Meaning, Imagination and the Art of Teaching
“Learning happens when we meet the unknown and the unknown moves us. In his talks with teachers and young people, Rudolf Steiner characterized learning as a spiritual process, a transformative process of encounter between the spiritual in the world and the spiritual in the human being. In each authentic learning moment, the apparent boundary between the child and the world disappears: world comes to life in the child and the child experiences themself embedded in an ever growing world. In the reciprocal gesture of “being touched by” and “growing into” lives the experience of meaning.
As teachers, we find ourselves constantly challenged to create situations in which this quality of meaningful learning, of transformative becoming is present for our students. We know that there are aspects of meeting this challenge that go far beyond curricular content, lesson plans and classroom management protocols. In many ways, we only begin to embrace it when the institutional aspects of “school” disappear and the classroom becomes a place of adventure where the transformative power of the gnome is as real as the darkness that settles over the prairie or nature of the relationships between the sides of a triangle. The experience of meaning is rooted in the capacity for imagination and weaving the context in which it can live is the art of the teacher.” Jon McAlice
How do we perceive this moment of “experiencing meaning” that we call learning in ourselves? In our students? What are the conditions under which learning becomes possible in the classroom? How do these conditions vary with the student’s age? In a two-day experiential workshop in February, Jon will lead us in activities which bring attentiveness to these aspects of teaching.
All Waldorf teachers are welcome and warmly invited to attend this event!
Dates: Monday-Tuesday, February 20-21, 2023
Location: San Francisco Waldorf High School
Cost: $100 with a discount for multiple attendees from a school (please inquire).
Information: contact Beth at findingcontextorg@gmail.com
Registration: the workshop page has further details and registration access
The workshop is a collaborative effort of San Francisco Waldorf School and the Center for Contextual Studies.