Diversity, Equity & Inclusion
Our highest endeavor must be to develop free human beings who are able of themselves to impart purpose and direction to their lives. The need for imagination, a sense of truth, and a feeling of responsibility - these three forces are the very nerve of education.
- Rudolf Steiner
Sound Circle Center for Arts and Anthroposophy recognizes that laws, regulations, social normative structures and behavioral patterns have perpetuated systemic inequality in race and gender in the US for centuries.
Sound Circle Center is working with these issues of diversity, equity, inclusion (DEI) and social justice not only in our pedagogy and in the way we train our students (leaders of generations to come) but also in how the organization is managed and run. Faculty and its leadership, the Business Manager, the students, and the Board of Trustees are listening, learning and incorporating what we learn into our consciousness, our lives and our personal and organizational practices.
Non-Discrimination Policy
Sound Circle Center does not discriminate against students or potential students on the basis of race, creed, color, national origin, sex, veteran or military status, sexual orientation, or the presence of any sensory, mental, or physical disability or the use of a trained guide dog or service animal by a person with a disability.
Accommodation of Disability
Sound Circle Center acknowledges that information pertaining to an applicant’s disability is voluntary and confidential. It is up to the individual applicant to make her/his need for an accommodation known in writing during the application process and verbally in the personal interview. If this information is presented, Sound Circle Center will reasonably attempt to provide an accommodation to overcome the effects of the limitation of the qualified applicant.
AWSNA Statement of Equity
Association of Waldorf Schools of North America Statement of Equality:
Waldorf Schools espouse principles of respect for human rights and the diversity of human kind and believe that inclusivity and equality is a journey of both moral and educational importance. Our schools are in alignment with the Stuttgart Declaration, which was adopted by the General Assembly of the German Association of Waldorf Schools (Bund der Freien Waldorfschulen) in Stuttgart on October 28, 2007. This declaration was made to unequivocally clarify the intents of Rudolf Steiner’s pedagogical theories and work and to explicitly reject allegations that Waldorf schools in any way espouse racist or nationalistic views. An adapted translation of parts of the Stuttgart Declaration (as authorized by the European Council for Steiner Waldorf Education - ECSWE) reads as follows:
Racist or discriminatory tendencies are not tolerated in Waldorf schools or Waldorf teacher training institutes. The Waldorf school movement explicitly rejects any attempt to misappropriate Waldorf pedagogy or Rudolf Steiner's work for racist or nationalistic purposes.
Waldorf schools have been working on the basis of these principles since the movement was founded in 1919. Institutions working out of Waldorf Education are today engaged in all parts of the world, including areas of social tension in Europe, Africa, the Americas, Asia and the Middle East.
Waldorf schools pursue their pedagogical tasks out of the spirit of human rights, thereby contributing to building a society founded upon mutual respect, tolerance and cooperation between all human beings.
Waldorf schools do not select, stratify or discriminate amongst their pupils, but consider all human beings to be free and equal in dignity and rights, independent of ethnicity, national or social origin, gender, language, religion, and political or other convictions.
Anthroposophy, upon which Waldorf Education is founded, stands firmly against all forms of racism and nationalism. Waldorf schools recognize that the richness inherent in a school community is built upon the synergy between both curriculum and students studying that curriculum. To this end, Waldorf schools not only aim to build school communities that are reflective of the larger community in which we are located, but also intentionally promote the synergistic interaction between the elements of the community.
Honoring the multiple perspectives that exist in our increasingly diverse communities, we heed the call for ongoing conversation in education and collectively.
Statement from AWSNA (Association of Waldorf Schools of North America)
