Waldorf News

Waldorf Welcome Here

By Helen Bullard

Three big tour busses pull through the gates of the Fujian Agricultural College. Eager faces first see the manicured greens, bordering the large buildings, filled with mango and palm trees. Bright eyed, tousled headed faces push to the windows As the bus turns the corner and comes to stop before the narrow end of the 3 story concrete rectangle that will be their home for the next two weeks -that is when they’re not hiking in the surrounding mountains or swimming in the Straits of Taiwan.  A scramble ensues within the bus, as counselors who hail from locations as diverse as Finland and Inner Mongolia, surge towards the bus to greet campers who seem to swarm from the doors like bees from a hive.

Welcome to Waldorf Camp 2014 Fujian Province, PRC, where 100 Chinese children ages 7-16, primarily from large urban centers come together with former Waldorf students and teachers from around the world to connect with the natural world and experience the simple joys of childhood.  Waldorf Camp is the vision of world traveling German expatriate Christophe Daniels Jia (nee Jungerman). CD, as he’s usually referred to, is a multicultural communications consultant / market researcher and Waldorf graduate, who moved to back to his wife’s home town of Shanghai in 2006 as a Daimler consultant.  He is a man always in motion so it took a seven hour train trip returning to Shanghai to sit down and reflect.

The idea for Waldorf Camp was born after the market ‘troubles’ of 2008 and the arrival of his first child. CD realized the need for some diversification and his thoughts turned back to his own childhood. The son of an Anthroposophic physician and the second youngest of 7 children (5 of whom are now Waldorf teachers themselves), CD had many fond memories of his time spent camping.   “There is a great tradition of camping in Germany,” he tells me in his lightly accented German English..  “My grandfather was a Christian Community priest and he of course organized camps, and several of my older brothers lead camps today. I grew up camping. With seven children my mother had to work for us to go; so in the winter she organized Alpine Skiing camps for us and our friends and in the summers she worked in the kitchens so we could go to Christian Community Camp. I’d say camp experiences were an important influence in many of my brother’s lives as well.”

Camping may have been an important part of CD’s biography, but like many of us life took him on many journeys before returning to this calling. “I was the second youngest, looking up to my brothers and generally screwing up until I ended up taking a semester abroad in the US at Green Meadow. I got interested in languages and got into a friendly completion with the boy who I was staying with and it just continued from there. After high school I went to Russia for part of my studies and then for graduate school I was in Africa.”

He shrugs, “Opportunities fell my way; I met my wife in Germany (who is a Chinese national) and she began to motivate me and eventually we moved here. Germans have done business here in China for a long time. We helped build the railroads you know? And after 2008 I knew I needed to expand my business base and with our first child coming; and the explosion of interest in Waldorf Education with Chengdu and the rest,” he says, referring to the first Waldorf School to open and be officially recognized in China as he opens his second bottle of Starbucks which they sell in the train canteen along with shrink wrapped chicken feet and duck tongues.

CD continues, “So we began to explore how we go about this. My brothers had many contacts through their schools with Waldorf graduates, we start to get counselors and look to develop something like a peer leadership system, and these young adults bring Waldorf into practical doing. It’s the great thing with a camp culture there is nothing theoretical. Plus I get to bring this opportunity to see the world to these young people and provide them an experience that I myself would have loved at that age, it’s all good.”

It’s in exchanges like this I get to really see the heart behind the showmanship. Likewise behind the playful banter lies the underlying recognition of the significance such deeds can create in the world though he would be the first to brush this aside as Anthroposophic self-importance.  It’s a style I have encountered before in the summer camp world, whose long lasting social and developmental benefits are often not the first things folks think of when they encounter camp culture, despite the large body of research on the benefits of camp experience.

CD continues as the train stewardess, dressed in a smart purple uniform, complete with low pumps and hat, offers Haagen Dazs ice cream cups for sale through the train cars. “Now we begin also to make connections with America, with you and Louis (Louis Bullard, Camp Principal 2012 and 2014 an outdoor educator and class teacher of 20 years currently at Pine Hill Waldorf in Wilton, NH) and bring in this American tradition of camping, plus there is already a great parity with America here in China. Many Chinese parents send their children to America for school and so these are all opportunities.”

Indeed Waldorf Camp and its related Family Camps for young children are a perfect introduction for families interested in Waldorf education. The organization also holds several parent education events throughout the year offering opportunities for parents to explore Waldorf philosophy without the major time commitments of a teacher training program.  Louis Bullard who spent numerous years associated with Camp Glen Brook (6 years as Program Director) which was America’s first Waldorf-sleep-away- camp (now in its 65th year), sees great parity between the needs of Chinese and American children who bear the burden of a test driven, anxiety laden society that makes valuing the process difficult.

