture based on fairy tales: “The criteria for an international curriculum can only be given in an abstract form: First, you need profound knowledge of the teaching subject and second, you need pro- found knowledge of developmental psychology, particularly of anthroposophical anthropology. The following criteria apply

11 to fairy tales as well as to any other narrative: Archetypes have References to be present in stories, for example the nasty witch, the good (1) Friends of Waldorf Education: Pioneers Worldwide. Rund- fairy, the innocent child, the good deed, the bad deed and so brief Autumn 2016. freunde-waldorf.de on. Furthermore, the story has to show some kind of develop- (2) Geertz, C. (1973): The Interpretation of Cultures. Basic ment, it should develop from an initial state to a higher state, Books. New York there should be some kind of path, sometimes including some (3) Steiner, R. (1996): The Foundations of Human Experience. crisis. And finally, a fairy tale or a story should have a happy Anthroposophic Press. GA 293 ending.” (16) This means that an international curriculum (4) Clifford, J. and Marcus, G. (1986): Writing Culture: the should no mention any specific teaching content but rather Poetics and Politics of Ethnography. University of California include a list of criteria by which the individual and culture Press. specific lesson content can be developed. (5) Said, E. (1978): Orientalism. Random House. New York. Intercultural and Multicultural Education (6) Hobsbawm, E.J. (1993): The Invention of Tradition. Finally, I would like to refer to some intercultural and mul- Cambridge University Press. ticultural questions in Waldorf education. In recent years, the (7) Rawson, M. (2017): Waldorf Education: A continuous international character of schools and the inclusion of refugees cycle of renewal. Foreword to the Chinese Edition of “The have brought these questions to the forefront. Educational Tasks and Content of the Steiner Waldorf Cur- Jürgen Lohmann, a lecturer at the Hamburg Seminar for riculum”. waldorf-resources.org Waldorf Education, has discussed some questions related to (8) Boland, N. (2017): Neil Boland in a conversation with intercultural education with a group of students in 2012. Karin Smith. Among others, the following aspects were discussed: “What (9) Boland, N. (2015): The globalisation of Steiner education: is the significance of the mother tongue for the development Some considerations. RoSE Journal Vol 6. of identity? How can education serve the needs of both the (10) Willmann, Carlo (2014): Religiöse Erziehung an Wal- individual and society? How and when is the teacher subcon- dorfschulen im nichtchristlichen Kontext. RoSE, Vol 5 / sciously conveying any hierarchies on the basis of her own Special Issue. culture? What are the positive aspects of differences? What (11) Bell, C. (1992): Ritual Theory, Ritual Practice. Oxford does home mean? What is the role of religion and what do the University Press. various religions have in common?” (17) (12) Hoffmann, V. (2015): The Creation of Waldorf Festivals Further questions have been discussed at a workshop at based on Local Tradition. Masterthesis RSUC Oslo. waldorf- the Asia Conference in 2013: “Which children do we want to resources.org educate? How do we develop a strong sense of identity in our (13) Njagi, S. (2015): It is really about the child. waldorf- children, while also nurturing their openness towards other resources.org cultural practices? Is multiculturalism the aim of Waldorf (14) Rawson, M./ Li, Z./ Panosot, P. (2013): History and Education? If so, do we need to culturally enliven our own Culture Curriculum – A Multi-cultural Approach. Notes culture as part of the curriculum? How can we help the child of a workshop at the Asian Waldorf Teachers’ Conference. feel comfortable in his/her own culture? Via mobility, or via Transcribed and edited by Emily Bulter. Seoul, Korea. security? How multi-cultural is Waldorf education? How (15) Denjean, A.: Lehrplan auf Kiswahili, Arabisch, Franzö- multi-cultural is our own school? With the changing nature sisch..., Journal of the Pedagogical Section, No. 51, Easter of society, there are rural/urban cultural differences emerging 2014. within our own populations. How do we adapt to these?” (14) (16) Wiechert, C.f (2016): E-mail conversation with Lastly, I would like to encourage everyone to engage in K.Stemann 12./ 14. October 2016. the exciting reflection of culture. You will quickly discover (17) Lohmann, J. (2012) Interkulturalität: Baustein der Leh- new aspects of culture that encourage fresh insight into your rerbildung. Erziehungskunst. own teaching. I would love to hear reader’s thoughts on culture. You can post your ideas and questions on our http://www.waldorf- resources.org/ >forum. Katharina Stemann studied cultural anthropology and used to work at Friends of Waldorf Education. She is an editor for the online platform Waldorf Resources and also works for the Pedagogical Section and the International Forum for Steiner/ Waldorf Education.

Translated by Karin Smith

12 Steiner schools rising in popularity The demand has also resulted in the introduction of a Gradu- ate Certificate and Masters in Steiner education at the University Australia-wide of the Sunshine Coast next year. ABC North Coast by Samantha Turnbull "Our plan is to really engage with mainstream education and work alongside our peers in education to try and actually bring impulses from Steiner education into all aspects of education," Ms Sayn Wittgenstein Piraccini said. "We want to have good dialogue so that all children benefit from an excellent education and are engaged in their learning and are lifelong learners. "That will bring about a better country for Austra- lia — not narrow standardised testing and data-driven policy that is just impacting on teachers at every level."

All students at Cape Byron Steiner School learn how to play the violin. (Supplied: Cape Byron Steiner School) Steiner schools are rising in popularity across Australia with three new schools built in as many years, lengthy waiting lists, and the introduction of a degree in Steiner education at a Queensland university. Australia's first Steiner, also known as Waldorf, school opened in 1957 at Castlecrag in Sydney. The 1970s saw most of the country's 43 Steiner schools built, but Steiner Education Australia CEO Tracey Sayn Witt- Cape Byron Steiner School principal Nerrida Johnson says a long genstein Piraccini said the system was experiencing another rise waiting list for her school means many hopeful students are turned in popularity. away. (ABC North Coast: Samantha Turnbull) "Over the years it's just grown and it's mushrooming," she Byron Shire is Steiner hotspot said. She said the demand for Steiner education was particularly "Many of the schools are 30 or 40 years old now, and quite high in the Byron Shire, in northern New South Wales. well established in their communities ... and three years ago There are currently two kindergarten to year 12 Steiner we had three new schools start, and next year we have another schools in the region and waiting lists that could justify the school starting, so there's growing interest in what we're doing." establishment of a third. The most recent schools were built at Queensland's Moreton Cape Byron Steiner School principal Nerrida Johnson said Bay, Victoria's Bairnsdale and Bowral in New South Wales. there were 370 students at her school and a waiting list of more Another is planned for Agnes Waters in Queensland next than 500. year, while several state schools in South Australia and Victoria "It's hard to tell people that we don't have a place for them, have introduced Steiner-based streams to their classrooms. particularly when they're trying to get into kindergarten and Ms Sayn Wittgenstein Piraccini said she believed the system's they've been on our list for a long time," she said. rise in popularity was because of a combination of parents being "We do encourage people to stay on our lists, stay in touch drawn to the holistic approach of Steiner education, as well as with us and stay involved with the school." being dismayed with many aspects of traditional, mainstream Ms Johnson said expansion was not an option for her school institutions. because of land restrictions, but there may be a case for starting "I think parents are really investigating what they want for a new school. their children," she said. "We love the fact we know each of our students, so it works "Many years ago parents just sent their children to the school well for us to be a single stream school and to have the lower down the road ... because the world is changing at such a rapid number of students, but I also know there's a lot of pressure in rate, the old forms of schooling just aren't working. this shire for more," she said. "We're seeing children with mental health problems, depres- "I don't know what the future is going to hold — maybe sion, obesity problems, and parents are seeing their children at some point there might be a possibility of opening a senior unhappy at school and not engaged in their learning and so campus or something like that so we can provide more oppor- they're seeking different ways." tunities for students.'

13 Engaging (or not) with Community: Three Audits of Place, Time and Community (Part 3) Neil Boland, Auckland University of Technology, New Zealand

[Abridged from lecture notes and references of three keynote lectures to the Pacific Rim Waldorf Education Conference, Honolulu Waldorf School, February 13-15, 2016]

Tanja Nelson has two children attending the Cape Byron Steiner School and another who has graduated. (ABC North Coast: Samantha Turnbull) Parent explains appeal Tanja Nelson has two children at Cape Byron Steiner and a third who has graduated. She said she began investigating the system after being impressed by work experience students from a Steiner school who had volunteered at her graphic design business. "Those kids were so much more capable of being indepen- dent in their roles in our business," she said. Conference participant’s pastel drawing of “community.” "They had eye contact, self-initiated projects, they were just a world apart from the other kids from state and private Aengus Gordon talks about the need for Waldorf in- schools." stitutions to audit themselves regarding time and place (in "By that stage we only had a one-year-old child and we said Hougham, 2012). Edited transcripts of my first two lectures 'that's a really interesting system, where are these kids coming on these audits have been published in the Pacifica Journal from, why are they so different?'" (Boland, 2016, 2017). She said the best way to describe the Steiner approach was When thinking about Gordon’s comments, it appeared to as "holistic". me that many pressing questions around Waldorf education "It's very hard to realise with one little snapshot what actu- do relate to time and place. However, my main concerns were ally goes on, but when you watch these children move from initially clustered around what I would call community, around kindergarten all the way to year 12 and you see them grow people and how Waldorf education approaches diversity and holistically," Ms Nelson said. difference, both ideally and in practice. "And I really mean holistically — the whole person is There are many kinds of communities. There is a school educated and supported." community comprising students, teachers and families, the "There's this backwards and forwards between the commu- community in whose area a school is located, national com- nity and teachers, and this co-operative process to educating the munities of schools, the anthroposophical community, the child that makes these amazing people at the end of the journey. larger Waldorf community, the community of a whole country and the global community. Vitally, there are non-visible com- "That constant communal approach to educating the child munities – the community of spirits of place, of nature spirits, has very profound impacts for the children. of those who have passed away, of people working towards a "This is something that I think parents from other schools similar cause, a Michaelic community, among others. or education systems will look at and they can see there's Community was at the heart of comments from a number something different in our kids, but not understand what it of my own ex-students who identify as Māori, Indigenous New is or why it is." Zealanders. In discussion, we explored the degree to which they saw their values and themselves as Māori reflected in the schools in which they had chosen to practice, and to send their children (Boland, 2015). Aside from many interesting and positive observations, their comments included: • [for Māori, Steiner schools] “… could be good, but perceptions of the schools keep many away”

14 • “People [Māori] understand the spiritual aspect but won’t go [to the schools] if they don’t see their culture reflected” • There is a “need to see brown faces among the teachers, parents and students” • Most strongly, the need to feel “culturally safe” in the school environment is not always met. This was in New Zealand a few years ago and with a small body of respondents. However, how is it elsewhere? Think of minority groups in your larger communities and ask yourself those same questions: • Are some perceptions of Waldorf education keeping people away? Which people specifically? What could those perceptions be? Are they accurate? • To what degree might families understand what is behind the school’s ideals but won’t send their children if they don’t see their culture reflected? • Are these minority groups visible in the teacher body, trustees, students? • Is the ‘cultural safety’ of students (and teachers) a concept you have discussed as a school? As individuals? Do you think it is valid? The question of diversity and difference and how diversity is presented in schools and their communities is one that extends beyond the classroom walls. To what extent do or should schools reflect their wider communities? This is not a new question. When the first school was founded in Stuttgart in 1919, it was begun for workers’ children. This beginning had a strong ele- Conference participant’s pastel drawing of “community.” ment of social justice within it. Before many years had passed, it became more a school for the children of anthroposophists, A healthy social life is found only, when in the mirror of and did not necessarily represent the wider community of each soul the whole community finds its reflection, and when in Stuttgart (Tautz, 1982). the whole community the virtue of each one is living (Steiner, Every school is different, but there are questions which may 1912-24, p. 183) be relevant to all. In towns whose populations include those It is a well-known verse in Steiner communities. Expand- of many different cultures, ethnic backgrounds, and beliefs, ing the context of the verse, might the soul of a school need are these groups well represented within Steiner schools? My to reflect its ‘whole community’ for it to be truly healthy, experience is that they often are not. There are understandable reasons such as accessibility and finance which play into this, and not just the school community? Conversely, if a school but it remains a valid question. does not reflect its wider community, is it then by definition I have asked teachers in different countries if their school ‘unhealthy’? Certainly, reflecting the myriad viewpoints of communities reflect their wider communities and if they are the wider community while remaining a school teaching out satisfied with the status quo. I would ask the same of you. The of a deep understanding of Waldorf pedagogy, supported by answers I have received through this ad hoc, non-representative Steiner’s spiritual science is a great challenge for this time of process have varied but fall into two identifiable groups: there ever-increasing diversity. are teachers who state that they want better minority representa- Questions down this track include: tion within their school and that it is a concern that the schools • Is the school community a reflection of the wider do not reflect the wider population; others comment that they community? Where do you stand on that? do not look for greater diversity in the classroom, that this can • In your school, are minority viewpoints actively bring with it problems and that they would rather teach the acknowledged and considered? Are they encouraged children who ‘belong’ in a Steiner school. Perhaps unsurpris- and promoted? Are they welcome? ingly, when I have asked who the children who ‘belong’ are, This then leads quite quickly to another one: they happen to be white and middle-class. In my experience, • Whose culture/s are being promoted in the this is something that is not often talked about in teacher curriculum? Whose are not visible? meetings. Many teachers are familiar with the so-called Motto This needs time to unpack. of the Social Ethic,

