First Teachers Course
The international centenary conference on Rudolf Steiner's First Teachers Course of 1919, which has just been republished, took place at the Goetheanum from 6 to 14 July and was attended by over 350 participants.
Jon McAlice held up the big book, "900 pages of wisdom. And you read and you read, and it still remains just a book. What do we need to do so it begins to speak to us?" In his lecture he exhorted the listeners to allow the contents of this course to come alive.
The conference was truly international, with many of the work groups and conversations in languages other than German. Each of the 14 lectures, held by acknowledged experts in their fields, was followed by a workshop for deepening and exploring its themes.
Beyond the study of the content a central theme was again and again the attitude of the teacher who encounters the children with two essential questions, "What do you bring with you?" in order to accept them as individuals, and "What is your path?" in order to support them on their way with love and respect. Waldorf Education, this is one of the central messages of the First Teachers Course, supports the developing human being on their journey from physical instinct to spiritual decisiveness, allowing them to become as free as possible from outer coercion as well as from bodily needs. It requires professionals who get enthused by their subjects, work out of selfless love for the children and see their tasks as art and themselves as artists.
Up to now the First Teachers Course, which was given by Steiner before the opening of the original Waldorf School, has always been published in three parts: Study of Man (republished later as Foundations of Human Experience) Practical Advice to Teachers and Discussions with Teachers. The new edition has arranged all these lectures in their original chronological order and adds previously excluded material such as the contributions of the course participants. It has just been newly translated into English and will appear in this form as soon as the publication costs have been covered. Please contact the Section if you are able to help.