Voices of Waldorf Elders

About Voices of Waldorf Elders

Voices of Waldorf Elders is an oral-history podcast preserving the stories, experiences, and wisdom of longtime Waldorf educators. Through personal conversations about their lives and work, the series offers insight and companionship to younger and future generations of Waldorf teachers. Hosted by Roel op ’t Ende.

Publisher

Roel op 't Ende

Category

education

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

5 Jul 2026

Latest episode

17 Oct 2026

Latest episodes

15 episodes in the feed.

1. 

   17 Oct 2026

   Thesa Callinicos: The Secret to Staying Joyful as a Teacher

   What keeps a good teacher from becoming exhausted, rigid, or even “sour”? Thesa Callinicos has spent more than fifty years in Waldorf education as a teacher, artist, school founder, mentor, and teacher educator. In this deeply personal conversation, she reflects on the experiences that shaped her and on what allows a teacher to struggle without losing creativity, humanity, or joy. Her story begins in a Greek family in Johannesburg and leads through Emerson College, communal life in America, motherhood, the founding of a pioneering school in rural Colorado, teaching in Hawaii, and decades of mentoring younger educators. We also discuss: • Growing up amid South African inequality • Language, poetry, music, Theosophy, and Thesa’s first spiritual questions • Why Waldorf education felt more alive and humane than conventional schooling • Founding a school while raising a young family • The balance between structure, freedom, discipline, and inspiration • Teacher relationships, criticism, courage, and healthy school culture • The fourfold understanding of the human being • Nature, rhythm, safety, imagination, and children’s development • Art and creativity as essential parts of education • Protecting teachers’ health, family life, and long-term vitality • Avoiding burnout, spiritual competition, and becoming “sour” • Why human connection matters in the age of artificial intelligence • Reflection, meditation, and reviewing the day backwards • Struggle as part of teaching and joy as a gift Voices of Waldorf Elders is an independent oral-history project preserving the life stories and hard-earned wisdom of longtime Waldorf educators. Created and hosted by Roel op ’t Ende, a Waldorf class teacher, teacher mentor, and teacher educator with Gradalis Waldorf Teacher Education. Roel is also a student in the Kairos Institute’s Art Therapy training program. Support the project: https://ko-fi.com/voicesofwaldorfelders (https://ko-fi.com/voicesofwaldorfelders)

2. 

   12 Oct 2026

   Nana Göbel: Who Really Built Waldorf Education? | Episode 14

   What do we misunderstand when the history of Waldorf education is told only through Rudolf Steiner? Nana Göbel has devoted nearly fifty years to the worldwide Waldorf movement. Through the Friends of Waldorf Education, her work has brought her into contact with schools, kindergartens, teacher-training initiatives, and social projects across Europe, Africa, Asia, and the Americas. She is also the author of an extensive history of Waldorf education and the people who shaped it from 1919 to 2019. In this conversation, Nana takes us back to the founding of the first Waldorf school. She introduces the teachers and individuals who carried the movement, explores the school’s original social mission, and speaks candidly about the struggles, compromises, and unresolved questions that shaped its development. We also discuss: • The people behind the founding of the first Waldorf school • Why highly educated teachers chose to teach factory workers’ children • The disagreements and imperfections within the first generation • How Waldorf education became associated with the educated middle class • Courage, compromise, and self-protection during National Socialism • How Waldorf history looks from Africa, Latin America, Asia, and Eastern Europe • The opportunities and dangers of international educational support • What established Waldorf schools can learn from teachers working under extraordinarily difficult conditions • What Nana would change before handing the movement to the next generation This episode reveals Waldorf education as a living, worldwide movement shaped not only by ideas, but by individual people responding to the needs of their time. Voices of Waldorf Elders is an independent oral-history project preserving the life stories and hard-earned wisdom of longtime Waldorf educators. Created and hosted by Roel op ’t Ende, a Waldorf class teacher, teacher mentor, and teacher educator with Gradalis Waldorf Teacher Education. Roel is also a student in the Kairos Institute’s Art Therapy training program. Watch the complete video collection: https://www.youtube.com/@VoicesofWaldorfElders (https://www.youtube.com/@VoicesofWaldorfElders) Support the project: https://ko-fi.com/voicesofwaldorfelders (https://ko-fi.com/voicesofwaldorfelders) Contact: roeloptende@gmail.com (mailto:roeloptende@gmail.com)

3. 

