The Modern Teacher

02/08/2025

The Campus is back!

How … is Waldorf?
September 30th - December 09th, 2025
Tuesdays from 7:30 - 9:00 PM CEST/CET


Dear all,

we cordially invite you to participate in the next online lecture series of the International Campus Waldorf! Starting on September 30th, the International Campus Waldorf (ICW) will embark on its 5th lecture series entitled HOW…IS WALDORF? We are happy to announce that for the next lecture series we have again found a large number of international experts who are willing to share their experience and research in the field of Waldorf education with you.

About this Lecture Series
This time we want to take a closer look at Waldorf education in its pedagogical, social and cultural context. The aim is not only to give a basic introduction or mainly describe the ideal of Waldorf education (although that is also the point), but to take a more detailed look at how it really is in various aspects. The real existing Waldorf education will be questioned on the basis of existing research and many years of experience: What does Waldorf really achieve? Where and how should and must Waldorf continue to develop? What are the current challenges facing Waldorf education? All these questions will be addressed in the new Waldorf lecture series at the International Campus Waldorf.

Save the Date!
When: September 30th to December 9th, every Tuesday
Time: 7:30 – 9:00 pm CEST*/CET
*Please consider the time difference due
to Central European Summer Time, ending October 25th.

Please feel free to invite your colleagues, friends and other interested parties to join our initiative and let's explore the chances and challenges of a global education together! They can register via this link.

https://www.international-campus-waldorf.com/

29/07/2025

Feeling the Warmth:
Last week, we concluded our Teacher Education course in Ringwood by focusing on examining the students' biographies, understanding Steiner's verses and meditations and critically and practically examining colour theories. After a moving graduation, we travelled to London's St Michael Steiner School where we met teachers from 12 schools for three days of didactic study in preparation for the new school year, interesting presentations, music and dance and above all a celebration of professional friendship.
Waldorf schools need warmth more than anything if they are to offer a meaningful alternative in a world that is getting colder around us. Let's remember the creative power of fellowship.

21/07/2025

Let Life Unfold!
The captain of the ship needs self-awareness first....

Teacher training must include an aspect of biography work: how can I model to children that growing up is worth it? That life is work in progress, to be cherished and appreciated in all its imperfection?
As we, in our final week, reflect on the work done by our graduates, here is an example of a Modern Teacher student's assignment on the theme of childhood.
While we regularly assign and encourage academic work, we feel that life is often more eloquent when the medium of expression is an artistic one. For more information please visit www.modernteacher.org

18/07/2025

Dear friends and colleagues in the UK and nearby,
would you like some inspiration for next year? The wonderful Preparation Conference at St Michael Steiner School in West London takes place from Wednesday 23 to Saturday 26 July.
The programme is below - please secure a place by writing to [email protected].
As you can see, we will have a gathering of many professionals from many schools, all deeply committed to a thriving Waldorf Education in their setting and in the UK. Let's celebrate coming together in all our glorious diversity!
The Modern Teacher Course will precede the conference with our final days in Ringwood from Sunday to Wednesday: we will be looking inward by studying biographies and Steiner's verses and meditations, and outward by focusing on drama and ecology in the curriculum. We will do our last eurythmy sessions with Martina Gayer and enjoy the 48th completely original and delicious menu cooked for us by Louise Tiley. This is worth a special mention: Louise, who is a full time teacher at Ringwood Waldorf School, committed in 2021 to catering for every one of our course weekends. She composed delicious menus based on a different country each time - and we are now at country no.47!
While Alan, our fellow tutors and I have loved creating spaces and sessions for our many students over the years, rumour has it that Louise's food and Martina's eurythmy sessions were the main draw for many! We look back very fondly on the four years of our course and wish every one of our 62 students a meaningful and sustainable journey in whichever field they have chosen.

The Modern Teacher will of course continue its very successful international work. Look out for the release of our recorded resources in the autumn: Waldorf 360 and every child! will join Waldorf Direct in our catalogue of contemporary accessible and affordable training resources.
On Wednesday we will celebrate our achievements and journeys together and then travel with our students to St Michael, attending the conference together. We are of course delighted that the London Waldorf Seminar will be reopening its doors again this September, and these three July days can also be seen as a kind of handover.
The UK Waldorf world deserves a space where skills can be practised under the guidance of experienced professionals, insights can be shared with enthusiastic peers and the spirit can breathe. Will you join us ? See you next week!

Best wishes,
Sven

14/07/2025

GNOMES SAY NO!

Thank you Fabienne Wolf for posting this excellent article on how sentimentality can obscure the intended Waldorf learning process.
This is really important reading for anyone taking on first grade this autumn - and also for their mentors!
https://waldorfdiary.com/math-plus-gnomes-equals-error/

16/06/2025

Dear friends,
here is a lovely article by my US friend and colleague David Barham (Center for Anthroposophy) about the International High School Conference in Kassel this Easter. Like him, I felt inspired and nourished both intellectually and socially. Next year's conference is from 27 March to 2 April.

CfA’s long-standing Waldorf High School Teacher Education Program (WHiSTEP) is getting a double face-lift this year as part of a major redesign. WHiSTEP Director David Barham offers review and preview of this dynamic program.

