3. Rethinking Tuition

 How we think about tuition, whether it is viewed as a payment, a mandatory contribution or a gift, has a significant effect on the financial relationships in the school and especially on development work and fundraising. The whole avenue of concerted, intentional, and value-driven development work is longing for further evolution. In many schools currently using a tuition-based model for financing their operation, we can find creative ways to think about and manage tuition. The article on Siegfried Finser's talk about tuition as gift money is a good start.  Other excellent work on how to transform the tuition process has come out of the work of Bob Munson and Gary Lamb under the name ATA: Accessible Tuition for All.

While not everyone will be able to implement this process model, understanding the ideas behind it is important for everyone. Bob Munson and Mary Roscoe offer a clear and compelling background about ATA in their Primer. There are a few others experiments with creative tuition models including a three-tier tuition level model in use at the Brooklyn Waldorf School and a shared tuition experiment in UK, shared by Chris Schaefer. All of these are creative attempts to bring social ideals to tuition.

Lastly, if there is a natural antipathy to money and wealth in the school culture, overcoming or transforming that antipathy will be a major step toward sustainability. While this raises all sorts of issues it is the choice that independence brings.

This is a continuation from the article Seven Keys to Sustainability in the April 2014 LeadTogether Newsletter.

A report published FROM THE RUDOLF STEINER CENTER IN TORONTO

The first Waldorf school was established nearly 100 years ago to serve the needs of workers children at a cigarette factory in Stuttgart Germany. Deep in the ethos of Waldorf education is a desire to serve all who seek a holistic, spirit filled education regardless of race, religion or socio-economic class. Beth Henderson, Class of 2013 and now the first grade teacher at the Halton Waldorf School, researched the practical realities and philosophic implications for running inclusive tuition adjustment programs in Waldorf schools. Here is her research.

The Three-Fold Social Order and Tuition Adjustment Programs in Waldorf Schools

In the aftermath of the first world war, Rudolf Steiner gave talks and wrote about how a healthy and stable society can be built by creating a social order with three distinct foundational structures: an economics based on brotherhood, politics that respect and uphold equal rights for all, and cultural freedom, including work, education and spiritual practices. Within this three-fold social order, the Waldorf education movement is a crucial platform for helping the proper social climate develop, in which humanity can consciously build a society founded on these three ideals. In this paper I will look at how the Tuition Adjustment programs employed by some of the Waldorf schools in Ontario are an important step in working toward Steiner's social order, and how it is essential that the administrators of these programs have a conscious understanding of that social order to be effective into the future.

There is a moral consciousness awakening across the globe, changing the quality of human interaction with each other and with the earth. It is important that these pockets of social change are celebrated because:

The gradual dismantling of the state educational and economic apparatus could well develop from small beginnings.... New institutions could be practically merged with existing ones by building upon what already exists. Through this building, the dismantling of the unhealthy elements [of society] is induced (Steiner ch3).
In order to change our dysfunctional social structures into healthy and sustainable ones we have to have a solid picture of what a healthy society will look like. Here is a brief explanation of the social structure that Steiner outlines in his works:

Steiner's economic structure is founded on the ideal of brotherhood, also called associative economics. There are many instances in which humanity is already developing the structures, and making the individual choices, that put associative economics into practice. Guerilla Gardening is an important social movement in which people are reclaiming abandoned spaces, growing food and beautiful flowers on land that gardeners do not have legal rights to. Co-ops like Bob's Red Mill – where the owner gave his successful company to his employees – are becoming more common. These embody the principle that the “associative economy [is] based on fellowship and conscious relations between the producers, consumers, and distributors of a given sector” (Lamb 2004, 119).

Economic Sphere

These associative economic practices are firmly rooted in the reality of our dependence on environmental health for survival. They recognize our mutual interdependence for the things and ideas each of us brings to the table with a compassionate acknowledgement of everyone's intrinsic value as a human being.

