The Waldorf School movement has it roots in the chaotic period following the First World War. Struggling to create the first school, Rudolf Steiner worked on every detail. Lesson plans, religious education, school hours, course resources, administration, finance, child study; no aspect of school life was beyond his attention. Guiding the faculty and demonstrating a phenomenal range of knowledge, Steiner moved toward his goal of creating a vehicle for social transformation.These two volumes span the years 1919 to 1924 and cover, meeting by meeting, the development of the first Waldorf School. Here is Rudolf Steiner, not through the written word or lectures but in transcribed interaction that details the creation process. Participating in a work in progress, Steiner deals with an amazing array of problems, frustrations, successes and failures. His sleeves rolled up and his sight on a vision that he made a reality, Rudolf Steiner lays the foundations of Waldorf Education. This detailed look, behind the scenes, will interest not only teachers, but also parents and students: anyone who wants to know how a successful worldwide school movement arose.

8 lectures, Stuttgart, June 12-19, 1921 (CW 302) In these eight talks on education for teenaged young people, Steiner addressed the teachers of the first Waldorf school two years after it was first opened. A high school was needed, and Steiner wanted to provide a foundation for study and a guide for teachers already familiar with his approach to the human being, child development, and education based on spiritual science. Steiner's education affirms the being of every child within the world of spirit. This approach works within the context of the child's gradual entry into earthly life, aided by spiritual forces, and children's need for an education that cooperates with those forces. Some of Steiner's remarks may be controversial, but unbiased study will lead to an appreciation of the profound thought and wisdom behind what is presented here. German source: Menschenerkenntnis und Unterrichtsgestaltung (GA 302).

The Waldorf School movement has it roots in the chaotic period following the First World War. Struggling to create the first school, Rudolf Steiner worked on every detail. Lesson plans, religious education, school hours, course resources, administration, finance, child study; no aspect of school life was beyond his attention. Guiding the faculty and demonstrating a phenomenal range of knowledge, Steiner moved toward his goal of creating a vehicle for social transformation.These two volumes span the years 1919 to 1924 and cover, meeting by meeting, the development of the first Waldorf School. Here is Rudolf Steiner, not through the written word or lectures but in transcribed interaction that details the creation process. Participating in a work in progress, Steiner deals with an amazing array of problems, frustrations, successes and failures. His sleeves rolled up and his sight on a vision that he made a reality, Rudolf Steiner lays the foundations of Waldorf Education. This detailed look, behind the scenes, will interest not only teachers, but also parents and students: anyone who wants to know how a successful worldwide school movement arose.

This is a lively, colorful, and absorbing account of a class teacher's journey with his class, from first grade through the eighth grade in a Waldorf school. Straightforward and humorous, School as a Journey provides an excellent introduction to the daily activities of a Waldorf school classroom. Torin Finser --who is now Director of Waldorf Teacher Training at Antioch New England Graduate School --wrote this book especially for parents, prospective parents, and educators who are new to Waldorf education. Filled with pedagogical gems, tips, and resources, School as a Journey will also prove an invaluable resource for those who are currently Waldorf class teachers. For those who wish to delve more deeply into this revolutionary form of education, the author has also included extensive documentation, with references to the works of Rudolf Steiner and of others experienced in Waldorf education. Highly recommended for anyone interested in this revolutionary form of education.

This is both a theoretical and practical book giving a complete pathway to teaching children how to write and read in Classes 1 and 2. This book provides teachers with appealing, easy-to-use plans and practical activities for immediate use. It also sets out fundamental principles of Steiner Waldorf pedagogy. It shows how this dovetails with the best of both mainstream primary approaches and specialist dyslexia-friendly methods. Teachers can use these principles to become confident in creating their own activities and resources. The book showcases the holistic, creative aspects of the Steiner Waldorf literacy approach. The teaching of writing before reading is prioritized so as to engage children's creativity in learning. Developing the child's own voice through writing and storytelling, to lead over into reading, is highly effective for motivation and success.

Steiner's original contribution to human knowledge was based on his ability to conduct 'spiritual research', the investigation of metaphysical dimensions of existence. With his scientific and philosophical training, he brought a new systematic discipline to the field, allowing for conscious methods and comprehensive results. A natural seer from childhood, he cultivated his spiritual vision to a high degree, enabling him to speak with authority on previously veiled mysteries of life. The evolving human being; Cosmos as the source of life; Plants and the living earth; Farms and the realms of nature; Bringing the chemical elements to life; Soil and the world of spirit; Supporting and regulating life processes; Spirits of the elements; Nutrition and vitality; Responsibility for the future.