15 country. Viewpoints are contested, but few would disagree that substantial progress has been made. Nowadays, including strongly in Waldorf schools, the Māori viewpoint is included alongside the ‘Western.’ Māori language, though not compulsory, is more visible than ever. Most schools are careful to follow Māori protocol, at least occasionally. The numbers of Māori students on the rolls in Steiner schools currently varies from 2% to 30%. I would argue that they do see their culture valued and reflected in the schools, and so send their children. It is a good thing. The New Zealand Federation of Steiner Schools has drawn up a Māori curriculum for Classes 1-12 showing how a Māori perspective can be incorporated within the ‘traditional’ Steiner curriculum (Taikura Rudolf Steiner School, 2015). Again, this is a good thing. My students wanted their viewpoint to be present in all subjects. So history would also be told and viewed through Māori eyes, art would have a Māori perspective, science would be approached holistically (easy in a Steiner school), the story of the land would be taught thoroughly and with reverence (Indigenous views work perfectly hand in hand with place- based pedagogy). The curriculum would be balanced and not tilted to favor the dominant, or dominator, worldview. Hidden curriculum A further question that needs addressing though is, • Whose culture/s and values are being promoted in Conference participant’s pastel drawing of “community.” the hidden curriculum? Which are not visible? The hidden curriculum is what transmits values, shows Speaking to teachers, I have had immediate denials that what is respected, what is desirable. It comes with cultural any specific culture is being promoted within a Waldorf weightings. Identifying what it promotes is at least as impor school. The teachers see themselves as inclusive, liberal think- ers which I would agree with. However, travelling around tant as identifying how the curriculum needs to be modified the world, I see many instances of specific cultures being to suit different social contexts. valued above others. This is what I believe my students were In Waldorf schools this can include: highlighting. Whose point of view is history told from? What art is on I’m going to navigate the next section with some care as the walls? Is it, for instance, European? Wonderful if so, as I do not want to set off any landmines. I am not going to there is such a wealth to choose from, but imagine yourself talk about the United States at all, but I hope you will be from a non-European family. Do you want to see something able to transfer what I say to your own contexts to whichever from your culture on the walls? The ethnicities of images is degree they fit. an easy one to remedy, but it is one I sometimes see Waldorf New Zealand is a colonized country. It has a pre-Euro- schools not addressing. New Zealand is a hugely multicul- pean history as well as a post-European one. The signing of tural society; what needs to be done to ensure that cultures the Treaty of Waitangi in 1840 granted equal status to the and minority groups beyond Māori are represented? To what Māori language, Māori customs, the Māori worldview (te reo degree are New Zealanders from other Indigenous cultures, Māori, tikanga Māori, te ao Māori), land rights, and so on. Asian New Zealanders, Middle Eastern New Zealanders, This was a noble undertaking on the part of the colonizing African New Zealanders visible in schools? To what degree British but one which was reneged on almost immediately. are their cultures (worldviews, customs and languages) ac- Educationally, Māori were later dealt with apart, educated to knowledged and valued? To what degree are they represented be good wives or farm workers, not for the professions. The in the teaching body or on the school Board? To what degree division of Māori and European education systems and the are they visible in the teaching resources used (e.g. an English differing expectations ended only in 1969. Since then, like literature curriculum not dominated by familiar British or many countries, New Zealand has been coming to terms with American male writers but which also includes writing by its colonial heritage and seeking to redress past wrongs. This women as well as queer, subcontinental, African, Asian and is at the forefront of contemporary education practice in the Caribbean authors).

16 Once the audits have been completed, within the safe space of the cocoon, the formative processes that will help with the building up process need to be identified. In my opinion, as well as first and foremost, these would have to include decolonization theory and education for social justice. Using these as tools, can we begin to shape something new within Waldorf education? It will inevitably involve major work, but how many of us have read Steiner’s education lectures utterly inspired by the breadth of vision, the world-changing scope of his intention and then compared it to what happens on the ground? We need to use that inspiration and enthusiasm to create and realize a movement for social justice, growing out of Steiner’s deep understanding of the human being, which is suitable for its time and able to respond to the varied needs of people around the world. Conference participant’s pastel drawing of “community.”

Education for social justice References Speaking from a New Zealand perspective, I believe it Boland, N. (2014). Sticking wings on a caterpillar? Journal is possible that countries which have been colonized and of Waldorf/Rudolf Steiner Education, 16(2), 8-9. whose dominant group is non-Indigenous have particular needs. This may well include Australia as well as North and Boland, N. (2015). The globalisation of Steiner education: South America. Education for social justice is an umbrella Some considerations. Research on Steiner Education term that covers many perspectives (The International Journal, 6, 192-202. Forum for Social Development, 2006); it primarily aims towards anti-discriminatory and anti-oppressive practices. Boland, N. (2016). A sense of place within the Waldorf cur- It challenges dominant viewpoints and opposes racism, sex- riculum. Pacifica Journal, 50(2), 19-24. ism, ageism, classism, ethnocentrism, gender prejudices and Boland, N. (2017). Waldorf: An education of its time? Paci- the like. These are strengthened by cultural myths, histori- fica Journal, 51(1), 26-30. cal traditions, orthodox, accepted knowledge, unexamined opinions as well as by complying with accepted behavior (‘I Boland, N., & Demirbeg, J. R. (in preparation). (Re)inhab- do this because I will fit in’). The movement towards social iting Waldorf education: Honolulu teachers explore justice in education is gathering strength, and I believe it the notion of place. would be worthwhile to look long and hard at Waldorf education through a social justice lens. Hougham, P. (2012). Dialogues of destiny: A postmodern Process appreciation of Waldorf education. Malvern Hills, I have a hope that if people are able to work their way United Kingdom: Sylvan Associates. through these three audits, they will gain a fuller picture of who they are as individuals, as a school and as a community. Steiner, R. (1912-1924/1990). Rudolf Steiner - Edith Once that is done, the real work starts and this is where one Maryon: Briefwechsel. Briefe - Sprüche - Skizzen needs to have worked through all three. 1912-1924 [GA263a]. Dornach, Switzerland: For several years I have been thinking about Waldorf educa- Rudolf Steiner Verlag. tion and metamorphosis. I wrote a short article about Waldorf Taikura Rudolf Steiner School. (2015). He Reo Puāwai | Te education needing to transform from an aging twentieth-cen- Reo Māori curriculum: Guidelines for Rudolf Steiner/ tury caterpillar into a twenty-first-century butterfly, Waldorf Waldorf schools in Aotearoa (Curricular document). 2.0 if you will (Boland, 2014). This metamorphosing from one Hastings, New Zealand: Taikura Rudolf Steiner state into another happens in a safe space, the cocoon, and in- School. volves a breaking down of things, a creative chaos. Thoroughly going through these audits will provide the breaking down – Tautz, J. (1982). The founding of the first Waldorf School in the safe space is important. If we are going to question what Stuttgart. Spring Valley, NY: Pedagogical Section we do, we will need to be able to say what is on our minds Council of North America. without endangering ourselves. To date, the only school I know The International Forum for Social Development. (2006). of which has attempted this is the Honolulu Waldorf School, Social justice in an open world: The role of the United which has been addressing notions of place and belonging for Nations. New York, NY: United Nations. over a year (Boland, & Demirbeg, in preparation).

17 Head, Heart, and Hands is the extent to which Rudolf Steiner’s, the founder of Waldorf Schools, theory of child development and goals for nurtur- By Diane Friedlaender, Kyle Beckham, Xinhua Zheng, and ing human development inform every aspect of how children Linda Darling-Hammond experience school including the curriculum, pedagogy, and structure of school. This research provides an overview and [First published in Scope—Research Brief, Stanford Center for examples of the nature of Waldorf education from kindergar- Opportunity Policy in Education, Nov. 2015] ten through eighth grade in the public system. Growing a Waldorf-Inspired Approach in a Public School Dis- The power of sustained relationships with teachers. trict documents the practices and outcomes of Alice Birney, a The execution of Steiner’s philosophy through its curriculum, Waldorf-Inspired School in Sacramento City Unified School pedagogy, and school structure is strongly supported by the District (SCUSD). This study highlights how such a school sustained relationships formed between and among teachers, addresses students’ academic, social, emotional, physical, and students, and families. Central to this relationship is looping, creative development. The study also examines how a district where teachers ideally commit to staying with their students supports alternative models of education while working to from first through eighth grade. This sustained relationship ensure equitable access to a high quality education for all its fosters deep and lasting ties between teachers and their stu- students. This study provides an opportunity to learn from dents and families. The curricular freedom that looping af- alternative approaches to schooling to help surface deeply fords its teachers directly impacts the pacing of instruction embedded, often unchallenged, assumptions about public as well. When teachers have the luxury of time, as well as education and expand our understanding of the purpose of the primary responsibility for their students’ education, they education and the practices that support the development of are not under pressure to prepare students to a certain level the whole child and deep student learning in public schools. of proficiency at an arbitrary point in time in order to hand What Can We Learn From an Alternative School off to their next teacher. Teachers can be responsive to the in the Public Space? students’ needs, readiness for new learning, and skill develop- The country is moving from the era of NCLB (No Child ment in designing their instruction. Left Behind), with high-stakes accountability and narrowing Producing Strong Results of the curriculum into the potentially more expansive era of The instructional approaches at Birney lead to strong stu- Common Core. We can make the most of this critical win- dent outcomes. Quantitative analysis of student record data dow of transition to broaden our understanding of the pur- compared to similar students in other district schools reveals pose and essential components of a well-rounded education that Birney students have low transiency and suspension rates to prepare students better to both survive within the world as and positive student achievement outcomes on standardized it is and to improve the worlds in which we live. Although this state assessments. While strong for all students, student out- research focuses on a single school, our careful examination comes are particularly strong for African American, Latino, of its practices can help inform these goals. Furthermore, at a and socio-economically disadvantaged students. For example: time when charter schools and charter management organiza- • African American and Latino students at Birney tions are expanding in many urban centers, our research also have a suspension rate that is one tenth of similar enables us to explore the potential of Waldorf and other alter- students in the district. native approaches to serve low-income and students of color • Over five years duration for African American, in ways that help them thrive within democratically governed Latino and socio-economically disadvantaged public school districts. This research sheds light on the con- students the effect of attending Birney was correlated textual conditions that support the effective implementation with an increase of 8 percentile ranks (i.e. from 50th of such alternative traditions within democratically governed percentile to 58th percentile) in ELA. public school districts. Within the context of sustained relationships, instruction Grounded in Steiner’s theory of child development. in the Waldorf-inspired classroom is built from several key At Birney, the Waldorf-inspired approach differs from many ideas: other public schools in the extent to which Birney extends its 1. The teacher teaches the child rather than the subject; focus beyond providing students with specific knowledge and 2. Every child develops at his or her own pace; skills to prepare them for college and career, to also preparing 3. Children move through different developmental stages children for meaningful lives in the broadest sense by devel- in which they need different learning environments to oping them for physically, socially, artistically, and cognitively thrive; meaningful engagement with the world. A second difference 4. Children access learning through multiple learning

