1/4 Waldorf 100

Almost 400 people attended the Asian Chinese Speaking Waldorf Teachers Conference which took place near Taichung (TW) at the end of April.

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I stared at the numbers on the conference T-shirt in confusion: 1/4 Waldorf 100. Then it dawned on me: Waldorf Education this year celebrates its centenary but it's the 25th year of Waldorf education in Taiwan and 25 is a quarter of 100. Nearly all schools in Taiwan had teachers here, and a great many of the schools in Mainland China also.

Ben Cherry spoke about how to identify with sentient soul, intellectual soul and consciousness soul and, gaining self-knowledge, thereby gaining the ability to work more consciously in our teaching work, and in life in general.

Nana Göbel pointed to the Waldorf history and the Waldorf education growth impulse from 1919 to 1989. This is 70 years – a human lifetime. It is to 2059 that we might look (another human lifetime) for the third phase's beginning. Overarching everything was the reminder that the Waldorf School impulse is meant as a life- and world-changing impulse and needs individuals who see the necessity of it!

Claus-Peter, co-leader of the Education Section at the Goetheanum, pointed out how the Class 6 and 7 student finds him/herself in a new relationship with their body and with the world. Christof Wiechert told us a fairy tale from China in order to emphasize the importance of archetypal images in our storytelling, and of recognizing the seven virtues of Waldorf Education: the need for imagination, having a sense for truth (or authenticity), responsibility of soul, initiative, interest, loyalty and a good mood.

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