My work in China

It was late June of 2004 when Tim and I took a trip to Spring Valley where we met the impressive and enthusiastic Wangs, Harry and Li. They were living at the Fellowship Community together with their three children and Li’s parents who were there for an extended visit. Ten years had passed since Harry and Li had first heard the word “waldorf”. During those ten years they learned all they could to bring this new education to China. The years included teacher trainings at Emerson College and at Sunbridge. They worked with anthroposophy earnestly, made all kinds of economic and social arrangements, did their “political” homework, and, when we met , they were just getting ready to return to Chengdu where they were bringing all that they knew in service of Waldorf education in China. Harry and Li felt confident they could rely on support from all over the world, but they were wise enough to know that the pedagogical support work would be critical.. So meeting with us was a part of their extensive contacts to prepare the way for people to help with the soon-to-be school.. But that June day we went back to Saratoga Springs and in early July the Wang family went back to China. We did not hear from them for a year. When they were ready, they called.

Much has been written about the adventure from the moment Harry and Li returned to their home and launched this amazing initiative. The work began the minute they got back to China that July of 2004. They took over a run-down physical space, completely transformed it through weeks of hard labor, and opened the Chengdu Waldorf Kindergarten in September. The first year was probably very exciting but I know it was mostly very challenging. By the end of the first year there were three kindergartens started and a small group class in the grades. Li Zewu, trained also at Emerson College, was a part of the pioneering faculty. The story is really legend by now!

The legend includes all the physical work, but also all the spiritual intentions which blossomed through this Michaelic deed of a handful of people in Sichuan Province.. Courtesy of the internet, news of the school, the work on the land, the ideas of Rudolf Steiner, took a hold on the waiting imagination of hundreds of people in China and beyond. They flocked to this little place to learn more and to help it grow. All the major cities in China had people willing to sacrifice much to begin such an initiative in their own place. Some of them had also been trained and some of them had not. All of them were eager to embrace the hope they felt for their children through these new approaches to living on the earth. There were many, many weekend workshops to also meet a general public’s interest and to address parents’ concerns. Chinese festivals were celebrated along with some other school related festivals.

In the second year of the Chengdu school there were three kindergartens and two small classes. Already space was becoming a problem, but the focus was on education: children, teachers, and parents. The land was being cultivated and biodynamic practices (and large workshops) were initiated. Visitors were ever-present and welcomed. Tim and I went over during this second year and began to help out wherever there was a need and however we could. We were in China for three months and visited small kindergartens in Beijing, Shanghai, and Hong Kong, as well as Chengdu. We were able to do all our tourist adventures as well, but with the added guidance from many, many people who housed us and personally gave us the tours. It was life-altering, soul-awakening.

In the third year when we returned (for two months in the fall of 07), there were five kindergartens and five classes and double the space of the previous year. Two well attended three-year teacher training courses had been launched and the level of interest in the international anthroposophic community was in high gear. A fine teaching staff was in place and a new level of professionalism was being achieved. All this was also accompanied by new challenges pretty much on all sides. Nevertheless the spirit of the community prevails to achieve the goal they have set. There are many highlights probably every week but one very special event took place in Hong Kong in August of 07.

A conference with participants from China and Taiwan took place and only Chinese was spoken. It was a thrilling threshold moment for all those who were there!

We (Tim and I) will return in the early fall of 08 to continue what is now “our work”, helping the Chengdu school become stronger. Oddly enough my support of the teachers is not all that different from the mentoring work I do here at home. The children are also amazingly familiar. The human needs are the same but the curricular issues in China are unique. I know we work on relevance issues in every country, but in China it is a huge question particularly for language teaching and history. The underlying principles are much clearer to me as I work with all my new colleagues (those from all over the world who are participating in training the Chinese teachers) to set up healthy Waldorf schools in this very special environment. We are at the beginning of this work for sure.

Waldorf education and anthroposophy are coming to life in all the countries of Asia. Each country is finding a voice. And new collaborations have begun. The pace of change is generation-skipping, heading where? I think the challenge is to be awake to our part in knowing when to guide and when to let go. The stakes are high in every case, but in this mighty, powerful new China, I know we will need all the spiritual wisdom we can muster, together, to create a sustainable future world.

Stillwater, New York

January 13, 2008

Kathleen Young