Paul White, RSCC’s New Waldorf Teacher Education Lead
We are happy to announce the arrival of our new Lead of the Waldorf Teacher Education Grades Full and Part Time programs, Paul White. Paul was the successful candidate following our hiring process. It took some time and uncertainty as we navigated the journey to bring him here successfully with a work visa in hand. Paul brings a wealth of experience from his years as both a Waldorf class teacher in New Zealand, England and Myanmar and as director of teacher education at Taruna College. He was also a senior lecturer on the Steiner Education program at Auckland University of Technology in New Zealand.
More recently, Paul has been a peripatetic Waldorf teacher/mentor and a volunteer on stART’s Emergency Pedagogy program in Turkey. This has allowed him to combine his passion for anthroposophical initiatives with his pleasure in experiencing different cultures, trekking up mountains and making new friends. He is looking forward to further indulging this passion and these pleasures here on the North American continent in the years to come. Please help us welcome our new colleague.
Recovering Imagination in a Tech-Saturated World – RSCC Waldorf Development Conference, Nov. 1-2
This year’s Waldorf Development Conference not only marked the debut of Paul White, but also pioneered a new level of interactivity between in-person and online conference participants.
During the conference Paul shared the podium with co-presenter Liz Beaven. Liz is executive director of the Alliance for Public Waldorf Education in the United States. Marion Kahl (in photo below), who participated from Germany, was online throughout to manage the Zoom experience, moderating the online discussion groups and presenting a segment on Jacques Lusseyran.
Participants in the conference included teachers from many Ontario Waldorf schools and students in RSCC programs.
The conference was dedicated to the challenge of finding resilience and direction as teachers navigating increasingly choppy waters. The growing surge of technological change and the shifting rip tides of social change and economic imbalance can leave our ships lost at sea or dry-docked and isolated.
Within anthroposophy we have a rich array of tools to help us get our ships seaworthy and ready to sail blithely through the churning waves, with the wind in our sails and the crew all onboard…….. You kind of had to be there I suppose.
Below are more photos from the conference.
Above: Beryl from RSCC’s Teacher Education Full-Time program. Below: Declan from Professional Development for Waldorf Grades Teacher Part-Time.
Below: One of the RSCC Foundation Studies in Anthroposophy Encounter students, who also contributed to the discussion.
Below: Alberto, one of the students in the Professional Development for Waldorf Grades Teachers Part-Time program, who participated in the conference over Zoom, making a contribution to the whole-group plenum discussion.
Taking up suggestions from past conference feedback, we included several sessions of movement in this year’s conference, including both eurythmy and spacial dynamics. In the photo we see Toronto Waldorf School eurythmist Jonathan Snow leading the group in a eurythmy exercise inspired by the conference theme.
Above and below: small group discussions
Below: RSCC Founder Diana Hughes also took part in the conference. Here she is in one of the small group discussions.
Below: Liz asks participants to share their hopes and fears for today’s children
And here are the hopes, fears and items to put in children’s backpacks that Liz and Paul collected from participants:
Below: Paul speaking directly to online participants
After the conference, participants were invited to Hesperus Village to view an exhibition of Karl König’s drawings for the 52 weeks of Rudolf Steiner’s Calendar of the Soul. Later in the evening they joined a eurythmy performance in the Toronto Waldorf School forum, featuring local eurythmists and musicians along with artists from the Interval Eurythmy Ensemble from Montreal.
Thanks to everyone who helped put this conference together and managed the logistics. We could not have done this without your dedication, energy and care.
Below: Paul leading a song at the conference
Below: At the close of the conference participants formed a circle and Samantha, from the Six Nations Reserve in Brantford, led her fellow Waldorf Teacher Education Full-Time students in a recitation of the Thanksgiving Address in her native Iroquois language.
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