   10 Oct 2026

   Roberto Trostli: Why Great Teachers Say “I Don’t Know”

   What if the most important quality in a teacher is not certainty, but the willingness to keep learning? Roberto Trostli has worked in Waldorf education since 1981 as a class teacher, high school teacher, teacher educator, author, lecturer, and educational leader. A Waldorf graduate himself, he later returned to teach at the Rudolf Steiner School in New York City, carried a class at the Hartsbrook School, and became the founder and director of Hartsbrook High School. In this deeply reflective conversation, Roberto traces his path from childhood experiences with Old Norse, farming, and woodworking to Columbia, Cambridge, violin making, and his eventual vocation as a teacher. At the heart of the conversation is a striking idea: learning to teach is really learning to remain a learner. Roberto explains why “I don’t know, but I’ll find out” can be one of a teacher’s most valuable responses. He speaks about mistakes, wonder, spiritual practice, institutional life, and why young teachers need time and protection from premature judgment. We also explore: • How education forms a child’s way of seeing • Why childhood experiences may bear fruit decades later • How support and structure make genuine freedom possible • What violin making taught Roberto about attention and form • Why science should begin with observation and wonder • The image of the rose and the trellis in education • What makes a College of Teachers truly alive • Why schools must protect individuality • What Roberto has learned through more than four decades in Waldorf education Voices of Waldorf Elders is an independent oral-history project preserving the life stories and hard-earned wisdom of longtime Waldorf educators. Created and hosted by Roel op ’t Ende, a Waldorf class teacher, teacher mentor, and teacher educator with Gradalis Waldorf Teacher Education. Roel is also a student in the Kairos Institute’s Art Therapy training program. Watch the complete video series: https://www.youtube.com/@VoicesofWaldorfElders (https://www.youtube.com/@VoicesofWaldorfElders) Support the project: https://ko-fi.com/voicesofwaldorfelders (https://ko-fi.com/voicesofwaldorfelders)

4. 

   4 Oct 2026

   Douglas Gerwin: What Waldorf Education Is Really Trying to Awaken | Episode 12

   What if education is not primarily about giving young people information, but about helping them learn how to see, think, imagine, and become fully themselves? Douglas Gerwin has experienced Waldorf education from nearly every angle: as a student, journalist, high-school teacher, teacher educator, researcher, author, and longtime leader in the international Waldorf movement. His journey began in an extraordinary place. As a child in Ottawa, Douglas walked from his bedroom to a small Waldorf classroom inside his family’s home, where his mother was the teacher. After school, he recreated her lessons for his teddy bears. His path later led through the Waldorf School of Garden City, philosophy and early computer studies, journalism in Cold War Europe, graduate work in phenomenology, and eventually a return to Waldorf education as a teacher at High Mowing School. In this conversation, Douglas explores: • Storytelling, imagination, and the child’s inner life • What children may learn and process during sleep • Phenomenology and observing before explaining • Goethe’s ideas of polarity, intensification, and metamorphosis • Why journalism became a bridge back to teaching • What makes a Waldorf high school distinctive • The developmental questions of grades 9 through 12: What, How, Why, and Who • Why students need to feel genuinely seen by their teachers • David Mitchell’s influence on Waldorf education • What research reveals about Waldorf graduates • Access, diversity, and the financial future of Waldorf schools • Trauma and emergency pedagogy • Artificial intelligence, discernment, and firsthand experience • What younger teachers should preserve, question, and transform This episode is part of Voices of Waldorf Elders, an independent oral-history project preserving the life stories and hard-earned wisdom of longtime Waldorf educators. Created and hosted by Roel op ’t Ende, a Waldorf class teacher, teacher mentor, and teacher educator with Gradalis Waldorf Teacher Education. Roel is also a student in the Kairos Institute’s Art Therapy training program. Watch the video conversation: https://youtu.be/KgzZ_iOcHyo (https://youtu.be/KgzZ_iOcHyo) Support Voices of Waldorf Elders: https://ko-fi.com/voicesofwaldorfelders (https://ko-fi.com/voicesofwaldorfelders) Your contribution helps cover recording, editing, and publishing costs while keeping every conversation freely available.

