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School as a Living Entity by Rea Gill PDF

210 Pages·2011·6.13 MB·English
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CMYK 2 A School as a Living Entty a School as a Living Entity The Growth and Development of a School as a Living Entty Implementaton of a Governance and Management Structure Based on Living Systems and Threefold Principles & Forming Impulses by Rea Taylor Gill 3 Printed with support from the Waldorf Curriculum Fund Published by: The Association of Waldorf Schools of North America Publications Office 65–2 Fern Hill Road Ghent, NY 12075 Title: A School as a Living Entity Author: Rea Taylor Gill Editor: David Mitchell Copy Editor and Proofreader: Ann Erwin Cover: AninA Formankova © 2011 by AWSNA ISBN # 978-1-936367-18-1 Printed by McNaughton & Gunn Saline, MI 48176 USA 4 A School as a Living Entty Table of Contents Preface 9 Acknowledgements 11 Chapter 1 Introducton: Emerging Hypothesis 13 Chapter 2 Organizatons—Dead or Alive? 21 Chapter 3 Human Systems and the Correlaton with Organizatonal Systems 31 Differentiation of the Human Being 34 The Human Nerve-Sense System and the Pedagogical Sphere of Activity in a Waldorf School 35 The Human Rhythmic System and the Governance (Legal-Financial) Sphere of Activity in a Waldorf School 38 The Human Metabolic System and the Community & Resource Development Sphere of Activity in a Waldorf School 40 Translating the Threefold Form and Function to a Waldorf School 43 Phases of Organizational Development 45 Chapter 4 Acton Research: Implementaton of a Threefold Structure 51 Review of Hypothesis, Research, Development Methods and Methodology 51 Implementation of a Threefold Governance Structure at the Vancouver Waldorf School 57 Step I: Beginning the Re-differentiation Process 60 Step II Revisiting Vision, Values, Mission, Goals, Aims and Objectives 71 Step III Re-differentiation of the Pedagogical Realm: Establishing the Organizational ‘Nerve-Sense System’ 74 Step IV Re-differentiation of the Governance (Legal-Financial) Realm: Establishing the Organizational ‘Rhythmic System’ 79 Table of Contents 5 Step V Reorganization of Administration 79 Step VI Differentiation of the Community & Resource Development Realm: Establishing an Organizational ‘Metabolic System’ 83 Step VII Consolidating, Redefining and Expanding Legal-Financial Functions 87 Step VIII Real Time – What Was Next … What Is Next? 95 Chapter 5 Conclusions and Next Steps 102 Appendices 116 Endnotes 199 References 207 6 A School as a Living Entty Appendices Appendix A Summary of the Five Disciplines of a Learning Organization Detailed in The Fifth Discipline by Peter Senge (1994) 116 Appendix B Summary of Old Board-Mandated Mandate System 117 Appendix C Hub Coordinating Committee Mandate – Old Mandate System 119 Appendix D Mandate System Review Committee Mandate 123 Appendix E Initial Review Process Findings and Recommendations 125 Appendix F Nine Propositions in Search of the Threefold Social Order 128 Appendix G Community Forum Envisioning Conference Agenda 136 Appendix H Vision, Values, Mission 139 Appendix I Goals 141 Appendix J Pedagogical Carrying Group Constitution – Example 1 143 Appendix K Pedagogical Carrying Group Constitution – Example 2 149 Appendix L Pedagogical Carrying Group Membership Selection Process – Example 154 Appendix M1 Faculty Meeting Agenda – Hypothetical Example before a Pedagogical Carrying Group is established 157 Appendix M2 Faculty Meeting Agenda – Hypothetical Example after a Pedagogical Carrying Group is established 158 Appendix N1 Pedagogical Carrying Group Agenda – Hypothetical Example 1 163 Appendix N2 Pedagogical Carrying Group Agenda – Hypothetical Example 2 165 Appendix O Pedagogical Administrator Job Description 167 Appendix P Pedagogical Committee Mandate – Example 170 Appendix Q The Cult of Personality 177 Appendix R1 Tuition & Fees Terms and Conditions of Agreement – Example 179 Appendix R2 Tuition & Fees Agreement – Terms & Payment Requirements – Example 181 Appendix S Parent Council Mandate – Example 185 Appendix T Development Committee Mandate 195 Appendix U Good Governance Committee Mandate 197 Appendices 7 Table of Figures Figure 1 Threefold Social Order – Threefold Human Being 28 Figure 2 Co-evolutionary Transformative Effect of Waldorf Education on the Macro-sphere of Society 37 Figure 3 From Collection of Cells to an Identifiable Human Form and Face 46 Figure 4 Embryo at 50–60 Days and Fetus at 22 Weeks 48 Figure 5 Full Term Baby 49 Figure 6 Threefold Principles at Work in Life 55 Figure 7 Threefold Social Order 56 Figure 8 Threefold Human Being 56 Figure 9 Threefold Organizational Structure 57 Figure 10 Steiner’s Threefold Social Order 58 Figure 11 Threefold Human Being 58 Figure 12 Threefold Organizational Structure 59 Figure 13 Threefold Organizational Structure Threefolded 59 Figure 14 Dynamic Human Systems 64 Figure 15 Dynamic Organizational Systems 64 Figure 16 Threefold Social Order 67 Figure 17 Threefold Human Being 67 Figure 18 Threefold Waldorf School 68 Figure 19 The Impulse of Freedom and the Pedagogical Structure of a Waldorf School 68 Figure 20 The Impulse of Equality and the Governance (Legal-Financial) Structure of a Waldorf School 70 Figure 21 The Impulse of Brotherhood and the Development Structure of a Waldorf School 71 Figure 22 Pedagogical Realm Threefolded 75 Figure 23 Dynamic of the Pedagogical Realm Compared to the Dynamic of the Whole 78 Figure 24 Dynamic of the Whole 78 Figure 25 Pedagogical Committee Structure Threefolded 78 Figure 26 Human Resources Committee Structure Threefolded 79 Figure 