Wilfried Sommer (Kassel, Germany)

Wilfried Sommer‘s professional work has its focus where University and High School meet: He is a full professor of school education with an emphasis on phenomenological methods of teaching at Alanus University, Alfter, and is a High School teacher in physics at Steiner Waldorf School Kassel.

Phenomenological approaches to optics and doing physics experiments as performance art are his research areas in subject related methodology; he is interested in the relationship between cultural studies and physics. Additionally he focuses on the role of embodiment for cognitive teaching and learning processes.

He is active in teacher education and pedagogical research and a board member of the Kassel Youth Symposium. 

Eva Binamu (US, UK)

was born and raised in Tanzania and in the last 20 years has lived, studied and taught Eurythmy in Cape Town, London, and mostly recently for five years in Washington D.C. It was on the stage of the Goetheanum in Dornach, Switzerland, that Eva completed five years of artistic and pedagogical Eurythmy training, after which she completed her two year class teacher training. Eva is a very experienced teacher and has had consistent success with all grades, from Kindergarten to Class 12. She has thrived alongside other Eurythmists, Class teachers and with students from a diverse range of cultural settings. Eva is a member of the Anthroposophical Society and the Eurythmy Association of North America.

Amanda Bell (London, UK) has been a Waldorf teacher for 25 years. She was a Class teacher for 16 years before moving into the Upper School to teach History, Art and Philosophy. She and two colleagues founded The St Michael Steiner School in West London, where she still works, in 2001. Amanda was co-director of the London Waldorf Seminar from 2010 and is a regular tutor on The Modern Teacher course in the UK.

Kemal Lowenthal (New York, US) graduated from Green Meadow Waldorf School in New York before earning a BFA in Ceramics and an MEd in Waldorf Education. He has over ten years of experience teaching a variety of subjects in Waldorf schools, including: woodwork, clay, basketry, copper work, stone carving, math and block teaching. He has been teaching 4-12 grade crafts at Green Meadow Waldorf School since 2020. Kemal is the chair for the art department and sits on the Collegium at Green Meadow.  He is an active green woodworker and potter whose children now attend Green Meadow Waldorf School.

Jamie York (US) is a Waldorf math educator, teacher-trainer, math missionary, and the lead author of Making Math Meaningful books.  He spent 21 years teaching middle school and high school math at Shining Mountain Waldorf School (in Boulder, Colorado), and has also taught at a college prep boarding school in New Hampshire, at a university in Nepal, a Waldorf school in Holland, and served on the faculty at the Center for Anthroposophy in the Waldorf High School Teacher Education Program for 18 years.  As a math missionary, Jamie traveled across the U.S. and internationally offering workshops for teachers so they can re-imagine mathematics and inspire their students.  Jamie’s website, online math workshops, and books are resources for Waldorf teachers around the world.  His latest creation is Jamie York Academy, which offers online classes to students in grades 5 through 12. 

Virashni Bharuth (SA) has been a leading High School English, Drama and Humanities teacher at several South African Waldorf schools for many years, and has played a pivotal part in pioneering content and curriculum. Since 2021 she has been a member of the Council of the Southern African Federation of Waldorf Schools, supporting and mentoring high schools and developing Teacher Education programs.

Julian Rolton (UK)

Julian Rolton joined the staff at Michael Hall for the last decade having previously been on the staff at the Rudolf Steiner School Kings Langley (RSSKL). He finds the opportunity to work with young people aged 8 to 18 years with a curriculum that is imbued with music right up until the students leave school a daily inspiration. Whether leading singing, calling dances, accompanying concerts, directing a musical, providing sound effects for a drama or Eurythmy Play, singing carols in four parts with Classes 12 or helping to musically support the students’ graduation ceremonies, having the chance to work with young people through Music both in class and on stage is a joy. For many years, in addition to being a Music Teacher he has been an Upper School Guardian. Prior to becoming a Waldorf teacher, Julian worked extensively as a freelance pianist: as soloist, accompanist, chamber musician and orchestral player in concert and on recordings. He has continued some of this work whilst being a full-time teacher, recently collaborating with the actor and writer, Tama Matheson and the London Mozart Players in the lyric drama, I Shall Hear in Heaven which dramatises the life of Beethoven. He is also extensively involved in the running of the Kidbrooke Park Music Festival which is hosted at Michael Hall.