5. 

   1 Oct 2026

   Bonnie River: What 50 Years of Waldorf Teaching Revealed About Children

   What changes when we stop asking, “How do we fix this behavior?” and begin asking, “Who is this child, and what are they trying to show us?” Bonnie River has devoted more than fifty years to Waldorf education as a kindergarten teacher, class teacher, school founder, therapeutic educator, mentor, and teacher educator. She also played an important role in the development of public Waldorf education and the teacher-training work that eventually became part of Gradalis. In this conversation, Bonnie reflects on what it means to truly see the individual child. She speaks about the teacher’s inner life, the importance of presence, and how rhythm, movement, storytelling, and artistic work can help children find greater steadiness and engagement. The conversation also explores attention-related challenges, assessment, public Waldorf education, teacher preparation, and the curiosity and sense of purpose that have sustained Bonnie through more than five decades of work. Voices of Waldorf Elders is an independent oral-history project preserving the life stories and hard-earned wisdom of longtime Waldorf educators. Created and hosted by Roel op ’t Ende, a Waldorf class teacher, teacher mentor, and teacher educator with Gradalis Waldorf Teacher Education. Roel is also a student in the Kairos Institute’s Art Therapy training program. Watch the complete video archive: https://www.youtube.com/@VoicesofWaldorfElders (https://www.youtube.com/@VoicesofWaldorfElders) Contact: roeloptende@gmail.com (mailto:roeloptende@gmail.com)

6. 

   26 Sept 2026

   Frans Lutters: Inner Freedom and the Art of Teaching | Voices of Waldorf Elders #10

   Frans Lutters is a Dutch Waldorf educator, author, and teacher educator who has worked within the Waldorf movement for more than forty years. In this biographical conversation, Frans reflects on his path into Waldorf education, his life in the classroom, and the inner freedom a teacher needs to keep education alive. We speak about meeting the child as an unfolding riddle, the deeper purpose of the main lesson, and why memory, sleep, artistic work, and returning to a subject over several days are essential parts of learning. Frans also discusses anthroposophy as a working hypothesis rather than a required belief, the seven liberal arts, the importance of collegial life, and the role of parents in forming a living social circle around the school. Our conversation moves from projective geometry and Camphill to Harry Potter, moral imagination, and the question of how education can help young people remain inwardly strong and good in a confusing world. Recommended works by Frans include Immersion Learning: A Travelogue, The Grail Mystery and the Seven Liberal Arts, Who Is Harry Potter?, and Man with a Mission: Bernard Lievegoed in His Own Words. Voices of Waldorf Elders is an independent oral-history project preserving the stories, experiences, and hard-earned wisdom of longtime Waldorf educators. Created and hosted by Roel op ’t Ende YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@VoicesofWaldorfElders (https://www.youtube.com/@VoicesofWaldorfElders) Contact: roeloptende@gmail.com (mailto:roeloptende@gmail.com)

7. 

   19 Sept 2026

   Christof Wiechert: Waldorf Education as a Living Question | Voices of Waldorf Elders #9

   Christof Wiechert has spent much of his life asking what keeps Waldorf education alive. After attending the Waldorf school in The Hague, he returned as a teacher and remained in the classroom for roughly thirty years. He later co-founded a Waldorf teacher-training seminar in the Netherlands and served as leader of the Pedagogical Section at the Goetheanum from 2001 through 2010. In this biographical conversation, Christof reflects on his path from Waldorf student to teacher and international educational leader. He discusses child study as a way of understanding the teacher as well as the child, the need to examine our assumptions, and the danger of repeating Waldorf traditions without understanding the educational impulse behind them. He also speaks about anthroposophy as a living worldview rather than a collection of methods, Waldorf education’s responsibility to the wider community, and the possibility that renewal may come from emerging Waldorf communities outside the movement’s traditional European centers. For Christof, the ultimate question is whether a school helps children become more capable of learning and teachers become more awake, strong, and alive. Voices of Waldorf Elders is an independent oral-history project preserving the stories and hard-earned wisdom of longtime Waldorf educators. Created and hosted by Roel op ’t Ende Watch the conversations on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@VoicesofWaldorfElders (https://www.youtube.com/@VoicesofWaldorfElders) Contact: roeloptende@gmail.com (mailto:roeloptende@gmail.com)

8. 

