The Avapanam Forum for Inclusive Social Development in India held its 6th Annual Conference from January 3-5, 2025, on the theme “The Contemplative Journey of an Educator,” celebrating the 100th anniversary of Rudolf Steiner’s Curative Course. The event took place at Vidyasagar Chennai, in partnership with the Nandavanam Center for Healing Education.
The conference provided an opportunity to engage in a series of lectures based on themes developed by the Camphill Academy to commemorate the anniversary of the Curative Course. These lectures were complemented by small working groups conducted in regional languages, artistic activity sessions, and Q&A opportunities, allowing for meaningful encounters and sharing.
Attendees explored themes of “The Pedagogical Law as a Path to Healing – Becky Rutherford, Camphill Academy” followed by hands-on experiences built on the lecture on “Imaginative Pictures as a Diagnostic Path – Gleice da Silva, Camphill Communities California,” which allowed participants to engage with Curative Stories. The concept of “Remembering and Forgetting – Rüdiger Grimm” was delved into further in study groups, deepening understanding of the themes presented in the lecture. In the session “What Burns in Our Hearts – Doris Lange Unger & Leticia Sanagata,” participants engaged in enriching and thought-provoking conversations about the legacy of the Curative Lectures and their ongoing influence on teachers and educators in finding a path forward with students. The day concluded with a reflection on the lecture on “Inclusive Futures – Tho Ha Vinh, Eurasia Learning Institute,” examining how education must evolve to meet the challenges and opportunities of the future.
Sashika Patell, Camphill Academy alumnus had a chance to participate and share her experience: “While visiting family in my hometown in India this January, by a stroke of luck- speaking to the right person at the right time – I got a chance to attend a day at the annual conference of Avapanam – The Indian Forum for Inclusive social Development. The conference was well attended by people from different parts of the country working in the field of curative education, social therapy, medical and artistic therapies.
We explored the theme ‘The contemplative journey of the educator’ through the arts and by engaging with the lecture series that was developed by Camphill Academy for the 100 years celebration. The lectures were listened to, watched and then discussed in English and in Tamil (the regional language) in small groups. It was beautiful to experience resonance that lives in people doing similar work across the regions and oceans. Resonance about the reality of working with people with various support needs and how this invites the building of a vibrant community through intentional practices which inevitably creates the fertile ground for inner work for each individual.
One of the highlights for me at the conference was the sharing of the Tamil translation of Steiner’s “Education for Special Needs: The Curative Course” lectures. This was a collaboration between the translator Sujatha Rajagopalan, Avapanam, Arokia Alexander and the team from Newgen KnowledgeWorks. One of the interesting things the translator shared about the process was that translating Steiner’s work from German into Tamil brought her new understanding and shed different light on the Sanskrit mantras and Indian philosophies that she has studied in Tamil her whole life. In a way this ‘coming full circle’ in allowing our new endeavors to work on our past knowledge and bring it alive again to inform the present and flow into the future is one of the gifts I experience in working with Anthroposophy in different contexts. It is an invitation to work with the essence of what lives and breathes in where we are, what we do, and who we are becoming.”
You can watch a short video compilation of the event here:
