Overview of Programs and Seminars

Waldorf Teacher Education Programs (Full-time)

Foundation Program

The full-time September through May program, Foundation, is a creative gateway into the work of Rudolf Steiner and the world-view of anthroposophy (“the wisdom of becoming human”). It is a full-time 3½ day per week, 28-week program of discovery, personal growth, self-transformation and practical activity leading toward professions that renew culture and heal the earth. In the second semester the student can continue to go deeper into the study of Anthroposophy, or begin a semester of Waldorf Teacher Education. For those preparing to become Waldorf teachers—at the kindergarten, grades, or high school level—the Foundation Program fulfills the prerequisite for all of our Waldorf Teacher Education programs.

Waldorf Teacher Education

Prerequisite: Foundation Program
This program allows future Waldorf teachers to develop the imagination, perception, and skills needed to meet the growing child with care and understanding. In addition to the academic and artistic curriculum, coursework includes: strengthening inner life; child development; philosophy; pedagogical lectures; and practice teaching in a Waldorf classroom. Students choose a focus of early childhood/kindergarten or grades (description follows). The High School curriculum is offered each summer. The program culminates in a Certificate in Waldorf Teacher Education. An M.A. option is available.*

Early Childhood Waldorf Teacher Training

Our early childhood programs are based on the latest research and our understanding of the need to protect the wonder of childhood, including the child’s right to learn through creative play. The curriculum is focused on developmentally appropriate care giving and education with emphasis on the young child’s physical, emotional and mental health. Students learn activities that help foster enthusiastic learning, intellectual growth, self-esteem and social responsibility. Practice teaching in a Waldorf classroom offers opportunities to enhance classroom skills, gain self-confidence through mentoring, and understand the complex responsibilities of becoming a Waldorf teacher.

Grades Waldorf Teacher Training

Teacher education for the grades in addition to studies of child development also includes a greater emphasis on the curriculum, pedagogy, methodology, creative integration of the arts, and practical aspects such as classroom management. Practice teaching in a Waldorf classroom offers opportunities to enhance classroom skills, gain self-confidence through mentoring, and understand the complex responsibilities of becoming a Waldorf teacher.

Waldorf Teacher Education Programs (Part-time)

San Francisco Waldorf Teacher Training Program

Three year, weekend program and three summers for those living in the greater San Francisco Bay Area. This part-time program combines Foundation Studies and Teacher Education—meeting on Friday evenings and Saturday mornings, September through May, with three-week, full-time summer sessions in Fair Oaks for each of the three years. During the summer sessions, students chose a focus of early childhood, grades or high school. Seven weeks of classroom observation and practice teaching are also included. The program culminates in a Certificate in Waldorf Teacher Education. An M.A. option is available in 2012*

Waldorf High School Teacher Training

Three summers, four-week session each summer. This program combines Foundation Studies (week 1) and Teacher Education (weeks 2-4). Students hoping to become certified Waldorf high school teachers must come to their training with a strong academic background in specific subject areas and enthusiasm for working with the challenges of adolescence. The rigorous and comprehensive curriculum includes academic material, independent study, observation, and mentoring. Students with prior Foundation Studies are welcome to apply. The program culminates in a Certificate in Waldorf Teacher Education. An M.A. option is available in 2012*

Summer Waldorf Teacher Training for Early Childhood and Grades

Three summers, four-week session each summer. This three-year certificate program is designed for those who are currently teaching or have some classroom teaching experience. This program combines Foundation Studies and Teacher Education. It also includes continuing independent study, and observation and practice teaching in Waldorf schools during the school year. Students with prior Foundation Studies are welcome to apply. The program culminates in a Certificate in Waldorf Teacher Education. An M.A. option is available in 2012*

*M.A. in Waldorf Education For further information about our state-approved, non-accredited M.A. options visit www.steinercollege.edu and click on Admissions, College Catalogue. See Section Six for requirements and course descriptions. Coming in Summer 2011 is a new three-year, part-time M.A. program providing experienced teachers with a certificate and an M.A. In summer of 2012 we will offer a two-year, part-time M.A. program for certified Waldorf teachers. If you would like one of our faculty or staff to contact you about our M.A. options, e-mail rsc@steinercollege.edu

Specialty Programs and Seminars

Community Learning Centers (CLCs)

Those who wish to take the Foundation Studies closer to their home, can take this option and simultaneously enroll in our Summer Waldorf Teacher Education Program.

CLCs have been established in: Anchorage, Alaska; Denver, Colorado; Montreal, Canada; Phoenix, Arizona; Los Altos, California; Nevada City, California; and Fair Oaks, California. Others are in process of being initiated. A minimum of ten students is required to establish a CLC in a particular area.

