Out of the SEA
A significant theme that ran through the discussions at the Steiner Education Australia (SEA) delegates conference held last weekend was the concept of rigidity and fixedness. Rudolf Steiner indicated many times that as humans we need to be present to what is in front of us and respond to what we observe not what we think should be. This way of being ensures that that we do not become rigid in our thinking but rather always be evolving to respond to what lives in the present moment.
For teachers, this is always a challenge because the children are always changing and bringing new things to challenge our expectations and ideas. How we respond to them will depend on what we, in freedom, observe. We can fall back on rigid responses that have been conditioned over time or we can respond out of intuitive understandings and a knowing that is deeper than superficial quick fixes.
In our daily life, the same is true. If we give ourselves enough time and space to carefully observe “what is” and then enough stillness to be able to respond in a healthy way from a deeper sense of knowing, we are more likely to make choices with long lasting and healthy consequences.
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16/03/2011 Silver Leaves Edition 236