Week II

Rudolf Steiner challenges us to love in a way that places the needs of others at the heart of our actions. As members of Waldorf school communities, we have the opportunity to embrace and embody balanced, human-centered, and creative leadership practices that genuinely serve our students, parents, and colleagues. Through presentations, exercises, reflections, and guided dialogue, we will explore the principles underpinning our organizational forms, consider practices that align with those principles, examine the relationship between freedom and responsibility, and develop the strengths and skills needed to best support our school communities.

Lisa Mahar brings 27 years of experience as School Administrator at Monadnock Waldorf School in Keene, New Hampshire. She is a founding member of the Administrators Network of the Association of Waldorf Schools of North America (AWSNA), a trained meeting facilitator, and an advisor and consultant to Waldorf schools in areas such as governance, community building, administrative review, mentoring, visioning, board development, and planning. Lisa is also an active member of Leading with Spirit, which provides administrative training, consultancy, and organizational support for Waldorf schools. Additionally, she served on the board of the Monadnock Food Co-op in Keene, NH, and currently serves on the board of the Center for Anthroposophy. Lisa is a past commissioner for the New England Association of Schools and Colleges (NEASC) Commission for Independent Schools.

In this seminar, we will explore the key themes and profound guidance Rudolf Steiner shared with early Waldorf teachers. These seven lectures, delivered in 1920 and 1923 shortly after the founding of the first Waldorf school in Stuttgart, are collected in Balance in Teaching (Anthroposophic Press, 2007). Please acquire and read this book in advance.

Our focus will primarily be on the first four lectures under the title Balance in Teaching, with an opportunity to examine the final three lectures, titled Deeper Insights into Education, as time allows. Key themes we will address include:

• The importance of the teacher’s inner attitude
• Sculptural and musical forces in child development
• The interplay between the physical and soul-spiritual
• Meditation as an essential foundation for creative teaching
• Awakening the child through an artistic approach to education

The human being, as a unified threefold entity of mind, soul, and body, integrates three groups of senses. Through the Knowledge senses, we connect with one another. The Feeling senses allow us to perceive the world, and the Foundational senses enable us to experience our own physical body. [Goethe observed that our senses reveal the truth—they can be trusted, for they are never wrong.]

Our perceptions, sensations, and conceptions form the basis of our experience in a world of truth, serving as the foundation for all our inner and outer experiences.

In this course, we will explore Rudolf Steiner’s framework of the 12 Senses (Study of Man: Lecture VIII) through eurythmy and conversation. Special attention will be given to the Knowledge Senses, also known as the Social or Spiritual Senses. In today’s world, these senses play a vital role in strengthening and supporting the bonds between individuals, communities, and the Earth

Drawing from her extensive experience and lifelong passion for both drama and speech, Laurie brings a rich array of tools for teachers, including: the six gestures of speech formation; using consonants to build character; discovering rhythm and musicality in lines; speaking in chorus and individually; creating mood and atmosphere in storytelling; and mastering basic stagecraft such as facing out, presenting, projecting, and engaging the audience. This course also seeks to inspire a sense of wonder, warmth, and openness in participants, transforming these arts into joyful and meaningful journeys of human growth—for teachers, actors, students, and audiences alike.

Laurie Portocarrero is an actor, storyteller, drama teacher, and director based in Columbia County, NY. She has studied and taught movement, drama, and speech in the U.S., Canada, Switzerland, Australia, and China. Her training encompasses Spacial Dynamics, Eurythmy, Chekhov acting technique, speech formation, singing, storytelling, and Waldorf teacher training.

A long-time associate member of The Actors’ Ensemble, Walking the Dog Theater, and the Threefold Mystery Drama Group, Laurie has appeared in productions including Hamlet, The Winter’s Tale, Shakespeare’s Supernaturals, Thornton Wilder’s Three-Minute Plays, Haiku, and Exit the King. She also performs and tours two-person plays with colleague Glen Williamson, such as Refugees’ Tale, The Gospel of John, Aeschylus Unbound, and Fire in the Temple. Laurie portrayed Maria in Rudolf Steiner’s four mystery dramas, directed by Barbara Renold.

Her one-woman performances include The Power of Imagination, Miriam, Path of Maria, and Timeless Tales of Christmas. Laurie led the workshop series “The Art of Acting, Art of Being Human” at the Threefold Educational Center in Chestnut Ridge for seven years. She directs the summer children’s camp Drama for the Little Folk, culminating in outdoor performances, and annually directs a community reading of A Christmas Carol. Laurie also created The Christmas Celebration of Song and Word, which brings together speakers and singers to share their gifts with the community. She has directed plays and led workshops for both children and adults of all ages.