Political Sphere

The political structure is founded on the premise of equal rights for all. Every human life is acknowledged by safeguarding these inalienable rights that are recognized in the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights. Globally, human society has been working towards the goal of achieving equal rights for all for well over a century. Slavery is outlawed in most of the world, and the Civil Rights, Feminist, and Marriage Equality movements have seen a lot of success over the years. Under Steiner's social structure, the economic sphere to become the protectors of the rich and powerful because they have no vested interest in the economic sphere could not corrupt the organizations and people who are mandated to protect the rights of every individual. The only purpose and interest in which “politics” can be properly employed is to protect the rights of individuals so that they can each live their lives in freedom.

Cultural Sphere

The cultural sphere comprises everything that a human being freely chooses to do with their life. This includes the work they do, how they spend their time, what spiritual practices they engage in, and what type of education their children are raised in. Every individual is free to develop according to their abilities and inclinations. Each “child and each generation brings messages and impulses of social renewal from the spiritual world” (Lamb 2004, 11). Individuals brings these new forces to society through developing their own capacities, and society benefits from having a constant stream of new ideas and approaches to improve the human condition with the earth.

In his book The Basic Issues of the Social Question Steiner insists that every individuals' personal development needs to be separate from economic life because when people “grow on their own foundation, [they] unceasingly supply economic life with the strength which it cannot produce within itself”. Only with this free development can the economy be structured “in a manner which is beneficial to humanity” (Steiner, Summary). Many of our social ills today stem from having a single unified governing structure that is tied to an economy based on growth and competition, not fuelled by self development and creative solutions.

I interviewed administrators at four local Waldorf schools about their Tuition Adjustment Programs (TAPs). One of the schools is a well-established school that has enjoyed hard-won financial stability over many years. The other three schools are much smaller and credit their TAPs with bringing them financial stability. All the schools I interviewed have been, in some measure, inspired by the work of Bob Monsen and Mary Roscoe, executive members of the Institute for Social Renewal. Monsen & Roscoe created a program titled “Accessible To All (ATA) Tuition Adjustment Program” (Monsen & Roscoe 2005) which is inspired by Steiner's social order. For years Monsen has travelled extensively around the United States, holding workshops and giving personal attention to the need for Independent Waldorf schools to find sustainable funding that enables them to open their doors to students of all economic backgrounds. Approximately ten years ago one of the schools I interviewed sent a request to Monsen for a workshop on his ATA Program at their school. This request was inspired by a passionate parental plea for a different way of thinking regarding budgets and tuition. All four of the schools I spoke with attended Monsen's workshop, and all of them adopted and implemented some of the program's suggestions.

Accessible Tuition for All

The ATA program employs an associative approach that helps build a sense of community through personal conversation. In Waldorf pedagogy it is understood that the students are educated as much from who the teacher is as a person, as from the lessons s/he brings into the classroom. Every one who teaches the students, as well as community in which the students live and attend school, is an integral part of this learning ground. That's why it is paramount that, as much as possible, all members of the community act with integrity and authenticity, operating out of “ the same spiritual and social understanding that underlies the education” (Monsen & Roscoe, 5). Students “can readily sense discrepancies between what they learn and experience in the classroom and what the adults in the school community— teachers, staff, and parents—are saying and doing” (Lamb, 37). These discrepancies may be inevitable, but students sense and respect when the adult community surrounding them is striving to live out of these ideals. This integrity in action is how the students come to see and understand what makes up a healthy community.