Yamini Jha (IND)

has been on her Quality in Education journey for more than two decades in Delhi NCR area. Anthroposophy and Waldorf Education arrived in her life as answers to her prayers with questions that she asked to help children and teachers while at work in 2011. It opened deeper dimensions in her life and work and drove her to carry the Essence of Anthroposophy to the masses in her work. 

Today she runs her own initiative Wärme Foundation which is a not-for-profit organisation in areas of mental health, quality education and biodynamic agriculture support services. The therapeutic and educational work approach are building an intent to work with the community to support value-based approaches in mainstream education, healthcare, regenerative agriculture and corporate. Supporting Accreditation journey for schools, Academic audits, teacher training, Curriculum development and Creating a Value measuring tool, project impact study through digital tool are all scope of her organisational work in action. She is an Executive Member of The ASI Executive Committee at present.

Douglas Gerwin, Ph.D. (US)

Himself a Waldorf graduate, Douglas is Executive Director of the Center for Anthroposophy (CfA). He has taught history, literature, German, music, and life science at the university and Waldorf high school levels for over 40 years and has helped prepare high school educators to teach these subjects for over a quarter-century. 

In 1996 he founded CfA’s Waldorf High School Teacher Education Program (WHiSTEP), a graduate-level training specifically for high school teachers, which he chaired for 26 years. During that time, he also served as advisor or mentor to well over three-quarters of the Waldorf high schools in North America and helped train Waldorf teachers on four continents. 

Editor of ten books and author of numerous articles on Waldorf education and anthroposophy, Dr. Gerwin is also Executive Director of the Research Institute for Waldorf Education (RIWE). A founding member of the Leadership Council in the Association of Waldorf Schools of North America (AWSNA), he also sits on the Pedagogical Section Council of the School for Spiritual Science of the Anthroposophical Society in America; in addition, for the past decade he has been a member of the Hague Circle, an international leadership group of some 45 Waldorf teachers from around the world.

Indrani Banerjee 

Indrani is an alternative education enthusiast inspired by Waldorf and Tagorean (inspired by Rabindra Nath Tagore) methodology. She has done her post graduation degree in World Comparative Literature and Cultural Studies  and holds a certificate in Behavioural  psychology. She is also a certified somatic movement and breath-work therapist.

Her interest in art history (South East Asia), classical Indian texts and curative theatre makes her a prolific traveling learner and educational collaborator.

Michael Holdrege (US, AUT) is a native of Colorado. He attended the foundation year course at Emerson College, in Sussex England, followed by two years at the Institute for Waldorf Pedagogy in Stuttgart, Germany in preparation for becoming a Waldorf teacher. He taught at the Rudolf Steiner School in Vienna, Austria for seven years, followed by an additional seven years as faculty and board member at the Institute for Goethean Studies in Vienna. Michael returned to the US in 1990 to work as Faculty Coordinator of the Anthroposophical Society in America. In 1994 he returned to Waldorf teaching and taught life sciences, economics and math at the Chicago Waldorf School until 2019. He currently teaches at the Waldorf Teacher Institute in Chicago and at the Waldorf High School Teacher Education Program in Wilton, NH.

Mandy Futter’s (SA) professional journey commenced in a government school where she spent a decade teaching English and Geography. Serendipity led her to stumble upon Waldorf education while seeking a suitable school for her eldest daughter. The encounter sparked a transformative epiphany, igniting an unyielding dedication to the Waldorf philosophy that would define her life’s work.

In 2000, she embarked on her Waldorf journey at Roseway Waldorf School, South Africa, teaching Drama and Geography.

