An online workshop for teachers of all grade levels

Description

Stories are our unique human inheritance. Our collective memories have been stored in the world’s fairy tales, folk tales, myths, and histories shared down the generations. Through stories, we have a line of communication into our unconscious depths and to the spiritual world.

In this workshop, we will use theories of the archetypes from analytic psychology to shine a new light on Steiner’s indications for a story-based developmental curriculum. We will take a courageous look at the historical and social contexts for those philosophical underpinnings, and challenge ourselves to uncover how stories can be used either to reinforce or to challenge racism, sexism, and other unjust systems of power.

Through presentation, small group discussion, individual reflection and research, participants will:

• Reflect on the arc of storytelling in Waldorf schools from early childhood through adolescence, following the unfolding consciousness of the developing child, from fairy tale to myth to history.
• Develop plans for renewing their program’s story content toward the ideal of a just and liberatory education that supports the development of every child as a whole human being.
• Refine teaching strategies for story-based, age-appropriate approaches to supporting student inquiry with a social justice lens.
• Consider how storytelling can be used in the service of generational healing and historical meaning-making, for our students and ourselves.

Instructor

Irene Richardson is the gardening teacher and assistant pedagogical chair at the River Valley Waldorf School. Previously, she served as class teacher to three groups of Waldorf students, in Princeton, Tucson, and Philadelphia. A love of mythology and folklore, the natural world, and growing things were common threads that ran through her undergraduate degree in comparative religion at Bard College, her master’s in education at Sunbridge College, and her certificate in biodynamics at the Pfeiffer Center. When she is not teaching, Irene is supporting collaborative leadership and self-development in Waldorf schools through her work as an AWSNA delegate. She is enthusiastic about the work of carrying Waldorf education forward into its second century and toward liberation for all. She balances her work life with time exploring forests and museums with her child and collecting stacks of books she hopes to read eventually.

Schedule

This workshop takes place in live Zoom sessions. Sessions will not be recorded.

Sessions
Friday evening, April 4: 7:00pm-8:30pm Eastern (NY) Time
Saturday, April 5: 10:30am-12:00pm and 1:00pm-2:30pm Eastern (NY) Time

NOTE ON ATTENDANCE: n order to receive a Certificate of Attendance, you must attend all three sessions. 

Cost

$185 includes a $25 non-refundable registration fee

Discount options 

25% off for

• Schools sending more than one participant. NOTE: In order to equitably serve as many schools as possible, this event is limited to ten (10) attendees from the same school. Should you wish to exceed this cap, please contact Admissions Coordinator Barbara Vitale (info below)
• Sunbridge teacher education program graduates
• Payments made in Canadian dollars

Discounts may not be combined

• Free for current Sunbridge program students in good standing (plus a $25 non-refundable registration fee)

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

We reserve the right to make faculty substitutions when necessary. See registration form for refund policy.

Sunbridge is a New York State Education Department Approved Sponsor of Continuing Teacher and Leader Education (NYSED CTLE), enabling teachers of any background to choose Sunbridge for their CLTE/CEU professional development credits. Check to see if your state honors our status.