In a more egalitarian society, Waldorf education would be readily available to all families who wished to partake in it, but charging tuition is a necessary compromise under current social structures. Ensuring the Waldorf education movement's economic independence is essential for its success. Across the globe, governments and big business are increasingly setting the agenda for educational goals. Through standardized testing legislation they have successfully implemented an ineffective one-size-fits all approach to education that inculcates “self-interested behavior, materialism, nationalism, and intellectualism into the rising generations” (Lamb 2004, 114-115). This approach to education perpetuates their existence but is pulling the engaging, inspiring, and creative elements out of our public education system. In his book The Social Mission of Waldorf Education, Gary Lamb (the vice-president of the Institute for Social Renewal) states the case for keeping Waldorf schools economically independent much more thoroughly and eloquently than I can here, but the importance of sustainable funding for Waldorf schools cannot be overstated. In essence, charging tuition keeps these schools free to pursue their curriculum according to their own methodology. Their not-for-profit charitable organization status allows them to be as affordable as they can however, private school is still
expensive, and there are many families who are not able to afford full tuition rates.

Monsen & Roscoe's work is geared specifically toward widening the accessibility of Waldorf education to more families who would like to choose it, in spite of their economic situation. As they state in the ATA's mission statement:

One of the main challenges for Waldorf schools in North America is finding a way to include children from all economic levels in society while maintaining Waldorf schools as independent and self-administered... Our task is to work in a manner that is consistent with the goal of becoming a source of social change. (p. 6)

The ATA has been a cornerstone for the continuing financial independence of several of the Waldorf schools in Ontario, while increasing accessibility across the economic spectrum. This increased accessibility has also increased the economic diversity within each school's community. Without this economic diversity in the community's population Waldorf schools couldn't be as effective in their mission for social change because students would be educated in a bubble of wealthy privilege, insulated and cut-off from a huge demographic of our society. The TAPs give schools the opportunity to allow families not economically well endowed to attend the school of their choice, while maintaining the freedom to work within the methodology and curriculum that founded them.

In the ATA program, each school trains conversationalists to work with families applying for tuition adjustment in order to reach a consensus. The consensual nature of the process is very important because it puts both the families and the school on an equal footing, where the solution must meet the needs of both the family and the school. This method of reaching agreement is a key foundation in Steiner's associative economic model, where there is “the free initiative of the doer on one side, and the free appreciation of those others who require his efforts on the other” (Steiner, ch3). Strictly economically speaking, the school is bending to meet the needs of the families they serve, and the families being awarded tuition adjustment are working to make their children's education a priority in theirs.

All of the schools I spoke with start their TAP process with a request to the families applying to undergo a financial analysis. Most of the schools use third-party financial analysts, and at least one school made the conscious decision to switch their service request from a large financial firm to a local firm, keeping the costs lower for the families and improving communication so that services are more tailored to the schools' needs. In three of the four schools this financial analysis considers a family's whole financial picture, including debt, expenses, lifestyle, personal needs, etc. Once the financial analysis is complete, each family is invited into the school for a conversation where the need for a tuition adjustment can be weighed and the award is eventually decided.

The ATA program created by Monsen & Roscoe has been instrumental in helping the schools I spoke with make or modify their own TAPs, but it has both strengths and weaknesses. The programs were built through hard work and honest, authentic communication by people on all sides of the equation: parents, administrators, boards of directors, and anthroposophists (among others). This work strengthens the community. It also encourages a transparency in the way that the school conducts its business. This builds trust. But while the consensus approach to tuition adjustment is theoretically ideal, in practice it is an extremely resource intensive way to do things. Some of the schools found that they were spending upwards of 300 hours each year on this process. The strain on resources created by this practice was too much for it to be functional over the long-term, and in spite of the schools' openness and transparency, there was also a discomfort with the subjective nature of the conversational process.

In the consensus-building paradigm of the ATA, the tuition adjustment awards were dependent on the volunteer conversationalist a family spoke with. This led to some families paying less than they could, depending on their ability to inspire empathy in the conversationalist, and some families were paying more than they should, because of their willingness to economically prioritize the well-being of the school and their children's education. In one school, bad feelings developed among the parental body over indications (through rumor and gossip) that some families received a better deal than others. Some also felt that describing their debt and personal expenses in such detail was an intrusion on their privacy. In response to these issues, this school created a more objective process that employs a simplified financial analysis that looks at only three criteria: the cost of living in the area, size of the family, and income. Based on these criteria the analysts are able to determine how much disposable income a family is likely to have, and the school is able to set the tuition adjustment award accordingly. The family's personal economic life choices never come into the equation. This school still engages in conversations with each family who applies for their TAP, and they actively explore options if a family feels an award is insufficient for the support they need to choose Waldorf education. This structure upholds the associative nature of the economic relationship between the school and families, and it supports the individual freedom of each family to choose their economic priorities.

