with Carol Bärtges

How do we understand Rudolf Steiner’s text, The Child’s Changing Consciousness in light of the curriculum we are asked to prepare and teach? Taking as our responsibility the desire to understand, from an anthroposophical point of view, the development of the growing human being, we will consider the themes and topics that purposely mirror and reflect one another in our twelve-year spiral curriculum. Readings and writing exercises will support our discussions.

We will work daily with speech and recitation, focusing on freeing the voice and working with exercises and poems that connect to the elementary and high school grades. You can take these back to your classrooms!

All are invited to attend this course; there is something for both newer and more experienced teachers to contemplate as we review Steiner’s text about the growing child through the image of a deliberate “spiral” curriculum. Our discussions will help us better understand not only why we teach the various blocks we do, but how to articulate clearly the foundational details of a Waldorf curriculum to the parents and board members of their school.

Carol Bärtges has had a long relationship with Waldorf education; a graduate of the Rudolf Steiner School in New York City, she returned as a young teacher after university. Carol’s two children, Max and Sarah, graduated from the Steiner School as well. For most of her career, Carol has served as a high school literature and drama teacher, with a joyful stint as a class teacher in between. She has, at various concurrent times, played additional roles, such as high school admissions director, college guidance director, upper school chair, etc. For ten years, Carol was a member of the AWSNA Leadership Council, serving as Leader for the Mid-Atlantic region. 

Carol has long been devoted to higher education – she attended Williams College and after college received graduate degrees in Comparative Literature from NYU and CUNY’s Graduate Center.  Academic honors include fellowships from the English-Speaking Union at Oxford University, St. Andrews University for Humanities, and more recently a DAAD Dissertation Research Grant for summer study.  Carol is the co-editor of the 75th Anniversary edition of Education as an Art as well as numerous articles on education.  Workshops include, “The Semiotics of High School” and “Authentic Assessment and Accountability in Waldorf Education.”        

Currently, Carol is a full-time member of the upper school Humanities department as well as the chair of her school’s faculty development committee and co-chair of the College of Teachers. Her partner of twenty years, Dan Marsch, is an upper school math and philosophy teacher at the school. In her free time, Carol is an avid gardener, hiker, and skier and spends lots of time with her four grandchildren, who live nearby.

Jason Child

This course is for specialist subject teachers who want to explore the foundations of Waldorf education more deeply in order to improve their planning, teaching, and integration with the whole school and its intentions. The course content balances exploring key anthroposophical insights with exploring practical, day-to-day skills that help a specialist become a stronger Waldorf teacher. Participants will discover new ideals, content, and steps for teaching music, world languages, handwork, and all other special subject areas taught in Waldorf education.

Mornings will be spent on subject teaching in general. We will explore important anthroposophical concepts that inform Waldorf teaching, including their practical application in subject class curriculum design, lesson planning, and classroom management. Discussions will include subject teachers from all disciplines, and these cross-discipline discussions will help highlight the key elements common to all Waldorf subject teaching. The afternoon sessions will allow for specialists to break out into their own specialty to explore specifics of the conceptual content and how they apply in the different subject classrooms.

This course will include curriculum design, lesson planning, and classroom management, as well as ways in which teachers’ meditations, observation, and child study, collaboration with colleagues, and curriculum innovation can help grow capacities for the individual subject teacher while strengthening the entire school.

Pedagogical Interface: Teaching Subject Classes in Waldorf Education is open to all  who are interested in deepening their knowledge of teaching special subject classes in private and public Waldorf education. Individuals already leading subject classes will gain invaluable insight and inspiration for their own teaching. Individuals who are not yet teaching, but are curious and interested in the practical and inspirational aspects of this work, will deepen their understanding through the engaging, practical, and artistic aspects of this course.

Jason Child completed his Master’s in music education in 1994, which is about the time he began his serious study of anthroposophy. He has been teaching ever since in schools, both public and private. Anthroposophy has always informed his approach, and he began as music director at the Emerson Waldorf School in Chapel Hill, NC in 2005. Since then, he has taught 1st – 12th grade music, choruses, and bands, and served as both a high school and grade school main lesson/class teacher.  He has also served as college and faculty chair and coordinator for multiple accreditations.

