Renewing Our Commitment to the Health and Well-Being of the Growing Child in the 2020s

Northern California Waldorf Teachers Conference with keynote speaker, Dr. Michaela Glöckler.

Waldorf education must continue to renew and redefine its orientation and priorities in a rapidly changing social and technological setting. Contemporary culture increasingly has the potential to undermine the healthy unfolding of childhood with repercussions for the whole of life In the forward to her recent book, Education for the Future: How to Nurture Health and Human Potential, Dr. Michaela Glöckler writes:

“[Our] goal is to release mature, self-confidant, creative and courageous people into life. What are the conditions for the development of such character traits? Even more: what are the conditions for healthy physical, soul/emotional and spiritual development in childhood and adolescence? How can day-care centers, kindergartens and schools become places for healthy development?”

In an educational environment where stress, burnout, postural damage, and mental health issues are becoming commonplace among students and teachers, can Waldorf schools be a bastion of health? Dr. Michaela Glöckler will bring her many years of experience as a pediatrician and Waldorf school doctor as well as her concerns for child health in contemporary society. She will offer guiding thoughts for Waldorf teachers as we navigate our way into the second half of the decade.