Blog

The initiative of the National Tsing Hua University and the Taiwanese Federation of Waldorf Schools to establish a community of research practice as a year-long project is a significant step for the Waldorf education movement both locally and internationally. 

Importance of inquiry in Waldorf education

Waldorf education was first established over a hundred years ago and has been practised in Taiwan for almost 30 years. In this time, a significant body of practice has been established, some of which has been adopted from practice models overseas, from situations and times very different from twenty-first century Taiwan. Rudolf Steiner, the founder of Waldorf education, hoped that teachers in every Waldorf school (and I would add every early childhood setting, although they were not established in Steiner’s their lifetime) would inquire actively into their own practice and that they would share the results of these inquiries with each other. 

Already in his initial lectures to the future teachers of the first school, he asked them to consider innovative ways to approach teaching, and report back in order for their ideas to be refined – describing, in essence, an action research loop. He saw sharing the results of these inquiries as an important part of teachers’ meetings, both for their pedagogical insights and also because they foster interest in and respect for colleagues’ work. Similarly, he frequently mentioned the importance of finding new ways of doing things, of not being stuck in familiar patterns from the past, of finding new forms which are responsive to the times, to contemporary children, to ever-changing circumstances. This approach is strongly present in the inquiries put forward here.

There are two further aspects of this research initiative which I would like briefly to mention. The first is the nature of communities of practice, and the second is the significance of enthusiasm in education. 

The importance of communities of practice

The most common form of a community of practice in the field of education is where teachers come together to research small topics related to their everyday pedagogical activities. Such communities offer multiple advantages.

Since communities of practice often focus on small, specific topics that are relevant to the teachers’ own contexts, the research and findings can be immediately applied in the classroom. Indeed, teachers often choose to improve or expand their approaches to teaching. This can in turn lead to improvements in student engagement, student interest and understanding. If the students happen to know that their teacher is engaged in this process of inquiry, it models for them an adult on a path of continued education which is an excellent example to set. Communities of practice offer a space for collective reflection for teachers looking to deepen their understanding of work in the classroom, often in highly practical and context-sensitive ways. They can support innovation while retaining a Waldorf focus. 

Last but not least, the collaborative nature of communities of practice can help develop a sense of cooperation and shared endeavour between teachers, who may often work alone in their classrooms yet experience similar issues and questions. They can foster a communal sense of belonging and shared responsibility within a school or larger group, as here. This can then lead to feelings of being more supported and, by extension, acknowledged and valued by one’s peers. The collaborative nature of the work enhances motivation, leading to increased engagement with their professional development and a sense of ownership over their learning.

The importance of enthusiasm

The act of undertaking an initiative of this kind is itself noteworthy in the sense that taking part in it is an expression of curiosity, engagement and enthusiasm by the teachers. Committing oneself to a twelfth-month study on top of fulltime teaching loads, the demands of lesson preparation and teacher meetings, and of family and personal commitments is not something undertaken lightly. It speaks of an openness to learn, a willingness to be taken outside of one’s comfort zone and of enthusiasm. Rudolf Steiner has described that the word “enthusiasm” in German, Begeisterung, contains within it, the word Geist, or spirit. Being enthused is to have the spirit within you. This is especially significant given the spiritual background of Waldorf education.

In The First Teachers’ Course, Steiner mentions the value of enthusiasm in relationship to education, specifically that it is interest in the world which generates enthusiasm for teaching. This is important in relation to this research initiative. An interest in the world is evident in the inquires undertaken. Steiner said, “Our interest in the world will awaken in us the enthusiasm we need for the school and for our work” and later, “our ever-present sympathy with the world must only rise to consciousness exceptionally in feelings of enthusiasm (p. 114). 