Jason served for ten years on the Leadership Council of the Association of Waldorf Schools of North America (AWSNA), and is now a mentor, evaluator, and consultant in Waldorf schools throughout North America. He began working in training institutes by starting with the AWSNA teacher training program in Cuernavaca, Mexico in 2017 and continues to present seminars for various institutes in the US and Mexico. Jason has presented numerous workshops and keynotes within and outside Waldorf circles. The father of four Waldorf students, he is an outdoor enthusiast hooked on travel and exploring obscure destinations, whether local day trips or internationally.

with David Barham and Frances Vig

This course will create a bridge between anthroposophical anthropology and the practical life of teaching today: Bringing together the reading of the child and the reading of the world to meet the real needs of the modern adolescent.

This course will take a threefold approach:

a) Unfolding of the Adolescent: Bodily Development

b) The High School Curriculum: Bodily and Soul Development

c) The Social Life of Adolescents: Soul and Spiritual Development

Through speech and drama exercises, playful mental games, drawing and other artistic activities, concepts from the course will be brought into the feeling life and the will. This course is open to anyone interested in working with adolescents and their families.

We welcome teachers, parents, administrators, therapists, and other specialists from independent and public charter Waldorf high schools, as well as those  thinking of starting a Waldorf high school – or simply wanting to learn more about meeting the needs of this potent and mysterious age.

Participants will leave this week with a deeper understanding of the end of childhood (puberty) and the beginning of the long journey toward selfhood (adolescence). We will uncover the insights anthroposophy offers regarding gender and sexuality, the planetary or soul qualities, how to responsibly innovate the Waldorf high school curriculum, and how to more effectively work with the challenges of the teenage years –– depression, anxiety, sex, drugs, and technology. Mostly, participants will learn to love this age even more than before through enhanced understanding of the physical, soul, and spiritual lives of the teenager.

Director of Center for Anthroposophy’s Waldorf High School Teacher Education Program (WHiSTEP) as of 2022, David Barham has worked in four North American Waldorf schools, including one in Mexico, both as subject, class, and high school teacher for 30 years. Before joining CfA, he taught high school humanities at the Maine Coast Waldorf School in Freeport, ME, for more than a decade. In the fall of 2021, he was appointed to AWSNA’s Leadership Council as Leader for the Northeast/Quebec region.

David also travels widely as a mentor/evaluator, itinerant teacher, writer, and lecturer on all things Waldorf. For the second year in a row, he is teaching a block in the high school at Washington Waldorf School.

A graduate with a Master’s degree in Waldorf education from Antioch University New England, David recently completed the CfA certificate program in Waldorf Leadership Development. His undergraduate degree at Tufts University was in English and Religion.

An ardent folk singer and guitar player, David came to anthroposophy first as a biodynamic farmer, then as a worker at a Camphill village before signing on as a class teacher. He is married to Waldorf EC teacher Kelly Barham, has three children who went through various Waldorf schools, and is the proud abuelo of two future Waldorf students.

Frances Vig is a Core Group member and faculty member of the Waldorf Teacher Institute of Chicago and, as a member of the Pedagogical Section Council, serves on the Leadership Council of AWSNA. Prior to leaving the Chicago Waldorf School, she was a class teacher and special subject teacher before joining the high school as an art teacher and class sponsor. She has served as a member of the Board of Trustees and has worked with governance issues as well as mentoring. Frances now focuses on adult education and her work on the PSC and in AWSNA. She continues to mentor in various schools and give workshops in person and online.

Frances completed her studies at Christ Church College Canterbury, Kent in the UK, where she specialized in secondary education. She then studied arts with a focus on sculpture at Emerson College, Forest Row, England. Research into the intersection of science and art has been her lifelong passion

with Torin Finser and Special Guests

*This course will take place Online during the In-Person Renewal Courses, from July 1 – 4, 1:00-5:00 p.m. ET

This four-day intensive, designed to inspire school leaders in Waldorf public and independent schools, is intended to cultivate the capacities needed for navigating the terrain of school leadership. Lectures by Torin Finser, presentations by guest presenters, and small group discussion work will take place daily. This course is open to school administrators, board members, faculty members,  and parents interested in learning more about how to serve in a leadership role; it is a required course for those registered in the 2024-25 cohort of CfA’s Waldorf Administration and Leadership Development Program.

