Smitha Mallya's feedback - 12th March 2012
- Excellent organization.
- Website registration and payment system very efficient.
- Brilliant course choices and excellent facilitators
- Food could improve significantly.
- Did not use transport service.
Morning Biography session: Very well conducted. Slightly longer duration would of course have been good to have. Tania is a brilliant facilitator - she kept good time and managed the subject with sensitivity and loving authority.
Afternoon Health & Nutrition: Dr. Lakshmi brought a truly informative and also a magical, elevating quality to this session. Should have been continued with a Doctor after the 3 days to delve deeper into the health subject and Steiner’s indications on food & healing education for children. Aban, despite being a picture of good health herself & a great inspiration to all of us in so many ways, would still be a better facilitator for other topics with her vast experience of Anthroposophy & Eurythmy.
Tom & Alan : despite the very limited time they had to present their gifts to the whole group, were truly amazing. Their talks as well as sessions on Bothmer and Voice were a fantastic glimpse into the subjects they teach. It was also an inspiration to see what it makes of a teacher when they bring so much dedication, focus and energy to their work – bravo!
I would like to see 'Waldorf Parenting' as a separate subject in these conferences. It is of course good for parents to attend with teachers and experience a teacher training aspect, but nothing beats the many many 'parenting' courses that I had the privilege of attending in Australia. Many Waldorf teachers/ Anthroposophic doctors are also Waldorf parents, so you could get facilitators who will focus on 'parenting as a spiritual task'.
'Inner development' could also be a course in itself.
Some other suggestions:
It would be good to have at least one evening for fellowship & connection amongst participants - perhaps a cultural performance / sharing of talents program with some group games etc. would be a good way to bring the community together.
'Beginner' & 'Advanced' levels could be introduced in many pedagogical courses as the Waldorf movement seems to have a pool of both levels of teachers / parents in India now. More advanced work is needed for senior teachers to gain better experience and go deeper into their work.
Waldorf Handwork : (knitting/crochet/weaving/stiching) in the Classes 1-6 curriculum for 2 weeks would be great to have where participants work through the day for 5-6 days in the second week. Margaret Skerry in Melbourne would be a fantastic teacher for this if her health permits travel.
The only negative:
Although M Hotel was convenient logistically, it is a horrible hotel with no sense of process - endless troubles in the kitchen, hot water etc. etc. Should not be recommended to participants.