Based on many years working in Anthroposophy and in Waldorf schools, and drawing extensively on Rudolf Steiner’s words, Jon McAlice’s radical, thought-provoking book opens the  field for a new vision of the collaborative possibilities available in schools that are established and sustained by parents and teachers for the sake of students. Seeking to shift the conversation concerning school governance from a structural to a dynamic approach, McAlice emphasizes learning as a multileveled process of becoming. As he puts it, “a school is a working community dedicated to the art of becoming”—a community in which students and adults participate in the difficult task of creating a free, self-governing ecology of learning. For this, the adults must learn to trust one another and develop confidence in collegiality. Understanding the guidance of their common task, they must find the humility and honesty to listen without judgment and to speak with authenticity. To create a context in which “children can practice the art of self-education,” educators must themselves become examples of self-governing, creative, responsible human beings, committed to learning and self-development through encounters in which content and process merge in an experience of absolute freedom. Thus something new becomes possible. McAlice shows how such an ideal can become a reality when parents, teachers, and students all work and learn together for the common goal of becoming more fully human within a dynamic, engaged, participatory learning community. Engaged Community provides anyone involved in Waldorf education with the appropriate tools and language to take the hard work of dialog and conversation to a higher level.

Yoga and mindfulness activities, with roots in Asian traditions such as Hinduism or Buddhism, have been brought into growing numbers of public schools since the 1970s. While they are commonly assumed to be secular educational tools, Candy Gunther Brown asks whether religion is truly left out of the equation in the context of public-school curricula. An expert witness in four legal challenges, Brown scrutinized unpublished trial records, informant interviews, and legal precedents, as well as insider documents, some revealing promoters of "Vedic victory" or "stealth Buddhism" for public-school children. The legal challenges are fruitful cases for Brown's analysis of the concepts of religious and secular. While notions of what makes something religious or secular are crucial to those who study religion, they have special significance in the realm of public and legal norms. They affect how people experience their lives, raise their children, and navigate educational systems. The question of religion in public education, Brown shows, is no longer a matter of jurisprudence focused largely on the establishment of a Protestant Bible or nonsectarian prayer. Instead, it now reflects an increasingly diverse American religious landscape. Reconceptualizing secularization as transparency and religious voluntarism, Brown argues for an opt-in model for public-school programs.

18 lectures in Dornach, January 9 - February 22, 1920 (CW 196) In the vast range of Rudolf Steiner's lectures, jewels of all kinds lie hidden in plain sight, awaiting only our discovery of them. Such lectures contain a kind of wisdom not found anywhere else. And sometimes, as in What Is Necessary in These Urgent Times, they also have a translucency and conviction that makes them transformational. In early 1920, political, economic, social, and spiritual chaos was everywhere. The old world had fallen apart and would need to be rebuilt. Anthroposophy, too, had to be remade. Recognizing this, Rudolf Steiner tirelessly working for the "threefold social order," establishing the first Waldorf school, helping to create businesses, and addressing the talented, educated, and idealistic young people who were beginning to turn toward Anthroposophy for answers. In these lectures, Steiner speaks in the new, direct "Michaelic" way, seeking the path to a new way of doing Anthroposophy. Throughout the critical situation of the time, he never lost his sense of humor or his compassion and equilibrium. His tone is warm, relaxed, and intimate. Rather than following a strictly predetermined path, he speaks directly from the heart about what concerned him. He stresses that the task of spiritual science is to awaken us to reality and to a true understanding of life that sees through illusions and understands the ever-present potential of evil. Speaking both esoterically and exoterically, he returns repeatedly to the importance of community, of meeting one another face-to-face, heart-to-heart, as individuals. Thus, rather than seeking power and control, we are called to cultivate trust and receptivity. This takes a spiritual transformation. We must learn to live this present life in the context of our greater spiritual life, which extends from before birth through earthly life and into the life after death that precedes our next birth. At the same time, we must come to know the Christ, who is to be met only in community. Selfishness, egotism, has no part in the new way: "When someone is alone Christ is not there. You cannot find Christ without first feeling a connection to humanity as a whole. You must seek Christ on the path that connects you with all humankind.... To be connected only with your own inner experiences leads you away from Christ." Steiner deals with many other important themes, as well, including "imperialism," the initiate behind Shakespeare, Bacon, and James I--makers of our modern age--and well as fascinating, initiatory remarks on reincarnation, esoteric physiology, and psychology. Running throughout the talks is the earnest admonition to be true to the spirit and the call to come to our senses and not fall prey to self-pity. Now, as it was then, the world needs us to be awake spiritually, and we need the world to be awake spiritually. There is nowhere to hide. What Is Necessary in These Urgent Times is a translation from German of Geisitige und soziale Wandlungen in der Menschheitsentwikelung (GA 196).