Topics include:

Group Dynamics and Leadership Styles, Communication and Role Clarity in a Waldorf School, Conflict Resolution and Navigating Difficult Conversations, Leadership and Initiative, Pedagogical Leadership, The Founding and Early Years of a Public Waldorf School, and The Human Heart and Waldorf School Organizations.

Torin Finser, co-founder of the Center for Anthroposophy; Director of Waldorf Programs at Antioch University New England; post doctoral certification in Management Development, Harvard University; author of 14 books, including Organizational Integrity and Leadership Development.

with Sarah Galligan

Uniting individual beings into one whole class and leading that class through their first experience of grade school is the work of the first-grade teacher. The first-grade year is a magical time when the children learn how to learn through stories, songs, verses, and play. The foundations of literacy and numeracy including the forms, sounds, and sequences of letter and number symbols are laid, and the world of reading, writing, and arithmetic gently unfolds. For the teacher, this year is about getting to know the students individually and how they fit together as part of the class. As a first-grade teacher, you are opening the door to the children’s experience of academic learning while nurturing their development as free, spiritual human beings.

This course will address the essential elements of teaching first grade. Topics will highlight storytelling, including suggestions for selecting stories; circle work, movement, and rhythmic activities; artistic work, including guided drawing, form drawing, painting, blackboard drawing, and beeswax modeling. We will discuss how to foster reverence for the natural world through nature studies, the festivals of the year, and seasonal crafts. Through the lens of the developing child, we will look at how the first-grade curriculum for language arts and math, as indicated by Rudolf Steiner, can be interpreted in a contemporary context for the children of today. We will talk about creating an inclusive classroom environment and lessons, as well as ways to promote a sense of belonging and community within the class. We will look at developing good classroom and work habits for the children, including respect for themselves and others. We will also discuss the work of the teacher, including suggestions for planning the year, block rotations, daily rhythms, parent meetings and communication, classroom management, and the growing need for supporting the children’s social and emotional health and self-regulation skills. Participants will receive resources for every aspect of the year. Examples of main lesson book pages, songs, poems, speech work, and activities will be provided as well as sample block plans, parent communications, and a comprehensive resource reading list. Together, we will engage in drawing, painting, and beeswax modeling, as well as plenty of time for discussion and questions.

This course is for those preparing to teach first grade in a classroom, at home, or online, as well as those interested in Waldorf education through the lens of the first grade curriculum. Experienced teachers as well as people just beginning their teaching journey are all welcome to attend. Participants in this course will come away with an abundance of content and materials, as well as a sense of joy, fulfillment, and confidence needed to lead a Waldorf first grade year.

Born and raised in New Hampshire, Sarah Galligan landed in the Monadnock Region 16 years ago to undertake  Waldorf teacher training, and never left. During that time, she has held many roles working with children and families, including Director of Davis Public Library, Founding Director and Lead Teacher of Calendula Garden Children’s Center, and Kindergarten Teacher at Monadnock Waldorf School. This is her third year teaching first grade at Gathering Waters Charter School. Sarah holds a BA in Fine Arts from Franklin Pierce University and an M.Ed. in Elementary Education with a Waldorf teaching certificate from Antioch University New England. Sarah is inspired by an unwavering commitment of Waldorf Education to meet the needs of children today through developmentally appropriate curriculum and its creative and holistic approach.  Sarah lives in Keene and loves to spend time with her family and in her garden.

with Kris Ritz

The significant threshold of the nine-ten-year change highlights the third grade year, a time when children have a dawning recognition of becoming separate from the world as they say “goodbye” to a younger stage of childhood and awaken to another phase. At this threshold, the students are coming into a more conscious connection with those around them along with the earth as they are guided towards becoming responsible stewards within the community as well as of the land. Supporting the students during this transition are the adults who carry a soul mood of reassurance and unwavering commitment to the Waldorf curriculum.

