Curriculum and Classes

Offerings of Bay Area Center for Waldorf Teacher Training include the Waldorf Teacher Training Certificate Program and the Summer Arts Festival, as well as a variety of  Community Enrichment Classes, Workshops, and Lectures throughout the year.

Why?

In our time,  human identity is endangered by today’s increasingly virtualized environment. At the same time, changes in work and cultural life are creating a world in which human beings must increasingly depend on their own inner resources to find direction and meaning.  The Bay Area Center for Waldorf Teacher Training relies on the study of anthroposophy and active participation in the arts to enable the self-transformation of the adult student which makes possible the inner freedom necessary to perceive in ones self and others the evolving individual.

Anthroposophy or “spiritual science” is Rudolf Steiner’s far-reaching legacy. It is essentially a transformative path of study. Trained in the sciences, Rudolf Steiner was a holistic thinker whose over six thousand lectures and books constitute the basis for a renewal in agriculture (biodynamics), medicine, the arts, eurythmy (a movement art), philosophy, science, history and many other fields of human endeavor including, of course, education and special education.

Who?

The faculty are led by the Director, Ken Smith. Ken has strong and substantive international experience as a Waldorf educator, educational program developer, and artist. He is dedicated to the anthroposophical principles underlying Waldorf education, to the strengthening of Waldorf education, and to the importance of artistic practices in educating the whole human being. Ken’s extensive experience and credentials include teaching anthroposophical seminars and workshops in Europe, North America, New Zealand and Asia, as well as leading courses, designing training programs, and mentoring students at Emerson College, England.

Our teacher training students come from all walks of life, and have ranged in age from 21-60.  Graduates teach at the pre-school, grades and high school level at Waldorf schools throughout the Bay Area including the San Francisco Waldorf School, the Santa Cruz Waldorf School, the East Bay Waldorf School and the Marin Waldorf School, as well as at numerous Waldorf initiatives.

Community Enrichment classes, workshops, and lectures are attended by members of the larger community.

The alumni are  a vital part of our community; many contribute to the teacher training after graduation.  We have an active Alumni Association, which meets at least annually and enjoys such benefits as discounts on Community Enrichment classes, Summer Program courses, and books ordered through our bookstore.