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For the third year in a row the Melbourne Rudolf Steiner Seminar hosted one week of intensive training for High School Teachers. Held in the third week of January, this coincides with the long established Class Teacher Intensive at the Glenaeon Rudolf Steiner School in Sydney. Over 70 participants gathered at the Seminar, coming from far and near: Thailand, Malaysia, Philippines, New Zealand and from almost every Steiner High School in Australia.
Each day was started with the teachers’ meditation followed by choral singing. Under expert leadership some classic choir pieces came to stunning fruition during the week. The key note speakers for this year were Robert Martin (founding teacher of the Melbourne Rudolf Steiner School) and Rob Gordon (Clinical psychologist and psychotherapist with long standing experience working with adolescents and connection to Anthroposophy). Rob Martin opened the week by sharing his passion for the spiritual aspects of life in general and of education in particular. He pointed out the similarities between the First People of Australia and Rudolf Steiner in their attitudes to spiritual realities. From these profound statements about the undeniable presence of the spiritual world, Robert led on to the Third Hierarchies and the College of Teachers meditation with the all important aspects of imagination, inspiration and intuition. Over the following three mornings, Rob Gordon painted a most remarkable image of the adolescents, their development, needs and challenges, speaking from his extensive clinical practice as well as deep anthroposophic understanding. He moved all of us deeply with his profound compassion, his professional knowledge, his metaphors and humour. Possibly the most interesting aspect of his presentation was his comparative analysis of physical and intellectual development for teenagers. The subtle influence of Rob’s gift was weaving through all other activities and workshops on the daily program. You can follow these links to access the recording of his talks:
Lecture 1: the adolescent’s developing body.
Adolescence is a period of physical development only exceeded by the changes of infancy. The body is the house of the soul and the home of the spirit …
Lecture 2: the adolescent’s developing soul.
The soul develops in all dimensions of experience during the adolescent years. This can be exciting and creative but is also confusing and frightening …
Lecture 3: the adolescent’s developing ego.
Human life is the journey of the incarnating ego. Adolescence is the point where it begins to manifest in the soul life and begin to be self-conscious …
Movement classes – a choice between Bothmer Gymnastics and Eurhythmy – offered a good workout as well as insights into anthroposophic thoughts for teachers new to Steiner education.
Teachers had a choice of two out of the 15 different subject workshops, each workshop facilitated by tutors with extensive classroom experience and background in anthroposophy. We tried to find the necessary balance between the What and How we teach and the overriding Why we teach. Participants commented very positively on this attempt to reach the best possible depth of understanding while still sharing practical advice in their subject matter. Excitingly, the voluntary discussion round in the afternoons on the being of a College of Teachers was attended by almost all participants, thus expanding on many of the themes which Robert Martin initiated at the start of the week. On two further evenings, teachers new to Waldorf education were able to sit with an expert panel to discuss basic concepts of anthroposophy. We’d like to extend our gratitude to all participants, speakers and tutors for their active contribution to make this special and inspiring gathering happen. We also give our sincere thanks to the Melbourne Rudolf Steiner School for allowing access to their beautiful facilities.
We are looking forward to seeing you again in 2020, Wolfgang Maschek, M.R.S. Seminar
Learn more about the Melbourne Rudolf Steiner Seminar here.
Each day was started with the teachers’ meditation followed by choral singing. Under expert leadership some classic choir pieces came to stunning fruition during the week. The key note speakers for this year were Robert Martin (founding teacher of the Melbourne Rudolf Steiner School) and Rob Gordon (Clinical psychologist and psychotherapist with long standing experience working with adolescents and connection to Anthroposophy). Rob Martin opened the week by sharing his passion for the spiritual aspects of life in general and of education in particular. He pointed out the similarities between the First People of Australia and Rudolf Steiner in their attitudes to spiritual realities. From these profound statements about the undeniable presence of the spiritual world, Robert led on to the Third Hierarchies and the College of Teachers meditation with the all important aspects of imagination, inspiration and intuition. Over the following three mornings, Rob Gordon painted a most remarkable image of the adolescents, their development, needs and challenges, speaking from his extensive clinical practice as well as deep anthroposophic understanding. He moved all of us deeply with his profound compassion, his professional knowledge, his metaphors and humour. Possibly the most interesting aspect of his presentation was his comparative analysis of physical and intellectual development for teenagers. The subtle influence of Rob’s gift was weaving through all other activities and workshops on the daily program. You can follow these links to access the recording of his talks:
Lecture 1: the adolescent’s developing body.
Adolescence is a period of physical development only exceeded by the changes of infancy. The body is the house of the soul and the home of the spirit …
Lecture 2: the adolescent’s developing soul.
The soul develops in all dimensions of experience during the adolescent years. This can be exciting and creative but is also confusing and frightening …
Lecture 3: the adolescent’s developing ego.
Human life is the journey of the incarnating ego. Adolescence is the point where it begins to manifest in the soul life and begin to be self-conscious …
Movement classes – a choice between Bothmer Gymnastics and Eurhythmy – offered a good workout as well as insights into anthroposophic thoughts for teachers new to Steiner education.
Teachers had a choice of two out of the 15 different subject workshops, each workshop facilitated by tutors with extensive classroom experience and background in anthroposophy. We tried to find the necessary balance between the What and How we teach and the overriding Why we teach. Participants commented very positively on this attempt to reach the best possible depth of understanding while still sharing practical advice in their subject matter. Excitingly, the voluntary discussion round in the afternoons on the being of a College of Teachers was attended by almost all participants, thus expanding on many of the themes which Robert Martin initiated at the start of the week. On two further evenings, teachers new to Waldorf education were able to sit with an expert panel to discuss basic concepts of anthroposophy. We’d like to extend our gratitude to all participants, speakers and tutors for their active contribution to make this special and inspiring gathering happen. We also give our sincere thanks to the Melbourne Rudolf Steiner School for allowing access to their beautiful facilities.
We are looking forward to seeing you again in 2020, Wolfgang Maschek, M.R.S. Seminar
Learn more about the Melbourne Rudolf Steiner Seminar here.