After transitioning to Michael Mount in 2007 she guided a class through their primary years, an experience that solidified a profound connection with the Waldorf approach. In 2011 she assumed the role of High School Geography teacher, a position that resonated deeply with her innate passion for exploring the intricacies of the world and nurturing a comprehensive understanding of its dynamic nature. She presented the Geography Curriculum to the government department UMALUSI in 2014.

She is a member of the teaching mandate at Michael Mount and plays a role in organizing high school training for new and experienced teachers.

David Barham, M.Ed. (US) 

Director of CfA’s Waldorf High School Teacher Education Program (WHiSTEP) as of 2022, David has worked in four North American Waldorf schools, including one in Mexico, both as class and high school teacher. Before joining CfA, he taught humanities at the Maine Coast Waldorf School in Freeport, ME, for more than a decade. In the fall of 2021, he was appointed to AWSNA’s Leadership Council as Leader for the Northeast/Quebec region.

A graduate with a master’s degree in Waldorf education from Antioch University New England, David recently completed a CfA certificate program in Waldorf Leadership Development. His undergraduate degree at Tufts University was in English and Religion.

An ardent folk singer and guitar player, David came to anthroposophy first as a biodynamic farmer, then as a worker at a Camphill village before signing on as a class teacher.

Angie Foster(US)

is a clowning facilitator, drama teacher, director, and actress. She trained as a classical actress at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art.  She then spent years acting professionally including two times on Broadway, off-Broadway, several years of experimental theatre working with Andre Gregory, and productions at repertory theaters around the country.

In 2004 she began her two-year training as a clowning facilitator with Vivian Gladwell and is currently a member on the team of Nose to Nose of North America.  She has facilitated clowning workshops in the Philadelphia area, at AWSNA conferences, at the Rudolf Steiner College in Sacramento, the Threefold Education Center in Spring Valley, as well as at Kimberton Waldorf School.  For many years she has been teaching clowning to co-workers in both Academies at Kimberton Hills and Beaver Run Camphill Communities.

She has been teaching and directing plays in 8^th-12^th  grades at Kimberton Waldorf School for the past 25 years, continuing to discover the transformative possibilities for students through storytelling and drama.

She is also the proud parent of three Waldorf graduates.

Angie’s work combines her passion for improvisation and theatre, her quest for what it is to be human, and discovering freedom through play. 

Graham Kennish (Stroud, UK)

Graham  is a Waldorf science teacher and trainer of 45 years.  He is also a driving instructor and a BACP counsellor, giving workshops and individual sessions in Goethean Psychology. Graham is a grandfather and lives near Stroud with his partner, Jane.

Karla Neves (BRA) began her journey as a Waldorf teacher more than 30 years ago, learning how to look upon human nature with the best teachers of teachers, the kindergarten children. Today, as an experienced class teacher, faculty member and researcher on Waldorf education and anthroposophy, she has been active in middle school, high school and college teaching, focusing on Sciences, Mathematics and Geometry. Fifteen years ago she started working with Teacher Education, mentoring and lecturing in her country, Brazil, and internationally. She is a member of the Grupo de Ciências Waldorf do Brasil since 2009, a research and teacher training group, and was co-responsible for the foundation of the first Waldorf School in Brasília, the country’s capital.

Karla graduated in architecture at the beginning of her professional life and specialized in Waldorf education, complementing her pedagogical training with extra lesson training and a degree in Mathematics. She completed a master’s degree at USP – University of São Paulo, in this area with her dissertation: “The role of Mathematics in the formation of the individual from the perspective of Waldorf pedagogy“.

Jayesh Narasimhulu, (IND) currently working at Abhaya School in Hyderabad, is a Waldorf math and science teacher and has conducted many lessons outside school classrooms. Transdisciplinary lessons in learning spaces beyond the school campuses have been his forte, to instill an enthusiastic learning/work ethic in varied environments, on land and in the sea. The Surveying lesson for example, for grade 10 students of Waldorf schools, is a program where math, physics, geography and technology are integrated to provide students with multiple points of engagement within the learning process. Some of the other off-campus lessons that he has taught and organised, in various parts of the world are Oceanography, Geomorphology and Boat Building & Engines. He has also been involved in organising and teaching many teacher education programs for upper primary and high school teachers and has taught combined high school classes in Australian/ Indian schools.

