Steiner Voices XYZ

Dr Brad Kershner continues his keynote presentations from our recent GLAM (Governance, Leadership, Administration and Management) conference at Samford Valley Steiner School. Qld. In this second keynote, Brad develops his theme of Steiner schools as islands of coherence in the sea of chaos and complexity in which we find ourselves at this challenging point in human history. Through our commitment...

Rosemary Gentle OAM has enjoyed a long and distinguished career in Steiner education. Beginning as a parent, she was over three decades a Class teacher, High School Coordinator,  College Chair and finally Board Co-Chair at Glenaeon School in Sydney, before becoming Executive Officer of the Rudolf Steiner Schools Association of Australia, precursor to Steiner Education Australia. Her memories of wo...

Dr Brad Kershner is Head of School at the Kimberton Waldorf School, Pennsylvania, USA, and was the keynote speaker at our recent GLAM (Governance, Leadership, Administration and Management) conference at Samford Valley Steiner School. Qld. Brad has a fascinating background as an early childhood teacher, religious studies scholar, meditation practitioner, administrator, and now a school leader work...

Chris Jack trained as an architect, then worked in construction and property before realising his life’s vocation was in teaching. After coming to a fork in the road in his life, he moved his young family to Emerson College, UK to train as a Steiner teacher. Returning to his hometown of Brisbane, Chris became the pioneer teacher of Samford Valley Steiner school which in his time has grown from the...

Dr Tim Dunn’s educational journey began in IT and computing, then led him on to a university career as a scientist with a PhD in cancer research and immunology. Tim was drawn into teaching when asked by friends to help out in the fledgling high school at Samford Valley Steiner School. He negotiated a release from university commitments of one afternoon per week to teach Maths, but soon found himse...

In this 28th episode of Steiner Voices XYZ, it’s time to look back on some highlights. Every episode has been a highlight for me as the podcaster, remarkable for the huge breadth of voices and experiences demonstrating the rich and diverse endeavour of Steiner education. Yet for the great diversity, there has also been a remarkable unity and coherence of experiences, like the many polished facets...

Nicolai, Charlie, Marni and Finley are four students who graduated from the Willunga Waldorf School in SA at the end of 2025. In this podcast they tell of their journey with the Major Project, just one part of a very full Class 12 academic program. The projects require the students to conduct independent research, to produce a tangible, useful product, and to make a positive contribution to the wi...

Diane Tatum’s long career in Steiner education has taken her around the world, from her origins on the east coast of the US, to schools in Europe, China, South America and over the past 30 years, in Australia. She trained in Eurythmy in Germany and the US, and has devoted her professional life to bringing eurythmy, drama, music, movement, and story to Steiner school classrooms and communities. Beh...

Ken Killeen recently retired after teaching for 20 years in the Steiner stream classes at Castlemaine Secondary College, Victoria. Ken is a professional artist with a deep vision of what Steiner education can offer to adolescents in particular, and the world in general. He tells the story of losing his faith, then finding it again as a fresh impulse which led to new initiatives including the found...

Thea Mills-Crockford has just completed Year 12 at Shearwater, The Mullumbimby Steiner School in northern NSW. Thea gained early entry into the Australian National University, and recorded this interview on her way to Canberra where she will begin a Bachelor’s degree in Neuroscience, Psychology and Philosophy. Her time at Shearwater began at the age of 2 when her parents took her to Playgroup, and...

Rosemary Michalowski began her professional journey after starting a mainstream teaching degree but asking the question: Where is the bigger picture…?  She found the bigger picture she was looking for in a Steiner orientation course in Sydney. The course inspired her love of art, philosophy and meaningful education, and she was taught by Sylvia Brose, the founder of the first Steiner school in Aus...

Here is a podcaster being podcasted! For his Class 12 Major Project, Steiner X Oskar Scarman created a podcast series called A Search for Meaning that explored the themes of meaning, purpose and vulnerability. It reached the top 15% of podcasts worldwide, and now, just two years out of school, Oskar has established a successful business in Adelaide employing 16 people. Oskar reflects on his journe...