During this Renewal Course, third grade teachers will connect the profundity of this year with the foundational question of why each curriculum block study is important at this particular stage of development. The answers to such a question will be the guides to the specific stories, songs, verses, and movement activities utilized during the block. There will be an abundance of activities concerning the daily Morning Lesson, including movement, the new element for the day, the review of the previous day’s lesson, practice work related to the block, bookwork, and the story shared for that day (from the Hebrew Bible, Native American traditions, and more).

Since third grade children are transitioning from their home surroundings to the larger community, they are introduced to practical activities from the area, which can include gardening, building, cooking, as well as fishing, boat building, and more. As a result, different project ideas — a weaving activity, recipe book, garden journal — will be shared. We will also have the good fortune of experts joining us throughout the week to provide further in-depth study of curriculum aspects such as the meaning and purpose of the archetypal pictures of humanity as expressed in the Hebrew Bible stories, the role of a farmer and one’s relationship to the natural world, specific movement considerations to support the children’s learning efforts, and artistic exploration in drawing forms and color blending.

All are welcome to this course whether new to Waldorf or experienced, homeschooling or teaching online. Participants in this course will come away with an abundance of content and materials, as well as the joy, fulfillment, and confidence needed to lead a Waldorf third grade year.

Kris Ritz  joined the Emerson Waldorf School community in 2008. Currently, she is enjoying the hearty and robust students of the upper grades and all that is unfolding in the various blocks of study presented. Before returning to North Carolina, she was a class teacher at the Austin Waldorf School and spent a year at Plowshare Farm, an anthroposophical life-sharing community. Born in Upstate New York, Kris graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill with a Bachelor of Arts in Journalism. During a career in advertising, she discovered Waldorf education, returned to school, and earned a Waldorf certificate and Master’s degree from Antioch New England Graduate School. Whether supporting the efforts of the students in the classroom or working with third grade teachers as it relates to the curriculum and the developmental threshold of the 9-/10-year change, Kris is inspired by the questions, answers, and “Ahas!” that unfold while working and learning together in community.

with Joshua Gartland

The fourth grade is a year of exploration and adventure. The students have landed squarely on the earth and seem capable of anything. During our week together, we will discuss how to meet these young friends of ours, how to see them as individuals, and how to hold them in concert. We will delve into the complex worlds and dynamic characters of the Norse Mythology and how they perfectly meet the children’s boldness, humor, and charm at this age. We will examine the Animal Kingdom and Zoology the world over and will perhaps be surprised to find ourselves reflected in its majesty. We will marvel at the cultural and physical landscape of the world around us as we explore the Local Geography and History of our own backyards.  And we will, of course, dive into the logistical necessities of block planning, daily lesson planning, assessments, parent communication, and more.

Our course work will consider Fractions, Reading Comprehension, Grammar, and the growing edge of academic skills so necessary to the children in our care. Our work together will incorporate the artistic aspects of the curriculum including crayon and pencil drawing, watercolor painting, Form Drawing, movement, song, and speech.  And lastly, we will consider just how to manage the enormous task of being a teacher while remaining a happy and healthy human being.

This course is open to educators from both public and independent Waldorf schools, homeschooling parents, administrators, board members, and anyone interested in learning more about the Waldorf fourth grade curriculum.

Joshua Gartland, born in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, was raised in the suburbs of New York City. He began dancing at the age of six, acting in high school and received a BFA in Theater Performance from Wright State University in Dayton, Ohio. Joshua then moved to New York City,where he worked on a number of productions with the Present Company Theatorium as well as a national children’s tour with the Chamber Theater. He became a mime for a brief while, studying under Paul J. Curtis in the American Mime Theater. It was September 11th, 2001, however, that gave Joshua pause. Soon after, he shifted focus and began working at OM Yoga where he eventually became the senior manager of one of the largest yoga facilities in the country. Joshua is a trained and experienced Waldorf teacher who has taught at both the Waldorf School of Garden City and the Waldorf School of Atlanta, the latter since 2009. Now in his 18th year of class teaching, Joshua lives in Decatur, GA with his wife, Sara, his daughters, Aurora and Eva, and his son, Oscar.

with Jen Kershaw

A special harmony, flexibility, and joy of life characterizes the inner and outer activities of fifth-grade children. In the third and fourth grade, the children approach the earthly world, but the child in the fifth grade has arrived there. Now the children reach a new developmental stage where they can experience all the joys of the life of the senses in all its freshness. They begin to “look out into the world” with new eyes, for they stand strong with feet on the ground and eyes to the heavens. Images may still carry meaning, but the spiritual visions of the world must be nurtured in a new way.

