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For the next 100 years: Scholarships for future Waldorf teachers worldwide

As the number of Waldorf Schools continues to grow, the demand for well-trained teachers is increasing all over the world. Paying for their education is a major hurdle for many people interested in the training program. With your donation, you can help us to secure the future of Waldorf Education in poorer countries.

 

We need support for a confident path into the future

A school can only be as good as its teachers. But this sentence, which admittedly sounds trivial, is true. Therefore, the educational success of a school always depends on which teachers can be recruited and how they have been trained.

Waldorf schools abroad, especially in non-European countries, do not have access to a large number of trained teachers because they simply do not exist. They therefore very often have to turn to people with a state teaching permit and train them in Waldorf education. Continuing education is therefore of the utmost importance - for all Waldorf Schools in Africa and Asia and for most of the schools in Latin America. There is hardly any full-time Waldorf teacher training on these continents. Only at the Center for Creative Education in South Africa and at the University College in Brazil can prospective teachers complete a basic course of study.

These training institutions have to be self-financing. They receive neither financial support from the school movements, which are still far too small, nor from the state. Therefore they depend on tuition fees. And here's the problem. Many students cannot afford the necessary tuition fees. They depend on scholarships.

For the Friends of Waldorf Education, solid quality preparation for the teaching profession and thus the success of Waldorf Schools is a very great, actually the most important concern. Therefore we would like to support students who are planning to teach at a Waldorf School with a scholarship. This also always means that we must have some advance confidence and trust in our scholars.
We would like to ask you to support us in this matter and to help us to replenish the scholarship fund so that we can award scholarships next year and the year after, as well as directly support education and training institutes such as the Center for Creative Education in Cape Town or the East African Waldorf Teacher Training in Nairobi.

International teacher training in Stuttgart

Since 2015, the course International Master for Waldorf Class und Subject Teachers has been held at the Freie Hochschule in Stuttgart. The 16-month full-time course starts every two years with about 30 participants. This course is particularly important for applicants from countries where there is no or insufficient training available. Most of the participants are pioneers and are characterized by a special thirst for action and a high degree of enthusiasm for Waldorf education. "First of all, these people have to leave their previous social and economic environment and often give up their homes in order to travel to a country that is usually completely unknown to them. They have to find their way around in the shortest possible time in order to be able to cope with daily life alongside full-time studies," explains Iris Taggert, who coordinates the course. The training course costs  €16.000; in addition to that, it is very difficult to find enough affordable living space for the students. A monthly scholarship can help these students in a sustainable fashion.

East Africa: Long distances for aspiring Waldorf teachers

The East African Waldorf Teacher Training has been in existence for over 20 years. Each year, about 45 students can take part in three holiday courses in parallel to their work as teachers. They come from Madagascar, Ivory Coast, Zimbabwe, Ethiopia, Uganda, Tanzania, and Kenya. In most of these countries, teachers need government recognition in order to participate in the module courses of the East African Teacher Training and to work at a Waldorf School. There is a great need for Waldorf teachers, explains Victor Mwai from East African Teacher Training: "New Waldorf schools and initiatives have developed throughout the East African region and beyond. Particularly in Kenya, the demands on school education are changing and the demand for a new way of teaching is rising." But participation in the course has many hurdles: Many students have to cover long distances for the three two-week modules.  In addition, most of them cannot afford the fees for the training. They need support from the schools in East Africa, which often have little money at their disposal. A participation fee of 360 Euro is charged for one module (including board and lodging). The entire training consists of 10 modules.

South Africa: Training that builds bridges

The work of the Center for Creative Education (CfCE) began in 1993 with the vision of getting as many township children off the streets as possible. Here, women who live and have grown up in the townships themselves receive Waldorf education and then care for children in so-called Educare Centers. This is the only way to reach many children who are otherwise left to their own devices while their parents are working. Creative play and telling stories will let them grow, and art will help them close the inner wounds caused by the experience of violence. On average, there are about 200 students at CfCE, 85 of whom participate in class teacher training. The center is known for its good education and therefore receives many applications. But the financing is all the more difficult, because it is still hardly possible for the Waldorf Schools in South Africa to contribute to the costs of the training. With an amount of 1,000 euros, a student can be significantly supported. The work of the CfCE is needed: for the Educare Centres in the townships, for teacher training and as a place where bridges are built. Because the students come from different backgrounds. During their studies they grow together.

With a heartfelt request for your donation,

Nana Goebel, Henning Kullak-Ublick, Bernd Ruf, Andreas Schubert

 

Donation account (Germany)

Freunde der Erziehungskunst
GLS Bank Bochum
IBAN: DE47 4306 0967 0013 0420 10
BIC: GENODEM1GLS
Stichwort „Scholarships“

Empower & donate now
Empower & donate now