18 modalities: art, music, handwork, movement, speech, Well prepared and thoughtful teachers. Teaching in a reading, storytelling, hands-on experimentation, practical Waldorf-inspired school requires a significant commitment. It life skills, and connection to nature. These modalities are requires teachers to give of themselves completely into the re- taught both discretely and through an interdisciplinary lationships they form with students and families, to cultivate approach; deep knowledge of Steiner philosophy, Waldorf curriculum 5. Teachers monitor and respond to children’s develop- and pedagogy, to invest in their own continued learning and mental stages and optimal learning modalities by adjust- growth, to engage collaboratively with colleagues, and to play ing their instruction, including the needs of special educa- a leadership role in their school. tion students and English Language Learners; Powerful parents. Since Birney’s inception, parents’ de- 6. Long-term relationships with teachers support students’ mand for and support of a Waldorf-inspired school have been development. crucial to Birney’s sustainability. Twenty years into its history Interviews with graduates reveal that their K–8 experi- Birney continues to have one of the longest waitlists in the ences support their continued growth and learning orienta- district. Parents’ deep commitment to the school, based on tion through high school and college. In particular graduates a strong understanding of the Waldorf approach, helps them report they approached their continued education with the support the school financially, assist in classrooms, lead com- assumption that their voices were worth hearing and sharing, munity-building school functions, and, when necessary, exert be it with peers or their classroom teachers, even if they were political pressure. Collectively these factors have been critical taking a minority or unorthodox position. Driven to pursue to Birney’s staying power and strength. personally relevant educational interests, for the purpose of School level practices and policies: Gradually over time, self-improvement and curiosity, they did not fear failure but Birney cultivated increasing levels of district-sanctioned school- understood it to be a part of the learning process. Profoundly, based decision- making over curriculum and assessment, many students commented on the social responsibility they which were critical to developing and sustaining key practices. felt to engage the world in a meaningful way that makes the Although the school taught the Waldorf curriculum since its world a better place. inception, at times struggle and advocacy were necessary to have It’s an education where the teacher strives to find out what is the approach officially approved by the district. In turn, the the potential of each child…and not knowing what it is, we need district required Birney to justify its practices and demonstrate to introduce them to everything that’s out there, and we do that its alignment to more mainstream instructional approaches through images and through music and through art, visual and and assessments. This helped the Waldorf educators reflect performing. We want to find out what is it that each child can be and deepen their practice and ensure that they were meeting passionate about and then how they can contribute that hopefully the needs of all their students. After several years of advocacy later on in life. Birney earned control over a range of practices to ensure a high —Birney teacher level of professional capacity with their staff. These practices include hiring and job security policies that privileges Waldorf What Factors Enable Alternative Models to Flourish? training and support for training in Waldorf methods. Alice Birney has succeeded and persisted in retaining fi- delity to the Waldorf approach and in serving students well because of multiple factors, including a robust theory of child development, well-educated and supported teachers, parent demand, and school and district level policies and practices particularly in the areas of instructional practice and well trained teachers. Robust theory of child development shapes instruction and pedagogy. Waldorf schools differ from other alternative models in the extent to which pedagogy, curriculum, and the structure of school are influenced by Rudolf Steiner’s com- plex and detailed theory of child development. While com- plex and nuanced, the child development theory provides the teachers with guideposts that give them purpose, intention, and guidance as they develop their curricula and work with students and their families. Although teachers have autonomy and flexibility, they are bound within the frame of Steiner the- District level practices and policies. This study reveals that ories of child development. These theories shape everything when alternative schools are given a say over how to support from what the classroom and space look like, the tone of voice meaningful learning, it enables the schools to come out of the and affect the teacher uses in teaching, as well as the nature of shadows of non-compliance and create more coherence in their instruction, curriculum, and assessment strategies. instructional models. Schools can channel their energy away

19 from fighting battles around what they are doing to improving democratically governed public district space for alternative their practice. However, the degree of school-based decision- approaches. Ironically, schools like Birney have the potential making that is appropriate is highly dependent upon the level to achieve some of the original goals for the charter school of development of the instructional approach, the capacity movement. By serving as sites for innovation, district schools of the staff, the resources available to support instructional can learn much from their example about broader ways to quality, and planning time. These are crucial areas where the conceptualize school and student development. district can provide differentiated support to schools. When the unique training and expertise of alternative models are hon- ored with supportive HR policies, as they were by Sacramento City Unified School District, schools can achieve stability and sustainability and are more likely to produce strong outcomes. Districts need to ensure that the quality of alternative training is adequate to support the alternative model. Furthermore, from an equity perspective, districts need to be mindful of potentially inequitable distributions of highly trained and skilled teach- ers across their schools and balance the types of resources and Christopher Ritson: training to which all schools have access. 2017 Honolulu Biennial Artist Van James, Honolulu, Hawai’i

Many people look at the Honolulu Waldorf School and think it’s a kind of art school because so much art is offered. Conclusion But the truth is that HWS has just as much focus on the math The story of Alice Birney, a public district school of choice, and sciences, languages and humanities as other schools (if provides a powerful example of the types of alternative edu- not more), but it matches those subjects with many different cational approaches that are possible within a democratically artistic disciplines, providing a balance or counter weight to governed public system. Often at odds with prevailing norms the academic school day. In fact, many of the HWS gradu- and assumptions about the nature of schooling, Birney provides ates go into fields completely unrelated to art; they just take a a counterbalance for what is possible to nurture the growth creative, can-do artistry to their choice of direction and career. of the whole child. Particularly powerful are the examples of So it is a great pleasure when one of our alumni chooses the ways the school attends to children’s social-emotional, a career in the highly competitive and unusually challenging physical, and artistic development and how this focus has world of Post-modern Art. Christopher Ritson (Class of 2004) profoundly shaped its graduates into the young adults they is one of the 22 invited artists showing at the first Honolulu are today. It is striking to see such an approach supported Biennial, between March 8 and May 8, 2017. This is quite a and promoted within the context of a school district. Birney prestigious honor for this young artist. was able to achieve fidelity to the Waldorf approach because However, Chris was something of an unlikely candidate SCUSD granted them decision-making control, although often for the art world when he was finishing high school. Although hard fought for, over curriculum, assessment and staffing deci- gifted at drawing and painting it was looking like he was going sions. That fidelity to a cohesive and holistic approach in turn to be on a science track. His senior project was a large self- led to high levels of student and parent satisfaction, demand sustaining, eco-friendly aquarium, built from the ground up. for the school, and strong student outcomes. These areas of But he decided to go to the San Francisco Art Institute and decentralized decision-making permit opportunities in the he became known for his unique blend of science and art. His

20 artwork is actually more like freeform scientific research than No One Could See the Color Blue an art project. And his present exhibit at the Biennial involves Until Modern Times living organisms, or what he calls bio-generative artwork. The Corallinales, Chris’ exhibit, can be described as living Kevin Loria, [First printed in the Business Insider Australia, paintings growing in two aquarium tanks under artificial light. February 28, 2015] Coralline algae have been scraped from ocean trash collected from the Honolulu Harbor, Waikiki Beach, Diamond Head, and from the surf break where Ala Wai Canal, an artificial and controversial waterway, flows into the Pacific Ocean. The algae are placed in a supportive environment for the corallines to thrive on glass and plastic debris, allowing them to produce a range of red, pink, grey and mauve abstract images. Over the two months of the exhibition these coralline algae paintings will literally grow into pictures. Until relatively recently in human history, “blue” didn’t exist. As the delightful Radiolab episode “Colors” describes, ancient languages didn’t have a word for blue — not Greek, not Chinese, not Japanese, not Hebrew. And without a word for the color, there’s evidence that they may not have seen it at all. How we realised blue was missing In the Odyssey, Homer famously describes the “wine-dark sea.” But why “wine-dark” and not deep blue or green? In 1858, a scholar named William Gladstone, who later became the Prime Minister of Great Britain, noticed that this wasn’t the only strange color description. Though the poet spends page after page describing the intricate details of clothing, armor, weaponry, facial features, animals, and more, his references to color are strange. Iron and sheep are violet, honey is green. So Gladstone decided to count the color references in the book. And while black is mentioned almost 200 times and white around 100, other colors are rare. Red is mentioned fewer Chris Ritson (and dog) describes his work to students of the than 15 times, and yellow and green fewer than 10. Gladstone Honolulu Waldorf School. started looking at other ancient Greek texts, and noticed the same thing — there was never anything described as “blue.” The senior class of HWS was fortunate enough to have a The word didn’t even exist. guided tour of The Hub, one of the Biennial’s several venues It seemed the Greeks lived in murky and muddy world, around town. Chris Ritson came in especially to talk to the devoid of color, mostly black and white and metallic, with Class of 2017 about his work. Every 9th grade studies the occasional flashes of red or yellow. history of art up to the 17th century but it is in 12th grade Gladstone thought this was perhaps something unique to that Modern and Post-modern Art are studied. So the Biennial the Greeks, but a philologist named Lazarus Geiger followed visit fit right into the 12th grade’s curriculum and they got to up on his work and noticed this was true across cultures. see one Waldorf graduate’s path of uniting his interest in both He studied Icelandic sagas, the Koran, ancient Chinese the sciences and the arts. stories, and an ancient Hebrew version of the Bible. Of It is interesting that Rudolf Steiner, the founder of Waldorf Hindu Vedic hymns, he wrote: “These hymns, of more than education, made the following prediction over a hundred years ten thousand lines, are brimming with descriptions of the ago, right at the beginning of Modern Art, well before the heavens. Scarcely any subject is evoked more frequently. The advent of Post-modern, Conceptual Art: “I believe that the sun and reddening dawn’s play of color, day and night, cloud significant factor in … attempting to understand the concept and lightning, the air and ether, all these are unfolded before of art, is that an art of the conceptual will come about in which us, again and again… but there is one thing no one would the work and activity of ideation will be fulfilled with images, ever learn from these ancient songs… and that is that the sky with reality, and that what now appears as dry science will is blue.” There was no blue. in the future come closer to art.” The work of Chris Ritson Geiger looked to see when “blue” started to appear in certainly bears out this prediction. languages and found an odd pattern all over the world. Every language first had a word for black and for white, or dark and

21 light. The next word for a color to come into existence — in — or those who could see a difference took much longer and every language studied around the world — was red, the color made more mistakes than would make sense to us, who can of blood and wine. After red, historically, yellow appears, clearly spot the blue square. But the Himba have more words and later, green (though in a couple of languages, yellow and for types of green than we do in English. green switch places). The last of these colors to appear in every When looking at a circle of green squares with only one language is blue. slightly different shade, they could immediately spot the dif- The only ancient culture to develop a word for blue was ferent one. the Egyptians — and as it happens, they were also the only Davidoff says that without a word for a color, without a way culture that had a way to produce a blue dye. of identifying it as different, it’s much harder for us to notice If you think about it, blue doesn’t appear much in nature what’s unique about it — even though our eyes are physically — there aren’t blue animals, blue eyes are rare, and blue flow- seeing the it in the same way. So before blue became a com- ers are mostly human creations. There is, of course, the sky, mon concept, maybe humans saw it. But it seems they didn’t but is that really blue? As we’ve seen from Geiger’s work, even know they were seeing it. If you see something yet can’t see it, scriptures that contemplate the heavens continuously still don’t does it exist? Did colors come into existence over time? Not necessarily see it as “blue.” technically, but our ability to notice them may have… In fact, one researcher that Radiolab spoke with — Guy For more fascinating information about colors, including Deutscher, author of “Through the Language Glass: Why the information on how some “super-seeing” women may see colours World Looks Different in Other Languages,” tried a casual in the sky that most of us have never dreamed of, check out the experiment with that. In theory, one of children’s first questions full Radiolab episode. is “why is the sky blue?” So he raised his daughter while being careful to never describe the color of the sky to her, and then one day asked her what color she saw when she looked up. The Scientists Who Make Alma, Deutscher’s daughter, had no idea. The sky was colorless. Eventually, she decided it was white, and later on, Apps Addictive eventually blue. But it wasn’t the first thing she saw or gravitated Ian Leslie, works in advertising and is the author of “Born towards, though it is where she settled in the end. Liars” and “Curious.”

[First published in The Economist, Oct/Nov. 2016]

Vidipedia/Himba colour experiment

So before we had a word for it, did people not naturally see blue? Tech companies use the insights of behavior design to keep This part gets a little complicated, because we don’t ex- us returning to their products. But some of the psychologists actly know what was going through Homer’s brain when he who developed the science of persuasion are worried about described the wine-dark sea and the violet sheep — but we do how it is being used. know that ancient Greeks and others in the ancient world had In 1930, a psychologist at Harvard University called B.F. the same biology and therefore, same capability to see color Skinner made a box and placed a hungry rat inside it. The that we do. But do you really see something if you don’t have box had a lever on one side. As the rat moved about it would a word for it? A researcher named Jules Davidoff traveled to accidentally knock the lever and, when it did so, a food pellet Namibia to investigate this, where he conducted an experiment would drop into the box. After a rat had been put in the box with the Himba tribe, who speak a language that has no word a few times, it learned to go straight to the lever and press it: for blue or distinction between blue and green. the reward reinforced the behavior. Skinner proposed that the When shown a circle with 11 green squares and one blue, same principle applied to any “operant”, rat or man. He called they couldn’t pick out which one was different from the others his device the “operant conditioning chamber”. It became known as the Skinner box.