The importance of respecting the privacy of families applying to TAPs, and giving them the freedom to make their choices regarding their personal economic priorities, cannot be overstated. In the course of my research I became aware of one family of six who decided not to send their children to Waldorf because they felt that the school's approach to their financial need was too invasive and prescriptive. The family willingly underwent the detailed scrutiny of their finances, but when it came time for the consensus-building conversation, the school recommended that if the family was interested in Waldorf education for their children they should be willing to make it a priority and forego family vacations and home renovations. Under the ATA model, conversationalists have to be able to “inspire parents to contribute to the well-being of the school and to consider the support of the school as a priority in their lives” (Monsen & Roscoe, 11). This approach is effective with everyone who is able to align the school's well-being with their own interests, but in practice, there are opportunists who are more interested in getting a better deal on their children's education than on the school's continued well-being. I believe that the prescriptive approach that the family of six experienced was an effort by the conversationalists, likely developed out of some challenging experiences, to ensure that each family is honestly giving as much as they economically can to the school. But their prescriptions lie beyond the scope of associative economics. Muddling the economic and cultural spheres in this way poses the danger of exacerbating the very social problems that the ATA was designed to help overcome.

Because Waldorf schools currently have to function in a unified society under social structures that don't recognize the distinctions between associative economics, political rights, and cultural freedom, it is essential that all the people engaging in the processes of the TAPs have some understanding of the ideals toward which they are striving. It is not enough to believe in the social mission of Waldorf education alone. Of the administrators I spoke with, few were consciously aware that their TAPs were inspired by the ideas of Steiner's three-fold social order, but if the continued development of each TAP is to align with this social order then those who guide the programs need to have a clear understanding of its underlying impulse. There is very little in our current social structures that can help us build a healthy society. As Steiner states:

The forces of the times are pressing for knowledge of a social structure for mankind that is completely different from what is commonly envisaged. Social communities hitherto have, for the most part, been formed by human instincts. To penetrate their forces with full consciousness is a mission of the times. (Steiner, Appendix)

In the beginnings of the TAPs, it was enough for the schools to rely on Monsen's understanding of the social order. This carried them through the creation and implementation of the programs. However, as the programs expand and are modified through the schools' experiences, administrators, and all individuals working towards a better world, need to bring their full consciousness to the direction in which they develop.

Steiner believed that positive social change is going to manifest through humanity's recognition that a sustainable way of life is possible and necessary; conflict and upheaval work against the cause of the social movement (Steiner ch3). Educating our children so that they can develop their natural capacities according to their abilities and inclinations, along with giving them a sense of social responsibility and interconnectedness with the world they live in, is an essential foundation to building a better and healthier society. Waldorf education has at its center the social mission of giving its students exactly this type of inner foundation. That is why the Tuition Adjustment programs are such an important platform toward a more just society. Making our schools accessible to people from all economic strata serves not only to promote the very freedom that we espouse, but also promotes the worldview that is foundational to our work. People need to be encouraged and supported in making conscious choices with their lives, and they need to have the freedom to make those choices as they see fit.
Bibliography

