High School Intensive - Class 9-12

Caring for the adolescent

Young people are the bearers of unique impulses which must flourish for the benefit of the world. Part of the high school teacher’s task is to nurture and strengthen the unfolding capacity of critical thinking, and provide the means through which students can develop their skill and knowledge with veneration, in both the arts and sciences. Fundamental to this is a teacher’s sound understanding of human development.  It is only through this that teachers can effectively support students to authentically  partake, contribute and live within our rich culture in this current epoch of world evolution.

High school is the time to help the adolescent create their own path into the great disciplines of humanity: philosophy, science, geography, history, language, literature, mathematics, music, physical culture and art. A student’s interest in these areas of human striving is awakened through the enthusiasm and expertise of the high school teacher.

From the nature of the developing adolescent to the need for inner work of the teacher, the High School Intensive explores these important building blocks to secondary education.

The focus of the intensive is on developing an understanding of how Steiner education meets the emerging individuality of the teenager. The work begins with a vision of the person as a developing being and delves deeply into how a main lesson is crafted to support their unfolding.

The course opens with the Foundation Studies which gives a fuller understanding of the  developing human being upon which all Steiner education rests.

Out of this understanding, highly experienced teachers will introduce the various disciplines, through the exploration and development of Main Lessons.  This will highlight the interdisciplinary nature of the subjects and how their integration shapes and informs different aspects of the student’s inner being and individuality.  Students will then be able to make connections in the world, fostering the broadening and flexibility of their thinking,  and their understanding of the interwoven fabric of life, society and their own part in it.