Steiner X Dr Luke Fisher has published nine books: five in academic philosophy, two volumes of poetry, and two books of childrens’ stories. Luke grew up in Steiner education, and inspired by vivid story-telling at both school and home, he recalls his imagination being stirred by rich imagery and the power of language. His PhD from the University of Sydney explored the link between the poetry of Ge...

Catherine Pilko is an experienced Kindergarten teacher in Sydney and in this podcast she shares the beautiful first year in a Steiner school that children enjoy in Kindergarten (NSW, ACT), Prep (Qld, Vic, Tas), Reception (SA), Pre-primary (WA) and Transition (NT). Catherine takes us through a typical day, showing the calm, ordered and productive routines that provide a nourishing start to the chil...

Emily Collett teaches Eurythmy at two Steiner schools in Sydney. Her own education included a Major Project on Eurythmy in Year 12, but it after an Honours degree in International Studies at Macquarie University that she committed to a full professional Eurythmy training in Germany. Three years of performing across stages and schools internationally followed, before she returned to Australia to be...

Mary Heard returns to Steiner Voices to discuss screens and how to protect children from the dangers of their addictive use. Although the evidence of the negative impact that screen use has on young people is well established, parents can still feel they are swimming against the tide in a society where screen use for children is so widespread. Screens have an inherently addictive quality designed...

Evan Sanders is Design and Technology teacher at Glenaeon Rudolf Steiner School in Sydney. He teaches the artisan subjects where students produce useful and beautiful objects which are so emblematic of Steiner schools. A former Steiner student himself, he values the learning that goes into working with the many different materials in the Steiner curriculum at different ages, from wool, textiles an...

Megan Hatton has lived and worked in Central Australia for nearly 30 years, becoming fluent in Pitjantjatjara language and teaching in a bilingual school in an Aboriginal community 250 kilometres west of Alice Springs. On moving “to town” with a baby, she began teaching in all the schools of Alice Springs, and was finally drawn to the Alice Springs Steiner school as a parent and teacher for a numb...

What do you do when your eldest daughter comes home at the end of Year 4 and says “I’m not going back!” Bill Wood was training teachers as a Lecturer in the Philosophy of Education when he faced this situation. He and wife Rosemary explored the options and they took a risk in enrolling daughter Joanna in one of the early classes at Mt Barker Waldorf School, a class that became the pioneering class...

Paul Lawrence is an Australian teacher and musician who for the past three years has been an educational leader of the Madu Waldorf School in Ubud, Bali. But Paul’s connection with Bali started a long time before this appointment. He tells a fascinating story that begins with his first life changing experience as a fifteen year old when he encountered Balinese culture for the first time. His life...

Dr Stanley Tang is not just a Science and Maths teacher at Glenaeon Rudolf Steiner School in Sydney, he is also an ornithologist and bird researcher. Stanley began life in a remote village on the Tibetan Plateau in western China where he developed a lifelong fascination with birds, beasts and Nature. Stanley’s journey from a highly competitive schooling system to a leading the at a Steiner school...

Anna Wetzel has brought many skills to her work at Warrah Specialist School. The school is part of the Warrah community, a Steiner-based disability service providing accommodation, supported employment, day services and a biodynamic farm at Dural on the outskirts of Sydney. Anna’s life journey has been a rich and fulfilling one, from a small town in Germany to being Principal of Australia’s only s...

Eliza Allan grew up in Denmark, Western Australia near Golden Hill Steiner School, and from a distance, she thought the school was a bit weird: today she is the school’s Principal. Her journey from cynicism to commitment has taken her through some fascinating highways and byways: years teaching English in Indonesia, leadership roles in remote schools in the Kimberlys, and a year long journey, on h...

What’s it like being a founding student in a new school being built classroom by classroom? Do you have memories of deficit or an absence of facilities? Well, no! Inger Boerema was one of the founding children at the Willunga Waldorf School south of Adelaide, and her memories are all of a rich childhood filled with imagination, play and a joyful community. Her Year 12 Project took these qualities...

After an illustrious career in theatre and the creative arts, Brenna Hobson is now Director of Programming at the Sydney Opera House. She was also fully educated at a Steiner school, and in this episode of Steiner X, Brenna reflects on the formative influences that shaped a career which took her from the Belvoir Street Theatre in Sydney to Executive Director of the National Theatre of Scotland in...