The Teacher Training Institute

"Good education creates space where children can truly experience their childhood. A true experience of childhood fosters creativity and independence in adult life."

The Edinburgh part-time Steiner Teacher Training Institute aims to build a sound foundation in Steiner Waldorf teacher education through a combination of direct teaching, guided study, artistic practice and independent work.
 It is a three-year part time course taking place on Friday evenings and all day Saturdays at the Edinburgh Rudolf Steiner School.

During the first year, the focus is primarily on the study of the principles behind the Education, as such it is an education studies year. The second and third years aim to prepare the students for the classroom and can be regarded as initial teacher training. For those students who want to become class teachers in a Steiner school, the third year will include day time teaching observation and teaching practice periods in a Steiner School under the guidance of experienced class teachers.

STEINER WALDORF EDUCATION

Children today are growing up in a rapidly changing society, which is putting increasing demands upon them. In a Steiner Waldorf approach to schooling there is respect for childhood and deep understanding of what children require on the journey from childhood to adulthood. A broad-based curriculum and creative methods of teaching encourage each child to develop his or her most effective way of learning. Steiner Waldorf Schools have been comprehensive co-educational schools since their inception in 1919. Their unique international curriculum aims to meet the developmental needs of the growing child and adolescent, nurturing faculties rather than merely delivering prescribed information. From Kindergarten to the last year in school, all subjects are linked together and taught in a wide context. The education has gained increasing recognition throughout the world, which is reflected in the existence of over 8oo schools and nearly 1500 early years centres in 56 countries.

RUDOLF STEINER

As a young man, studying science and the humanities in Vienna, Rudolf Steiner became profoundly interested in the spiritual origins of nature and humanity. He broke new ground in many areas of cultural, social and scientific thinking.
In 1919 he was asked to found a school for the workers at the Waldorf-Astoria cigarette factory in Stuttgart, Germany. Steiner’s insights inspired the educational approach, promoting universal human values, educational pluralism and meaningful teaching and learning opportunities.