Afternoon Workshops - 2026 Association Conference

Human Sexual Development Through Childhood: What's Expected--and Considerations Regarding Planning for and Addressing the Unexpected - Heidi Sproull

As a human sexual health and trauma expert working with adults, children, families and schools for more than 30 years, I have observed a systemic lack of working knowledge about normative sexual development in children that can create uncertainty in our schools about what is expectable and normative. This can become especially challenging when a behavior occurs that seems unexpected, unusual, or potentially problematic where we may wonder, has this child been or are they being harmed? Having clear knowledge about normative childhood development and usual sexual development within a bio/psycho/social context can create a base for how to teach privacy, safety, and workable boundaries about bodies, touch and play—without causing shame or shutdown. A knowledge base from an inclusive, intersectional lens supports faculty, administration, and school communities to articulate and deepen clear and supportive policy. It can also inform how problematic sexual behaviors in children will be addressed with regards to specific impacted families, mandated reporting considerations, and communication with community members following a problematic incident. The current cultural and social context–including the impact of social media of all types—in spite of our attempts to reduce the impact of this content on our schools and the current politicization of human sexuality makes this perspective all the more salient at this time. Our school movement with its focus on holistic human development, calls us to seek solid grounding in this content to meet the moment with clarity and dignity.

Diversity, Inclusion, and Evolutionary Emergence: Integrating Past, Present, and Future in Beloved Community - Brad Kershner

This two-day workshop will offer an expansive historical overview and a helpful framework for understanding contemporary cultural tensions and conflicts related to diversity, inclusion, and identity. We will clarify our individual and shared stories about who we are, when we are, and the future we desire. The first day will explore where we are and how we got here, and the second day will focus on how Waldorf schools can be cultural leaders in a post-modern, post-truth world that so desperately needs us.

The Redemption of Governance through Threefolding - John Bloom

Understanding the deeper practices of what Rudolf Steiner brought forward as the Threefold Commonwealth (threefolding) is a fundamental framework for humanizing and enlivening governance, management, leadership. Linking the fields of the spiritual/cultural, rights and agreements, and economics with the three core facets of good governance—responsibility, authority, and accountability—can bring a new level of integrity and humanness to how each function in a school can contribute to furthering its mission. We will address the issues of power, freedom, the roles of teachers, board, administration, and the social and spiritual mission of a Waldorf school.

Holding the Heat: Adaptive Leadership for Waldorf School Leaders - Joseph Doucette

This two-part, 90-minute workshop invites Waldorf school leaders to explore the essential distinction between technical and adaptive leadership, grounded in the work of Ronald Heifetz and Marty Linsky. Together, participants will examine how adaptive leadership calls us to “hold the heat” of change by mobilizing our communities to engage complex, value-laden challenges where no ready solutions exist while recognizing when technical expertise and clear direction are most effective. Through discussion, reflection, and case studies, we will connect these concepts to the living realities of Waldorf school life, including governance, school management, faculty and staff collaboration, and community culture. Participants will leave with practical tools and renewed insight into leading with presence, courage, and discernment amid the evolving dynamics of contemporary Waldorf education.

Mentoring and Coaching as Pathways for Living the Principles: Bridging Pedagogical Insight and Professional Practice - Karen Atkinson

This workshop explores how the art and practice of mentoring can serve as a living bridge between the eight AWSNA Principles for Waldorf Schools and the daily life of our classrooms, faculties, and communities. As schools strive to strengthen collegial relationships and foster pedagogical renewal, mentoring and coaching emerge as vital pathways for professional development and organizational health.

Through presentation, conversation, and artistic activity, participants will experience how the Seven Life Processes can serve as a foundation for understanding human development, adult learning, and school dynamics. Working with these processes offers mentors and school leaders a way to approach professional relationships with warmth, rhythm, and consciousness—qualities that support both individual and collective growth. We will also consider how the spiritual image of the human being, freedom in teaching, collaboration in governance, and commitment to diversity and dignity all find practical expression through mentoring relationships.