“Parents in both countries tend to be extremely involved in their children’s lives and so invested in solving their problems that here is a great need for children to have opportunities to practice being self- sufficient, simple things like taking care of their own clothes and belongings but also having an opportunity to challenge themselves with new experiences in an environment that values the process over the product. As a teacher of many years I see this tendency amplified in Chinese culture where one child is the norm and grandparents are so heavily involved in the child’s life as well. For many children this may be there first time away from home.”

“And then there is the issue of environmental disconnect.  Children of white collar workers in China have the same kind of nature deficit that many of our own do,” he says as we reflect on the trip.  “The cities are huge, most families live in apartments, there’s often heavy air pollution, and most of the grass is to be looked at not walked upon.”  He shakes his head. “Likewise in China everyone navigates through car filled streets and crowded buses and subways, smart phone to their ear. Simply coming to camp offers a window into another way of living,” he points out and I think that must have been William Harrer’s thought when he created Camp Glen Brook for New York City kids in the 1950’s.

But getting back to Fujian Camp, here we are, surrounded by rolling mountains, orchards of passion fruit, lychee and grape and the Dome. The three-story Dome sits on a small hill at the edge of the Agricultural College property, looking a bit like a spaceship sitting there amongst the farm fields and three story homes behind. It is the vision of Huang Jun Bo and Lin Jing Fen, a husband and wife team associated with the College  who strive to bring aesthetics, agriculture research, and the hospitality industry together under one roof – or dome as it were.

As we sit for tea, some of which they produce themselves, Mr. Huang tells me about the dome, which rises three stories; not exactly Buckminster Fuller in construction but combining both beauty and comfort under a framework of 1200 connected metal tubes, clad in heavy plastic.  Inside, pots and tubs of vines and flowering plants hug the walls.  There is a central circular grid supporting a walkway that leads to the second floor and then up to the circulation system at the top that moderates the severe Fujian heat and creates a temperate 25 degree breeze using water sourced from their well.

Around the center grid wires hold small pots with different plant comparison studies. The second floor is filled with flats and ‘walls’ of plant studies. Mr. Huang tells me that the dome has the capacity to produce 30,000 kg of food a year. In addition to research the dome has a restaurant, and guests can sit amongst the flowering vines growing up the sides of the dome and enjoy dinner and unique homegrown specialties served by one of the many interns they train.

A relationship with nature is something longed for but also undervalued by the modern Chinese family as they envision a white collared existence for their only child. The work of one’s hands carries bad associations it seems. Mr. Huang tells me, “An agricultural career is not what parents wish for their children, even if they can make money doing it.”  Outside the dome are fields that local farmers and some of the program’s interns tend using traditional methods, before rotating on to other kinds of tasks. As someone who lives quite near a CSA in Wilton, I was fascinated watching a great muzzled water buffalo (muzzled to keep him from snacking) standing with infinite patience waiting to till up the extra growth between the green rows.

Our hosts themselves chose the agricultural route due to their love of nature as well as the awareness of the critical role agriculture plays in China. They, like many of those in Anthroprosophical based agricultural endeavors, also see the secondary benefits of working together with fresh eyes, holistically, creatively, and within community.  This progressive thinking is perhaps the next step for China as the political and social changes of the privatization and economic expansion China began in the 1980’s penetrates deeply into general society.

“Students today study for the test only. The Principal supports our aim to help students and change parent’s perceptions. Students need to learn to work and relate within a community,” Huang informs me through my erstwhile interpreter. “We have 200 interns working,’ says Lin , an elegant woman who scarcely looks like she could be the mother of a 15 year old ,who is the partner in charge of much of the business and service end of the operation. “It is a challenge for them to work together.”

The couple has also begun holding summer camps for the communities around them, recognizing the correlations between community building and camping.  When asked if they have seen changes in children over their twenty years they shake their heads. Mrs. Lin brings out it is the parents that have changed. “They are much more self-centered and focused on doing just for their own child. We need to work much more on bringing them along to get their support for the whole community.”

Despite this individualistic focus, which my past conversations with those working with Chinese families confirm, there is a hunger for a different way of relating, and many people recognize that children’s needs are not being truly met. I was fortunate to spend some time with three long time kindergarten teachers from Fuzhou City. These ladies were truly interested in the insights that Waldorf offered, but again it seemed to boil down to how to facilitate change within the huge top down system which is peppered with the intensely personal role individual officials may play towards those who think outside the box. Like here in America, these teachers bemoaned the increasingly early intellectualization of Kindergarten and the benefits of play.