22 Skinner was the most prominent exponent of a school of a treatise on the art of persuasion, “It just struck me, oh my psychology called behaviourism, the premise of which was gosh, this stuff is going to be rolled out in tech one day!” that human behavior is best understood as a function of in- In 1997, during his final year as a doctoral student, Fogg centives and rewards. Let’s not get distracted by the nebulous spoke at a conference in Atlanta on the topic of how comput- and impossible to observe stuff of thoughts and feelings, said ers might be used to influence the behavior of their users. He the behaviorists, but focus simply on how the operant’s en- noted that “interactive technologies” were no longer just tools vironment shapes what it does. Understand the box and you for work, but had become part of people’s everyday lives: used understand the behavior. Design the right box and you can to manage finances, study and stay healthy. Yet technologists control behavior. were still focused on the machines they were making rather Skinner turned out to be the last of the pure behaviorists. than on the humans using those machines. What, asked Fogg, From the late 1950s onwards, a new generation of scholars if we could design educational software that persuaded students redirected the field of psychology back towards internal mental to study for longer or a financial-management program that processes, like memory and emotion. But behaviorism never encouraged users to save more? Answering such questions, he went away completely, and in recent years it has re-emerged argued, required the application of insights from psychology. in a new form, as an applied discipline deployed by businesses Fogg presented the results of a simple experiment he had and governments to influence the choices you make every day: run at Stanford, which showed that people spent longer on a what you buy, who you talk to, what you do at work. Its prac- task if they were working on a computer which they felt had titioners are particularly interested in how the digital interface previously been helpful to them. In other words, their interac- – the box in which we spend most of our time today – can tion with the machine followed the same “rule of reciprocity” shape human decisions. The name of this young discipline is that psychologists had identified in social life. The experiment “behavior design”. Its founding father is B.J. Fogg. was significant, said Fogg, not so much for its specific finding Earlier this year I travelled to Palo Alto to attend a workshop as for what it implied: that computer applications could be on behavior design run by Fogg on behalf of his employer, methodically designed to exploit the rules of psychology in Stanford University. Roaming charges being what they are, order to get people to do things they might not otherwise do. I spent a lot of time hooking onto Wi-Fi in coffee bars. The In the paper itself, he added a qualification: “Exactly when and phrase “accept and connect” became so familiar that I started where such persuasion is beneficial and ethical should be the to think of it as a Californian mantra. Accept and connect, topic of further research and debate.” accept and connect, accept and connect. I had never used Uber before, and since I figured there is no better place on Earth to try it out, I opened the app in Starbucks one morning and summoned a driver to take me to Stanford’s campus. Within two minutes, my car pulled up, and an engineering student from Oakland whisked me to my des- tination. I paid without paying. It felt magical. The workshop was attended by 20 or so executives from America, Brazil and Japan, charged with bringing the secrets of behaviour design home to their employers. Fogg is 53. He travels everywhere with two cuddly toys, a frog and a monkey, which he introduced to the room at the start of the day. Fogg dings a toy xylophone to signal the end of a break or group exercise. Tall, energetic and tirelessly amiable, he frequently punctuates his speech with peppy exclamations Fogg called for a new field, sitting at the intersection of such as “awesome” and “amazing”. As an Englishman, I found computer science and psychology, and proposed a name for this full-beam enthusiasm a little disconcerting at first, but it: “captology” (Computers as Persuasive Technologies). Cap- after a while, I learned to appreciate it, just as Europeans who tology later became behavior design, which is now embedded move to California eventually cease missing the seasons and into the invisible operating system of our everyday lives. The become addicted to sunshine. Besides, Fogg was likeable. His emails that induce you to buy right away, the apps and games toothy grin and nasal delivery made him endearingly nerdy. that rivet your attention, the online forms that nudge you In a phone conversation prior to the workshop, Fogg told towards one decision over another: all are designed to hack me that he read the classics in the course of a master’s degree the human brain and capitalize on its instincts, quirks and in the humanities. He never found much in Plato, but strongly flaws. The techniques they use are often crude and blatantly identified with Aristotle’s drive to organize and catalogue the manipulative, but they are getting steadily more refined, and, world, to see systems and patterns behind the confusion of as they do so, less noticeable. phenomena. He says that when he read Aristotle’s “Rhetoric”, Fogg’s Atlanta talk provoked strong responses from his audience, falling into two groups: either “This is dangerous. 23 It’s like giving people the tools to construct an atomic bomb”; are most eager to take the action. The most important nine or “This is amazing. It could be worth billions of dollars.” words in behavior design, says Fogg, are, “Put hot triggers in The second group has certainly been proved right. Fogg has the path of motivated people.” been called “the millionaire maker”. Numerous Silicon Valley If you’re triggered to do something you don’t like, you entrepreneurs and engineers have passed through his laboratory probably won’t return, but if you love it you’ll return repeatedly at Stanford, and some have made themselves wealthy. – and unthinkingly. After my first Uber, I never even thought Fogg himself has not made millions of dollars from his of getting around Palo Alto any other way. This, says, Fogg, is insights. He stayed at Stanford, and now does little commercial how brands should design for habits. The more immediate and work. He is increasingly troubled by the thought that those intense a rush of emotion a person feels the first time they use who told him his ideas were dangerous may have been on to something, the more likely they are to make it an automatic something. choice. It’s why airlines bring you a glass of champagne the At the workshop, Fogg explained the building blocks of moment you sink into a business-class seat, and why Apple his theory of behavior change. For somebody to do something takes enormous care to ensure that a customer’s first encounter – whether it’s buying a car, checking an email, or doing 20 with a new phone feels magical. press-ups – three things must happen at once. The person must Such upfront deliveries of dopamine bond users to prod- want to do it, they must be able to, and they must be prompted ucts. Consider the way Instagram lets you try 12 different filters to do it. A trigger – the prompt for the action – is effective on your picture, says Fogg. Sure, there’s a functional benefit: only when the person is highly motivated, or the task is very the user has control over their images. But the real transaction easy. If the task is hard, people end up frustrated; if they’re not is emotional: before you even post anything, you get to feel like motivated, they get annoyed. an artist. Hence another of Fogg’s principles: “Make people One of Fogg’s current students told me about a prototype feel successful” or, to rephrase it, “Give them superpowers!” speech-therapy program he was helping to modify. Talking to Fogg took ambivalent satisfaction from the example of its users, he discovered that parents, who really wanted it to Instagram, since he felt distantly responsible for it and perhaps work, found it tricky to navigate – they were frustrated. Their distantly guilty. In 2006, two students in Fogg’s class collabo- children found it easy to use, but weren’t bothered about doing rated on a project called Send the Sunshine. Their insight was so – they were merely annoyed. Applying Fogg’s framework that one day mobile phones (this was the pre-smartphone helped identify a way forward. Parents would get over the ac- era) would be used to send emotions: if your friend was in a tion line if the program was made simpler to use; children if place where the weather wasn’t good and you were standing in it felt like a game instead of a lesson. sunshine, your phone could prompt you to take a picture and Frustration, says Fogg, is usually more fixable than annoy- send it to them to cheer them up. One of the two students, ance. When we want people to do something our first instinct Mike Krieger, went on to co-found Instagram, where over 400 is usually to try to increase their motivation – to persuade them. million users now share sunrises, sunsets and selfies. Sometimes this works, but more often than not the best route Fogg built his theory in the years before social media con- is to make the behavior easier. One of Fogg’s maxims is, “You quered the world. Facebook, Instagram and others have raised can’t get people to do something they don’t want to do.” A behaviour design to levels of sophistication he could hardly politician who wants people to vote for her makes a speech or have envisaged. Social-media apps plumb one of our deepest goes on TV instead of sending a bus to pick voters up from their wells of motivation. The human brain releases pleasurable, homes. The bank advertises the quality of its current account habit-forming chemicals in response to social interactions, instead of reducing the number of clicks required to open one. even to mere simulacra of them, and the hottest triggers are When you get to the end of an episode of “House of Cards” other people: you and your friends or followers are constantly on Netflix, the next episode plays automatically unless you tell prompting each other to use the service for longer. it to stop. Your motivation is high, because the last episode has Fogg introduced me to one of his former students, Noelle left you eager to know what will happen and you are mentally Moseley, who now consults for technology companies. She told immersed in the world of the show. The level of difficulty is me that she had recently interviewed heavy users of Instagram: reduced to zero. Actually, less than zero: it is harder to stop young women who cultivated different personas on differ- than to carry on. Working on the same principle, the British ent social networks. Their aim was to get as many followers government now “nudges” people into enrolling into workplace as possible – that was their definition of success. Every new pension schemes, by making it the default option rather than follow and every comment delivered an emotional hit. But a presenting it as a choice. life spent chasing hits didn’t feel good. Moseley’s respondents When motivation is high enough, or a task easy enough, spent all their hours thinking about how to organize their people become responsive to triggers such as the vibration of lives in order to take pictures they could post to each persona, a phone, Facebook’s red dot, the email from the fashion store which meant they weren’t able to enjoy whatever they were featuring a time-limited offer on jumpsuits. The trigger, if it is doing, which made them stressed and unhappy. “It was like a well designed (or “hot”), finds you at exactly the moment you sickness,” said Moseley.

24 about behavior design. If our behaviors are being designed for us, to whom are the designers responsible? That’s what Tristan Harris, another former student of Fogg’s, wants everyone to think about. “BJ founded the field of behavior design,” he told me. “But he doesn’t have an answer to the ethics of it. That’s what I’m looking for.” Harris was Mike Krieger’s collaborator on Send the Sun- shine in Fogg’s class of 2006. Like Krieger, Harris went on to create a real-world app, Apture, which was designed to give instant explanations of complex concepts to online readers: a box would pop up when the user held their mouse over a term they wanted explaining. Apture had some success without ever B.J. Fogg comes from a Mormon family, which has en- quite taking off, and in 2011 Google acquired Harris’s startup. dowed him with his bulletproof geniality and also with a The money was nice but it felt like a defeat. Harris believed strong need to believe that his work is making the world a in his mission to explain, yet he could not persuade publish- better place. The only times during our conversations when ers that incorporating his app would lead to people spending his tone darkened were when he considered the misuse of his more time on their sites. He came to believe that the internet’s ideas in the commercial sphere. He worries that companies like potential to inform and enlighten was at loggerheads with the Instagram and Facebook are using behavior design merely to commercial imperative to seize and hold the attention of us- keep consumers in thrall to them. One of his alumni, Nir Eyal, ers by any means possible. “The job of these companies is to went on to write a successful book, aimed at tech entrepreneurs, hook people, and they do that by hijacking our psychological called “Hooked: How to Build Habit-Forming Products”. vulnerabilities.” “I look at some of my former students and I wonder if Facebook gives your new profile photo a special prominence they’re really trying to make the world better, or just make in the news feeds of your friends, because it knows that this is a money,” said Fogg. “What I always wanted to do was un-enslave moment when you are vulnerable to social approval, and that people from technology.” “likes” and comments will draw you in repeatedly. LinkedIn When B.F. Skinner performed further experiments with sends you an invitation to connect, which gives you a little rush his box, he discovered that if the rat got the same reward each of dopamine – how important I must be! – even though that time, it pulled the lever only when it was hungry. The way to person probably clicked unthinkingly on a menu of suggested maximize the number of times the rat pulled the lever was to contacts. Unconscious impulses are transformed into social vary the rewards it received. If it didn’t know whether it was obligations, which compel attention, which is sold for cash. going to get one pellet, or none, or several when it pulled the After working for Google for a year or so, Harris resigned in lever, then it pulled the lever over and over again. It became order to pursue research into the ethics of the digital economy. psychologically hooked. This became known as the principle “I wanted to know what responsibility comes with the ability of variable rewards. to influence the psychology of a billion people? What’s the In “Hooked”, Eyal argues that successful digital products Hippocratic oath?” Before leaving, he gave a farewell presenta- incorporate Skinner’s insight. Facebook, Pinterest and others tion to Google’s staff in which he argued that they needed to tap into basic human needs for connection, approval and af- see themselves as moral stewards of the attention of billions of firmation, and dispense their rewards on a variable schedule. people. Unexpectedly, the slides from his talk became a viral hit Every time we open Instagram or Snapchat or Tinder, we never inside the company, travelling all the way to the boardroom. know if someone will have liked our photo, or left a comment, Harris was persuaded to stay on and pursue his research at or written a funny status update, or dropped us a message. So Goo­gle, which created a new job title for him: design ethicist we keep tapping the red dot, swiping left and scrolling down. and product philosopher. Eyal has added his own twists to Fogg’s model of behavioral After a while, Harris realized that although his colleagues change. “BJ thinks of triggers as external factors,” Eyal told me. were listening politely, they would never take his message “My argument is that the triggers are internal.” An app suc- seriously without pressure from the outside. He left Google ceeds, he says, when it meets the user’s most basic emotional for good earlier this year to become a writer and advocate, needs even before she has become consciously aware of them. on a mission to wake the world up to how digital technology “When you’re feeling uncertain, before you ask why you’re is diminishing the human capacity for making free choices. uncertain, you Google. When you’re lonely, before you’re even “Behavior design can seem lightweight, because it’s mostly just conscious of feeling it, you go to Facebook. Before you know clicking on screens. But what happens when you magnify that you’re bored, you’re on YouTube. Nothing tells you to do these into an entire global economy? Then it becomes about power.” things. The users trigger themselves.” Harris talks fast and with an edgy intensity. One of his Eyal’s emphasis on unthinking choices raises a question mantras is, “Whoever controls the menu controls the choices.”

