Transitions in Childhood from Birth to 14 Years: Significance, Challenges and Consequences - The Tasks for Educators and Teachers

Originally published in both German and English, Transitions in Childhood from Birth to Age 14 collects lectures given from May 30 to April 3, 2015 at the Goetheanum in Dornach, Switzerland, where 550 people from 46 countries, including Waldorf educators, scholars, and professionals in a wide range of fields, came together to work on the title theme. The conference was prepared and carried out by the Pedagogical Section at the Goetheanum and IASWECE (the International Association for Steiner/Waldorf Early Childhood Education). A main intention was to work together on current educational questions and thus deepen our understanding of child and human development.

Claus-Peter Röh of the Pedagogical Section at the Goetheanum summarized the mood at the end of the conference: "We have tried, with great intensity and candor, to create a community of awareness around various areas of education. The desire to always keep the idea of a whole in mind while discerning the individual was clearly apparent . . . Now we stand before the challenge of further developing our collective work and newly gained insights into the future."

We hope that these texts can serve as a basis for further study activity and can contribute to a greater collaborative activity in the Waldorf kindergarten and school movement.