Teaching in Xin Zhuang and Beijing, China

By Alan Thewless

In July I returned from a 5-week visit to China, teaching with Barbara Baldwin in the village of Xin Zhuang, outside Beijing and lecturing in the city itself. It was my first trip to China, and I greatly enjoyed the work and my first experiences of this wonderful country.

In Barbara's 'Fundamentals of Curative Education' seminar I taught Choir, Music Improvisation, Painting and Modeling. I also gave public lectures on Waldorf Education, the Waldorf Curriculum, and the Temperaments. Over the course of one week I had the opportunity to give daily lessons in Zhiai Curative School to a small group of children with special needs, bringing to this group hygienic/musical experiences. In Beijing I led a workshop on Shakespeare's 'The Tempest,' and I was invited to give an introductory workshop on 'Youth Guidance,' the work within Camphill, with young adults with intellectual and developmental difficulties.

The lyre was featured in much of this work, along with native American flute, choir chimes, and a great variety of other percussion instruments.