Interviews:
Gregoire, Darlene. Toronto Waldorf School. Conducted on April 25th, 2013.
Soltan, Rebecca. London Waldorf School. Conducted on May 1st, 2013.
Tracy. Trillium Waldorf School. Conducted on April 24th, 2013.
Victoria. Halton Waldorf School. Conducted on April 23rd, 2013.
Lamb, Gary. “The Social Mission of Waldorf Education”. AWSNA, 2004.
Lamb, Gary. “Aligning Pedagogy and Finance in a Waldorf School”. Pulication date unknown Retrieved from http://thecenterforsocialresearch.org/sites/default/files/assets /csr/about/ aligningpedagogyandfinance.pdf. Accessed May 6th, 2013.
Monsen, Bob & Mary Roscoe. “Accessible To All (ATA) Tuition Adjustment Program” (Revised February 9, 2005). Retrieved from http://socialrenewal.com/pdfs/ATA_Tutorial.pdf.
Accessed April 30th 2013.
Steiner, Rudolf. “Basic Issues of the Social Question”. Retrieved from http://wn.rsarchive.org/Books/GA023/English/SCR2001/GA023_index.html. Accessed from April 22nd- May 10th, 2013.

Becoming clearer about how best to run a school?

An understandable first response to that quasi-question might be to ask back, “Shouldn’t that be clear enough already?” But the millions of pounds spent by the UK government on revising, reforming and
reconstituting governance and leadership for schools in general, should serve as an alert to the knotty
nature of the problem. And no-one seems to think they have discovered a perfect solution – yet!

The nature of running a Waldorf school poses particular challenges: the schools aim to be collegial and
associative; they work with a high level of idealism and a powerful philosophy in an environment where
everything that has to do with education is conflicted and drawn to the political. In spite of this, the
natural tendency is to assume that if Steiner Waldorf schools did things in a more conventional way,
everything would be simpler, more organised. Of course, it would be ridiculous to suggest that Steiner
Waldorf schools cannot learn from other educational establishments. Education is about learning and that
cannot be narrowly restricted to a pre-determined formula. Draw the curtains on the world and you
cannot see out! But learning also depends on orientation, which clutching at the straws of conventional
wisdom lacks.

Those who were able to join the recent “Vibrant Schools” workshop at King’s
Langley, were treated to wide vision of thought and experience relevant to
steering our schools; it’s a cybernetic problem (from the Greek for
“steersman”). Angus Jenkinson was able to help steer our thoughts safely
through an odyssey that took in a wealth of experience and a great deal that
was practically useful. This workshop was a follow-on from last year’s
conference with Florian Oswald (“How do we run a Steiner school.”) and
complemented the work started then. Schools represented included new and
old: Academies existing, pending or at the application stage; and independent
school members with long or, as yet, very brief histories. Angus’s skilled
guidance meant that everyone was able to gain something from the weekend.

As for the short answer to the provocation with which we started - take notice! When a school is at its
best, when things flow, identify that and from that model the organisation. Easy? No, only easy to
summarise! But it is, after all, what we try to do when we work with children. Present the best they can
be to them and help them to acquire the skills to steer properly. So, perhaps, how best to run a school
might gather most from how best to teach and learn...many thanks to all who participated, to Kings
Langley for hosting, and to Angus for his clarity and wisdom.
Kevin Avison

For more news and information about Waldorf education in teh UK, please visit Steiner Schools Fellowship

Freeing the Circling Stars by Christopher Houghton Budd

A review January 24, 2011 by Arthur Edwards

Paying the Piper, Not Calling the Tune

In the preface to Freeing the Circling Stars, Christopher Houghton Budd makes the radical contention that those who fund education should not thereby also determine its content. In his view, the function of finance is merely to provide the `chalice' for pedagogy, and while education must needs be `paid for', it should not however be `bought'. Such a premise will provoke questions: For example, how is one to steer between the Scylla of state and the Charybdis* of private funding? Who, if not the piper, should call the tune? What is the proper relationship of finance to education?
This book is a handbook for those wishing to travel the path into a landscape in which education is provided, not with a backward look at those who put the money in the teachers' hands, but for the benefit of the children, enabling them to grow together into adults capable of freely realizing their future. The book's title, indicates the crucial role of the teacher in enabling children to meet one another through their schooling, in a way that is not determined through economic considerations but out of the logic of life's circumstances.

