iWaldorf

Tools for Teaching

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This Workshop Will Be Online During April, 2022
Register Now to Reserve any 7-Day Period in Which to Stream the Course.
Tuition is $125.00

This Workshop Will Be Online During April, 2022
Register Now to Reserve any 7-Day Period in Which to Stream the Course.
Tuition is $125.00

Schools with an enrollment of ten or more teachers are entitled, upon completion
of the course, to have a complimentary Zoom session live with Eugene Schwartz.
Contact iwaldorf@icloud to schedule.

The Lectures

Every new social problem that arises in the Waldorf movement typically elicits reactions such as, "The Waldorf curriculum can't speak to this problem," or "Rudolf Steiner's century-old approach to child development has to be radically changed to meet this problem." Eugene contends that the Waldorf curriculum and its principles of child development were actually ahead of their time. They can provide what we need to meet today's problems, including this one — gender dysphoria. However, neither the Waldorf curriculum nor Steiner's developmental overview can solve any problem by themselves. They call upon us as Waldorf educators to deepen our relationship to all that Waldorf methodology and its progenitor Anthroposophy have to give. It is our hope that these lectures, which take up some of Rudolf Steiner's most essential and challenging research, will inspire teachers, parents, and caretakers to understand the interplay of gender and identity in the child's life.
If you are one of the thousands of teachers who has participated in any of Eugene Schwartz's Online Conferences, you already know the combination of insight and practicality, as well as the depth and breadth that he brings to every aspect of Waldorf education. Learn more about Eugene Schwartz.

The Lectures

Every new social problem that arises in the Waldorf movement typically elicits reactions such as, "The Waldorf curriculum can't speak to this problem," or "Rudolf Steiner's century-old approach to child development has to be radically changed to meet this problem." Eugene contends that the Waldorf curriculum and its principles of child development were actually ahead of their time. They can provide what we need to meet today's problems, including this one — gender dysphoria. However, neither the Waldorf curriculum nor Steiner's developmental overview can solve any problem by themselves. They call upon us as Waldorf educators to deepen our relationship to all that Waldorf methodology and its progenitor Anthroposophy have to give. It is our hope that these lectures, which take up some of Rudolf Steiner's most essential and challenging research, will inspire teachers, parents, and caretakers to understand the interplay of gender and identity in the child's life.

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Lecture 1
Gender and Identity:
Reincarnation and Karma

The roots of the most intractable childhood difficulties can be found in pre-earthly experiences. The upheaval of sexual division is a relatively new challenge for human consciousness. Karmic groups need common rhythms. How four streams of incarnation wreak havoc in our relationship to the physical body.

[Running Time: 1 hr, 25 min]

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Lecture 2
Gender and Identity:
The Fourfold Human Being

At the threshold of birth the pre-earthly tableau has profound effects on incarnation. Helping the "misfits" to find comfort in their skin and in their higher bodies. Intellectuality exacerbates astrality and accelerates the onset of puberty. The teacher must be able to differentiate between choice and confusion.

[Running Time: 1 hr, 20 min]

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Lecture 3
Gender and Identity:
The Task of the Teacher

Today's Waldorf teacher may have to serve the role of an angel in the child's life. The continuity of the class teacher's consciousness can serve pubescent children as a source of clarity. Recollecting the Cosmic Midnight Hour: The sense of touch awakened and enhanced through modeling with beeswax, clay, and felt.

[Running Time: 1 hr, 45 min]

The Slideshows

We urge the viewer to experience every one of these images — regardless of the subject, or the content of the drawing — as a child's self-portrait. As Eugene Schwartz remarks in his lectures, every image is a depiction of the child's experience of his or her progress as a being of soul and spirit who is incarnating into a physical body. This student work helps us to recognize just how slowly a healthy child incarnates. The deliberate and gentle descent into physicality supported by the Waldorf curriculum is a powerful and effective counterbalance to the confusion and dysphoria exacerbated by our tumultuous times.

The Slideshows

We urge the viewer to experience every one of these images — regardless of the subject, or the content of the drawing — as a child's self-portrait. As Eugene Schwartz remarks in his lectures, every image is a depiction of the child's experience of his or her progress as a being of soul and spirit who is incarnating into a physical body. This student work helps us to recognize just how slowly a healthy child incarnates. The deliberate and gentle descent into physicality supported by the Waldorf curriculum is a powerful and effective counterbalance to the confusion and dysphoria exacerbated by our tumultuous times.

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Slideshow 1
Children's Art Work
N/K to Grade 5

The drawings of the very youngest children and the artwork of the students in the primary grades point to the androgynous self-image typical of the earliest stages of growth and development. The Grade 3 experience of linear measurement and weight gently awakens children to their physicality.

[Running Time: 34 min]

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Slideshow 2
Children's Art Work
Grades 6 and 7

As they take on their personal Karma, sixth and seventh graders experience the sexual division of puberty. The image of the human being to be found in medieval and Renaissance art helps youngsters in their own self-reflection. The making of dolls honors the unfolding of the reproductive organs.

[Running Time: 31 min]

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Slideshow 3
Children's Art Work
Grades 7 and 8

The study of human physiology and anatomy helps the adolescent take hold of the substantiality of their physical body. The objective experiences of physics and chemistry, and the study of the geometry of natural forms, fosters sensitivity and confidence in the students' relationship to their own bodies.

[Running Time: 23 min]