Simon Gillman (UK,F)

After working extensively in the conservation movement, with spells in Snowdonia, and the Peak District, Simon spent three years as the forester in Botton Village, where he encountered the Steiner movement for the first time. He later joined Michael Hall School, where he taught gardening, forestry and green wood work to 8-16 year olds for over 20 years. He also co-taught and supported class teachers who wanted to integrate an outdoor or practical aspect into their main lessons. Simon held several leadership roles in the school and was a member of The Heart of Teaching training in Forest Row. He has contributed to the London Steiner Waldorf Teacher Training over a number of years, having developed original land based curricula and led workshops in Germany, China, France and Spain as well as in the UK. He currently lives and works on the west coast of Brittany.

Chip Weems (US)

Charles (Chip) Weems holds a Ph.D in computer science. He is a founding teacher at Hartsbrook High School, where he has taught computer science, and other subjects for over 20 years. During that time he created a developmentally-based, four-year, high school computer science curriculum, which was published in AWSNA’s Renewal Magazine and the Bulletin of the Research Institute for Waldorf Education. He has advised multiple schools on its implementation. He is a member of the Association for Computing Machinery, the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, the Anthroposophical Society, and the Pedagogical Section. He has co-authored 29 introductory computer science textbooks, has over 45 years of university teaching experience, and is a professor of computer science at the Univ. of Massachusetts, Amherst, where he is a recipient of the University Distinguished Teaching Award. He is also an ACM Distinguished Educator and a recipient of the IEEE Taylor-Booth Award for outstanding contributions to computer science education.

Bandana Basu (IND)

has always enjoyed the company of children, and so the potent combination of purpose and profession became her inner wellspring. With a career spanning more than two and a half decades she began as a teacher in schools offering the local state board, and eventually to teach the international curricula of IBO’s Diploma Program and the CAIE (IGCSE & A Levels). As a Deputy Director of an IB World School, she evolved as an administrator with insights into the balancing of the ‘international; as well as ‘local’ intents and ambitions of a school.

In time she fledged into the direction of supporting schools as an education consultant, school auditor, school leadership trainer, and a teacher trainer. She has also partnered with Education Development Trust (formerly CfBT) in the UK, on an education ‘Research Project’ that was simultaneously piloted in Egypt, India and Kenya. Waldorf Education was her seeking that she understood only after discovering it nearly a decade ago, and it continues to remain her soul mission. Co-founding Shishyaa Waldorf School has finally brought meaning, direction and fulfilment to this entire journey.  

Alan Swindell (UK, NL) has had a distinguished career as a class teacher, teacher trainer, adviser for the Steiner Waldorf Schools Fellowship and, in recent years, as the first principal of the Steiner Academy Exeter. He is co-ordinating the work of the British Steiner Waldorf Teacher Education Courses (ASWTE) and co-founded The Modern Teacher: Education as Art in 2021.

Robert Sim (US, D)

Having originally studied economics and agricultural economics, Robert has been a class teacher, High school teacher, College chair and board member at several Waldorf schools in the US and Germany. Together with Jon McAlice, Beth Weisburn and Michelle Star he founded the  Center for Contextual Studies. Robert is the current director of Professional Development at High Mowing School, and of its Apprenticeship Program.

Sven Saar (UK, D) was a class and High School teacher for 30 years, specialising in history and drama. He has extensive mentoring experience and now works full time in Teacher Education and is on the faculty of courses in the UK, the US, Australia and Germany. Sven gives lectures and seminars internationally and works as an active mentor and advisor to schools and teachers in Britain, Germany, Asia and Africa. He co-founded  The Modern Teacher: Education as Art in Southern England in 2021 and runs the Waldorf Facebook communication group The Chalice.