The current work of the Federation of Rudolf Steiner/Waldorf Schools in New Zealand is outlined here by Sue Russell, the Federation's Co-ordinator.

The Look of the Federation

Originally, the Federation Council comprised mainly teachers and kindergarteners.  Alongside this, the Parent Council, as it was then known, met both separately and together with the Council.  There were three meetings each year.  Over time, through a natural maturing process the Federation Council began to articulate a clearer sense about its purposes, which stood more distinctly in the legal/rights realm than in the area of fellowship and professional practice.  At this time, there was a call to look at our structures and agreement was reached that the Parent Council be seen as full members of the Federation Council. 

We also talked, at this time, about the role of representatives from the various full and associate member schools, with the outcome that the work of the Federation, given it's sense of national collectivity of interest, would be better served by members of the Council being called delegates.  Beyond the change in name, a deeper change arose in the consciousness of the delegates to work fully in the moment with other delegates.  Tthe distinction is now apparent between carrying the direct input from a specific school and working with a sense of the schools' views and engaging to find the ‘third view', the consensus mood of the whole circle. 

The Council circle now embraces and reflects the constitution of our school management and governance groups, with trustees, College members from schools, professional leaders, Board of Trustee members as well as parents all seen as the one Council. When we meet, which is now once a year, we see ourselves as less distinct from each other and more as one group.  Members are free to choose who they will send to Council, though we expect that delegates are experienced members of school communities, with an understanding of the workings of schools and an interest in the national issues we collectively hold.  This is timely, as we approach grappling with some important issues like, membership standards, authority of the Federation to safeguard the integrity of Rudolf Steiner/Waldorf Education in New Zealand, and continuing to maintain the important balance between freedom as members and responsibility to membership. 

Furthering the activity of the Foundation looms increasingly as a priority for us.  The Foundation Trust, with its founding Trustees, was formed nearly four years ago and we see a direct relationship between the awakening of the work of the Trust with the long-term sustainability and growth of the Federation.  We are aware that Federation costs are met by our constituent Trusts/Proprietors and our commitment to not increase the levy beyond normal tweaking for inflation raises the tension to find other funding sources to support Federation life.  For instance, we have recently committed to reconciling some outstanding legal matters with the Ministry of Education.  Important commitments such as these, come with costs attached, that are currently meet out of our annual income. 

The establishment of mutual understanding about the responsibilities of sponsorship relationships between schools,  the payment of Federation levies and the expectation that consultation will be carried out in the schools on issues prior to Federation meetings, are all signs that we have matured into a more differentiated space.  We are working more strategically and out of agreed plans, newly cemented each year. Whilst this builds our capacity to meet the seemingly widening landscape of issues coming toward the Federation, it also demands of us to reaffirm our sense of connection to each other and to not scatter off simply into form and process. To help this, we try hard to keep warmth and movement visible in our meetings, and create as much free space as possible for new idea forums.   The reflections shared by colleagues at the end of Council meetings, which are now held in May of each year, would seem to indicate that we are becoming better at engaging with each other in upright ways and there is a sense that we are all the stronger for it.

This year, a real focus for the Federation is working towards the development of our next strategic plan.  The Council spent time sharing ideas about priorities for resourcing, and future directions at the Council meeting this year. Colleagues from the Australian Federation were also present and provided the Council with an overview of the work of their Federation and the main issues facing our friends across the Tasman.  There is much we have in common and it has been particularly exciting to experience a flourishing of this special relationship in the last year or so.

The work of the Federation ongoing is held consciously by the Executive who meet regularly via conference calls and at other times through the year. At time of writing this article, the Executive comprised, Karen Brice-Geard, Kathy Macfarlane, Mark Thornton, Mary Tait-Jamieson, Thomas Proctor, along with Marjorie Theyer, our Early Childhood Advisor.

 My work as Federation Secretary, now known as Federation Co-ordinator, straddles working with new initiatives, acting as a conduit for communication inward and outward, interfacing with other agencies and especially responding, as able, when specific issues arise in a school or kindergarten where I may be of assistance. 

