Rooted and Rising: Reflections from the 2025 AWSNA Conference

By Rebecca Watkin

Some of you may know from our posts over the years that, in addition to working on Daily Wonder with Jen and Mareesha, I work as a contractor in the world of Waldorf education. One of my roles in this capacity is in support of the seven BC Waldorf schools as an administrator for their collaborative work. I facilitate monthly meetings where we tackle projects related to running a Waldorf school in BC. Another role is working for a Waldorf school in BC to support their leaders with system change. With this as a big part of my professional life, I took some Daily Wonder flyers and headed off to Toronto last week to attend the 2025 AWSNA Conference.
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Returning home from the conference, I feel a renewed sense of connection to the Waldorf movement, to my colleagues across North America, and to the deep stream of pedagogical wisdom that grounds our shared work. As a leader serving all British Columbia Waldorf schools and a co-founder of Daily Wonder Home Learning, I live and breathe Waldorf education in many forms. Each facet of my work deepens my reverence for this movement that continues to evolve while remaining firmly rooted in its spiritual and humanistic foundations.

At this year’s conference, the energy was both thoughtful and forward-moving. As we gathered under the theme of “Deepening the Art of Teaching and Leading,” I was especially inspired by the interweaving of contemporary research, timeless spiritual principles, and the practical art of teaching and leading. Being among such a wide circle of educators and administrators, from pioneers in urban school innovation to new leaders in home learning, reminded me that Waldorf education is not static. It is, in keynote speaker Stephen Sagarin’s words, a “living organism,” continually growing, adapting, and responding to the needs of our time.

Sagarin's keynote was a powerful call to honour the evolution of Waldorf while resisting the temptation to become dogmatic. He reminded us that Rudolf Steiner’s intention was never to create a system frozen in time, but rather a method grounded in spiritual science and adaptable through observation, creativity, and moral insight. His reflections echoed through my mind as I joined colleagues in conversations about curriculum renewal, school governance considerations, and the deepening of anthroposophical study in personal and professional life.

It was validating to see how Martyn Rawson’s description of Waldorf generative principles are informing school development across North America. His research into Steiner's work invites schools to consider not only curriculum content and the methodology of teaching but also the quality of relationships, the rhythm of learning, and the cultivation of thinking through the development of the imagination. These principles are alive in Waldorf homes and classrooms, in the seasonal rhythm of festivals, and in the way we support each other as colleagues and community. They are also the heartbeat of Daily Wonder, where we bring these impulses into the homes of families who choose to learn outside the classroom while remaining deeply Waldorf in spirit.
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Daniel Hindes, a workshop facilitator at the Conference, brought his historical philosophy perspective to provide another anchor for me throughout the week. His reminder that Waldorf education was born out of a post-war vision for peace, human dignity, and social renewal resonates profoundly today. As we navigate increasing polarization in the world, his framing of Waldorf as an education for freedom and resilience helps ground our work in both history and hope. In my conversations with friends and colleagues, we recapitulated that the concept of freedom in this sense is intended as ‘the freedom to love another’, not the freedom to place oneself at the centre, which is how the word gets used so often these days. 

Ultimately, what stays with me most from the conference is a feeling of deep connection. Whether in hallway conversations, workshop participation, or shared meals, I was reminded again and again that Waldorf is not just a pedagogy, it is a movement. A living, breathing community of educators, administrators, and parents committed to supporting the unfolding of human potential.

I return home with gratitude for the work we do in BC, for the network of support across AWSNA, for the community around Daily Wonder, and for the ever-renewing strength of this movement that continues to ask: How do we serve the children of today in service of a better tomorrow?

Together, we reclaim childhood to transform the world.