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Introduction to the script Teacher Steiner

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The feature movie script Teacher Steiner was written for the 100th anniversary of the first Waldorf school in Stuttgart. The school was founded by Emil Molt for the workers’ children in his factory in 1919 and initially led by Rudolf Steiner.

I hope directors of development will find the script worth producing not only because Steiner’s premise is more valid than ever: “If you fail, try it harder in a different way”, and his life was full of dramatic turning points while his goals and work were constantly at risk, but also because his story sets an example to find ways intuitively in education and parenting that support the individual and help development in an increasingly uniform society.

Steiner hoped that many of his insights into pedagogy would at some time be understood and taken up in public education. That didn’t happen in his lifetime. And only now after 100 years and after his practice (learning through and with rhythm and movement, artistic means, making personal experiences etc.) proved to work in the more than 1100 schools founded by parents, there are signs that the message has started to get through to the architects of general public education as well (e.g. in the Finnish educational system).

I came up to the idea to write a drama script about Rudolf Steiner’s life and work when I first used two-minute scripts in teaching different topics in blocks (astronomy, history, beekeeping etc.) for schoolchildren.  This means – a two-minute script – is very practical as it takes only a page (both sides of it) and can be performed by the pupils (5-8 characters) several times in a short period of time. It can elaborate and deepen some important elements of a topic in a dramatic and artistic way.

The script Teacher Steiner is based on detailed biographical research over several years (looking through archives, mails and memoirs, as well as visiting places where the protagonists lived). Though I try to stick to the facts, there are a few scenes or parts of them that are plausible fiction. They help towards a better understanding of the circumstances of those times or they support the development of characters.

The script is available on any amazon site (print and Kindle version)

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Teacher Steiner