The curriculum of the fifth grade begins to weave myth and history together. We will explore the content of this curriculum through story, song, poetry, movement and the arts. Woven into our day will be activities in painting, modeling, drawing, and crafts that support the healthy social life of the class while still meeting the needs of a diverse community of learners. Designed for teachers or homeschooling parents, this course will also look at the impulses behind the curriculum through the lens of child development and anthroposophy while still focusing on the practical day to day work of teaching. With a wide array of resources, participants will complete this course ready to take on the year ahead with energy, enthusiasm, and humor!

Jen Kershaw earned her B.A. in Acting/Theater Performance from the University of South Florida, a Masters of Science in Education from Wheelock College in Boston, Massachusetts, and a Waldorf Teaching Certificate from Antioch University New England. In the theater world, she performed with Metro Theater Company from St. Louis, Missouri, performing and teaching workshops across the United States. Jen has been teaching in classrooms for over twenty years, first as an artist educator, then as a middle school math and history teacher, and finally as a Waldorf class teacher. For the past six years, Jen has been a member of the adjunct faculty at Antioch University New England, where she has taught classes in Math, Language Arts, and Drama. A class teacher at heart, in 2011, she joined the faculty at High Mowing School as a class teacher and with her special education degree has also served as the Educational Support Coordinator for the past seven years. In 2018, Jen completed the eight-year journey as a class teacher and recently finished sixth grade with her second class.

with Irene Richardson

Welcome to Sixth Grade! Behind us now are the balance, subtlety, and grace of the fifth grader, and we find our students standing on the threshold of adolescence with a desire to experience the world and make it their own. With the enormous changes that come in the twelfth year, our students stand resolutely upon the earth and begin to think in practical terms. Cause and effect become increasingly important to their understanding of human behavior, history, mathematics, and science. They are ready to challenge reputed truths, test both inner and outer limits, and discover for themselves how lawfulness based on clarity of observation and discernment can bring order to the seeming chaos of the material world.

This dramatic shift in the students’ consciousness is met by a robust and well-balanced curriculum. History provides a rich opportunity for the sixth graders to apply their burgeoning critical thinking skills to questions of law, power, resistance, justice, morality, and differences of perspective. They are led out of the mythological beginnings of the Roman empire into the conquests and materialism that ensues. They then follow the birth of Islam through the accomplishments of the Islamic Golden Age and the rise of Christianity through the transformations of Europe in the Middle Ages. In science the new subjects of Geology, Astronomy, and Physics help to focus and develop the students’ new powers of observation and judgment, allowing them to discover, for themselves, the order and balance of the physical world. In Mathematics, the lawfulness, precision, and beauty of Geometry are brought with the introduction of the compass, while the practical aspects of Business Math allow the students to become citizens of the world of economics. Geography offers an opportunity to explore the relationship between human beings and the ground beneath their feet, as well as develop intercultural competence and pursue the students’ awakening interest in the world beyond their doorstep.

Each subject also demands that we explore opportunities to innovate with a lens for diversity, equity, and justice, ensuring that our curriculum is relevant and meaningful for 21st-century learners. Time will also be set aside in this course  to discuss projects, rights of passage, trips, plays, homework, and how to support students’ organizational and study skills as they begin their middle school journey.