For more information please contact Patrick Wakeford-Evans, Academic Dean, at patrick.wakefordevans@steinercollege.edu

Consciousness Studies

Newly revised course in two 3-week intensives, taken separately or consecutively, designed to explore the fundamentals of inner transformation through a combination of lectures, artistic work and seminar conversations. The lectures will focus on the challenges and potentials of initiating changes in the subtle bodies seen through the lens of Rudolf Steiner's Spiritual Science. Guided collage exercises allow for precise journaling of feelings that arise in the design process. Conversations on texts that describe the dialogue process of initiation science, such as, Arjuna and Krishna; Job and God; God and the Devil in Faust; and the remarkable Alchemical Wedding of Christian Rosencreutz. Afternoons are devoted to working with these themes in either painting or eurythmy. Meets Monday-Friday, 8:15 am to 3:20 pm.

Center for Systemic Leadership

The Center for Systemic Leadership is a joint-venture at Rudolf Steiner College that hosts courses in critical and systemic thinking for complexity management. We recognize that complex issues require new shapes of leadership and systemic methods, which draw upon critical thinking, are an essential emerging tool. Systemic is something that is spread throughout, affecting a group or the whole of society. The Center is unique in that it trains people in developing the thinking skills both to assess the value of ideas and also how to address, and manage, complex issues. The methods which we teach through the Center draw strongly upon Steiner's understanding of the human being, of healthy group dynamics and of the need for hygienic group processes that enable the best of a group to shine through. The Center offers courses throughout the year, and speciality workshops. Our instructors are also available for on-site workshops and facilitation work. >>Learn more. 

Remedial Teacher Education 

This program meets three times a year for three years. The spring and fall sessions meet over five days; the summer sessions meet over two weeks. It is an ideal course for teachers who wish to expand their understanding of and ways of working with learning and/or behavior challenged students. Many valuable, supportive approaches will be given for use in the classroom and for individual work with these students.

Program participants will learn assessment procedures as well as developmental, Extra Lesson, and other pedagogical exercises and approaches. Artistic classes include speech, painting therapy, music therapy, clay modeling, and form drawing. Classes in Chirophonetics, Therapeutic Eurythmy, Rhythmical Massage and Spacial Dynamics are also included. During Year Two, program participants observe educational support teachers working with students, teachers and parents. During Year Three participants work with individual students, parents, and teachers under the supervision of mentors. Experts in educational and medical fields contribute to this valuable program. Completion of Foundation Studies, and ideally Waldorf Teacher Training, is prerequisite.

For more information contact Ingun Schneider, program director, at ingun.schneider@steinercollege.edu. 

Waldorf Teacher Education For Subject Teachers in Handwork 

For Waldorf handwork teachers in the grades, this three year program meets in three-week sessions every summer, plus one week every spring. Included are continuing independent study and observation in Waldorf schools during the school year. Foundations in Anthroposophy is a prerequisite and is offered the first week of the three-week intensive study each summer.

The handwork program focuses on the philosophical foundations of Waldorf education, age-appropriate lessons for the grades curriculum, practical skills, and mentoring with master teachers. Other areas may include therapeutic applications, collegial relationships, classroom management, and parent education.

Biodynamic Education

The Rudolf Steiner College is a leading center for Biodynamic education. Throughout the year a wide array of workshops, conferences, intensives, and other opportunities to study Biodynamics and nature are provided. Regular workshop series includes the Saturday Biodynamic Farming and Gardening Workshop Series combines’ classroom work with hands-on activity, and is held monthly throughout the school year culminating in a week-long intensive in June. Also offered are workshop series for Backyard Biodynamic Gardening, Beekeeping, and Nature Observation. Evening courses throughout the year are available for the study of the Agriculture Course, nature observation, Goethean science, and more. Our full-time biodynamic farm apprenticeship offers four apprentices one year of hands-on work on the farm.

The Waldorf Approach Applied in the Public School Classroom

This two-week institute gives PreK–8 public school teachers a joyful and empowering hands-on experience of fully integrating the arts and active learning into the academic curriculum.

The Waldorf Approach for At-Risk Youth

For educators in alternative schools working with at-risk youth. This two-week institute infuses a standards-based curriculum with the arts and Waldorf methodology, resulting in a successful, lively transformative educational experience for both teachers and students.

Admissions

For information concerning Admissions, Tuition and Fees, and Financial Aid, go to our Admissions page or contact us. 

Schedule a Visit

To learn more about our programs, attend an information evening or schedule a visit to either our Fair Oaks or San Francisco campus.