25 The news we see, the friends we hear from, the jobs we hear The casinos aim to maximize what they call “time-on- about, the restaurants we consider, even our potential romantic device”. The environment in which the machines sit is designed partners – all of them are, increasingly, filtered through a few to keep people playing. Gamblers can order drinks and food widespread apps, each of which comes with a menu of op- from the screen. Lighting, decor, noise levels, even the way the tions. That gives the menu designer enormous power. As any machines smell – everything is meticulously calibrated. Not just restaurateur, croupier or marketer can tell you, options can the brightness, but also the angle of the lighting is deliberate: be tilted to influence choices. Pick one of these three prices, research has found that light drains gamblers’ energy fastest says the retailer, knowing that at least 70% of us will pick the when it hits their foreheads. middle one. But it is the variation in rewards that is the key to time-on- Harris’s peers have, he says, become absurdly powerful, al- device. The machines are programmed to create near misses: beit by accident. Menus used by billions of people are designed winning symbols appear just above or below the “payline” by a small group of men, aged between 25 and 35, who studied far more often than chance alone would dictate. The player’s computer science and live in San Francisco. “What’s the moral losses are thus reframed as potential wins, motivating her to try operating system running in their head?” Harris asks. “Are they again. Mathematicians design payout schedules to ensure that thinking about their ethical responsibility? Do they even have people keep playing while they steadily lose money. Alternative the time to think about it?” schedules are matched to different types of players, with dif- The more influence that tech products exert over our be- fering appetites for risk: some gamblers are drawn towards the havior, the less control we have over ourselves. “Companies say, possibility of big wins and big losses, others prefer a drip-feed we’re just getting better at giving people what they want. But of little payouts (as a game designer told Schüll, “Some people the average person checks their phone 150 times a day. Is each want to be bled slowly”). The mathematicians are constantly one a conscious choice? No. Companies are getting better at refining their models and experimenting with new ones, wrap- getting people to make the choices they want them to make.” ping their formulae around the contours of the cerebral cortex. In “Addiction by Design”, her remarkable study of machine Gamblers themselves talk about “the machine zone”: a gambling in Las Vegas, Natasha Dow Schüll, an anthropologist, mental state in which their attention is locked into the screen quotes an anonymous contributor to a website for recovering in front of them, and the rest of the world fades away. “You’re addicts. “Slot machines are just Skinner boxes for people! in a trance,” one gambler explains to Schüll. “The zone is like a Why they keep you transfixed is not really a big mystery. The magnet,” says another. “It just pulls you in and holds you there.” machine is designed to do just that.” The gambling industry A player who is feeling frustrated and considering quit- is a pioneer of behavior design. Slot machines, in particular, ting for the day might receive a tap on the shoulder from a are built to exploit the compelling power of variable rewards. “luck ambassador”, dispensing tickets to shows or gambling The gambler pulls the lever without knowing what she will get coupons. What the player doesn’t know is that data from his or whether she will win anything at all, and that makes her game-playing has been fed into an algorithm that calculates want to pull it again. how much that player can lose and still feel satisfied, and how close he is to the “pain point”. The offer of a free meal at the steakhouse converts his pain into pleasure, refreshing his mo- tivation to carry on. Schüll’s book, which was published in 2013, won applause for its exposure of the dark side of machine gambling. But some readers spotted opportunities in it. Schüll told me that she received an approach from an online education company interested in adopting the idea of “luck ambassadors”. Where is the pain point for a student who isn’t getting the answers right, and what does she need to get over it instead of giving up? Schüll found herself invited to speak at conferences attended by marketers and entrepreneurs, including one on habit formation organized by Nir Eyal. Illustrations by Bill Butcher Las Vegas is a microcosm. “The world is turning into this giant Skinner box for the self,” Schüll told me. “The experience The capacity of slot machines to keep people transfixed is that is being designed for in banking or health care is the same now the engine of Las Vegas’s economy. Over the last 20 years, as in Candy Crush. It’s about looping people into these flows of roulette wheels and craps tables have been swept away to make incentive and reward. Your coffee at Starbucks, your education space for a new generation of machines: no longer mechanical software, your credit card, the meds you need for your diabetes. contraptions (they have no lever), they contain complex com- Every consumer interface is becoming like a slot machine.” puters produced in collaborations between software engineers, These days, of course, we all carry slot machines in our mathematicians, script writers and graphic artists. pockets. 26 Natasha Dow Schüll accepted her invitation to speak at Beyond Polarity Eyal’s conference. “It was strange. Nobody in that room wanted John Bloom, San Francisco, California, USA to be addicting anyone – they were hipsters from San Francisco, after all. Nice people. But at the same time, their charter is to [Reprinted from Anthroposophy.org, 4/17] hook people for startups.” Tristan Harris thinks most people in the world of technology are unwilling to confront the inherent tension in what they do. “Nir and BJ are nice guys. But they overestimate the extent to which they’re empowering people, as opposed to helping to hook them.” Silicon Valley is bathed in sunshine. The people who work there are optimists who believe in the power of their products to extend human potential. Like Fogg, Eyal sincerely wants to make the world better. “I get almost religious about product design. Product-makers have the ability to improve people’s lives, to find the points when people are in pain, and help them.” He rejects the idea that trying to hook people is inher- ently dubious. “Habits can be good or bad, and technology has the ability to create healthy habits. If the products are getting better at drawing you in, that’s not a problem: that’s progress.” The gambling executives Schüll interviewed were not evil. I have been struggling to make sense of what I experienced They believe they are simply offering customers more and during the United States presidential campaign and then what better ways to get what they want. Nobody was being coerced has transpired following the election. Then on a drive home or deceived into parting with their money. As one executive one day, though I had passed it many times before, I saw in put it, in a coincidental echo of Fogg, “You can’t make people large stone letters on the facade of a college building in my do something they don’t want to do.” But the relationship, as neighborhood, “THE TRUTH SHALL MAKE YOU FREE” Schüll points out, is asymmetric. For the gamblers, the zone [John Gospel, 8:32]. is an end in itself; for the gambling industry, it is a means of Immediately, the following question came to me: If the extracting profit. truth shall make you free, what does a lie do? What does a lie Tristan Harris sees the entire digital economy in similar do to us? A lie creates a kind of imprisonment—the opposite terms. No matter how useful the products, the system itself is of free. The following thoughts arose from that moment. tilted in favor of its designers. The house always wins. “There The current political situation in the United States, the is a fundamental conflict between what people need and what current President and all that surrounds him can be considered companies need,” he explained. Harris isn’t suggesting that symptomatic of deeper issues which have been percolating in tech companies are engaged in a nefarious plot to take over our the US culture for a long time, and I would say to a degree in minds – Google and Apple didn’t set out to make phones like Western culture in general. One could talk about many forms slot machines. But the imperative of the system is to maximize of discrimination, injustice, and economic inequity. And I have time-on-device, and it turns out the best way of doing that to ask, how can we understand and own our responsibility in is to dispense rewards to the operant on a variable schedule. this, and what can we as anthroposophists do to transform it? It also means shutting the door to the box. Things that How can we widely cultivate an attitude of soul, one might say aren’t important to a person are bound up with things that a moral compass, through inquiry that guides our actions and are very important: the machine on which you play games our society toward rightness or freedom in spirit, fairness or and read celebrity gossip is the one on which you’ll find out if equality in the dispensation of justice, and sufficiency or com- your daughter has fallen ill. So you can’t turn it off or leave it passionate interdependence in the economy. There are aspects behind. Besides, you might miss a magic moment on Instagram. of this happening, rays of hope, but we rarely hear about them. “There are people who worry about AI [artificial intel- But I would like to address a systemic issue that I consider ligence],” Harris said. “They ask whether we can maximize its has made today’s situation possible in the US. potential without harming human interests. But AI is already Let me take a step back in time to the Renaissance in here. It’s called the internet. We’ve unleashed this black box Europe. It was the glory of Renaissance artists to give us the which is always developing new ways to persuade us to do system of perspective and the imperative of representation— things, by moving us from one trance to the next.” that is the optical illusion of reality. That quality of art was a In theory, we can all opt out of the loops of incentive and gift, a genius. This Renaissance imperative developed further reward which encircle us, but few of us choose to. It is just so through the advent of photography, to film, to what is now much easier to accept and connect. If we are captives of captol- called virtual reality—becoming more mechanical and removed ogy, then we are willing ones. from the human hand each step along the way. The same repre-

27 sentational imperative is driven by the notion that the human or ideology, which then governs what we perceive or think we perceptual system can be simulated and stimulated with an perceive. It means that beliefs overshadow facts and evidence. illusion of reality so compellingly real that we are nearly unable It means that the old adage, “I’ll believe it when I see it,” no to distinguish the real from the imitation or simulacrum. The longer holds. Instead we have “I’ll see it when I believe it.” lie here is that we mistake one for the other, and further that Those currently wielding power in the US culture are we accept the lie as a norm. The imperative that was founded feeding and thriving on this belief system, though it is already in a kind of astute innocence and indicated an advancement in showing some signs of wear as some of the news media wake human consciousness has been transformed into a mechanism up to their civic responsibilities. Even then, the work of dis- for conditioning our perceptual system according to someone entangling belief systems is arduous and needs to be done on else’s “program”. So, we live with the confusion of virtual real- both personal and group levels. ity as a cultural lie. The movement to resist the oppression of a system built A second lie is that of equality in the sphere of rights. While on untruths is challenged because the truth, the social reality, we in the US pride ourselves on having an equitable system of is painful and hard—but adversity is a great motivator. And justice, and indeed the right to a fair trial and the presumption I do strongly sense that threefold principles, serving not as of innocence are still largely operative, the laws and policies doctrine, but as guideposts, as our moral compass, offer a real of the land are often written by those who benefit from them. strength and opportunity for leading the much-needed trans- For example, it was banking industry lobbyists that essentially formation. We really need to work with money and finance drafted credit card laws. And laws, even basic traffic laws, are in a human way, and rediscover social relationships and forms not equitably applied. One need only look at the statistics of that encourage power with each other rather than power over incarceration—in 2008, African-Americans and Hispanics others. We are making some progress with this work at more represented 25% of the overall US population, but 58% of local levels and through the development of social enterprise. the prison population. But we have a long way to go—and it means overcoming the Perhaps the most recent judicial example of distortion in the dominant lies that currently seem to define us. As a release political system is called Citizens United, in which the Supreme from spiritual imprisonment, “the truth shall make us free.” Court of the United States ruled that corporate political and But we had better be prepared with our moral compasses in campaign contributions were the equivalent of free speech. hand to lead by example and with right actions inspired by And, impoverished communities are disproportionately af- our connection with Rudolf Steiner and his work. So, pray fected by pollution from many of those same corporations. So, for us and know that the practice of three-folding is antidote to some degree we live with a lie of equality of rights and law. for the present time and the foundation for a more just and The third lie is that of self-interest, one of the great myths human future. in economic activity. A recent advertisement for a Masters in Business Administration program in the New York Times read “Earn What You Are Worth!” Buried in this statement are the assumptions that we work for ourselves, our value as a human A Recollection of Sergei Prokofieff being is measured by what we earn, and lastly that education Van James, Honolulu, Hawaiʻi is a commodity. All commercial advertising preys upon our fears of inadequacy, while propagating the illusion that the I first met Sergei Prokofieff in 1979 at a small gathering of economic consumer world is organized primarily to meet our mostly American faculty members from Emerson College in the personal wants and needs. It is actually organized to meet the home of in , England (Anne Stockton, investors’ needs for return on capital. John Meeks and Paul Matthews were present, among others). Another example from the recent healthcare debate in the It was Sergei’s first time out of Russia and John Davy, O.B.E., US was a statement about the purpose of health care from Paul the co-director of Emerson College at the time, had invited Ryan, Speaker of the House in the US Congress: “Freedom him to speak about his experiences of studying anthroposophy is the ability to buy what you want to fit what you need”. It under the repressive conditions in the Soviet Union. A former is a lie that health and care are commodities, and nowhere in science correspondent for the Observer, John, also wanted to this quote is there even a hint that health is more broadly and encourage a Russian-American, East-West conversation. unavoidably a community issue. I was 30 years old and teaching at the newly founded Tobias So, no matter where you look, our current paradigm is op- School of Art. Sergei was 26 with very basic but adequate Eng- erating on lies—cultural, rights, and economic. It is no wonder lish speaking skills. He described the secret anthroposophical then that what is marketable, even in the political sphere, gatherings in his homeland, the tension of being under surveil- is the better lie, the one that makes a lie more attractive, lance, and the selection of topics which members of the group more self-serving, than the truth. What is happening is that would prepare and lecture on to the others in the small group. the adversarial forces, through individuals in the media and He painted a very striking picture of the distinct contrast to cultural channels, have cultivated the “lie” as a belief system the way study groups met with ease in the West.