Steiner exhorted teachers to keep their teaching alive through imagination, mentioning the word a remarkable 24 times in the final lecture of the first teachers’ course. Speaking of teaching in the middle school, he said “We must, as teachers, stimulate and develop the students’ imagination through our own. We must keep the lesson content alive within ourselves by imbuing it with imagination” (309). Action research projects are, by their very nature, trying to create something new, new knowledge, new ways of doing things. They are imbued with imagination. 

Steiner’s view was that developing your teaching through imagination is more than good teaching practice, it is an expression of a serious moral responsibility. 

You realize that there is a moral aspect to teaching, an inner obligation. A true categorical imperative for teachers that says: Keep your imagination alive! If you feel you are becoming pedantic, tell yourself that pedantry may be unfortunate in others, but in teachers it is actually something evil. Pedantry in teachers is immoral. This thought must become second nature to you. If that is not possible, you have to use what you have learned in your teacher training in some other profession. It may not always be possible to do everything according to our ideal in life, but it is crucial that we know what this ideal is. (309)

Creating anew in Waldorf education is in this way the responsibility of every teacher. 

A final word

These modest research projects are all expressions of individual initiative. I believe that the world changes when an individual initiative meets with resonance from others; communities are built, enthusiasm is fostered, something is created which did not exist before, and the world is richer for it. I commend the initiators of this research impulse and the teachers who responded to it with enthusiasm, commitment and curiosity. This is no small thing to take on. I am confident that this interest on the part of the teachers will have had a beneficial effect on their work the children. I am similarly confident that the wider Steiner education community in Taiwan is the stronger for this project and hope that the good work done can be disseminated widely so that others can benefit from it, both within Taiwan and beyond. Ideal would be if this project could serve as an example to Waldorf communities elsewhere to learn from and if it could inspire teachers in other places to create similar research communities 

It has been a privilege to be involved with such an initiative. I hope that this research impulse which has been so well nourished in Taiwan can be continued into the future.

*The English word, enthusiasm, conveys the same idea, and comes from the Greek, enthousiazein, to be inspired or possessed by a god (literally, having a god inside you). These German and English etymologies (which are shared by multiple European languages) are different from Traditional Chinese, in which the root of the word enthusiasm 熱情 (rèqíng) signifies warmth of emotion.

研究實踐社群在華德福教育中的重要性

翻譯：成虹飛       

國立清華大學和台灣華德福教育運動聯盟倡議建立一個為期一年的研究實踐社群，是台灣本地和國際華德福教育運動的重要一步。

探究在華德福教育中的重要性

華德福教育創立於一百多年前，在台灣實踐近三十年，已經建立了一個實踐體系，其中一部份是借鑒了海外的實踐模式，與二十一世紀台灣的情境完全不同。華德福教育的創始人Rudolf Steiner希望每所華德福學校的老師（我會加上每一個幼兒園所，儘管這些在Steiner生前還沒有建立）能夠積極探究自己的實踐，並分享探究成果。在他對第一所學校未來教師的培訓講座中，他要求他們考慮創新的教學方法，並進行報告以完善他們的想法——本質上是描述了一個行動研究循環。他認為分享這些探究的結果是教師會議的重要組成部分，不僅因為他們的教學見解，還因為它們培養了對同事工作的興趣和尊重。同樣，他經常提到尋找新的做事方式的重要性，不要陷入過去熟悉的模式，尋找適應時代、當代兒童和不斷變化的環境的新形式。這些方法，充份地呈現在這一次台灣的教師研究社群的探究中。

我想簡單提及這項研究計劃的另外兩個面向。第一個是實踐社群的性質，第二個是教育熱情的意義。

實踐社群的重要性

教育領域實踐社群最常見的形式是教師聚集在一起研究與其日常教學活動相關的小主題。這樣的社群具有多種優點。

由於實踐社群通常關注與教師自身背景相關的小而具體的主題，因此研究和發現可以立即應用於課堂。事實上，教師經常選擇改進或擴展他們的教學方法。這反過來又可以提高學生的參與度、興趣和理解。如果學生碰巧知道他們的老師正在參與這個探究過程，那麼這就為他們樹立了成年人持續自我教育的榜樣。實踐社群為希望加深對課堂工作的理解的教師，提供了集體反思的空間，通常以高度實用和情境敏感的方式進行。他們可以支持創新，同時保留華德福的核心。

