Love is higher than opinion. If people love one another the most varied opinions can be reconciled – thus one of the most important tasks for humankind today and in the future is that we should learn to live together and understand one another. If this human fellowship is not achieved, all talk of development is empty.
Rudolf Steiner
Yuma!
I have had the privilege of being part of school tours lately, welcoming prospective families to our wonderful school. I give a talk for a few minutes about how I see Orana, the sort of place it is and where we are heading. So, what can I say in that short time that captures Orana and Steiner education in general? I explain that I see Orana, or any Steiner school I have experienced, as a learning, working village where everyone can contribute to the life of the community. This is not all that radical or unusual as a concept and neither are the basic principles of Steiner education but sometimes simple concepts can be hard to live by when there are political and economic pressures driving us in the direction of outcomes based, narrow academic goals. Whilst there is a strong academic program at Orana and students achieve great success, it is by no means the whole story.
In our College and faculty meetings we have been looking at the core principles of Steiner education and the initial impulse in starting the first Waldorf School in Stuttgart over 100 years ago. The first school was founded on a handful of principles. It was co-educational, open to all, comprehensive, the pedagogy was developed and led by the College of Teachers, and was aimed at working with children’s academic, physical and spiritual development. These principles continue to drive our work in Steiner schools today.
There have been studies done recently on the impact of the COVID pandemic and lock downs on the health and education of young people. The findings from these reviews have psychologists and educators coming to the realisation that schools are not just a place of academic learning but have a great role to play in young people’s social, psychological and physical health. In Steiner education, we have always known this but we can’t rest on our laurels. We are challenged by external pressures to narrow the curriculum in the quest for academic success and see the children as being something to be moulded to meet our society’s economic goals instead of having innate value as free, creative human beings with their own destinies. The irony of course is that, in my experience, when we broaden the curriculum and develop a healthy attitude to learning new things, academic success in core subjects comes with it. Our measures of success are not just based on academic outcomes but on more intangible elements. When I meet with prospective parents and staff and ask them what draws them to Orana, they talk about the qualities they see in Orana graduates and current students such as kindness, confidence and positive in their outlook on the world, people and the future; they are constructive and creative in their approach to responding to challenges. It warms my heart to hear this.
I look forward to seeing many of you at the official opening of the Ironbark Music Centre on 27 March.
With heart,
James
