From Weird to Wonderful: A Journey in Steiner Education
Eliza Allan grew up in Denmark, Western Australia near Golden Hill Steiner School, and from a distance, she thought the school was a bit weird: today she is the school’s Principal. Her journey from cynicism to commitment has taken her through some fascinating highways and byways: years teaching English in Indonesia, leadership roles in remote schools in the Kimberlys, and a year long journey, on her own with her 10 year old daughter, trekking the 5,330 km Bicentennial National Trail along the Great Dividing Range, on a horse and two donkeys, a trek which produced her book Donkey Dreaming.
The golden thread running through Eliza’s story began when a health professional suggested Steiner education for her daughter. That advice led to interest, then background research and then commitment as she became first a Steiner parent and then a Steiner teacher. Today she leads the school she once saw as weird into its next stage of growth, extending the high school right up to Year 12. Here is Eliza’s journey in Steiner Education.
For more information about Steiner education: https://steinereducation.edu.au/
For more information about locations and contact details of Steiner schools: https://steinereducation.edu.au/schools/
Teacher education and professional learning: https://steinereducation.edu.au/events/
Working in a Steiner school: https://steinereducation.edu.au/jobs/#vacancies
Our facebook page is https://www.facebook.com/steinereducationaustralia
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/steinereducationaustralia/
The beautifully performed theme music ‘Libertango’ is played by Esther Abrami and Alexandra Whittingham.
Esther’s website: https://www.estherabrami.com/
Alexandra’s website: https://www.alexandrawhittingham.com/
Podcast produced by: https://piccolopodcasts.com.au/
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Steiner X: Building a School, Building a Garden, Building Community
What’s it like being a founding student in a new school being built classroom by classroom? Do you have memories of deficit or an absence of facilities? Well, no! Inger Boerema was one of the founding children at the Willunga Waldorf School south of Adelaide, and her memories are all of a rich childhood filled with imagination, play and a joyful community. Her Year 12 Project took these qualities to another level in her construction of a creative garden at the school, a year long undertaking where she developed skills in artistic design, construction and community building, as well as the life-long character strengths of self-confidence and advocacy. After a gap year working with marginalised communities in Ethiopia, she completed two university degrees and now works to develop the “circular economy” in local government in Melbourne. Inger is a parent in a Steiner school, and as a Board member she is happy seeing her own children enjoy their education as much as she did, while she continues her life work in building community.
For more information about Steiner education: https://steinereducation.edu.au/
For more information about locations and contact details of Steiner schools: https://steinereducation.edu.au/schools/
Teacher education and professional learning: https://steinereducation.edu.au/events/
Working in a Steiner school: https://steinereducation.edu.au/jobs/#vacancies
Our facebook page is https://www.facebook.com/steinereducationaustralia
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/steinereducationaustralia/
The beautifully performed theme music ‘Libertango’ is played by Esther Abrami and Alexandra Whittingham.
Esther’s website: https://www.estherabrami.com/
Alexandra’s website: https://www.alexandrawhittingham.com/
Podcast produced by: https://piccolopodcasts.com.au/
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Steiner X: The making of a powerful story-teller and collaborative cultural leader
After an illustrious career in theatre and the creative arts, Brenna Hobson is now Director of Programming at the Sydney Opera House. She was also fully educated at a Steiner school, and in this episode of Steiner X, Brenna reflects on the formative influences that shaped a career which took her from the Belvoir Street Theatre in Sydney to Executive Director of the National Theatre of Scotland in Glasgow. On her return to Sydney and appointment to the Sydney Opera House in 2024 she was described as a “powerful story-teller and collaborative cultural leader”. She now oversees the delivery of up to 700 events and productions annually in this most iconic of Australian buildings. Yet her Steiner roots still echo through the years as the memories of Main Lesson stories, hiking in Nature and traditional crafts continue to resonate in both her professional, and personal life.