還有一點是，實踐社群的協作性質可以幫助教師之間培養合作意識和共同的努力，因為教師可能經常在課堂上獨自工作，但會遇到類似的問題和困惑。它們可以在學校或更大的團體內培養集體歸屬感和共同責任感，就像在這裡一樣。這會感覺得到更多的支持，進而得到同儕的認可和重視。工作的協作性質增強了積極性，從而提高了他們對專業發展的參與度和對學習的主體意識。

熱情的重要性

進行此類倡議的行為本身就值得注意，因為參與該倡議表現出教師的好奇心、參與和熱情。在全日制教學負擔、備課和教師會議的要求以及家庭和個人承諾的基礎上，投入為期十二個月的探究並不是一件輕而易舉的事情。它代表著開放的學習態度、願意走出舒適圈的意願以及熱情。Rudolf Steiner描述說，德語中的“熱情”（Bgeisterung）一詞包含著“Geist”或“靈性”一詞。充滿熱情就是你內心有靈性。考慮到華德福教育的靈性背景，這一點顯得尤為重要。

在《第一屆教師培訓課程》（譯按：另外的翻譯名稱為「人的研究」或「人的普遍智識」）中，Steiner提到了熱情對於教育的價值，特別是對世界的興趣產生了教學熱情。這對台灣這項研究計劃很重要。從所進行的探究中可以明顯看出對世界的興趣。Steiner說，「我們對世界的興趣將喚醒我們對學校和工作所需的熱情。」以及，「我們對世界持續的融合感唯有在特別熱情的感覺中才會在意識中浮現出來。」

Steiner勉勵教師要透過想像（imagination）讓教學保持活力，他在「第一屆教師培訓課程」的最後一講中特別提到了這個詞24次。談到中學教學，他也說：「身為教師，我們必須透過自己的想像來激發和發展學生的想像。我們必須透過自己內在充滿想像來維持課程內容的活力」。行動研究計畫就其本質而言，就是試圖創造新的東西、新的知識、新的做事方式。它們充滿想像力。

Steiner的觀點是，透過想像發展教學不僅是良好的教學實踐，更是一種嚴肅的道德責任的體現。

你意識到教學有道德層面，內在義務。對教師來說，真正的絕對命令是：保持你的想像！如果你覺得自己變得迂腐，告訴自己，迂腐對別人來說可能是不幸的，但對老師來說，這其實是邪惡的事。教師迂腐是不道德的。這種想法必須成為你的第二天性。如果這是不可能做到的，您只好將您在這個教師培訓中學到的知識換到其他行業中運用。也許並不總是能夠按照我們的生活理想做每件事，但我們知道這個理想是什麼是至關重要的。 

以這種方式創新華德福教育，是每位教師的責任。

最後一句話

這些平實的研究項目都是個人主動性的體現。我相信，當個人的倡議得到他人的共鳴時，世界就會改變；社群得以建立，熱情得以培養，一些以前不存在的東西被創造出來，世界因此變得更加豐富。我讚揚這項研究動能的發起者以及以熱情、奉獻和好奇心回應這項研究的教師。這不是一件小事。我相信，老師們的這種興趣將對他們的工作和孩子產生有益的影響。我同樣相信，台灣更廣泛的華德福教育界因為這個計畫會更加強大，並希望所做的傑出工作能夠廣泛傳播，以便台灣內外的其他人都能從中受益。理想的情況是，該計畫可以作為其他地方的華德福社群學習的榜樣，並且可以激勵其他地方的教師創建類似的研究社群。

能夠參與這樣的倡議是我的榮幸。我希望這種在台灣得到充分滋養的研究動力能持續到未來。