Interested in supporting a broad and holistic education?

YOU ARE WARMLY INVITED TO ATTEND

THE FIRST ANNUAL PRE-AERA (American Education Research Association) SEMINAR

Bringing Together Waldorf and
Mainstream Educators and Researchers

The Arts and Spirit:
Education, Caring, Relationship, and Community

From Anecdote to Evidence:
A Dialogue on Research Implications from Waldorf Education

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SteinerBooks has, for the past three years, been an active participant at AERA meetings: Montreal (2005); San Francisco (2006); Chicago (2007); and New York City (2008). Our purpose is to insure that Waldorf education is adequately represented to mainstream educational academics and researchers — to educate the top educational professionals in North America about the Waldorf movement and attempt to counter erroneous preconceptions about this most important impulse to renewal in education and child development. Once again, we will attend the annual AERA meeting from March 24 through 28, as well as this Pre-AERA seminar on March 22 at the Anthroposophical Society Bookstore in New York City.

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OBJECTIVES:

To build community between Waldorf educators/researchers and mainstream educators/researchers, by:
− facilitating mutual learning between Waldorf and mainstream education
− introducing mainstream educators/ researchers to Waldorf education
− building awareness of Waldorf as a noteworthy movement based on past achievement
− enthusing researchers to include Waldorf education in their research agendas
− encouraging Waldorf educators/researchers to engage with and learn from mainstream educational research

TOPICS INCLUDE:

− Democracy And The Education Of The Heart: Relations Of Spirituality And Schooling
− Lessons From 5 Case Studies: Classroom Research On Waldorf Strategies To Increase Engagement Of Boys In Schools
− Education: Research Based Evidence From The UK

PRESENTERS AND DISCUSSANTS INCLUDE:

—Cyrus E. Driver— Deputy Director, Education, Sexuality, Religion (ESR) Unit, of the Knowledge, Creativity and Freedom Program. In this capacity, Cyrus assists the Director in the administration of Unit staff and programs. Cyrus came to the Foundation in December 1998 as a Program Officer in the field of education and scholarship. His portfolio supports collaborative efforts to reform large urban school districts and state community college systems in the U.S. so that all students, particularly those from historically marginalized groups, receive a high quality education. Prior to joining the Foundation, Cyrus co-directed coalition-building and parent organizing strategies at Designs for Change in Chicago, helping to lead to an historic reform to decentralize control of Chicago’s 600 public schools to boards of parents, school-level educators and community leaders. Cyrus also has served as a policy analyst for the Oakland and Berkeley, California Unified School Districts, researcher for the Accelerated Schools Project at Stanford University; and community organizer and adult educator for several organizations in Chicago. Cyrus holds a B.A from the University of Chicago, an M.P.P. from the University of California, Berkeley, and an M.A. in Economics and Ph.D. in the Economics of Education, both from Stanford.

—Linda Gayle Williams, Ph.D.— An Assistant Professor of Reading at Eastern Michigan University, Dr. Williams is a Master Teacher who taught as a class teacher and an early childhood teacher for 17 years at the independent Detroit Waldorf School and at Urban Waldorf School, a public school in Milwaukee. She is the former director of the Waldorf Teacher Development Association, a Michigan-based teacher education institute and continues to serve as a mentor and master teacher. She also is a former faculty member of the University of Detroit Mercy where she taught courses in literacy and reading acquisition. Dr. Williams received her doctorate in 2006 from Michigan State University in Curriculum, Teaching, and Educational Policy, with a specialization in literacy education. At Eastern Michigan University, she teaches courses in reading pedagogy, including word study and early literacy development. A recent recipient of an Academic Service Learning Teaching Fellowship, as well as a New Faculty Research Award, Dr. Williams' current research explores how activity theory can be used to develop academic skills.

—Dr. Ida Oberman— an independent education consultant. A classroom teacher for a decade, Dr. Oberman is also co-founder of a public school inspired by Waldorf bordering Harlem in New York City’s District 3. Dutch born and German educated (Tűbingen Waldorf School), she received her BA from Swarthmore and her PhD from Stanford. She has served as education program officer for the Hewlett Foundation and Director of Research & Evaluation with Springboard Schools where she led the California Best Practice Study of high performing, high poverty schools in the state. Her forthcoming book with Mellen Press is titled The Waldorf Movement from European Cradle to American Crucible, 1919–2007: Fidelity and Flexibility in Waldorf Education.

—Eleanor Armour-Thomas— holds a joint appointment as professor of Educational Psychology at Queens College and the Graduate School and University Center of the City University of New York. She serves as the Chairperson of the Department of Secondary Education and Youth Services, Queens College and is a senior research scientist at the Institute for Urban and Minority Education, Teachers College, Columbia University. Her research interests and publications center on teacher and student cognition related to classroom learning with a focus on intellectual assessment of children from culturally diverse backgrounds and assessment of teaching in mathematics at the high school level. She does consultative work in educational program evaluation and teacher professional development

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CO-SPONSORS:

Holistic Education Special Interest Group, AERA

Critical Educators for Social Justice Special Interest Group AERA

Sunbridge College, Chestnut Ridge, New York

SteinerBooks, New York

SteinerBooks will also represent Waldorf education as an "exhibitor" at this year's AERA meeting in NYC

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About AERA

The American Educational Research Association (AERA), founded in 1916, is concerned with improving the educational process by encouraging scholarly inquiry related to education and evaluation and, by promoting the dissemination and practical application of research results.

AERA is the most prominent international professional organization, with the primary goal of advancing educational research and its practical application. Its 25,000 members are educators; administrators; directors of research; persons working with testing or evaluation in federal, state and local agencies; counselors; evaluators; graduate students; and behavioral scientists.

The broad range of disciplines represented by the membership includes education, psychology, statistics, sociology, history, economics, philosophy, anthropology, and political science.

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