This course will be taught remotely in real-time. Details here. 

Only a few spaces remain. Register now to ensure your spot!

Professional development for high school educators, faculty chairs, and all those interested in Waldorf high school education

This course covers these two areas:

Balance in Teaching

How can Rudolf Steiner’s second course for teachers, the four compact lectures known as Balance in Teaching, inform high school teaching in a Waldorf school in 2020? How are humanities, arts, and sciences integrated healthfully, and how do they mutually support healthy human development? What principles underlie all of the subjects we teach, and how do we interpret and embody these for contemporary students? Through reading, brief written responses, lecture, and conversation via videoconference, students will engage with one of Steiner’s fundamental educational texts.

Practical Work in a Waldorf High School

The practical details of working in a school are myriad. Among them are these: How is admissions handled? Educational support? Duties outside the classroom? What are the intricacies of a daily or weekly schedule, or of a block plan? How many meetings should a school have, with what constituents, and with what agendas? What is a healthy relationship of a high school to the middle school; to the rest of the school? Is a Waldorf high school college preparatory, and what does this mean? How can Waldorf high schools best market themselves, both to their own middle schools and to those coming from elsewhere? The course will be built on shared experience and documents furnished by participants. How does each of us address these questions, and what can we learn from each other?

This course is useful for seasoned educators who are new to Waldorf teaching, specialists looking to become Waldorf high school teachers, current Waldorf high school teachers, and those looking to develop new Waldorf high schools.

NOTE: This course is a “second week” that continues and builds on the Exploring Waldorf High School Education Summer Series course of the past three summers. Participation in one of those previous courses is not a requirement for attendance this year. New students will get as much out of this week as those who have attended previously.

Instructor

Stephen Sagarin is co-founder and faculty chair at the Berkshire Waldorf High School, where he teaches history and art. He is also a core faculty member and co-director of Sunbridge’s Elementary Teacher Education program, where he has been teaching since 2000. Steve is a former teacher and administrator at the Great Barrington Rudolf Steiner School and the Waldorf School of Garden City, the high school from which he graduated. He also taught history of education at Teachers College, Columbia University, and human development at the City University of New York; is the former editor of the Research Bulletin of the Research Institute for Waldorf Education; and writes, lectures, mentors teachers, and consults with Waldorf schools on teaching and administration. The author of The History of Waldorf Education in the United States: Past, Present and Future, Steve has a PhD in history from the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, Columbia University, and a bachelor’s degree in art history, with a certificate of proficiency in fine art, from Princeton University.

Students who took an earlier version of this course had this to say:

~ This has been one of the rewarding professional development experiences I have had. I loved the level of depth and rich philosophical conversations.
~ Steve was fantastic. His flexibility, knowledge, and sense of humor cultivated an energetic environment.
~ I found the course to be of the highest quality overall. Each instructor was immensely qualified, engaging, and helpful. The other class participants were also large contributors to the success of the week.
~ The quality of the course was excellent! I especially appreciated how accessible Steve Sagarin made this course and his willingness to meet for additional discussion during lunch.
~ I thought the quality of the course was excellent, in particular the “lecture” classes with Steve that helped me gain a clearer and deeper understanding of Steiner’s ideas of what a human being is.
~ Steve is an excellent teacher and very knowledgeable about the material. I learned a lot in a short amount of time.

Schedule
This course runs Sunday evening, June 28-noontime, Friday, July 3, in a synchronous online classroom. See main summer page for format and times.

Cost
$550 includes resource materials. See main summer page for discount options.

Questions?
Please contact Barbara Vitale, admissions and summer coordinator, at [email protected] or 845-425-0055 x20

Sunbridge reserves the right to make faculty substitutions when necessary. See registration form for refund policy.