New Initiative

After a period of quiet, three areas in New Zealand have developed impulses toward establishing Steiner Education more fully in their regions.  These areas are Rotorua, Kerikeri and Waiheke Island.  Dunedin Rudolf Steiner School, whilst certainly not a new initiative, is in the process of applying to the Ministry of Education to increase its maximum roll - a logical outcome given the shift of this school from an inner city street situation into a ‘dedicated' school - when its Trust purchased the former Maia School.  This may be a model for the future and it has been exciting to see what an enlivening thing the relocation of the school has been for the community.

In the Bay of Islands, the Kerikeri group is beginning to work toward the establishment of a kindergarten, building on the playgroup which has been operating for a few years now. I recently visited this enthusiastic community, which has established a Trust to discuss strong pathways towards establishing a kindergarten.  To that end, should any experienced teacher or kindergartener happen to be travelling ‘within cooey', I know this community would love increase opportunities for parent education.  If this sounds like you, please do contact me and I will put you in touch with members of the Bay of Islands Trust. 

On Waiheke Island, the Fossil Bay Kindergarten community and Trust are beginning to look afresh at plans to build on the existing and ‘grow' a school.  There are many steps to this process with large commitments and consequences for this community.

We wish Fossil Bay and other initiative communities in New Zealand well as they work through their own unique development journeys.   Sponsorship from established schools supports new initiatives to grow ‘well', and coupled with the services provided by the Federation through its employed staff, we seem now in a much better situation to develop new initiatives into the future. 

New Zealand Steiner Teacher Education

Our mandated Federation group concentrating on supporting teacher education and professional development pathways is an active collective of representatives from  established schools, Taruna College and, more recently, Neil Carter of the Pedagogical Section of the Anthroposophical Society in New Zealand.  The main focus areas for NZSTE have been:

• Continuing to hold a consciousness regarding the Steiner Degree programmes offered at AUT, including developing processes to ensure the Special Character dimensions of the Steiner Degrees are safe-guarded.
• Development and implementation of the in-service certificate courses, now operating in Primary and Early Childhood arenas, bringing to fruition our vision of, not only a five-year pathway of new-teacher education, but just as importantly, a place for professional development of existing practitioners,and a way of rejuvenation for our valued experienced colleagues.
• Wakening to shared and collaborative pathways with colleagues from within the Pacific, Asia and Australian schools. Members of the Australian Federation have recently attended an NZSTE meeting to discuss ways of the two countries working more effectively together, particularly with respect to teacher education and support of specialist and somewhat threatened curriculum areas, such as Bothmer Gymnastics and Eurythmy.
• The implementation, for the first time this year, of a dedicated High School Advisor. Mike Caris, from Taikura Rudolf Steiner School, has been appointed to this role and will be working for fixed periods of time in our high schools over the next few months. In subsequent years, the plan is that the Advisory contract will alternate between High School and Lower School realms.
• Consulting with our member Colleges regarding key issues and supporting through the regular Fellowship Conferences. A discussion is currently occurring within NZSTE about the Fellowship Conference context within a range of other conferences and existing professional development and collaborative opportunities. Traditionally these Fellowship Conferences, which occur every two years have been shared by the four full schools. Colleges have been asked to consider whether other schools might become venues in the future.

The development of the in-service courses and the participation of an increasing numbers of teachers in our schools and early childhood establishments has been a stunning development for the movement as a whole.  It recognises the need to provide in-service professional development because not all practitioners have been educated specifically in Steiner pedagogy before taking up teaching positions in our schools.  This year, the Early Childhood in-service programme got off to an amazing start with a large number of applications from existing practitioners to take up the certificate programme. Taruna College has worked hard to engage effectively with schools to become responsive to their teaching needs, and  NZSTE has created the forum for dialogue around future courses to take place.

I hope this article has provided you with a sense of the ‘business in hand' of the Federation. We are in burgeoning times, so the capacities we have built together will stand us in good stead to meet the future well and in good heart.