Cultic Studies Review, Vol. 2, No. 2, 2003, Page 105
You will have to take over children for their education and instruction—
children who will have received already (as you must remember) the
education, or mis-education given them by their parents. Indeed our
intentions will only be fully accomplished when we, as humanity, will have
reached the stage where parents, too, will understand that special tasks are
set for mankind today. (Steiner,,p. 16)
The Waldorf Teacher
Waldorf teachers are different from teachers in any other kind of educational theory. It is
expected that they will participate in a group spiritual life. ―What is unique in these schools
is the inner path of the teacher‖ wrote artist and Waldorf teacher Mary Richards. ―The
teacher‘s personal path is to enter into a consciousness of the human being and universe
and to enter into teaching as a practice of this consciousness. A community is thus created
among the teachers by the fact that they are students together and are connected through
a meditative life‖ (Richards, 1980, p. 16).
Norman Davidson, Director of Teacher Training at Sunbridge College, the principal Waldorf
teacher training program on the East Coast, explained:
What we are offering is really a personal transformative experience. The
student studies the world and human life fundamentally from an
Anthroposophical point of view. He or she learns to experience things from a
spiritual-scientific approach. At the same time, he or she is given the
opportunities for artistic and practical activity that help effect an inner
spiritual development. (Koetszch, 1996, p. 37)
The teacher training colleges are more like religious seminaries than teaching colleges. A
letterhead from Rudolf Steiner College, the largest West Coast school, describes it as ―A
Center for Anthroposophical Endeavors.‖
The full-time teacher training program is a two-year course. The first year, called the
―Foundation Year,‖ is a survey of Anthroposophy, and is also offered to anyone interested in
learning more about Steiner‘s philosophy. A reading list for Foundation Year students
reveals the nature of the curriculum. Note that almost every book is by Steiner those few
that aren‘t by Steiner are by other Anthroposophical authors, with the exception of Parzival.
[RUDOLF STEINER COLLEGE]
FOUNDATION YEAR BOOK LIST 1993-94. The following books will be read and
discussed during the year. You will need to have your own copy of the books
marked *.The rest, and others the faculty will suggest, may be purchased or
borrowed from the library.
Psych 101 The Nature of the Human Being: Microcosm/Macrocosm
Rudolf Steiner, Theosophy*
Rudolf Steiner, Calendar of the Soul*
Rudolf Steiner, The Younger Generation
Lit 100 Parsifal
W. von Eschenbach. Parzival (Mustard and Passage translation)*
René Querido, The Mystery of the Holy Grail: A Modern Path of Initiation*
Steven Roboz, ed., The Holy Grail
Rudolf Steiner, The Search for the Holy Grail
SS 101 Biography, Life Cycles and the Meaning of Existence
Bernard Lievegoed, Phases*
You will have to take over children for their education and instruction—
children who will have received already (as you must remember) the
education, or mis-education given them by their parents. Indeed our
intentions will only be fully accomplished when we, as humanity, will have
reached the stage where parents, too, will understand that special tasks are
set for mankind today. (Steiner,,p. 16)
The Waldorf Teacher
Waldorf teachers are different from teachers in any other kind of educational theory. It is
expected that they will participate in a group spiritual life. ―What is unique in these schools
is the inner path of the teacher‖ wrote artist and Waldorf teacher Mary Richards. ―The
teacher‘s personal path is to enter into a consciousness of the human being and universe
and to enter into teaching as a practice of this consciousness. A community is thus created
among the teachers by the fact that they are students together and are connected through
a meditative life‖ (Richards, 1980, p. 16).
Norman Davidson, Director of Teacher Training at Sunbridge College, the principal Waldorf
teacher training program on the East Coast, explained:
What we are offering is really a personal transformative experience. The
student studies the world and human life fundamentally from an
Anthroposophical point of view. He or she learns to experience things from a
spiritual-scientific approach. At the same time, he or she is given the
opportunities for artistic and practical activity that help effect an inner
spiritual development. (Koetszch, 1996, p. 37)
The teacher training colleges are more like religious seminaries than teaching colleges. A
letterhead from Rudolf Steiner College, the largest West Coast school, describes it as ―A
Center for Anthroposophical Endeavors.‖
The full-time teacher training program is a two-year course. The first year, called the
―Foundation Year,‖ is a survey of Anthroposophy, and is also offered to anyone interested in
learning more about Steiner‘s philosophy. A reading list for Foundation Year students
reveals the nature of the curriculum. Note that almost every book is by Steiner those few
that aren‘t by Steiner are by other Anthroposophical authors, with the exception of Parzival.
[RUDOLF STEINER COLLEGE]
FOUNDATION YEAR BOOK LIST 1993-94. The following books will be read and
discussed during the year. You will need to have your own copy of the books
marked *.The rest, and others the faculty will suggest, may be purchased or
borrowed from the library.
Psych 101 The Nature of the Human Being: Microcosm/Macrocosm
Rudolf Steiner, Theosophy*
Rudolf Steiner, Calendar of the Soul*
Rudolf Steiner, The Younger Generation
Lit 100 Parsifal
W. von Eschenbach. Parzival (Mustard and Passage translation)*
René Querido, The Mystery of the Holy Grail: A Modern Path of Initiation*
Steven Roboz, ed., The Holy Grail
Rudolf Steiner, The Search for the Holy Grail
SS 101 Biography, Life Cycles and the Meaning of Existence
Bernard Lievegoed, Phases*