Irene Richardson is a seasoned class teacher currently teaching 6th grade with her third class at the Waldorf School of Philadelphia. A love of mythology and folklore, the natural world, and growing things were common threads that ran through her undergraduate degree in comparative religion at Bard College, her Master’s in education at Sunbridge College, and her certificate in biodynamics at the Pfeiffer Center. When she is not teaching, Irene is supporting collaborative leadership and self-development in Waldorf schools through her work as an AWSNA delegate. She has served on multiple accreditation teams, and coordinated two accreditations from within her own schools. Irene balances her work life with time weeding her garden, poring through the books in her library, and exploring the forested parks of Philadelphia with her rising first grade Waldorf kid.

with Alison Henry

The seventh-grade year often represents a stumbling block for teachers, students, and parents alike, as the child’s changing consciousness results in challenging classroom and home dynamics. What many Waldorf teachers discover, however, is that the seventh-grade curriculum is a potent antidote to the disaffection and angst so common at this age. Students who arrive in the morning with a too-cool-for-school attitude can’t help but be delighted by the practice of perspective drawing, the discovery of the golden ratio throughout the natural world, and other subjects that capture their imagination and expand their worldview.

Based on her own experience as a class teacher and her years teaching curriculum in Antioch’s Waldorf Teacher Education Program, Alison has created a library of video presentations, one for each of the traditional seventh grade blocks, to serve as a starting point for engaging discussions about what has proven effective in our classrooms and what innovations we are excited to explore. We will consider the larger context of child development, evolving consciousness, questions of justice, representation, and decolonization, among other issues that affect our ability to meet the needs of the children in our care. Teachers heading into seventh grade will leave with guiding thoughts and context for each block, as well as concrete suggestions to stimulate each teacher’s creative process.

Alison Henry is a faculty member in the School of Education at Antioch University New England, teaching primarily in Antioch’s Waldorf Teacher Education program. Alison is also a doctoral student in Antioch University’s Graduate School of Leadership and Change. Her research interests include humility in leadership, collaborative decision making, child-centered and developmentally appropriate education, and understanding the narratives that reinforce, disrupt, or heal patterns of coloniality.

Alison has recently relocated to Gig Harbor, WA to be closer to her children and grandchildren. She is deeply grateful for the privilege of traveling where her work calls her.

with Katherine Nickel

Eighth grade is the last year of the elementary journey for the student. We stand now at the threshold of adolescence gazing at the far lands of the adult. It is a new world, a fascinating adventure of self-discovery, new exploration, and a building of a new internal landscape. Hence, the 8th grade year is steeped in the history of the major revolutions leading to the modern era; from the American and French Revolutions to the Industrial Revolution, the U.S. Civil War, and the Russian Revolution.

A typical definition of the word “revolution” is the overthrow of a social order in favor of a new one. This highlights the impulse of the 8th grade year, the building of something new within each of the students. They are the leaders of the elementary school, looked up to and idealized by many of the younger students. Many begin to rise to the occasion, taking on a new uprightness, new strength, and a brimming new clarity of who they are. They are just beginning this journey of finding who they are, and this year allows them the chance to sink their toes into many possibilities.

This course will explore Revolutions in History, while looking at the forms of community that were envisioned during those tumultuous times. We will also explore the diverse voices of change in the form of biography –  a powerful retelling of the life and times of inspirational figures. Once we wend our way through the far-reaching scope of 8th grade history, we will explore how the natural world reflects this same impulse. From forms explored in Geometry to the systems explored in Meteorology and Physiology, we will also explore in detail the forms of our own human language through the magic of Language Arts. Throughout our time together, we will explore ways to incorporate a diverse range of voices and perspectives, whether in the stories of powerful figures in history and science or in the profound examples of people who strove for change in their world.

Katherine Nickel has taught at both Hartsbrook and High Mowing in grades ranging from kindergarten to 12th grade after receiving Waldorf teacher training from Antioch University New England.  She recently graduated her 8th grade class from High Mowing before moving on to teach humanities in the high school.  Having taught 8th grade itself several times, she is deeply fascinated how teenagers face the challenges of today’s world.  Before becoming a Waldorf teacher (and mother of two boys)  she completed an MA in International Relations with a concentration in human rights and ethnic conflict, then worked in the field of human rights.  She is also now working with ways to heal children through her work with the new Land Stewardship Program at High Mowing.