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- Ms. Ilian

Saturday, August 14, 2010

The Value of a Waldorf Education

This is a lecture given by Patrice Maynard of AWSNA (Association of Waldorf Schools of North America) on May 18, 2010 to Green Meadow parents and prospective parents about the value and uniqueness of a Waldorf education, our role as parents, and the Waldorf movement in the US and the world.

A sought-after speaker and a parent of three Waldorf graduates, Patrice Maynard, M.Ed., is the leader for Outreach and Development of AWSNA. She was a class teacher as well as a music teacher at Hawthorne Valley School in upstate New York.

2 comments:

  1. Just wanted to say that I found the Green Meadow Waldorf school link on Vimeo very cool. Thanks for linking to it.

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  2. Hmm this forum seems to need a good topic. How about, "How will Anthroposophy evolve?"

    Surprisingly to me, Mr. Google has no results at all for the search string, "how will anthroposophy evolve?" Nor so any results exist for "will anthroposophy evolve?"

    I think it's very clear how Anthroposophy will evolve.

    It will evolve towards a more loving expression, starting with self-love and self-care in and among teachers.

    I wonder how many readers agree with this?

    This direction arises again in the 2013 pre-conference workshop you're offering. As the summary paragragph suggests, it's easy to make a generalization about "more loving" Waldorf more precise:

    Anthroposophy and Waldorf are very likely to benefit from exposure to and attention to Emotional IQ. Any definition of EQ will do! I'm not a fan of the original book by Daniel Goleman because it's heady, wordy and intellectual when what is neded is PRACTICE not analysis. Still, the topic is timely for everyone and especially for Waldorf parents and teaches as persons who want fuller, deeper and richer interpersonal relations.

    Anthroposophy and Waldorf are very likely to benefit from exposure to and practice with Compassionate (nonviolent) Communication. Find them at CNVC.org. NVC, as it's called, does more to manifest Emotional IQ than EQ authors accomplish, in my experience.

    I would love to hear other directons readers feel Anthroposophy will evolve.

    PS: I'm a trained Waldorf teacher; I even audited the teacher training year at a second college. I treasure the experience. I did not go into a classroom long term; my classroom management skills with K-12 kids were not strong enuf. I did take my training into the realm of self-healing and apply it to intuitive healing topics and curriculum development. HealingToolbox.org I'm author of about 15 books now; including, Rudolf Steiner's Fifth Gospel in Story Form, a fundraiser for RSF.

    Also, I HIGHLY RECOMMEND the Eugene Schwartz-Rainbow Rosenbloom "debate" HERE: https://vimeo.com/39796527#signin

    I enjoyed the debate. The laughter, including my own, seemed to serve to break a lot of crystals (outdated ways of thinking) in teh audience.

    Eugene and Rainbow are a funny Odd Couple, each on the oposite side of one coin, teh coin of freedom & self-discipline: you can only have as much freedom as you possess self-discipline and vice versa.

    The most interesting part of the debate to me was the idea that Waldorf schools, public and provate serve as modern mystery schools. Where will many people encounter such wisdom if not at such schools?

    This worthy idea can be discussed now in light of the considerable alternative entry points to the ancient wisdom of the realms above the physical and how to live here in harmony with them.

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