Sleep-away camps are just one of the ways the organization is making Waldorf connections in China.  Chinese parents highly value education. One study estimated families may spend upwards of 30% of the family income on education as compared to 2% in the UK. Chinese parents also recognize the need to bridge the east-west divide and western extra-curricular options abound. Parents of the very young are bombarded with information when they really could use experience. And that’s where Family Camp comes in.

Saying goodbye to Louis and the heat of Fujian, I traveled to the mountainous, bamboo filled Lushui Garden, Tianmu Mountain, Zhejiang area, where I joined Mr. Luo Xuan (one of the founders of the Chengdu WS) and Ms. Debra Renna (longtime Kindergarten teacher at Green Meadow WS and current school councilor) for the second session of Family Camp this year. Parents and young children traveled great distances to explore the picture of child development and family life Waldorf education and Simplicity Parenting offer.  They spend significant amounts of time and money to experience free play in a bamboo forest, circle games, crafting and nightly puppet shows and lectures while considering if this Waldorf alternative to mainstream is worth the risks.

What risks a western parent might ask? Luo Xuan tells me, “Waldorf is something very new to China. The Chengdu Waldorf School has only just graduated its first high school class and so is historically untried as an education for Chinese students in a very competitive economic system.”

Chinese parents have the usual worries that keep all of us parents awake at night. There are the usual questions most parents have when they encountered Waldorf such as ‘Will they be able to play with kids who watch TV?’ and ‘Will a delay in academic instruction hold them back throughout their academic life?’ in the early years progressing ultimately to ‘How will they pass their college entrance exams?’ and ‘Will they get into the top school of his or her choice after high school?’

But there are additional layers of educational complexities to be found in China, a country where the historical is palpable and the government continues to be a presence in daily life.  College graduates are ranked by the college attended and the twenty-something individuals I spoke with confirmed that the prestige of their college is the primary determinate in the hiring process. Combine this with a culture that historically frowns on nonconformity and has no tradition of local or individual control over education, and one can see how Waldorf education can be seen as an even greater leap of faith.

So how do Chinese parents provide what they feel best while the governmental policies strive for revolutionary unity in this increasingly international and individualistic sphere? One common solution is to arrange for a foreign birth as a way of circumventing some governmental limitations as well as mediating the high tax placed upon second children. As of this writing only the Chengdu Waldorf School has its state license despite there being as many as 40 Waldorf schools of various sizes in China as well as nearly 500 kindergartens operating across the country with average tuition of CNY40,000 (US$6,500) a year. Likewise many students as young as middle school travel to the west to attend boarding schools.  My daughter’s own High Mowing, the only Waldorf high school with an integrated boarding option is about 10% Chinese.

Waldorf education is growing at a healthy speed on the foundation of the China’s second generation beneficiaries of economic liberalization.  It’s my hope you readers will come to share my deep appreciation for the loving determination of our fellow parents in the PRC and the role Waldorf Camp plays in supporting the courageous spirit of these pioneering families as they look for ways, just as do we, to balance the ever increasing tide of universal materialism.

For Further Information:
Parents interested in a Chinese summer experience for their children or young adults interested in learning more about being a camp counselor in China can contact the program manager Helena at xu.yuting@waldorfcamp.org.

About the Author:
Helen Bullard shares the joys of Waldorf education wherever life takes her.  She holds two Masters Degrees, one in Art Therapy from University of Illinois at Chicago and another in Waldorf Education from Antioch New England Graduate School.  She completed additional training with Kim John Payne in his Collaborative Counseling / Simplicity Parenting training program.
Helen is an experienced class teacher as well as early child hood educator with a keen appreciation for the role the arts play in all aspects of life.  Helen’s specialties include  needle felting, clay modeling and painting as well as a life-long love of theater arts.  She is the wife of Louis, who is the current First Grade teacher at Pine Hill, and the mother of a fabulous fifteen year old High Mowing Freshmen Sephirah.

Bibliography:
Autonomy, Mastery, and Connection: True Gifts of a Quality Camp Experience by Bob Ditter, originally published in the May/June 2014 Camping Magazine, www.acacamps.org/campmag/1405/autonomy-mastery-connection

Letter from Chengdu, Class Consciousness – China’s new bourgeoisie discovers alternative education by Ian Johnson, The New Yorker, February 3,  2014

The rise of alternative education in China by Johan Nylander, for CNN. www.cnn.com/2014/03/26/world/asia/china-alternative-education/

Rahima Baldwin Reports on 2013 trip, www.waldorfinthehome.org/2013/03/waldorf_in_china_part_ii.html