For more information about Steiner education: https://steinereducation.edu.au/
For more information about locations and contact details of Steiner schools: https://steinereducation.edu.au/schools/
Teacher education and professional learning: https://steinereducation.edu.au/events/
Working in a Steiner school: https://steinereducation.edu.au/jobs/#vacancies
Our facebook page is https://www.facebook.com/steinereducationaustralia
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/steinereducationaustralia/
The beautifully performed theme music ‘Libertango’ is played by Esther Abrami and Alexandra Whittingham.
Esther’s website: https://www.estherabrami.com/
Alexandra’s website: https://www.alexandrawhittingham.com/
Podcast produced by: https://piccolopodcasts.com.au/
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Steiner X, Y and Z: The formation of a lifelong learner
Marcus Pater is a Steiner X, Y and Z: he is a graduate of
Lorien Novalis School for Rudolf Steiner Education, Dural, Sydney, and is now
both a teacher in the high school there and also a parent. In between he
trained at Queensland University of Technology in Acting and worked for over 12
years in professional theatre, before returning to his former school as a
parent and then teacher. He looks back with fond memories on the highlights of
his education that shaped who he is today: the class plays, the class trips,
the music program and a love of Nature. Together they gave him a way of looking
at the world that maintains curiosity, freshness and resilience, all the traits
of a lifelong learner.
For more information about Steiner education: https://steinereducation.edu.au/
For more information about locations and contact details of Steiner schools: https://steinereducation.edu.au/schools/
Teacher education and professional learning: https://steinereducation.edu.au/events/
Working in a Steiner school: https://steinereducation.edu.au/jobs/#vacancies
Our facebook page is https://www.facebook.com/steinereducationaustralia
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/steinereducationaustralia/
The beautifully performed theme music ‘Libertango’ is played by Esther Abrami and Alexandra Whittingham.
Esther’s website: https://www.estherabrami.com/
Alexandra’s website: https://www.alexandrawhittingham.com/
Podcast produced by: https://piccolopodcasts.com.au/
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Meeting Infinity: Seeing the World Differently
Sophia Montefiore is Senior High School Coordinator at the Newcastle Waldorf School. As well as teaching across numbers of subjects, Sophia is an artist, published illustrator and more recently a teacher of Projective Geometry, a discipline that blends the rigour of Mathematics with the beauty of Art. In this episode she discusses her work and speaks about the power of this subject to change how we see the world: by expanding our awareness out to Infinity and back, we learn to see the profound connections that underlie our existence. As a Main Lesson in Year 11, Projective Geometry opens the doors of perception for students to see the interconnectedness and beauty of our material, and non-material worlds.
You can explore Sophia’s work here: .
For more information about Steiner education: https://steinereducation.edu.au/
For more information about locations and contact details of Steiner schools: https://steinereducation.edu.au/schools/
Teacher education and professional learning: https://steinereducation.edu.au/events/
Working in a Steiner school: https://steinereducation.edu.au/jobs/#vacancies
Our facebook page is https://www.facebook.com/steinereducationaustralia
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/steinereducationaustralia/
The beautifully performed theme music ‘Libertango’ is played by Esther Abrami and Alexandra Whittingham.
Esther’s website: https://www.estherabrami.com/
Alexandra’s website: https://www.alexandrawhittingham.com/
Podcast produced by: https://piccolopodcasts.com.au/
Welcome to Steiner Voices XYZ, a podcast series hosted by Steiner Education Australia. We’re a forum for some of the varied voices of Steiner school communities and their people around the country, of teachers, parents and students.
Steiner education is a worldwide movement of some 1100 schools across the globe, on all inhabited continents and embraced by parents, teachers and students of all cultural backgrounds. In Australia we have 52 schools who are members of Steiner Education Australia and are all dedicated to delivering the rich and uplifting Australian Steiner Curriculum framework, recognised by the government education regulator ACARA as an approved equivalent to the Australian Curriculum version 9.
Listen to our Steiner Voices podcast series and you’ll meet some of the many people who make our Australian Steiner schools such vibrant learning communities.
Australia