The Art of Listening
With Anne De Wild and Chris Burke
Are you wanting to deepen your ability to listen - both to your children and within yourself? This course explores why listening is far more than a skill… it’s a foundation for healthy development, genuine connection, and inner clarity.
In this course, you’ll be guided by Anne De Wilde and Chris Burke, who bring decades of experience in understanding Rudolf Steiner’s picture of the senses - especially the sense of hearing.
If you have a child who struggles to listen, or you find yourself wanting to strengthen your own capacity to be present, receptive, and grounded, this course will meet you right where you are.
It’s designed for parents who feel ready to take on their own inner work, who want to understand what true listening actually is, and who are longing for deeper connection with their children - connection rooted in presence, comprehension, and warmth.
The Art of Listening invites you to slow down, tune in, and discover how transformative real listening can be, for both you and your child.
What You’ll Learn
This course is ideal for parents/teachers who:
Have children who find it difficult to listen
Are interested in Rudolf Steiner’s understanding of the senses, especially the sense of hearing
Want to strengthen their own listening skills
Feel ready to take on their own inner work
Wish to improve comprehension and presence
Want to understand what true listening is and how it transforms connection with their children
Comes with your own
downloadable e-book journal
Once purchased, work at your own pace.
Program Structure
This program is delivered over 12 lessons, ranging from brief bite-sized segments to sessions around 20 minutes. You’ll also receive a downloadable e-book journal for reflection or to work alongside as you move through the lessons.
Ideal For
This course is designed for parents and teachers working with children of any age. Listening is a skill that develops over time - from early childhood through to adulthood - and this course offers practical ways to strengthen both your own capacity for listening and your child’s sense of hearing.
True listening is often underestimated, yet it is a deeply valuable skill for building healthy relationships and meaningful social connections throughout life.
Programs you may wish to follow on with…
Building on Anne and Chris’ course, this offering deepens your understanding of listening and expands it into the Adolescent Years. It supports you in developing a clearer picture of teenagers and how to foster connected, positive relationships as they grow older and as technology becomes an increasing presence in their world.
Inner development is a central theme woven through these courses. Julie offers practical strategies for nourishing ourselves during the challenging and busy seasons of parenting and teaching. To truly meet our children with presence and care, we must first ensure that we are also tending to ourselves.
These courses build on the foundations you’ll gain here and offer deeper insights and practical tools to support your parenting journey.
The Art of Listening - Anne De Wild & Chris Burke
Program Structure
Listening and the Gateway Sense of Hearing (3:27)
Lesson 1Understanding Hearing (3:48)
Lesson 2Lesson 11Importance of Listening (6:08)
Lesson 3Listening, Bonding and Language (5:56)
Lesson 4Lesson 10Levels of Listening (12:46)
Lesson 5Lesson 12What makes Listening Hard (13:15)
Lesson 6
Listening to Our Children (16:16)
Lesson 7Listening to Adolescence (9:04)
Lesson 8Why Doesn’t my Child Listen To Me? (18:54)
Lesson 9Listening To Adults (14:21)
Listening To Ourselves (13:00)
The Hummingbird Principle (3:20)
Meet the Instructors
Anne De Wild & Chris Burke
Anne: Naturopath and Biography Worker
Chris: Psychology Professor and Biography Worker
Anne de Wild is a naturopath and biography worker based in Basel, Switzerland. Her work centres on artful listening, uncovering personal stories, and finding moments of humour. She lectures widely and teaches biography and social art across a range of themes.
Chris Burke is a psychology professor and biography worker in Pennsylvania, USA. He has a gift for leading rich conversations, working with folk tales, and asking the kinds of questions that open pathways into deeper stories. He enjoys bringing biography and social art practices into his university teaching.
Together, as The Hummingbird Principle, Anne and Chris have led biography and social art workshops across three continents, exploring themes from ‘The Art of Listening’ to ‘Intergenerational Collaboration’.
Adam Blanning
Anthroposophical DoctorDr. Adam Blanning, MD, is an integrative and Anthroposophic Family Physician who established his holistic medical practice in 2003. He lectures and teaches both nationally and internationally on holistic medicine and human development, with a particular passion for supporting children.
Dr. Blanning has served as president of the Anthroposophical Health Association (AHA), the umbrella organisation representing therapeutic fields that bring anthroposophic perspectives into Medicine, Nursing, Naturopathy, Bodywork, Artistic and Movement Therapies, and Counselling.
He also leads the Postgraduate Physician Training programs in Anthroposophic Medicine in the United States and is the author of Understanding Deeper Developmental Needs: Holistic Approaches for Challenging Behaviours in Children.
Julie Frew
Paediatric Occupational TherapistJulie has worked in the field of child development for over 17 years. Her practice is grounded in postgraduate study in sensory processing for diverse populations, alongside additional training in attachment, psychosensory trauma interventions, neurobiology, and polyvagal theory.
Her professional understanding of the human being is also deeply shaped by a Steiner/Waldorf worldview. As a mother of two young children, Julie weaves both professional expertise and lived experience into her work with families.
She is passionate about helping parents understand their children’s sensory and emotional needs, offering practical tools that support resilience, regulation, and secure attachment. Julie’s compassionate, research-informed approach empowers parents to create nurturing, connected environments where children can truly thrive.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Communication and listening go hand in hand. As we become more skilled listeners, communication begins to flow more naturally and with greater ease. When we learn to truly listen, our children learn this skill too - making proper listening a foundational pillar of healthy, connected communication.
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Yes. This course supports not only deeper understanding of others, but also a stronger ability to listen to yourself. By turning inward and becoming more aware of your own moods, reactions, and behaviours, you naturally model this awareness for your children - helping them learn to listen to themselves as well.
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Anne and Chris bring deep wisdom and a strong psychological perspective to the art of listening. Even if you already consider yourself a good listener, this course offers insights and practices that will help you refine and further develop this essential skill.
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This course is offered through a direct enrollment process to ensure care around access and support for each participant.
If you’d like to take part in The Art of Listening with Anne De Wilde and Chris Burke, please register your interest using the form below. A member of the Taruna team will be in touch within 24 hours with payment information and instructions for accessing the course materials.
Course fee:
$100 NZDOnce payment is confirmed, you’ll receive access to the full course content.
Contact and Course Registration
Thinking about enrolling? Curious which program might be the right fit? Whatever you’re looking for, we’re here to help.