| [ Ed. Following is the text of an address given by Lisa Braden on the occasion of the Class of 2004 Graduation Ceremony in July of last year. Each year the graduating class selects one of its members to present a brief rumination on the experience of going through the teacher training program. ] The Journey of Transformation by Lisa Braden, Class of 2004 There is given to the human being the possibility of transforming himself just as within the seed there lies the possibility to become a whole plant. The plant will transform itself because of natural laws lying within it; the human being remains in his unfinished state if he himself does not take up the task of transformation. - Rudolf Steiner, Philosophy of Freedom Good afternoon, and warm thanks to all of you for being here to share this wonderful occasion with us. You see before you a band of travelers; a fellowship tried and true. We have journeyed together through three extraordinary years. And we want to tell you, the most important people in our lives, a little bit about that journey. We first came together as a class on October 5, 2001. I'm sure you all remember the somber mood of that unprecedented time... At our inaugural meeting, Dorit stood before us for the first time as the director of her own program. In the three years since that evening, our journey has been by turns difficult, amazing, enriching, infuriating - but first and foremost, like all epic journeys, it has been transforming. It has been the hero journey; of the knight who sets forth, brave and maybe a little naive, to seek the grail. Who confronts deep waters that threaten to engulf him, and wild beasts who almost devour him; who crosses into territory where the laws of man and nature are suspended, and where he must find a new star to steer by. The knight who, in the end, must conquer and then set free his own heart. That is the journey that the thirteen of us - homemakers, businesspeople, parents, spouses, scientists and students - have taken to become brand new teachers. So what was this journey of transformation, and how does one become a Waldorf teacher? To put it as briefly as possible, Waldorf education uses the curriculum to nourish and strengthen the developing human being, bringing him into balance with the outer world. And in order to correctly perceive and work with this evolving being, the Waldorf teacher must be, in the truest sense of the word, an artist. So how can we awaken this usually dormant artist within us? After all, in this materialistic age the artist is often devalued, discouraged and shouldered aside. In the course of our three year journey we received many answers to this question. One of the most poignant came from Rene Querido, beloved author and teacher who passed away on June 23. On his one visit to our program he told us that in order to be good teachers we must "learn to read the book of nature; for in it are written all things, including the true nature of mankind." I'm sure my colleagues and I will carry these words with us for the rest of our lives, learning little by little the full measure of what he wanted us to understand. We got many other answers as well. We put on soft-soled eurythmy shoes, flat as pancakes, and tried to execute a series of movements bearing only the faintest resemblance to anything we'd ever done before. We stood before big white sheets of paper, paintbrushes trembling in our hands, and realized that we didn't even know how to hold the brush, let alone make it do what we hoped for on the paper. We sank our fingers into dense, wet clay and tried, like Michelangelo, to release the figure sleeping there. Okay maybe not so much Michelangelo... We marched around a large room declaiming completely nonsensical phrases in voices ranging from our deepest boom to our tiniest whisper. These and many other amazing activities - form drawing, singing, composition, geometry - were brought to us on our journey by a guardian band of the most talented, dedicated, intuitive, extraordinary people one could ever have the fortune to find in one place. Teachers who encouraged and insisted until we unfolded into what they knew we could be all along. And woven throughout was the study of this profoundly complex, complete, alive and ennobled view of human evolution. So, through the alchemy of anthroposophy, at the end of three years we found ourselves confidently moving with our classmates through an intricate eurythmy form. We relaxed into the clay and enjoyed letting the figure emerge. We reveled in the freedom to sing, and speak, and read a whole chapter of Steiner without falling asleep. And along the way, we'd done six skits, been in six assemblies and managed to get many snacks on the table. All while immersing ourselves in the study of the Waldorf curriculum from kindergarten to twelfth grade. Not bad for 34 months. Of course, none of us was eurythmying and painting and studying and singing by ourselves. On each step of the journey we were surrounded by classmates, who witnessed our every stumble and grumble, each small advance, every hard-won glimmer of understanding. The bonds we built among us are known to those who travel together into uncharted waters, who leave behind the safe and the familiar, and who know that at some point in the journey they will reveal all their strengths and all their weaknesses. And as the journey progressed our separate voices drew together into one voice, and each speaks a part of the whole, and we carry them all within us. And as we approached the end of the journey, we realized that the great genius of transformation is that it never ends. What we have begun here will work on in us for all our lives, and in the lives we touch. And we realize that this is also the genius of the art of education - that when we teach with artistry, the work we do with the children will live and grow in them throughout their lives. And we reflect that while the times were and are somber, maybe out of those events, out of the bigger balance of this moment in history, came the forces that drew us to this program and each other - to learn how to work artistically with times we live in. We feel a deepening desire and resolve to keep truth, beauty and goodness alive in all that concerns the children - by bringing to them the world as it is - in all its complexity, its lawfulness, and its endless possibility of freedom. And yes, that does require a certain amount of eternal vigilance against those forces that seek always to divide and belittle us. But it requires even more a great flexibility of mind, soul and spirit - so that we strive in each moment to listen to the voice of that which is MOST TRULY HUMAN in us. HUMAN. Because if we can do that, we will see a path into the future. Together. So although our travels will continue, we want now to offer our deepest thanks to all of our families, who in so many ways allowed us and helped us to make this journey. And we thank Susan Goldstein, whose warmth and skill and depth are such splendid examples of what we hope to become. And then there is the irreplaceable first cause of this program, whose gifts transform everything around her into life and spring and richness. We are honored to have spent these three years with Dorit Winter. For myself, I can say that this has been the journey that closed the distance between whom I am in my heart and whom I manage to be in the world. To my classmates I say I had thought that I would never find such an amazing company as you. I can't bear to leave you, and I can never say how much I've learned and gained from each of you. And so finally on behalf of the class of 2004, I wish all of you rich journeys that never end. Thank you. |
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