   13 Sept 2026

   Jack Petrash: Teaching, Inner Work, and the Art of Waldorf Education | Voices of Waldorf Elders #8

   Jack Petrash has spent decades as a Waldorf class teacher, teacher educator, author, parent, and advocate for bringing Waldorf education into conversation with the wider educational world. In this biographical conversation, Jack reflects on his early connection to education, his spiritual searching, and the path that led him from teaching in New York public schools to anthroposophy and Waldorf teacher training. He remembers the mentors who helped shape his vocation, especially Sheldon Stoff and John Gardner. We explore the quiet craft beneath good teaching: building classroom culture and healthy habits, preparing carefully, practicing patience, and remaining flexible enough to meet what children need in the moment. Jack speaks about inner work, authenticity, reflective practice, and the importance of developing a spiritual life that is genuinely one’s own. Jack also reflects on the paradoxes teachers must learn to carry: protection and independence, form and freedom, idealism and reality. He considers how teaching changes from the early grades through adolescence, how Waldorf literacy can retain beauty while adapting to students’ needs, and how his work with the Nova Institute has helped build bridges between Waldorf and mainstream education. The conversation also touches on fatherhood, family life, child development, and the sources of energy that have sustained Jack throughout a long career. He explains why Waldorf education—with its emphasis on art, meaning, careful observation, and scientific precision—may be especially important for the future. Finally, Jack offers heartfelt advice to younger teachers: cultivate an authentic spiritual practice, ask for help, remain responsive to the children before you, and resist the temptation to overwork. Voices of Waldorf Elders is an independent oral-history project preserving the stories and hard-earned wisdom of longtime Waldorf educators for teachers, families, and future generations. Watch the conversations on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@VoicesofWaldorfElders (https://www.youtube.com/@VoicesofWaldorfElders) Contact: roeloptende@gmail.com (mailto:roeloptende@gmail.com)

9. 

   5 Sept 2026

   Thom Schaefer: Waldorf Education, Social Healing, and Leadership | Voices of Waldorf Elders #7

   Thom Schaefer reflects on a lifetime in education as a public-school principal, Waldorf class teacher, high-school teacher, faculty leader, school founder, consultant, and teacher educator. He shares how he discovered Waldorf education, the teachers and texts that shaped him, and what he learned from taking a class from first through eighth grade. Thom also discusses his years at Shining Mountain Waldorf School, the founding of Credo High School, and the opportunities and challenges involved in making Waldorf education publicly accessible. The conversation explores the remarkable evolution of the fifth-grade Waldorf pentathlon into international peace initiatives. Through movement, art, games, and human encounter, these projects brought together children and young people from communities divided by conflict. Thom recounts powerful experiences in Olympia and Delphi, including the story of blind Zulu runners whose courage transformed perceptions of disability and strength. Thom also reflects on teacher education, leadership, anthroposophy as a path toward freedom and inner development, and the possibilities and dangers presented by artificial intelligence. Voices of Waldorf Elders is an independent oral-history project created and hosted by Waldorf educator Roel op ’t Ende.

10. 

    24 Aug 2026

    Torin Finser: Teaching, Leadership, and the Future of Waldorf Education | Voices of Waldorf Elders #6

    Torin Finser reflects on a lifetime in Waldorf education—as a student, class teacher, teacher educator, author, and organizational leader. He shares his family’s anthroposophical roots, his youthful rejection and later rediscovery of Waldorf education, and the mentors and chance encounters that shaped his vocation. Torin also reflects on taking a class through eight years, balancing teaching with family life, and finding renewal through art, gardening, nature, relationships, and self-reflection. The conversation explores mentorship and collaboration in Waldorf schools, teacher stress and burnout, public and independent Waldorf education, accessibility and social justice, and the need to balance spiritual foundations and tradition with inclusion and innovation. Torin also considers new possibilities for school funding and the importance of preserving the wisdom of experienced educators for future generations. Voices of Waldorf Elders is an independent oral-history project created and hosted by Waldorf educator Roel op ’t Ende.