31/05/2025

This week's Goetheanum magazine features Waldorf 360. We are currently working on turning our 60 High School Teaching sessions into valuable offline resources - watch this space!
https://modernteacher.org/waldorf-360

https://dasgoetheanum.com/en/waldorf-360-2/?vgo_ee=x1oz3mIu19P5TOIvDkxxObgkcW%2BSXdU08qe72FbW79h1srKdD3o%3D%3AKzo7lQO%2B5Xv8c0WTVG6JHILPvWpO8F3D

Ashburton, England. Waldorf 360: An ambitious project comes full circle.

14/05/2025

“The difference is profound!”

A teacher reflects on The Modern Teacher Spring Week: Education as Art
May 2025

I entered the Spring Week sessions with a 'scientific' approach to teaching: When something didn't work, I'd ask what input variables needed to be changed to get a different outcome. If a lesson didn't go well, I'd try to work out, very logically, whether explanations were clear enough or if there was sufficient scaffolding and challenge. To try and improve my teaching, I was very focused on what was coming from me, and for some reason this wasn't working.
I finished the Spring Week with a completely different perspective on how to approach teaching, to approach it as an artist, not a scientist. I now think more about what emotions, feelings and experiences I can bring through my teaching that will connect with students at a specific point of their development, so that they really feel connected and therefore interested and engaged in what they're learning about.
It has now been 3 weeks since Spring Week, and this change in approach in mindset has transformed not just my teaching, but the learning of the students. Where I previously spent hours crafting 'perfectly' structured, scaffolded and appropriately challenging lessons, I now spend a lot more time bringing engaging stories, scenarios and creative ideas that aren't just interesting to me or others, but speak to and resonate with the specific children in class. The lessons I now create are born from an artistic rather than a scientific process. The difference in both my teaching experience and the student's learning experience is profound.

Adam Dyson, Norwich Steiner School, UK

More info on The Modern Teacher courses: www.modernteacher.org

02/05/2025

"every child" in the Goetheanum weekly!

Ashburton, United Kingdom. The English-language online course “every child!” is dedicated to the deepening and development of Waldorf culture around inclusion

21/04/2025

Friday: food for thought, facing the future, friends and fellowship!

Dear Colleagues and friends in the UK Steiner Waldorf World,
Ringwood Waldorf School and The Modern Teacher course welcome you once more to a shared day in the New Forest. We had a wonderful time last year, when over 60 people came together in this thriving school which is celebrating a 50 year history.
As before, we would like to move, do art together, share meals and music. We will also come together in plenum and Connection Groups to establish, explore and expand our reality and our potential as individual teachers and as a national movement.

The programme:
Friday, 25 April 2025
10.30 Coffee and arrivals
11 am Singing, followed by Eurythmy or Bothmer Gymnastics (choose)
12.00 Establish: What is our current situation in schools, what successes and concerns do we share?
1pm Lunch
2 pm Singing, followed by Art: choose from painting, geometry, circus skills
3 pm Explore: What challenges are we likely to face in the near future? What skills and resources might be needed?
3.45 Tea
4.15 Eurythmy or Bothmer Gymnastics (choose)
5 pm Expand: How can we inspire each other and use networking to strengthen our impulse? Let's commit to the future!
6pm Supper
7pm Ceilidh with Kevin Campbell-Davidson
8.30 Stories by the fire
This is a free event hosted and facilitated by Ringwood Waldorf School and The Modern Teacher course. Food for the day can be booked for £ 20. Accommodation in local homes is available at a friendly rate of £ 25 on a first come, first served basis. Classroom accommodation or Camping are available free of charge. Please bring all you need for this.
You can of course also attend our Spring Week: five days of all the above, plus deep dives into Geography and Science teaching and evening lectures on Modern Art by Amanda Bell. It's 34 hours of CPD (Certificates available) and a wonderful inspiration for the term ahead! 22 to 26 April in Ringwood…get on the road now!
More details on our website and by email: [email protected] or [email protected]
With many greetings and best wishes for a warm and sunny spring,
Sven Saar
Alan Swindell
Geli Patrick

16/03/2025

every child!
Successful completion!

A highly successful online training course seeking to deepen and develop Waldorf culture around Special Educational Needs and Inclusion
https://modernteacher.org/every-child

17 March sees the 22nd and final weekly session of this synchronous international online course, offered by The Modern Teacher and co-ordinated by Waldorf SEN expert Ann Swain and colleagues from India: Nirupama Rao, Shanmuga Priya, Aparna Hari and Jayashree Rao.

every child! seminar has offered support for teachers, therapists and parents in the pursuit of identifying hindrances to learning, using approaches based on Rudolf Steiner’s work and that of others in the fields of contemporary neurology, cognitive and sensory psychology and inclusive pedagogy. Each of the 22 sessions was recorded and is supported by curated materials. Attendees came from 30 schools and 22 countries in all time zones. Certification participants attended additional weekly tutorials and compiled a personal portfolio, including case studies and journalled reflective and reflexive practice.

The Modern Teacher, founded in the UK by Alan Swindell and Sven Saar, is a non-profit organisation dedicated to developing contemporary, mindful Waldorf practice based on anthroposophical foundations and modern scientific insights. It offers online courses as well as direct mentoring and advice to schools and teachers in more than 50 countries. https://modernteacher.org/

Over the next few months the 22 90-minute recordings will be developed into an effective resource for professional development and staff training. They will be available from autumn 2025. The website gives a good overview of the syllabus: https://modernteacher.org/every-child