What a special year
The Full Time Study Year 2020/2021 was a very special one. We started with quite a large group of students who committed themselves for the first trimester. In compliance with the Covid-19 Measures, we could not hold classes in Haus Schuurman anymore because of its limited space.
However, we had the pleasure to be in the Conference Room at the Goetheanum, which became our home for a few months. Soon after though, things started becoming stricter. We had to switch and do the whole course online!
It was quite an experience and - to our surprise - it did work out well. We had to adapt and find ways to bring across the most essential qualities of learning even if it was online. The biggest blessing was that the students lived together on campus while studying online, which provided a semblance of student life. A rich social life was still possible through many activities that happened in small private gatherings. After our Easter break, we were all very happy when we finally could come together in a classroom set-up again.
The end of the last trimester was very special. In the presentations, we could see what the students had worked on individually and also as a group. The most impressive of all was Eurythmy. It was touching to see how the students got into it as a group in only 8 weeks, especially as Eurythmy was mainly taught online until the COVID restrictions loosened in Switzerland. They showed a moving sequence of the Evolution of the World, which they as a group developed with the help of their teacher, Michele Polito.
In the presentations of the individual work, we had a colorful variety of themes that the students worked on and researched. One could see their level of engagement and interest with the themes they have chosen. They have also grown, just like how the themes and questions grew within them, along with their journey studying at the Goetheanum, especially at this particular time.
Edda Nehmiz, Study and Further Education