Strength through trust during the pandemic: Video series provided by the Goetheanum‘s Pedagogical Section

Goetheanum, Dornach, Switzerland, 17 March 2021

Strength through trust during the pandemic
Video series provided by the Goetheanum‘s Pedagogical Section

Since the beginning of the pandemic, teachers, educators and parents have been faced with the challenges of keeping up their relationship with the children, facilitating learning and supporting development. A series of videos provides pedagogical advice.

The restrictions put in place in order to fight the Coronavirus pandemic are making precisely those things more difficult that are essential in education: living relation-ships, spontaneity, optimism, creativity and community building. “Disagreements arising from stress and tiredness lead more frequently to conflict. Parents are stressed because schools are closed and there are no programmes to occupy children in their free time,” says Philipp Reubke, a member of the leadership team of the Goetheanum‘s Pedagogical Section. He adds that “this situation calls on us to strengthen our resources and to discover new ones.” He gives the example of a small bridge without railings across a brook encountered on a kindergarten walk. In order to not give fear a chance, he decided to sing a song that invited the children to walk in single file. Gaining strength from this, they crossed the bridge safely. This illustrates how trusting in one‘s own resources and the competence of others can help dealing with challenging situations.

With the video series ‘Building Trust’, the Pedagogical Section at the Goetheanum provides educational inspiration at a time of ongoing restrictions in the social sphere. Claus-Peter Röh from the Section‘s leadership team develops three educational impulses that can give orientation before, during and after the lesson: addressing the personality of the students, reflecting on own intentions and becoming aware of what arises from this for both sides. “Only when we overcome isolation can a new ‘We’ emerge,” he explains. His colleague Florian Osswald describes how, in his experience, challenging situations can change into ideas for something new if one trusts in their creative transformation during sleep. Constanza Kaliks, another team member, encourages the creation of situations where children can feel that they are being seen and wanted.
(2135 characters/SJ, translation by Margot M. Saar)

Video series Building Trust. Education in the time of a pandemic (with English, German and Spanish subtitles) Web www.goetheanum-paedagogik.ch/e...

Contact person Philipp Reubke, philipp.reubke@goetheanum.ch