Forum for trainers
The Goetheanum Studies department has been extended by a faculty for Professional Development which, starting in 2020, will offer a course on Teaching Anthroposophy Today.
In October 2017 the Goetheanum asked representatives of anthroposophical further education centres what they were missing. Their reply: professional development opportunities in adult education. As a result a course in management was then founded called the Goetheanum Leadership School, and in future a Teaching Anthroposophy Today course will provide those working in adult education with a forum for sharing experiences (27 to 30 May 2020; 19 to 22. May 2021). One hopes that as an outcome of this course an international network can be formed because, whether it is in eurythmy, agriculture, medicine, or education, «these professional groups are in the process of improving and updating their adult education courses and this is what we would like to support,» says Florian Osswald who is a faculty member.
Collegial further education
Among the skills conveyed in this course, the conscious shaping of the relationship between trainer and trainee through dialogue is one that will be given priority. «The asymmetry between those who know and those who learn is only gradual today and dependent on the individual situation,» is what Constanza Kaliks has observed. It is moreover necessary today to bring some balance into the relationship between the current state of adult education and people’s individual approach to anthroposophy. Robin Schmidt thinks that «Anthroposophy finds itself in a different context now from when it was first founded; and over and above that, the traditions and needs in the countries where anthroposophy grew initially cannot be transferred to other countries.»
If the course Teaching Anthroposophy Today will include the question of karma one will have to ask: how can one speak about destiny in a way that does not discriminate anyone? Because the concept of ‹development› can be understood as disparaging, in the sense of an existing deficit. Another question is how Goetheanism and Rudolf Steiner’s Christology can be addressed. As a collegial professional development situation, the course creates space for mutual perception and the sharing of best practice.
Faculty members Jean-Michel Florin, Matthias Girke, Constanza Kaliks, Stefan Langhammer, Edda Nehmiz, Florian Osswald and Robin Schmidt
Contact Edda Nehmiz, studium@goetheanum.org
Web studium-goetheanum.org/gaep