2024 FEBRUARY CONFERENCE
at Sacramento Waldorf School
Let’s Explore Together
Waldorf Education in the Age of ChatGPT
New Impulses Towards Learning by Heart
from Early Childhood through High School
Join us to explore the importance of authenticity in our experiences of the world and the human heart intelligence that no AI can ever create. Because we are attuned to our students, there is a field of love and community that creates miracles and new possibilities. From Early Childhood through High School, this is the core of Waldorf education.
February 20 – 22, 2024
Cost: $275
As our culture becomes more data-driven and algorithmic, subject to the draconian imperatives of speed, utility, and efficiency, we as Waldorf educators are called on to stand for quality over quantity, encounter over transaction, and human intelligence over artificial intelligence. Our fundamental responsibility is to offer an education towards freedom, not an education merely towards college acceptance or job placement, and to understand the difference, which is not always easy. Waldorf education is uniquely positioned to make just this distinction, however, because it offers a view of the human being and the world that demonstrates we are always far more than we think we are, and that no Chatbot will ever approach the creative, cosmic and earthly intelligence of the heart.
The three keynote addresses by Andrew Sullivan will weave spiritual scientific insights on human nature and the evolution of consciousness with age-specific pedagogical suggestions. The overarching goal of the conference is to enliven the moral imagination of each teacher to meet our incredibly challenging yet inspiring times and the incredible children who have chosen to incarnate into them.
Keynote Address by Andrew Sullivan
Andrew Sullivan is a poet, philosopher, teacher, and interdisciplinary artist. He teaches adults and adolescents at Sacramento Waldorf School, his alma mater, and is currently a doctoral student in the Philosophy, Cosmology, and Consciousness program at California Institute of Integral Studies. He has been a student of anthroposophy since he tried to read Foundations of Human Experience in Spanish in 1992 while teaching in Mexico at Colegio Waldorf de Cuernavaca.
Artistic Workshops
Explore Drama with Sarah Winfield
Each daily workshop will explore a different aspect of using theatre skills to explore how drama helps you expand your ability to improvise, accept the unexpected and turn it to your advantage, and use your body and voice to assist in delivering your message. This class is fun and participatory, so wear clothes you can move in!
Folk Dance with Michelle Gallardo
Dancing in a circle is a metaphor for a community of peers, where all are connected to each other. Everyone is equally important, and we all move together, each doing the same steps with their own unique style. There is something healing about dancing in a circle and embodying traditions from different cultures. During these workshops, we will move together, learning some traditional dances from around the world.
Gardening: Exercising the Will with Steve Payne
Join us on our school farm as we explore the importance of service through agriculture while contemplating the mysteries of the Will. In this workshop we will look at different facets of the Will and put ourselves to work with varying outdoor activities. A garden-based curriculum discussion will be covered as well.
Ironworks: Sand and Fire with Chris McFee
Join the ironworks to celebrate the sands of the Pacific Ring of Fire and learn from cultures that have mastered their use.
Stained Glass with Ari Magruder
Learn the basics of creating beautiful stained-glass panels in this studio class. Participants will choose, cut, grind, and foil glass as they work together on a group project.
Pastel Landscapes with Doug Morkner-Brown
Enjoy three relaxing sessions exploring fundamental to advanced topics in pastel painting.
Music with Christiana Quick-Cleveland
Day 1: Cultivating the Voice for Melody
Drawing from the exercises of Madame Werbeck-Svardstrom, we will work to deepen the breathing and refine the quality of the singing voice. This is essentially the task in Grades 1 through 3. We will look at adult and children's singing exercises and discuss strategies for the classroom.
Day 2: Tuning the Ear for Harmony
With rounds and improvisation, we will challenge the ear's ability to discriminate between tones sounding simultaneously, heightening our awareness of harmonic interval. This is essentially the task in Grades 3 - 5.
Day 3: Revitalizing with Rhythm
Using our hands and feet, we will seek our personal "grounding"; enabling our connection to the underlying heartbeat in music-making and the joyful social experience of "moving as one". This is essentially the task in Grades 5 - 8.
Explore AI and Poetry with Alison Davis
Inspired by the Crocker Museum's current exhibit Am I AI? by Alexander Reben, this poetry workshop will explore artificial intelligence and human creativity in ways that emphasize curiosity, play, and imagination. Participants will engage their own artistic impulses to examine the ways in which tools can lead to shifts in consciousness and open new paths of inquiry.
Recommended materials: smart phone/laptop, blank paper, writing utensils of various thickness (i.e. ballpoint pen, Sharpie magnum, block crayon, colored pencil)
Early Childhood Craft with Margarita Hawk
This workshop will cover a developmental Spring craft for a Kindergarten class.