28 ferent convergence of geographic and life forces that were new to him. He was especially sensitive to the ancient atavistic energies that still reside in some of the places we visited. Yet, he seemed most taken and deeply refreshed by a swim in the gentle and healing, yet awesomely powerful, Pa- cific Ocean. He did not want to show- er after his swim so that he could have the sea salt remain on his skin for the rest of the day (something he made a point of expressing), and it made me think of the subsurface sandy, salt deposits of Russia that encourage one to sit down and take-in the nature of that distant part of the world. Sergei Prokofieff was a Michaelic citizen of the world and yet, at the same time, a true representative of the land of the Sergei Prokofieff at a restored ancient Hawaiian heiau (temple). sixth cultural epoch—Russia. The last time I saw Sergei was at the Goetheanum, where he John Davy asked if I could walk Sergei up to Tobias the had eventually made his home-away-from-home as a member next day and give him a tour of the cottage-like art studios of the Executive Council of the General Anthroposophical above the village of Forest Row. We walked over the rolling Society in Dornach, Switzerland. When left to his thoughts, green hills of the golf course at the edge of Ashdown Forest Sergei’s countenance expressed the weight of the world, the and Sergei commented on what a peaceful dream-like feeling deep suffering of his Slavic destiny, and his own melancholic the verdant English landscape presented. He described how temperament. But when Sergei made eye contact with another different it was from his homeland where one was inclined to person his face lit up and glowed with the radiance of the sun. want to sit down and ponder the vast landscape in order to be present in it. I told him how in America, my homeland, one felt driven to engage one’s will by moving through the landscape in order to experience it. Our conversation concerning East Books and West that day was very stimulating and it was a theme we would pick up together later in our lives. At Tobias School Rainbows, Halos, Dawn and Dusk: The Appearance of Color of Art, Sergei showed a fascination for my early neo-surrealist in the Atmosphere and Goethe's Theory of Colors paintings, more so than the current work I was doing in an Johannes Kuhl anthroposophical style. As a former art student himself, he expressed great interest in the artistic trends and styles current Adonis Science Books, 2016 in the West. Years later, after many books were written, lectures were delivered and travels were made on both our parts, Sergei found his way to Hawai’i where I had settled as a teaching artist. He demonstrated through his conversations and lectures his now deeply profound grasp of Anthroposophy and Christology. His powerful connection to the Foundation Stone Meditation, the School of Spiritual Science, and the Michael impulse was remarkably formed and articulate. However, one of my most memorable experiences with Sergei was taking him around the island of Oʻahu and intro- ducing him to the ancient cultural sites of Hawaiʻi. By now he had experienced the North American continent and its strong north-south magnetic mountain ranges, not to mention many other parts of the world. But here in the mid-Pacific was a dif-

29 This book explores the captivating colors that appear in Understanding our Communal Responsibility the atmosphere of the earth: coronas, glories, halos, rainbows, for the Healthy Development of Gender dawn and dusk. Using the holistic observational method de- and Sexuality within Society veloped by Goethe in his Theory of Color, this book offers Lisa Romero the reader a new way of relating to atmospheric colors. In its attempt to bridge the wide span between the physics of SteinerBooks, 2017 atmospheric colors and a spiritual approach to them, the path of unfolding descriptions and thoughts becomes ar- tistic in itself. Extraordinary photographs and references to modern literature and websites round out the work. The book should prove helpful to scientists looking for a dif- ferent approach to optics or an introduction to Goethe’s phenomenological science, to teachers seeking a new ap- proach to optics lessons, and to anyone who loves these colors and wishes to deepen their relationship to them. Johannes Kuhl, physicist and leader of the Science Section at the Goetheanum studied physics in Hamburg and Gottingen, fin- ishing with research in at the Max Plank Institute. His areas of in- terest are modern physics and optics, as well as Goethean Science.

Africa, A Teacher's Guide “A healthy relationship to gender and sexuality supports Betty Staley our wellbeing, both as individuals and as a community. The form of sex education that we bring to children and adoles- Rudolf Steiner College Press, 2017 cents not only needs to combat the inner disturbances and imbalances created by social media and exposure to pornogra- phy - as the most prevalent sources of implicit sex-eduction in our time - but it also needs to serve them in cultivating useful capacities with which to meet the growing societal changes around this fundamental aspect of being human. Providing a healthy and socially constructive sex educa- tion is the responsibility not only of the primary caregivers, parents, and teachers, but also of the individuals in the wider community, who likewise contribute to the collective con- sciousness. Working to overcome our own biases and imbalances will prepare us to more readily awaken to the spiritual wisdom that can bring health and harmony into the evolving reality This is a carefully, well-organized resource for teaching of gender and sexuality. children and adolescents about African culture. This book is The insights shared in this book are important for anyone divided into geographical regions so each can be highlighted who is interested in understanding the various forms of hu- and contrasted. The songs, fairy tales, mythologies, biogra- man relationship, and how we might work together to bring phies, art, and recipes are highlighted with practical activities about a healthier community life.” for each grade including kindergarten. This is an invaluable book for teachers in elementary and high school as well as Available online through Amazon or Anthroposophical book for home school parents. Teachers have created a full unit on stores. Africa out of this extensive and well-researched book. Inner Work Path Betty Staley brought the successful first edition titled (e) [email protected] Hear the Voice of the Griot! up-to-date and expanded it. (w) www.innerworkpath.com Teachers have been waiting for this, and we are pleased to announce that it is now available online and in our book- store. rscbookstore.com

30 31 Waldorf 100 - The Film NOW AVAILABLE: "CRISIS AT THE THRESHOLD" Paul Zehrer, Producer & Director by Siegfried Finser

Pleasure reading, Waldorf inspired, reality fiction in a trilogy of novels

1. ”COLLISION” sets the stage, introduces the twelve main characters and dramatically contrasts the intel- lect with the forces of the heart. The sequence of events is fraught with evil influences, with courage and karmic surprises. This exciting story reveals the forces and counter forces of the age in which we live, and the www.youtube.com/watch?v=wfec6eF4I_4 dramatic ending is true to the reality of our time. “The point of this film is to introduce the concept of the upcoming Waldorf–100 Centennial in 2019/2020. The goal 2. “LONELY EXPIATION” brings is to help families and schools around the world recognize the same twelve characters together that Waldorf education can, and does, have an important again in New York City and adds a impact on the challenges we face in the world today. Too new redeeming presence that leads often we get stuck focusing on our own school and its to the villain’s downfall. Biodynamic struggles, but there is a much larger ethos out there that we farming and Waldorf education enter are all part of. Collectively we are working to change the world and make a better future. The hope and aspiration of selectively at focal points in the plot. this Centennial event is not to simply have a big anniversary The difference between feeling and party. It’s to launch Waldorf education into the 21st Century emotion is starkly contrasted and a with a bold new sense of confidence and commitment to few of the characters find hope in the the future – a future that our children will help determine”. work of Rudolf Steiner.

Ethnography, Geography, History, Culture and Art 3. “CRISIS AT THE THRESHOLD” One of the twelve protagonists experi- ences the early stages of initiation into the spiritual world. Transformation is the key theme of this last story. It is now possible to overcome evil and introduce some gentle humor into the serious events taking place. The villain is still characteristically misled by his own intellect, even at the very end, culminating in a hopeful conclusion to the trilogy.

Available in bookstores, Amazon also in electronic formats. Store discounts from bookventure.com or 877 276-9751. More information/comments www.finserpublications.com THE ALCHEMISTS A film by Frigyes Fogel and Christopher Mann “Following those on their mission who have been called upon to form the earth throughout four continents...To all who want to heal and consecrate the earth...” https://vimeo.com/181737300 This is an new hour-long film which is about the biodynamic agricultural approach.

32 EVENTS February 17 - 20, 2018 Hawaiʻi Kolisko Conference Conferences and Courses--2017 Truth, Beauty and Goodness: The Future of Education, Healing Arts and Health Care August - October, 2017 With Michaela Glöckler Architecture Steiner Honolulu Waldorf School, Hawaiʻi, USA Festival of Architecture and the Arts, Contact: [email protected] International Exhibition on Living Architecture. Manila and Iloilo, PHILIPPINES February 23-25 For updates on Architecture Steiner: The Physiology of Boundary: Allergy, Digestion and www.artkitekturafestival.com Autism. With Dr Adam Blanning September 20 - 27 Hastings, Hawkes Bay, NEW ZEALAND Waldorf Workshop for Parents and Teachers Contact: [email protected] with Christof Wiechert Sloka Waldorf School, Hyderabad, INDIA July 24-26 Contact: [email protected] Kolisko Conference with Michaela Glöckler Beijing Nanshang Waldorf School, Beijing, CHINA October 1 ‐ 5 Contact: [email protected] Early Childhood Conference ‐ Towards Freedom and Responsibility July 1 - 7, 2018 Clara Aerts (IASWECE) The Dawning Mysteries of the 21st Century Taikura Rudolf Steiner School, Hastings, NZ The Melbourne Rudolf Steiner Seminar, Contact: [email protected] Michael Centre, Warranwood, VIC, AUS. Contact: [email protected] October 5 - 8 Echoes from the Future – Annual Conference Anthroposophical Society in New Zealand Taikura Rudolf Steiner School, Hastings, NZ Some Anthroposophical Newsletters and Websites Contact: [email protected] & [email protected] A n t h r o p o s o p h y W o r l d w I d e http://www.goetheanum.org/Newsletter.aw.0.html?&L=1 October 6 - 8 The Role of Art in the Life of the Pre-Adolescent: A r d e n t An Overview of the Visual Arts for Grade 7 [email protected] with Van James B e i n g H u m a n Taichung, TAIWAN [email protected] Contact: [email protected] C h a n t i c l e e r October 13 - 15 http://www.berkshiretaconicbranch.org/chanticleer.php The Role of Art in the Life of the Adolescent: An Overview of the Visual Arts for Grade 8 J o u r n a l f o r S t e i n e r / W a l d o r f E d u c a t i o n with Van James [email protected] Taichung, TAIWAN Contact: [email protected] N e w V i e w http://www.newview.org.uk/new_view.htm

Conferences and Courses—2018 N e w s N e t w o r k A n t h r o p o s o p h y January 15-19 www.nna-news.org Steiner High School Teacher Professional Development Intensive S c o p e [email protected] Melbourne Rudolf Steiner Seminar, Warranwood, Melbourne, VIC. AUSTRALIA S p h e r e http://steinerseminar.net.au/high-school-intensive-course- [email protected] for-steiner-teachers-january-2018/ T h e S o p h i a S u n January 14-19 (Sunday- Friday) http://www.anthroposophync.org/sophiaSun.htm Class 1-7 Class teacher Intensives The Anthroposophical Society in Hawaiʻi; Glenaeon Rudolf Steiner School, Sydney, NSW, AUS. new website and older issues of Pacifica Journal can be Contact: [email protected] downloaded at: www.anthrohawaii.org

33 Philippines

34 35 36 37 Hawai'i International Health & Education Kolisko Conference

Truth, Beauty and Goodness: The Future of Education, Healing Arts and Health Care A conference with Michaela Glōckler, international and local presenters

“Now our culture will become evermore unhealthy and humanity will more and more have to make out of the educational process a healing process against all the things that make us sick in our environment. We may not allow ourselves to indulge in illusions about this.”—Rudolf Steiner

Saturday–Tuesday, February 17-20, 2018

Honolulu Waldorf School 5257 Kalaniana’ole Hwy, Honolulu, HI 96821 (808) 377-5471 (Niu Valley) ~ (808) 735-9311 (‘Aina Haina) [email protected] ~ www.honoluluwaldorf.org

38 Dear Friends, The Kolisko Conference

Ever since the Greek philosophers characterized the three The first Kolisko Conference took place in 1989 as a 50th foundational ideals for attaining wisdom, Truth (science), anniversary honoring of the lifework of Dr. Eugene Kolisko. Beauty (art) and Goodness (religion) have been significant This was an international gathering of physicians and teach- influences on all levels of education. Even Howard Gardener, ers and has become a platform for promoting education as the Harvard professor behind multi-intelligence theory, has preventative medicine. recently explored this topic in his latest book Truth, Beauty Kolisko Conferences have taken place in 1992 (Austria), and Goodness Reframed. But these three basic orientations are 1994 (UK), 1998 (USA), and 2002 (Finland), often with over not only crucial for education and any cultural development in 1000 participants taking part. In response to the needs and humanity – they are the main pillars of healthy development interests of various regions, in 2006 the Goetheanum in Swit- of body, soul and spirit –as reflected in all integrated medical zerland together with UNESCO and many local organizations health care systems in East and West. sponsored Kolisko conferences in nine countries (India, South The Hawai'i International Kolisko Conference, named after Africa, Philippines, Ukraine, Australia, Mexico, Sweden, France the first Waldorf school doctor/teacher, Eugen Kolisko, will and Taiwan). In France the Paris UN building was provided as explore the relevance of Truth, Beauty and Goodness in the the venue for a Waldorf exhibition and forum to discuss “World context of where education, the healing arts and health care Education and Health.” In 2010 a Hawaii Kolisko conference are today and where they may be going in the future. How was held with the theme, “Reading the needs of children and do goodness, beauty and truth act as preventative medicine in understanding the stages of human development—birth to education and in social life? age 21.” In 2013, the Taiwan Kolisko conference theme was In Waldorf education we learn to see these ideals devel- “Shaping a sense of community: From blood family to world opmentally with the Good as primarily fostering the sacred family.” In 2015, a Kolisko conference was held in Malaysia. ground of early childhood (birth to age 7) where imitation develops the will capacity and play is the catalyst for authentic Dr. Eugene Kolisko (1893-1939) learning. Beauty characterizes the artistic focus and sense for Eugene Kolisko was an Austrian physician who special- peace and harmony – so that the feeling life gains a crucial train- ized in preventative medicine and worked closely with Rudolf ing in lively imagination, brought to the grade school child Steiner. He extended health practices consistent with the age (7 to 14 years of age), aided by the experience of adults around specific learning process of body, soul and spirit in children who can be loved as real authorities. Truth is the crowning from kindergarten to the end of school age. He worked as the feature of a holistic education grounded in scientific veracity first school doctor and chemistry teacher at the first Waldorf for the adolescent (14 to 21), where idealism fructifies the School in Stuttgart. He worked closely with teachers and thinking and the intellectual capacities of the young person. students to better understand learning processes and healthy We are happy to invite you to share with us the concern and ways of living. He left an important legacy for the school: the strong wish, to do what we can in supporting communities of collaboration of teachers, doctors, therapists, and parents to the future in the best possible way. Let us make this work into support the healthy development of each child. a daily practice what started as a deep philosophical insight Dr. Rudolf Steiner (1861-1925) and valuable inspiration for humanity. Rudolf Steiner was a philosopher, scientist, and initiator Welcome to the Hawai'i International Kolisko Confernce of Anthroposophy (the study of human wisdom) and Waldorf 2018, Education. He established various practical endeavors whereby Michaela Glöckler and the faculty of the over 10,000 institutions and initiatives have been founded, Honolulu Waldorf School including: , Waldorf education and par- enting; Anthroposophical extended medicine, pharmaceuticals, nutrition, therapeutic (curative) education and communities, social therapy, psychotherapy; Economics and banking; Archi- tecture, visual and performing arts; Natural science.

