Waldorf News

Planting the seeds of Waldorf education in Iran

By Leila Alemi

On Monday, August 15 the small lecture hall of the Children Book Council of Iran in Tehran became filled with enthusiastic people who had gathered from near and far to hear a report about Waldorf education. The lecture hall is built to fit about 50 people but that day more than 130 people showed up with keen interest to learn about this approach to education. Therefore, not only the lecture hall, but the whole space (which is not very large) was filled with people. The audience formed a wide range of experts from class teachers, school administrators and principals, parents, librarians, children’s book specialists, and owners of various children-related initiatives in Tehran and Karaj.

This was going to be my first public presentation about Waldorf education in Iran. When I graduated from Antioch University New England’s Waldorf education program in 2014, I had the support and sponsorship of Highland Hall Waldorf school and was hoping to be able to join the team of faculty at that school. However, life had other plans for me. I was not able to get a work visa and had to return to my home country, Iran. However, I had the invaluable experience of working at the early childhood section of Rudolf Steiner School of Ann Arbor for a year (2014/2015) and was very grateful for that.

During the days ahead of the event in Tehran, I was eager and a little nervous, since I did not have an idea if anyone would be interested to attend and hear my speech. The theme was “Waldorf education’s approach toward the Arts and Literature”. This was an appropriate theme for an audience whose passion was to connect arts and literature to education of children. My own passion for this speech was to bring about the concept of inner freedom and independent individuality from an Anthroposophical point of view and speak of the role of arts and literature in cultivating this inner freedom. It is my life’s passion to awaken a conscious understanding of individuality in hearts and minds of people who show an interest in hearing about Waldorf education or Anthroposophy in Iran. I believe that the way towards a better future for this nation is to become conscious of an urgent need to cultivate independent individuality in children and young adults so that they can keep up with the world’s evolution.

In my master’s thesis for Antioch I worked on this concept and investigated this question: To what extent do the younger generation of Iranians (children born after the revolution on 1979) are aware of their independent individuality? My research showed that this awareness is very low in Iranians in general and in this generation in particular. I found that the nation’s old social order has had a definite role in forming the worldviews and personalities of individuals.

Iran or Persia as it was called in ancient times has seven thousand years of recorded history and was among the first civilizations that developed urban life and social order. The ancient civil social order functioned appropriately over centuries and millennium. In this order, three major sources of authority were the decisive decision makers for individual human beings. These sources were: Elders of the family, religion and the state. Each and every person was required to surrender to these authorities. This form of social order seemed to work until the end of the Golden Ages of Islam and beginning of Safavid dynasty. However, after the end of the Golden Ages major changes occurred in the consciousness of humanity as a whole. From that time onward, the evolution of humanity became dependent to cultivating independent thinking and forming individual understanding of the world. In Iran, however, the old social order remained and continued to reign over people’s lives until the present time.

Now, at a time when the evolution of human consciousness prompts independence, individuality and inner freedom in human beings, Iranians need to set themselves free of the outer authorities and begin an inner and outer journey to connect to their unique inmost essence.

In this speech my goal was to relate this view of individuality to Waldorf education’s approach to the arts and literature. Douglas Gerwin’s article in the fall/winter 2011 issue of the Renewal helped me greatly in forming my speech. In that article named “The Soul and Substance of Waldorf Teacher Education” he speaks of three levels that any Waldorf teacher has to practice in order to be ready to teach at a Waldorf school. The first and most important level is undertaking rigorous self-development. For the ultimate purpose of Waldorf education is to help each child go through a process of self-transformation. And this self-transformation can only be practiced on oneself (by the child). However, the child needs to be guided in this process and only adults who are continuously engaged in self-development themselves can be proper guides.

The second level is studying of human development in general and from an Anthroposophic point of view. This is extremely important and Steiner has spoken about it in many of his lectures and books. An education would only be valid and efficient if the teacher is aware of the general and archetypal levels and layers of human development. The third level is the art of teaching itself. The first and second levels are the foundations and the most essential aspects of an art of education based on Anthroposophy. One can recognizes the importance and the great emphasis on knowing the human being in general as well as each particular child, as well as preparing the space for going through self-development and self-creation in the process of education.

This article enlightened my mind and helped me to explore how the arts and literature serve the essence and main goals of Waldorf education and at the same time relate this to my own passion about inner freedom and individuality.