Arguing from first principles, Christopher Houghton Budd examines educational financing and describes the path that must be taken if "... a powerful ideal is to become a concrete practicality." Teachers taking responsibility for running education must do so right into its financial aspect. The effect of this would be that teachers would cease to be mere functionaries, whether of government ministers or wealthy parents and they would have their own hands on the financial reins. Through addressing the financial questions, the issues of curriculum choice, pedagogical autonomy and social inclusion can also be constructively addressed.

The borderlines of the current crisis are well known - state funded education comes with strings attached which deaden cultural freedom; privately funded education tends either to impoverish the teachers (and the fabric of the school) or to pander to the concerns of those who can afford to make their wishes count. Christopher Houghton Budd advocates pre-funded education as a way of releasing education from its financial determination. Effectively this means creating channels by which finance can flow into education without influencing its content. Pre-funded education allows the teachers to determine the pedagogical content of the curricula and the children to attend schools based on their parents' choice, but not on their financial situation. If teachers were to organize themselves on an independent, professional basis to attract such funding to their schools, they would find themselves freed from both parental and governmental `customers'. In order to bring this about they would need structures in place that enable them to invoice their costs realistically (i.e. paying themselves properly), while at the same time remaining in the driving seat. The question of to whom such an invoice should be sent is of course a crucial one, but the fact that the invoice exists and must be paid for is indisputable. The financial amount of the invoice is secondary.

Yet just here there is a threshold, which must indeed be crossed, if the situation of contemporary education is to improve. One cannot expect to understand the economics of educational provision at the level of sophistication needed only to understand the economics of buying bread. Teachers may need to take not only themselves, but also effectively the whole of society across this threshold with them if they are to ensure that the question of financing education is sufficiently met. For the issue of education affects the whole of society, and correspondingly, society, in its attitude to education, allows for what it knows: for better or worse. If the change does come from educators, the effect on society will, in turn, allow for further change, but left to itself society will tend only to replicate the thoughts and institutions with which it is familiar, however inadequate. The universal benefit brought by education is sometimes alluded to by pointing out that the sun, when it shines, does not only shine on one man; perhaps one should also point out that, when it rains, everyone gets wet. The financing of education must not be made to depend on un-thought conventions. True practicality begins with clear thinking. Pioneering examples prepare the way for rational strategies. One must find the courage to act and thereby allow the thought implicit in one's actions to become visible to others. To blame policy-makers for their unwillingness to consider what to them is unfamiliar is a lame excuse. The responsibility lies with those who do not first need to see an example, but are able to grasp the idea in thought. Public opinion, if it is to follow, will do so only after the event.

What for one person is a challenging threshold, is a stumbling block for the next. In order to change a situation one must develop the capacity to rethink it, to separate what is pertinent from what is not. Only then can one countenance a new perspective. To think the impossible is the necessary preliminary to enacting it. For some, the practicability of pre-funding education may be that very stumbling block, while for others the fact one can think it through should serve as the necessary stimulus to make it happen.

Christopher Houghton Budd's book is not so much a how-to guide, but a grounding in education, giving both historical context and ideal content. The book opens with the view of philosopher John Stuart Mill proposing the idea that the state should require education without taking it upon itself to direct it. He then shows that to understand the financing of education one must realize that education is `the great consumer' but consumption is no less a thing than production. Economics depends on the balance of one with the other. Although education consumes resources, it creates resourcefulness, which is the most important factor in production. The fact that these ideas are not sufficiently present in the world does not invalidate them, nor does the fact that society at large fails to embrace them, take away the onus of responsibility from those who recognize their logic.

The issues surrounding the relationship of finance to education are complex. Dr. Houghton Budd uses the first section of the book to bring clarity into the thinking around the debate, he then goes on to describe what he understands as an archetypal model of a pre-funded school, and finally he outlines structures and strategies for the implementation of such a model.