39

Hawai’i Kolisko Conference Schedule

Time Saturday 17 Sunday 18 Monday 19 Tuesday 20 7:00-8:00 Coffee/tea Coffee/tea Coffee/tea 8:00-8:30 Arrival Artistic Artistic Artistic Speech Speech Speech 8:30-10:00 Registration Keynote Keynote 3 Keynote 4 & Snack 2(auditorium) (auditorium) (auditorium) 10:00-10:30 Blessing & SnackBreak SnackBreak SnackBreak Welcome 10:30-12:30 Keynote Morning Morning Group Lecture 1 Workshop 1: workshop 1: sharing & Michaela G session 1 session 2 Plenum (auditorium) (closing at 12 noon) 12:30-1:45 Lunch Lunch Lunch No meal 1:45-3:45 Afternoon Optional Afternoon (AWSNA Workshop 2: excursions Workshop 2: Delegates first session Second Meeting) session

3:45- 4:30 Snack Break Free Snack Break

4:30-5:45 Cultural Free Artistic presentation activity for for All All (auditorium) (auditorium) 6:00-7:30 Lu’au Dinner No meal Dinner

7:30-9:00 Luʻau Free Cultural presentation

Optional Excursions for Sunday afternoon: Local beach swim, Hike option, Local cultural sites, Waikiki beach and or historic downtown drop-off.

Special interest groups (grade levels, subject areas, departments, etc.) to meet by arrangement at lunch or on Sunday afternoon. Meeting of the School of Spiritual Science to be announced.

40 Kolisko Workshops

Morning Workshop 1

Sunday and Monday, 10:30-12:30

____1A. Anthroposophical Physiology and Perspectives on Child Health for Waldorf Teachers Education as healing—bringing insights from anthroposophical medicine into usefulness in the classroom. Dr. Christian Wessling, MD. Practicing anthroposophical physician in St. Louis since 1986 and president of the Physician’s Association for Anthroposophical Medicine.

____1B. Sex Education and the Spirit: Our Communal Responsibility for Healthy Development of Gender and Sexuality within Society The form of gender and sex education that we bring primary children not only needs to be appropriate to their developmental stage and work to combat the inner disturbances and imbalances created by social media and exposure to pornography but it also needs to serve them in cultivating useful capacities with which to meet the growing societal changes around this fundamental aspect of the human being. Lisa Romero Complimentary health practitioner, international lecturer and author of several books on healthcare and adult self-development.

____1C. Biodynamic Agriculture and Eurythmy: a Marriage of Life Forces. Root, leaf, flower, fruit: the metamorphosis of the plant reveals the laws of the four elements and the ethers. In creating healthful foods and farms, the biodynamic farmer supports this process by working with the heavenly and earthly forces. In this workshop, we will deepen our experience of the etheric world through eurythmy movements and plant studies. Cynthia and Harald Hoven Cynthia is an international teacher for Eurythmy and Anthroposophy, specializing in Adult Education. Following 25 years working as core faculty at Rudolf Steiner College, she travels widely, bringing both joy and depth to her workshops. Master Biodynamic farmer Harald Hoven gardened and taught for 30 years at Rudolf Steiner College, and now consults and teaches internationally, specializing in leading people to develop deeper, more sensitive perceptions for the living, ensouled forces active in the natural world.

____1D. Can Honeybees Light the Path for our Future as Envisioned by Rudolf Steiner? The honeybee colony, as a whole, shows the characteristics of one living organism, rather than simple individual components grouped together. Acting as a cohesive unity, honeybees transcend their biological shackles and demonstrate attributes and characteristics approaching the homeodynamics (dynamic homeostasis) of mammals. The question then arises: “How do honeybees transcend their phylogeny?” Terra Malmstrom M.S. in Neuroscience, M.S. Ed. In Waldorf Education, 20 years as research scientist and 15 years in Waldorf Education.

____1E. Futures in Waldorf Schools: Cultures, Consciousness and a Global Education There has been a long-standing question around the role of different peoples and their consciousness, the mosaic of human cultures, and how this picture is carried in the Waldorf curriculum. The role of imagination, creative visualization and an active meditative life were quite radical in Steiner’s time, but are now far more accessible in the 21st century with deeper understanding of brain plasticity, positive psychology and even quantum physics. We will explore the role of the teacher’s consciousness in the classroom, with colleagues, and how this work may grow in the future. Andrew Hill Former anthropologist, class teacher for three cycles, teacher trainer, and presently Head of School (Glenaeon Rudolf Steiner School, Sydney, Australia).

41 ____1F. Why are Truth, Beauty and Goodness Resources of Health? To understand the healing impact of truth, beauty and goodness in todays learning environment is a challenge with regards our daily practice with students, parents, and colleagues. How do we find these themes activated in age appropriate ways and as methodological tools in realizing a healthy Waldorf curriculum? Michaela Glōckler, MD. Michaela is a medical doctor, former leader of the Medical Section at the Goetheanum in Switzerland, and an international consultant in health, education and medical issues.

____1G. The Uplifting Power of Choral Singing – Sacred Music, Canons, and Folk Songs Group singing, in unison and in parts, for singers and for those who think they can’t sing! Ronald Koetzsch and Anne Riegel Ronald is editor of Renewal: A Journal for Waldorf Education and formerly dean of students at Rudolf Steiner College. Anne is a musician and artist, a former faculty member at RSC, and assistant editor and art/design director of Renewal. Anne and Ronald are the musicians at of Sacramento.

____1H. Educational Support as an element of Waldorf Pedagogy Using Socratic conversation, lecture and artistic activity this workshop will show how Waldorf pedagogy can account for 80% of the accommodations that are called for in educational assessments. Paul Gierlach Grade school and high school teacher for over thirty years, focusing on extra support and accommodations for students in need.

____1I. Thinking, Feeling and Willing in Stone: Carving an Oloid Participants will develop an Oloid form using soapstone or alabaster. This remarkable shape will provide the medium for engaging in a truly balancing, formative activity. Jack Bryant Jack has been a longtime practical arts and sculpting teacher at Highland Hall Waldorf school in Los Angeles. He is the founder and director of Waldorf Practical Arts Training courses in Los Angeles CA, and in several locations in China.

Afternoon Workshop 2 Saturday and Monday, 1:45-3:45pm

____2A. How Inner Development Supports our Outer Tasks Through an active inner life changes take place that evolve our inner capacities and transform our way of seeing, experiencing and acting in the world around us. Through understanding our individual relationship to the inner work it will enable us to both hold and further daily practices that strengthen us for our tasks. Lisa Romero Complimentary health practitioner, international lecturer and author of several books on meditation and adult self-development.

____2B. Artistic Workshop in Plant Observation What is our inner experience in studying plants: as insight for meditation, as inspiration for poetry and drawing, as a model for a botanical illustration, as a specimen to label, as material for a culturally-connected craft. In which way(s) can we experience a healing of our own soul? Beth Allingham Waldorf high school science teacher for 22 years in Honolulu and San Francisco, Educational Support for five years, and educational coaching in Denver.

____2C. What Colors may lead to an experience of Truth and Beauty? A pastel drawing workshop dealing with colors that may lead to an experience of the conference theme. Iris Sullivan B.A. in Psychology and Art, M.A. in Art Therapy, diploma in painting therapy from Emerald Foundation, high school art teacher for eight years at Sacremento Waldorf School and international teaching of adults for over 20 years.

____2D. “I See What You’re Saying”—a Theater Workshop Active movement and theater improvisation will be explored by means of communication through body language, character development, and written dialogue. Lively fun for all and no experience necessary. Mary Jo AbiNader Theater Arts specialist and Class Teacher for 15 years. th8 grade teacher at the Honolulu Waldorf School.

42 ____2E. Awakening to the Etheric in the Digital Age: A Holistic Spiritual Scientific Approach Empowered by Eurythmy This workshop will focus through lecture, discussion and eurythmy on the implications of modern technology and counterbalancing measures by means of experiences of the etheric. Florian Sydow and Marguerite McKenna Florian is Co-founder of Kahumana Farm & Community, twenty years in building and design work, and Vice Chairman of the Anthroposophical Society in Hawaii. An alum from Honolulu Waldorf School, Marguerite is the current eurythmy teacher at the HWS. She holds an M.A. in Spiritual Philosophy and is completing her M.A. in Eurythmy Therapy. She has lectured internationally and authored several articles on eurythmy.

___2F. Leading a Living Organism The aim of this workshop is to bring an understanding of “facilitative leadership,” a method of leadership that acknowledges that a school or organization is a living organism that changes with each individual involved and that must adapt constantly to its environment. Through a presentation, journal style writing, movement, and conversations, we will explore the nature or organizations and working with the human beings that form them. The work of Otto Scharmer, Frederick Laloux, and Rea Taylor Gill will serve as resources. Jocelyn Romero Demirbag, Ed. D. Jocelyn is the Administrative Director of Honolulu Waldorf School and former Administrator at Haleakalā Waldorf School. She is a board member of RSF Social Finance, the Hawai'i Association of Independent Schools, the Hawai'i Council of Private Schools, and she serves on the finance committee of the Association of Waldorf Schools of North America.

____2G. Breathing Life into Integrative Medicine What happens in the lives of patients when cared for in a practice that brings together the best of modern medicine and traditional healing arts? Consider insights gleaned from a collaborative team-based approach to restoring health through balance. For sixteen years, Manakai O Malama Integrative Healthcare Group and Rehabilitation Center has cultivated a team of physicians, acupuncturists, naturopaths, psychologists, physical therapists and sleep specialists to nourish the physical, spiritual, emotional and social health of those who engage in health care. Dr. Ira Zunin, MD, MPH. Ira is founding medical director of Manakai O Malama Integrative Healthcare Group and Rehabilitation Center. He earned his BA from UC Berkeley in medical anthropology and his MD from UCLA. He is boarded in Preventive Medicine and Public Health. He writes a regular column for the Honolulu Star Advertiser and for several years appeared weekly on his KITV television show, The Doctor Is In. He has dedicated his career to the synthesis of spiritual, somatic and psychological aspects of healthcare.

____2H. Laying the ground for Truth, Beauty and Goodness through the Waldorf method of Teaching Mathematics and Geometry This course will give an overview of mathematics and geometry and how it brings enlivening forces to a school’s curriculum. Georg Glöckler Georg has an academic training in mathematics and physics from the University of Stuttgart, was a Waldorf high school teacher in Marburg, Germany, for 20 years, did Waldorf teacher training in Witten-Annen for 10 years, and was leader of the Mathematical- Astronomic Section at the Goetheanum, Switzerland, for 18 years. Today, he lectures worldwide.

____2I. The Art of Needle Felting for Early Childhood Puppetry Needle felting is a wonderful craft. Even if you don't think you are creative, the wool somehow inspires you to create. The course is suitable for beginners or those with some experience of felting already. You will learn the basics of needle felting, how to make seasonal animals and dolls toward the end of creating puppet play. Sarita Sanghai Sarita lives part-time in Hyderabad, India, where she was a Waldorf parent. She attended Waldorf teacher training courses and conferences in many countries over the years (India, New Zealand, Thailand, Philippines, Korea, Japan, Switzerland, USA, etc.), and earned her Early Childhood Diploma from Sunbridge Institute, New York. She has taught kindergarten and was a class teacher. She actively supports the Waldorf movement in Nepal, her birthplace, and is co-founder of the Kathmandu Waldorf Kindergarten.