27 Organizational Structure Imagination 82 Figure 28 The Transformation of Money into Capacities 90 Figure 29 Organizational Structure before Restructuring 92 Figure 30 Organizational Structure after Restructuring 93 Figure 31 Revenue & Expense Comparison over Three Periods of Operation 94 Figure 32 Dynamic of the Pedagogical Realm 112 8 A School as a Living Entty Preface by Torin Finser Within a few short years, we will celebrate the 100th anniversary of Waldorf education on this earth As we prepare for 2019, it might serve the Waldorf movement to use the occasion to self-assess and reflect as well as celebrate How can we characterize the past 100 years of 1 Waldorf education in terms of phases, whether looking at decades or 33 /3-year intervals? Where have our schools succeeded? Where have we come up short? Already in 2011 we can sketch some tentative characterizations regarding the last two questions: 1 The curriculum in most of the 1000 Waldorf schools around the world is well established In most instances, when I visit schools I find many of the common characteristics of the Waldorf curriculum are fully evident 2 This is of course connected to the steady improvement in teacher education programs Most schools I visit are fully committed to teacher education and professional development, despite the challenges of money and adequate time 3 The publications available to Waldorf teachers and parents have increased significantly, although higher quality translations and foreign language editions are still limited 4 At least in the schools in the United States with which I am most familiar, basic business and administrative practices have improved in recent years In many cases volunteer boards have devoted countless hours to supporting schools financially 5 Although it has been a struggle to prepare and support eurythmy teachers, for instance, one can also acknowledge that in most Waldorf schools, teachers as a whole are practicing “the art of education” in a way that appeals to the full spectrum of sensory experience 6 Perhaps most important, I have visited many classrooms filled with eager, engaged students who are thriving, learning and working as a social unit This is just of the beginning of a list that might spur further additions in the years ahead But now I would like to turn to the one area in which many would say the Waldorf movement has not yet met expectations: the ideals set forth by Rudolf Steiner in regard to threefolding of the social organism Preface 9 Many have spent years working to simply understand what was intended in books and lectures such as “The Threefold Social Order,” “The Social Future,” “World Economy” and so forth And some have taken the indications further than others Most worthy of mention in this brief paragraph are the efforts of Gary Lamb, Michael Spence, and the many colleagues who have participated in the growth of RSF Social Finance Yet despite these efforts, it is hard to find a single school about which one can say, “Here is an example of the full implementation of these social ideals ” One has a sense that the work in regard to “threefolding” remains incomplete, unfinished This is of course not a bad thing in itself, as the quest alone can spur people on to further understanding and the crucial change in consciousness that must precede any outer change There are many also working outside the Waldorf movement, such as in biodynamic farms and Camphill Communities, who are striving toward the realization of Rudolf Steiner’s social ideals But imagine my surprise and joy when I received a masters project submitted by Rea Gill as part of her degree completion at Antioch University! Here, in 200-some pages, was not just a theoretical rehashing of familiar concepts, but a step by step documentation of a real life implementation of the threefolding principle she led for 9 years at the Vancouver Waldorf School Along the way Rea takes the reader through an overview of organizational dynamics, “kindred spirits,” and a rigorous examination of the original intentions set forth by Rudolf Steiner What comes across most clearly in my reading of the text which now merits AWSNA publication is the sense of lived experience The pages of this book have been forged on the anvil of real life, in a Waldorf school with real parents, teachers, budgets, challenges and success Out of life experience and constant reflection and further deepening, Rea was able to develop a system of governance that was both living and clear, flexible and transparent I had an opportunity to visit the school during both an early stage of implementation and a later stage of full development, and the excitement was palpable It really happened! Of course, nothing remains the same for long, and Rea herself has now moved on, recently taking up a lead role at the High Mowing School in Wilton, NH She has entered another stage of her biography, and so has the Vancouver Waldorf School A visitor to the school today may or may not recognize any of Rea’s past work That is the nature of all living systems, and who carries the work is as essential in administration as in the classroom Yet now schools all over the world can learn from her experience, careful research and enthusiasm for the social challenge This book can serve as an inspiration for others, not to copy, but to do the work It is in the doing the work together that we realize our social ideals 10 A School as a Living Entty

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Most books are stored in the elastic cloud where traffic is expensive. For this reason, we have a limit on daily download.