As a practical guide this book offers some help in sketching out what a pre-funded school would look like. The relationship between the functions of teacher, administrator, fund-raiser, promoter and property manager is drawn out. Financial flows are described between those functions and the need for differentiated budgets is shown. A strategy for establishing a revenue fund is described and the potential benefits of skillfully managing increasing property values is outlined.

Although Dr. Houghton Budd, in his epilogue, laments the absence of citable examples of this approach, just such a one was given earlier this year on national radio in the UK. A small primary school, Peaslake in Surrey, offers pre-funded education, which is independent of state subsidy and free to those who attend. The school was established on a financially independent basis because the teachers wished to work free from state interference, although they do choose to follow the national curriculum. It began as a school in someone's living room and was able to grow through dedicated fund-raising and local support. Many people living nearby pay voluntary monthly subscriptions to enable the school to stay open, not because they are parents (most aren't) but because they recognize the benefit that the school brings.

One theme, which is hinted at, but not really developed (perhaps because it is a country specific one), is the issue of double taxation. Parents paying fees are effectively paying an education tax twice over. A strong argument could surely be made that donations to revenue funds (leaving aside for the moment the issue of whether these are to be classified as gifts or fees) ought to be tax-deductible items. This issue might be the chink that opens apart the whole debate at a societal level.

It is to be hoped that the crisis facing independent and state schools alike should be sufficient cause to invest in this approach, which, seemingly, lacks only our will to implement it. This is easily said, yet in bringing our wills to expression we face our greatest challenge. This book will not by itself change anything, but it does at least provide key thoughts which have, apparently, until now been missing from the debate and perhaps the presence of such thoughts will enable teachers to better chart the waters that lie ahead.

* Scylla and Charybdis: Two dangers or extremes such that one can be avoided only by approaching the other. These were names of a monster and a whirlpool in Greek mythology. (The Pocket Oxford Dictionary, 1992)

• Paperback: 64 pages
• Publisher: New Economy Publications (March 30, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0948229063

Check out this and other related publications at New Economy Publications of the website: Associative Economics at http://www.associative-economics.com/publications/

As he shares in the introduction, Gary Lamb has been exploring questions of how to transform our relationships with money and economics for much of his life. In this insightful book, Gary leads us on a clear journey to deepen our understanding of the contributions Rudolf Steiner has made to economic thought. From a basic clear introduction of the threefold nature of social life, to more practical aspects of its relationship to work in education and in an organization, Gary provides a wealth of insight to help us transform our individual and organizational relationship to money and economic life.

Each chapter is a simple read and can stand on its own. As a whole, the book is a good short course in Associative Economics.

The Nature of Work with Associative Economics Ch 1 

Steiner as Social Reformer and Activist Ch 2 

Economic Renewal Ch 3 

Threefold Nature of Social Life Ch 4 

The Fundamental Social Law and Economic Life Ch 5 

Building an Associative Economy Ch 6 

Economic Associations Ch 7 

Freedom, Funding and Accountability in Education Ch 8 

The Economic Necessity for Educational and Cultural Freedom Ch 9 

Individual and Cultural Freedom Ch 10 

Rights and Single Payer Systems for Education Ch 11 

Economic Indices and Basic Human Needs Ch 12 

Money and Morality Ch 13 

True Price Ch 14 

Egoism and Social Life Ch 15

An Associative Relations Audit Ch 16 

National Leverage Points Ch 17

Local Leverage Points Ch 18 

Aligning Pedagogy and Finance in a Waldorf School Ch 19 

Big Thinking to Small Steps to Systematic Change Ch 20

This book is available online from the Online Waldorf Library, a project of the Research Institute of Waldorf Education and in print form from Waldorf Publications.

Read the whole book in PDF form by clicking here: Associative Economics Gary Lamb, AWSNA