2J. Carving a Polynesian Fish Hook Design and craft a replica Polynesian fish hook. Images of Hawaiian bone hook artifacts from Bishop Museum will be used as source material to design the hooks. The Hawaiian fishhook course is usually taught at Honolulu Waldorf in ninth grade in tandem with the students' Hawaiian Studies main lesson. Priority will be given to practical art and shop teachers from Polynesia and Asia-Pacific areas who wish to develop this course material and offer it to their students. Limit eight participants. Phil Dwyer Phil teaches practical/applied arts at Honolulu Waldorf School. He brings years of experience—as a professional silversmith, goldsmith in Beverly Hills, sculptor, handyman, and biodynamic farmer—to all of his course material. Phil calls his practical arts curriculum, Earth Arts and refers to it as, "art with substance.”

43 FOR ALL: Morning Artistic Speech

Sunday, Monday & Tuesday, 8-8:30am The Healing Art of Speaking Introduction to elements of speech, breath and articulation exercises, creative speaking for verse, poetry and story. Robyn Hewetson Long-time teacher trainer and founder of WELLSPOKEN in New Zealand where she teaches creative speech in curative communities, schools and businesses. Saturday Afternoon Cultural Activity Saturday 4:30, auditorium Kumu Kathy Mahealani Wong and Sam 'Ohu Gon, III Kathy is the Kumu Hula and Hawaiian Studies teacher at the Honolulu Waldorf School. She leads her own Hula Halau and is well known for her blessings, weddings and cultural events. Sam is a “Living Treasure of Hawai'i,” botanist, senior scientist and cultural advisor for the Nature Conservancy for over 25 years, and a talented musician. Monday Afternoon Artistic Activity Monday 4:30, auditorium Van James Van is a visual artist and has been a teacher at the Honolulu Waldorf School for 35 years. He is chairman of the Anthroposophical Society in Hawai'i, a council member of the Visual Art Section of North America, editor of Pacifica Journal, and author of several art books and a series of Hawai'i guidebooks. He is a former board member of the Hawai'i Alliance for Arts Education and an active international advocate for culture and the arts.

Honolulu Waldorf School 'Aina Haina (Makai) and Niu Valley (Mauka) Campuses.

44 Health and Education Hawaiʻi International Kolisko Conference February 17-20, 2018 (Saturday-Tuesday) REGISTRATION INFORMATION: Full Name: ______Job Title: ______School/Institution: ______Contact Details: Tel: ______Cellular: ______Email: ______Address:______City: ______State: _____ Zip Code: ______Mail registration form and payment to: (Payment accepted by check or credit card. Payable to the Honolulu Waldorf School) Honolulu Waldorf School c/o Kolisko Conference 2018 5257 Kalanianaole Hwy  Honolulu, HI 96821 USA  Tel: (808) 735-9311  Email: [email protected] Please find enclosed my payment: (Conference Fee is $275. Early Bird fee is $225, if paid by December 15, 2017)  Enclosed is my check #______in the amount of $______.  Please charge my credit card in the amount of $______.  Master Card  VISA  Discover Card Card Number: ______Exp. Date: ______Name on Card: ______Billing Address: ______City ______State ______**Billing Zip Code: ______

Signature: ______**needed for card security verification

TRANSPORT DETAILS (if applicable): Arrival to Honolulu International Airport (HNL):  I will arrange my own transportation.  I would like a free pickup up at the following time: Friday, Feb. 16:  2:00 pm or  8pm // Saturday Morning, Feb. 17:  7am,  8am,  9am (last pickup). Arrival Pickup: Airline: ______Flight #: ______Date: ______Time: ______Come out to curb with baggage and look for car with “Kolisko” sign. Free airport pickup is only available at the times listed above. Note: There will not be any pickups after 9am Saturday.

Departure from School to Honolulu International Airport: (for estimating numbers)  I will arrange my own transportation.  I would like a free drop-off at the following time: Tuesday, Feb. 20:  depart school at 12:30 pm-arrive HNL at 1:15 pm OR  depart school 1:30 pm-arrive HNL at 2:15 pm Drop-off is offered only at these times listed above. Sign-up will take place at the conference.

MEALS: There is a $20 / $25 dinner and a $15 lunch fee for meals. There are also some restaurants/fast food places across the highway from the school. DIETARY REQUIREMENTS – for ‘in school’ menu, if you are purchasing meals: Food Intolerances: ______Vegetarian:______Other: ______

SATURDAY/SUNDAY/MONDAY (Please indicate the meals you would like to buy):  Saturday lunch $15  Sunday lunch $15  Monday lunch $15  Lunch for delegates  Saturday luau dinner $25 There is no Sunday dinner  Monday dinner $20 on Tuesday Total amount for Meals Indicated Above: $______

45 OPTIONAL AFTERNOON EXCURSIONS, Sunday, February 18 (check one): Are you interested in a tour of Oahu’s beautiful Ka ʻIwi Coast (includes a swim)?  Yes. I would like to go on an organized ridge or valley hike in the area?  Yes I would like to dropped-off in Waikiki or historic downtown Honolulu?  Yes Meet in a special interest group?  Yes. What kind of group? ______. I will arrange my own afternoon.  Yes

ACCOMMODATION CHOICE:  Dormitory style, futon on classroom floor (bring your own bedding) $15 fee for all four nights (Fri, Sat, Sun, Mon.) payable at registration check-in.  Private area stay, futon on private office/classroom floor (bring your own bedding): $15 fee per night payable at registration check-in (these are limited).  Homestay, bed and breakfast: $25 fee per night payable in-full on the first night to host. (These homeSOLDstays have OUTlimited availability , first come first served.)  I will make my own arrangements.

WORKSHOPS: Place numerical preference (1, 2 and 3) for Workshop 1 (Mornings) and Workshop 2 (Afternoons) Morning Workshop 1: Sunday and Monday, 10:30am-12:30pm ___ 1A. Anthroposophical Physiology and Perspectives on Child Health, Dr. Christian Wessling, ___1B. Sex Education and the Spirit, Lisa Romero ___ 1C. Biodynamic Agriculture and Eurythmy: a Marriage of Life Forces. C. and H. Hoven ___ 1D. Can Honeybees Light the Path for our Future? Terra Malmstrom ___ 1E. Futures in Waldorf Schools: Cultures, Consciousness and a Global Education, Andrew Hill ___ 1F. Why are Truth, Beauty and Goodness Resources of Health? Michaela Glöckler ___ 1G. The Uplifting Power of Choral Singing – Sacred Music, Anne Riegel and Ronald Koetzsch ___ 1H. Educational Support as an Element of Waldorf Pedagogy, Paul Gierlach ___ 1I. Stone Carving an Oloid, Jack Bryant Afternoon Workshop 2: Saturday and Monday, 1:30pm-3:30pm ___ 2A. How Inner Development Supports our Outer Tasks, Lisa Romero ___ 2B. Artistic Workshop in Plant Observation, Beth Allingham ___ 2C. What Colors May Lead to an Experience of Truth and Beauty? Iris Sullivan ___ 2D. “I See What You’re Saying”—a Theater Workshop, Mary Jo AbiNader ___ 2E. Awakening to the Etheric: Spirit Scientific & Eurythmy, F. Sydow and M. McKenna ___ 2F. Leading a Living Organism, Jocelyn Romero Demirbag, Ed.D. ___ 2G. Breathing Life into Integrative Medicine, Dr. Ira Zunin, MD, MPH ___ 2H. Truth, Beauty and Goodness: Mathematics and Geometry, Georg Glöckler ___ 2I. The Art of Needle Felting for Early Childhood Puppetry, Sarita Sanghai ___ 2J. Carving a Polynesian Fish Hook, Phil Dwyer

The Conference Registration Fee is $275.00 (Early Bird fee is $225, if paid by December 15, 2017) Please make payment for conference fee and your meals to Honolulu Waldorf School: Total conference fee amount with this registration form: $______Meals amount due with this registration form: + $______Total due with this registration form, by check or credit card: = $______Contact: [email protected] or Tel: (808) 735-9311 Honolulu Waldorf School, c/o Kolisko Conference, 5257 Kalanianaole Hwy., Honolulu, HI 96821 USA.

46 Waldorf Worldwide

Program Date Locaon Teachers Organisers Cost Comments Course Outline

Food/Stay/Teaching material Peder included-Air Fare extra Understanding 75000 Internal Combuson Abhaya Waldorf INR 23rd Sep - Naren Includes travel to a lake or river Engines, Boat building + School and 15 Oct and motoring/sailing the boats while building a boat Engines* other parts of Hyderabad-India 1100€ 2017 Ramu built at school and sailing/motoring South India Jayesh it to measure 1200$ Jayesh For class 10 Waldorf students - depths/profiles Taught in English.

Food / Stay / Teaching material included, Air Fare extra Ocean & Wind currents Dan 1,00000 INR 8-24th Tectonic, Plates, Haverlock Islands Includes Open water Buoyancy, Oceanography* Jan Nienke Jayesh 1400€ Andaman Sea scuba dives 2018 Art, Games, Stories and OWTC PADI Jayesh 1600$ For class 10 Waldorf students - diving course Taught in English

Robert Using theodolites, 26th Apr- For Class 10 students of dumpy levels, GPS, Surveying* 28th May South Australia Mark Abhaya & Mount Barker applying trigonometric 2018 Mount Barker-SA Waldorf School, only funcons in map making Jayesh and a bushwalk

Food / Stay / Teachinbg material Alex 55000 Heat engines Wynstones included - Air Fare extra External and Internal 2nd-23rd in the Steiner School Combuson engines June Jayesh 700£ industrial Gloucester Gloucester-England For Class 9 Waldorf students and their role in the 2018 revoluon** England industrial revoluon Alex 900$ Dan Maslen Will be taught in English

Food/Stay/Teaching material 1,00000 included - Air Fare extra Weathering Erosion Mark Piper INR Geomorphology 10-22nd Lanzarote Sedimentaon, Includes open water scuba dives Jayesh Volcanic Plate of Land July Canary Jayesh 1400€ and Sea*** 2018 Islands tectonics on land and In English with a lile Dutch Leo undersea. 1600$ translaon for Class 9 Waldorf students

David 45000 INR Food/Stay/Teaching material Nijmegen-Holland included-Air Fare extra. Theory of binary Binary Karel de 1st-18th Hans Jereon 650€ semiconductors in Logic+Building August GroteCollege, For Class 11/12 Waldorf students digital machines and a 3D printer** Nijinegen Holland 2018 Fay Hans 700$ building an Adder/ Will be taught in English with a 3D printer lile Dutch translaon Jereon Jayesh

* Presently running every year: costs fixed ** will start from 2018: costs indicave Contact *** In planning stage: costs very approximate – subject to change. Mail : [email protected] Skype : jayesh_1958 Mobile : +91 98850 23377

47 48 Asia-Pacific Contacts

Asia Korea Hans van Florenstein Mulder Eunhwa Lee Pacifica Journal [email protected] [email protected] is published as a biannual e-newsletter by the Anthroposophical Society in Friends of Rudolf Steiner Education Nepal Nana Göbel Rachel Amtzis Hawai‘i. [email protected] [email protected] Please send subscriptions, donations, Australia New Zealand inquiries, announcements and Jan Baker-Finch Sue Simpson submissions to: [email protected] [email protected] www.anthroposophy.org.au www.anthroposophy.org.nz Pacifica Journal

China Philippines Anthroposophical Society in Ben Cherry, Jake Tan, Hawai‘i [email protected] [email protected] 2514 Alaula Way Hawai‘i Taiwan Honolulu, HI 96822 USA Van James [email protected] [email protected] Ya-Chih Chan www.anthrohawaii.org [email protected] Editor...... Van James Assistant Editor...... Bonnie Ozaki­ James Thailand India Production...... Julian Sydow Aban Bana Dr. Porn Panosot [email protected] [email protected] www.anthroposophyindia.org www.panyotai.com

Japan Viêt-Nam Yuji Agematsu Thanh Cherry [email protected] [email protected] www.anthroposophische-gesellschaft-japan.org

49 Pacifica Journal Number 52, 2017-2 A Journey Starts with a Single Step:...... 1 For 7th Asian Waldorf Teacher's Conference...... 4 English Week in China...... 5 Flowforms in China...... 6 Waldorf in Myanmar...... 7 'Retirement'?!...... 8 On the Back of the Turtle:...... 9 Steiner schools rising in popularity Australia-wide...... 13 Engaging (or not) with Community:...... 14 Head, Heart, and Hands...... 18 Christopher Ritson: 2017 Honolulu Biennial Artist...... 20 No One Could See the Color Blue ...... 21 The Scientists Who Make Apps Addictive...... 22 Beyond Polarity...... 27 A Recollection of Sergei Prokofieff...... 28 Books...... 29 Events ...... 33 Kolisko Workshops...... 41 Asia-Pacific Contacts...... 49

Hale o Lono Heiau in Waimea Valley on the Hawaiian island of O'ahu is a restored ancient agricultural temple. Pacifica Journal Annual Subscription Please submit in US currency 2 years (four) e-issues $15 Name______(e-issues only, no hardcopies) Address ______Make check payable to: ______

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Email ______Date______2514 Alaula Way Honolulu, HI 96822 www.anthrohawaii.org "Be true. Disturb not the peace. Will your best." --RUDOLF STEINER 50