This part-time year-long foundation programme gives a broad overview of the many-faceted dimensions of Rudolf Steiner Education, Waldorf pedagogy, curriculum and culture. Alongside lectures and workshops that will deepen and extend your understanding of child development and approaches to teaching and learning, you will have the opportunity to engage your creative side with many practical activities including arts, crafts, music and movement. Biography work, observation and reflective journaling recognise the importance of schooling and nourishing the inner life of the teacher. The course is designed to meet the needs of teachers new to Waldorf education who wish to extend their knowledge or to enliven and re-examine their classroom practice. It also provides a helpful foundation for teacher aides in Steiner Waldorf schools, education students or graduates looking to teach in a Steiner Waldorf school, home-schooling parents and parents wishing to accompany their children’s education and development with increased consciousness.
CRSE Programme and Structure
Participants of the CRSE:
are introduced to the Steiner/Waldorf curriculum from early childhood to high school;
explore and understand human biography and the stages of child development as a process of incarnation;
develop observational skills;
develop curriculum resources and references;
learn to bring consciousness and creativity into teaching;
support their learning through reflection;
explore the qualities and techniques from a range of arts and crafts, such as:
Painting
Modelling
Music
Eurythmy
Handwork/ archetypal crafts
Drawing
Creative writing
Storytelling and Creative Speech
Movement for morning circle
On-site seminar learning includes: Workshops, small group processes, lectures and discussions, journalling, artistic experience through a variety of media, and exploration through movement. Self-directed home-based study will need a minimum commitment of 3-5 hours per week. It will include:
Artistic exercises, accompanied by process notes and reflections
Short research projects, presented in essay format.
This programme includes three full-time seminars of 5 day’s duration. Each seminar begins at approximately 9:00 am on the Sunday and finishes at approximately 4:00 pm the following Thursday. All full days require attendance from 8:30 am to 5:00 pm. All other study is home based.
As a guide, there are approximately three hours per week of self-directed study or practical activity outside of the seminar weeks.
The CRSE is designed and best undertaken as an integrated whole that develops sequentially, however it is possible to participate in single seminar modules. For those wishing to complete the certificate, modules may be taken over two years (or longer by arrangement). This means you could come to just one or two seminar blocks during the year. Each seminar stands alone and is not dependent on attendance of the previous one. At the successful completion of all three seminar blocks and homework requirements participants will be issued with the Certificate in Rudolf Steiner Education. These are presented at a festive graduation ceremony held at Taruna usually in early December.
Course Costs
From 1 January 2025 the per seminar fee is $1250 (incl GST). Or $3450, if all three seminars are paid for one month prior to the first seminar beginning. The Crystal Bridge loan fund (see About Us page) makes interest free loans available to students enrolled this course at Taruna.
Taruna provides morning and afternoon tea along with vegetarian lunches while you are studying on site. Please advise in advance of any dietary requirements.
Participants need to purchase:
Personal stationery and writing materials
Art materials to be used for practice at home
A list of any further requirements is provided in the Programme Handbook.
Seminar Overviews
Seminar One:
Exploring the Anthroposophical foundations of Rudolf Steiner Waldorf Education. What does it mean to be human? What/who are we educating for? Education of the whole child. Life as a journey of development.
The incarnating child, a broad overview from birth to 21, unfolding capacities, a developmentally responsive curriculum.
Steiner’s pictures of the three-fold and four-fold human being, the soul faculties of thinking, feeling and willing.
Self-development of the teacher.
Meeting the world through the senses.
Particular focus on the early childhood environment, the kindergarten years. Walking, speaking, thinking. Development of the will, the child as a sense being, the importance of play, of rhythm and of imitation. Understanding children’s drawings. Visit to a local Waldorf kindergarten.
Activities include a selection of:
Morning Circle activities, games, movement, singing, eurythmy, te reo Māori, painting, drawing, modelling, crafts, storytelling, speech, poetry, observation exercises
Seminar Two:
Refreshing and building on Steiner’s picture of the human being as studied in Seminar One.
Particular focus on the Lower School child, 7-14 years. The development of feeling and imagination.
Significant developmental milestones: the nine year old, the twelve year old.
The art of pedagogy. The main lesson, the arts-based curriculum, the teacher as an artist.
From fairytale to history, teaching through story-telling, the power of narrative.
Exploring a curriculum responsive to changes in the child’s developing consciousness
The literacy journey; from a rich oral culture to writing then reading; the place of digital technology.
A window into the development of science and mathematics in the Lower School years.
Working with temperaments; the child’s and the teacher’s.
The child study; deepening observation.
The teacher’s journey; taking myself on, the pedagogical law.
Visit to Taikura Rudolf Steiner School in Hastings.
Activities include a selection of:
Morning Circle activities, games, movement, singing, eurythmy, te reo Māori, painting, drawing, form drawing, geometry, modelling, crafts, storytelling, speech, poetry, drama, observation exercises.
Seminar Three:
Refreshing and building on Steiner’s picture of the human being as explored in Seminars One and Two.
Particular focus on the High School years. The development of thinking and the search for truth.
Qualities of each age from 14 -18 years, curriculum themes and pedagogical approaches that address the consciousness of the emerging adult.
Planetary soul types as a window for understanding and working with adolescents.
Weaving the threads; Science, Art and Religion, the main lesson as an interdisciplinary approach.
Education in the context of our times. ‘Education towards Freedom’, what does this mean? Capacities for meeting the future.
Activities will include a selection of:
Morning Circle activities, games, movement, music, eurythmy, te reo Māori, pastel work, drawing, modelling, hard and soft crafts, outdoor classroom, storytelling, speech, poetry, drama, observation exercises.
Please note that these are general guidelines for each seminar. The themes covered are vast; while the time frame is limited, each week will bring seeds from which students can grow their understanding in their own time and at their own pace: through study of texts, discussion, observation, practical application and self-review. There will be some self-chosen homework in between seminars and suggested reading to support the themes.