11. 

    20 Aug 2026

    Nancy Blanning: Movement, Childhood, and the Inner Life of the Teacher | Episode 5

    In this fifth episode of Voices of Waldorf Elders, I speak with Nancy Blanning, a longtime Waldorf early childhood educator, therapeutic educator, author, editor, and teacher mentor. Nancy shares how searching for a school for her own children led her to Waldorf education and eventually to nearly four decades of work at the Denver Waldorf School. She reflects on her years as a kindergarten teacher, her training and early mentors, and her later work with movement, sensory development, therapeutic support, and first grade readiness. Our conversation explores imitation, rhythm, practical work, imagination, and the importance of learning to observe each child without rushing to judgment. Nancy also speaks about the role of anthroposophy and meditation in the inner life of the teacher, the pressures facing younger educators, and why children themselves must remain at the center of Waldorf education. Nancy is the author of Walking with Our Children, co-author with Laurie Clark of Movement Journeys and Circle Adventures, and editor of collections including First Grade Readiness, School Readiness Today, and Supporting the Sense of Life. Voices of Waldorf Elders is an oral-history project dedicated to preserving the experiences and wisdom of longtime Waldorf educators for younger and future teachers.

12. 

    17 Aug 2026

    Alice Stamm: 50 Years of Eurythmy | Voices of Waldorf Elders #4

    In this third episode of Voices of Waldorf Elders, I speak with Alice Stamm about more than fifty years devoted to eurythmy. Alice reflects on her training in Germany, her work with Else Klink, and her many years of teaching, performing, mentoring, and helping to establish the Eurythmy Association of North America. We explore the place of eurythmy within Waldorf education, how the work has developed over the decades, and what may need to be preserved or renewed for future generations. Voices of Waldorf Elders is an oral-history project preserving the experiences, stories, and wisdom of longtime Waldorf educators for younger and future teachers.

13. 

    13 Aug 2026

    Ina Jaehnig: A Life in Waldorf Education | Voices of Waldorf Elders #3

    Ina Jaehnig’s life in Waldorf education reaches back to postwar Stuttgart, where she attended the newly reopened Waldorf school in old American military barracks. After moving to Colorado in 1971, she helped found the Denver Waldorf School and went on to teach and mentor generations of students and teachers in the United States and around the world. In this conversation, Ina reflects on her childhood in Germany, the early years of building a Waldorf school, the joys and struggles of teaching, the people and experiences that shaped her, and what she hopes the next generation of Waldorf educators will carry forward. Voices of Waldorf Elders is an oral-history project preserving the experiences and wisdom of longtime Waldorf educators for younger and future teachers.

14. 

    2 Aug 2026

    Jan Putkamer: A Conversation on Waldorf Education

    In this first episode, Roel op ’t Ende speaks with Jan Putkamer, a longtime Waldorf educator with approximately forty years of experience as a teacher, team leader, mentor, and adviser. Their conversation reflects on a life devoted to education and the experiences and wisdom Jan would like to pass on to younger and future Waldorf teachers.

15. 

    5 Jul 2026

    Karl Johnson: A Lifetime in Waldorf Education

    In this episode of Voices of Waldorf Elders, I speak with Karl Johnson about his life in Waldorf education, the experiences that shaped him, and the lessons he has learned through decades of teaching and mentoring. We explore the deeper purpose of Waldorf education, the importance of meeting each child as an individual, the inner work of the teacher, and Karl's hopes for the future of the movement. Voices of Waldorf Elders is an oral history project dedicated to preserving the stories, wisdom, and lived experience of longtime Waldorf educators for future generations. Thank you for listening. — Subscribe to follow future conversations with Waldorf elders from around the world. #WaldorfEducation #RudolfSteiner #Education #Teacher #OralHistory #Anthroposophy

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