Finally, the day of the event arrived and I began my speech by introducing Rudolf Steiner and the first Waldorf school in Stuttgart. I then touched upon Steiner’s ideas and worldview in relation with individuality and inner freedom. I used the term “The Philosophy of Freedom” to briefly introduce Steiner’s teachings about self-development and inner freedom.

Then, I turned my focus to the role of the arts and literature in the process of self-development as well as preparing a continuous and steady opportunity for each entrusted child to go through this process in her own unique pace and way. Practicing the arts stimulates, fosters and deepens this self-transformation in two ways: Engaging with the arts takes one on a journey inside. A journey that helps one experience one’s inmost feelings, soul characteristics, emotions and thoughts. This inner journey occurs at various levels depending how far the person has gone on this life-long journey. A journey that sheds light on the core and essence of a person. That core is unique for each human individual and is to be known during a life time so that the individual can experience a personal understanding of the self, world and of existence and come to an independent judgment of the world. This journey occurs in a unique way for each human being and the practice of arts can provide this opportunity for them.

The other magical function of the arts is providing the opportunity for creative, unique creation. Each child in a Waldorf school experiences artistic creation from a very young age. This process remains tremendous transformational influence on the child’s willing, feeling and thinking abilities. It shows the child that she can transform her ideas to something real and existing. It shows her that she can transform evil into good (beauty) and create. This is specially needed in Iranian individuals. I often encounter with people who have fantastic ideas and wishes which never turn into reality. They get inspired, come up with wonderful ideas but simply do not have the capacity to connect their willing to their feeling and thinking and enter the process of creation. The result of this lack of connection can be clearly seen in the way people lead their lives. They prefer to cover up what they really are (or can be) because they don’t know how to be it. They lack the capacity (the willing) to be their own selves. Therefore, becoming aware of this magical function of the arts can result in great changes in self-development and self-creation of adults and children in Iran.

Literature offers a similar process. It creates an opportunity to experience universal human feelings such as happiness, anger, envy, fear, suffering, grief, instability and so on. However, each individual experiences them in a unique and personal way. This experience leads to gaining an individual understanding of the world and of human as an archetype.

Engaging with the arts and literature enriches the inner treasure of concepts and archetypal human feelings, as well. This enrichment forms a crucial, lifetime reference for the person to trust in and to refer to.

In the other part of my speech I introduced various arts that are practiced in Waldorf curriculum and spoke briefly about when, why and how each art is introduced and practiced at a Waldorf class. I then touched upon Waldorf approach toward literature and introduced the types of stories that are brought to the children at different ages and developmental levels.

To my amazement the audience stayed, listened and took notes carefully  despite the very hot room temperature, lack of enough space (more than half of the people didn’t have a place to sit and many of them could not even see me while I was speaking). After I finished speaking it was time for question and answer. Although our time was over (I had spoken for two hours), almost all of the people stayed for the question and answer section and asked many questions for another hour and finally we all had to wrap up the questions and leave because the Book Council staff wanted to close the doors and go home after a long day of work.

This event had another high point. As well. After almost two years the process of publishing the book ‘School as a Journey’ by Torin Finser, translated by me to Farsi ended and the book was officially published and ready to be read exactly one day before the event. Therefore, we were honored to unveil the book at the event as the first reference book about Waldorf education in Farsi (the language spoken in Iran). The book has been welcomed cheerfully by many people who would have loved to know about Waldorf education and would not have found any book in Farsi to read. People read and introduce it to each other and so it is being known about in near and far.

My hopes for the future of Waldorf education in Iran: Several individuals have contacted me after the event and have asked for workshops or just have let me know of their interest to join me in my path toward establishing Waldorf education in Iran. At the present time one school for disadvantaged Afghan children who live in Iran has began to transform its system toward Waldorf education and one other center for early childhood education has requested to begin a joint project to adopt the Waldorf approach in their educational system.

My hope is that I can provide services such as workshops, lectures, translation of Waldorf resources and help schools move toward Waldorf education or adopt aspects of it in their curriculum. I hope that my country can join the world-wide family of Waldorf education and be part of this universal movement for bringing peace, love and inner freedom to human beings.

Leila Alemi translated Torin Finser’s ‘School as a Journey’into Farsi. The title of the book in Farsi is ‘An Adventurous Journey’ and it is the first reference book about Waldorf education that has been translated into and published in Farsi.