Teacher Education Program
Education as an art
The Teacher as an artist
« We cannot train someone else to become a teacher, basically because we are all of us teachers. There is a teacher in each of us, but who lays dormant; he must be awakened, and Art is that which awakens us. ». Rudolf Steiner, The Younger Generation
About the Program
Emphasis is put on awakening the faculties of the teacher and developing his/her creativity in preparation for becoming a certificated Waldorf teacher.
Each year includes:
- 1 INTENSIVE WEEK IN OCTOBER AND IN FEBRUARY
- 3 INTENSIVE WEEKS IN JULY
- 8 WEEKENDS FROM OCTOBER TO DECEMBER
- 8 WEEKENDS FROM MARCH TO MAY
- 3 TO 8 WEEKS OF PRACTICUM ACCORDING TO THE YEAR
Each year the program includes:
- Basic works, primarily those of Rudolf Steiner
- Art workshops: modeling, drawing, painting, sculpture, music, singing, speech and drama, Bothmer gymnastics and spacial dynamics, eurythmy.
- Seminars
- Practicums in sociotherapy, biodynamic agriculture, teaching practices
- A personal research project on a given theme.
The Weekend-Summer Waldorf Teacher Education Program is a three year and three summer part-time training specifically designed for those living and working in the greater Montreal. For the english speaking program, the institute is partnering with Rudolf Steiner College, California, and the students recive a diploma in Waldorf Pedagogy from the college and from the institute. Classes meet during the academic year at École Rudolf Steiner de Montreal, during the summers, at Rudolf Steiner College in Fair Oaks, California.
Year I
An introduction to the philosophy and basic educational principles developed by Rudolf Steiner.
1. Study Material:
- Rudolf Steiner: The Younger Generation, A Theory of Knowledge Based on Goethe’s World Conception, Theosophy, The Renewal of Social Organism, Philosophy of Freedom
- Schiller: Letters Upon the Aesthetic Education of Man
- Wolfram von Eschenbach : Parzival
2. Seminars:
Introduction to:
- Sociotherapy
- Biodynamic agriculture
- Goethe’s approach to natural sciences(botanics, zoology)
3. Art workshops:
Werbeck singing, introduction to music, recorder, eurythmy, modeling, sculpture, painting, drawing, handwork, Bothmer gymnastics and spacial dynamics, speech techniques, theatre.
4. Practicums:
- 2 week observation in a Waldorf School
- 1 week on a biodynamic farm
Year II:
A year of expanding our understanding of human beings, history, and the world.
1. Study Material:
Rudolf Steiner: The Essentials of Education, The Temperaments, Occult Science, Study of Man, Practical Advice to Teachers
2. Seminars:
- Study of the temperaments of the Children
- Inner Development of the Teacher
- Festivals and their Meaning
- Art history
- Projective geometry
- Embryology
- History and development of cultures
3. Art workshops:
Building on the studies introduced in the 1st year, including Werbeck singing, choir, music, recorder, eurythmy, drawing, modeling, sculpture, painting, handwork, speech techniques, theatre, Bothmer gymnastics and spacial dynamics.
4. Practicums:
- 2 weeks in a Kindergarten (January- February)
- 3 weeks of practice teaching (May)
Year III
Introductory year to educational practices
1. Study Material
- Rudolf Steiner: Balance in Teaching, Discussions with Teachers, From Symptom to Reality, The Curriculum
- Goethe: Faust
2. Seminars:
- Didactic exercises (instruction in writing, reading, mother-tongue language, mathematics, history, geography, sciences, arts, (for Grades track)
- Working in the Kindergarten (for Early Childhood track)
- The sense organs
- Teaching plan
- Educator’s personal schooling
3. Art workshops:
Continuation of the work covered in the preceding years
4. Practicums:
4 weeks of practice teaching
Schedule and calendar
Each year the course program includes:
- 5 intensive weeks (in July, three weeks; in October, Thanksgiving Day long weekend, and the 1st week in March, during Spring break in Québec).
- 16 weekends (on average). This does not include the practicum weeks.
Schedule of intensive weeks: Monday to Friday, from 8:00am to 9:30pm
Weekend Schedule: Friday evening: from 7:00 pm to 10:00pm; Saturday: from 8:00am to 1pm
Start of courses: in October, the weekend of Thanksgiving
Educational expenses:
At present, $6500 annually (tax deductible and payable as per agreement with the Institute’s administrator)
Financial Aid
The students of Year II and III can apply for a loan from AWSNA (The Association of Waldorf School of North America) and for scholarships from Rudolf Steiner College.
Registration:
Please contact first the Institute; then, in February, information sessions on programs and how to register will be announced (candidate file, admission interview, contract signing).
For all additional information you may contact us either by telephone, fax or e-mail; we will be pleased to answer all your questions.
Program Director: Irène François
Administrator: Michèle Arsenault
Professors and Invited Speakers*
Michèle Arsenault, Cécile Allemand, Jean Balékian, Christiaan Boele, Micheline Cossette, Guillaume François, Irène François, Dennis Klocek, Christa Kuehn, Odile Monteaux, Claudia Maurice, Robert Thomas, Arie van Ameringen and the Rudolf Steiner College Faculty.
* Click the link Faculty for more details
Institut Rudolf Steiner au Québec
4855, Rue Kensington, Montréal, QC, H4V 2E2
Tél: 450-621 7220
Courriel: info@irsq.ca
Michele.arsenault@sympatico.ca