Participants will gain insight into the essential qualities of effective mentoring and coaching: active listening, reflective dialogue, and compassionate observation. Together, we will explore how mentors can offer objective feedback while nurturing confidence, inspiration, and renewed purpose in the teachers they support. Real examples from the Mentor Training Program at the Center for Anthroposophy will illustrate how professional development can be designed to align with each school’s mission, culture, and long-term vision.

Whether you are a school leader, pedagogical chair, or experienced teacher wishing to guide others, these sessions will offer concrete tools, reflective practices, and inspiration for cultivating a culture of support and shared responsibility. Mentoring, when practiced with intention and artistry, becomes not only a professional task but a spiritual and social endeavor—one that sustains our teachers, strengthens our communities, and brings the principles of Waldorf education more fully to life.

Inhabiting the Body, Awakening the Spirit: A Practical Path for Teachers - Kate Garland

Waldorf education asks something profound of its teachers: to cultivate an inner life that is awake, grounded, and receptive to inspiration. Yet in the fullness of school life—lesson preparation, meetings, caretaking, and constant outward attention—the teacher’s inner world can easily become depleted. This workshop offers a practical, accessible way to reconnect with the wellspring of strength and insight that lives within the human body.

Drawing on Steiner’s view of the human being as body–soul–spirit, we will explore how inhabiting our physical form with greater presence opens the doorway to deeper intuition, steadiness, and spiritual clarity. Rather than approaching this through theory alone, participants will be guided through simple, gentle practices designed to help the body settle, the breath soften, and the inner life awaken. These practices support the teacher’s capacity for attunement, discernment, and warmth—qualities that shape the atmosphere of the classroom as much as any curriculum.

During our time together, we will consider why embodiment matters for educators, how the teacher’s physical and energetic state influences the child’s experience, and how Steiner’s insights into movement and presence can be understood in a contemporary, approachable way. We will reflect on the gap many teachers feel between spiritual intention and daily lived reality, and how small, consistent practices can bridge that gap.

Participants will leave the workshop with a simple 15–20 minute daily practice they can bring into their own lives—one that supports grounding, clarity, and inner renewal. No prior movement experience is necessary; all activities are gentle, inclusive, and designed for the everyday life of a teacher.

This workshop is ideal for educators who long for more spaciousness and steadiness in their inner life, who sense that their body holds untapped wisdom, or who are seeking a practical way to strengthen their spiritual development in service of their work with children. Together, we will explore how inhabiting the body more fully can awaken the spirit—and how that awakening can ripple into every aspect of teaching.

Creating Community - Kathleen Bowen

Awaken to the importance of community, to discover and appreciate how the diversity of our unique experiences weave together in our interconnected lives. Social artistic activities will weave in and out of our authentic conversation and active listening, allowing empathy to arise.

Come together to remember and enliven love for the school community, to strengthen community bonds and to recognize the challenges of our time.

Biography reflection provides a chance to experience how opening to your biography can further your understanding not only of your journey, but to that of the children.

Inviting the Future: Practical Tools for Leadership and Governance in Waldorf Schools -
Stephanie Rynas and Jessica Heffernan Ziegler
Workshop is Full

This two-part workshop introduces AWSNA's Effective Practices in Leadership and Governance framework — a research-based approach developed to address challenges Waldorf schools commonly face around decision-making, governance structures, roles, and organizational culture. We'll explore practical tools and framing questions organized around five core areas — Values, Behavioral Norms, Culture, Structure, and Mission — that can help a school community develop the shared agreements that make effective governance possible.

The work is led by a cross-functional team of faculty, administration, and board leadership, but it draws on the broader school community to reach those agreements — beginning with an assessment that surfaces areas of discord or misalignment and leads to an action plan for addressing them. This year, six schools participated in a pilot using AWSNA's Effective Practices toolkit, working with a process coach to assess their current systems and develop a path forward. In this workshop, we'll draw on that experience to introduce the framework and give you a feel for how schools can take up this work. There are no quick fixes, and it requires leadership that is genuinely willing to understand one another well enough to make real changes — but it is possible. You'll leave with a practical sense of how to begin this conversation at your own school.