<p> The aim of this research was to investigate the transformational experience of teachers who had training and experience with traditional education and then moved to an experiential teaching method as found in the One Earth School, Bali, Indonesia. The researcher conducted interviews with eight teachers and made observations of the teachers&rsquo; practices in the One Earth School. This study sought to answer the main research question: What was the transformative experience of teachers who moved from traditional to experiential forms of education? This primary research question was expanded to include sub-research questions that explored: How did an experiential educational method influence teacher practice, what were the barriers in transitioning to an education in experiential learning, how did the teachers address those barriers? The primary researcher used a multiple case study method. Six key themes emerged from this analysis, which were a sense of purpose, transformation of educational beliefs, experiences of transformative learning, sense of community, sense of intimacy, and self-transformation. The findings of this study provided data to support the theories and practices of transformative experiences for teachers who converted to this method. The experiences of teaching in the OES provided teachers impactful learning experiences that facilitated their transformation. The findings will provide a model for articulating and disseminating the transformative practices of educators as co-learners.</p><p>

<p> The aim of this study was is to uncover the interdependence between self-transformation and community participation through analyzing the self-reports of participants in a 30-day community-based transformative educational program called the True School, organized by the Konohana Family in Fujinomiya, Japan. This research explored the question: What conscious phenomena, in terms of self-awareness, were experienced through participating in a 30-day community-based transformative educational program called the True School? The Konohana Family is an intentional community located in Fujinomiya, Japan, whose cultural belief system is based on transcending ego. Daily journals and a critical hermeneutic conversation were used to explicate the conscious phenomena experienced. Some experiences that the participants aspired for were later felt, and some experiences that participants felt were later aspired for. The researcher found that, prior to the True School, participants experienced emotional conflicts and repressed their personal desires. They desired acceptance, personal ownership, transformation, and wisdom. They aspired to feel autonomy, confidence, creative expression, fulfillment, and vulnerability. During the True School, participants wanted to feel confidence, creative expression, and vulnerability. They experienced compassion, embodiment, empowerment, gratitude, intuition, joy, vulnerability, will, and wisdom. After the True School, participants felt acceptance, faith, joy, non-attachment, and wisdom. More so, locus of control (LoC), the belief in a source of control as internal or external, was found to modulate self-construal and worldview. LoC was considered to be synonymous with ego, as the belief in a separate self. When ego is intended to be acknowledged and suspended or transcended, harmony is experienced and community forms. This research addresses the significance for further applications of community-based learning environments, specifically with the intention of transcending ego. </p><p>

<p> This dissertation explores how Waldorf early childhood educators use the theories and practices embedded in Waldorf early childhood education (WECE), which are based on the psycho-spiritual-biological model of development developed by philosopher Rudolf Steiner, to help parents care for their children during their first 7 years. While there is a large body of writing on Waldorf early childhood theory and practice from within the Waldorf community, little has been written in scholarly and academic circles. Seeking to bridge this divide, 12 senior Waldorf early childhood educators who are acknowledged experts in their communities were interviewed. The study gathered information from senior Waldorf early childhood educators through qualitative, semi-structured interviews aimed at understanding the nature of teaching parenting skills that accord with Waldorf early childhood principles. Interview questions were informed by the literature review, which focuses on Steiner&rsquo;s (2003) developmental theory, Susan Howard&rsquo;s (2006) outline of early childhood education essentials, and the historical contexts in which these teachings are embedded. All interviews were analyzed using an adaptation of grounded theory methods. Results illuminated 11 major themes to describe how parent educators use the environment and their &ldquo;being&rdquo; to offer parent-centered, experiential practices rooted in Anthroposophy that &ldquo;protect childhood&rdquo; from impinging cultural conditions and contemporary parenting challenges. Through modeling and relationship with parents and children, parent educators offer a set of parenting skills that support health for families as understood through an Anthroposophical developmental lens. Additionally, parent educators help foster community and attachments such that parents can integrate their learning and begin a path of inner transformation. The study is designed to provide an empirical base to discussions of how Waldorf early education of parents works at the beginning of the 21st century.</p>