Camphill Academy
Overview
The Camphill Academy, formerly the Camphill School of Curative Education and Social Therapy, an NCCRS member since September 2005, offers practice-integrated professional certification programs in Curative Education and Social Therapy. The Curative Education Program, offered at Camphill Special School in Glenmoore Pennsylvania, provides professional training in Anthroposophic Curative Education, the holistic approach to education for special needs practiced at Camphill Special School. The Social Therapy Program, offered at Camphill Village in Copake, New York, at Camphill Communities California in Soquel, California and at the Cascadia Society in North Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, as well as various participating communities across North America, provides professional training in Anthroposophic Social Therapy, the approach to building supportive and inclusive communities with adults with developmental disabilities practiced in Camphill communities.
The Camphill Academy provides three levels of certification in Anthroposophic Curative Education or Anthroposophic Social Therapy: (1) a Foundation Studies Certificate, awarded after completion of the first year; (2) a Paraprofessional Certificate, awarded after completion of the second year and an additional year of supervised practice (Paraprofessional Internship); and (3) a Diploma, awarded after completion of the fourth year and an additional six to twelve month Professional Internship. These milestones are also recognized as formal exit points in the program; however, a student may decide to leave the program and apply for credit transfer at any time, and a student’s learning experience is evaluated based on successfully completed coursework, regardless of certification level attained.
Certificates and diplomas issued by the Camphill Academy are recognized by the International Council on Curative Education and Social Therapy in Dornach, Switzerland.
The Camphill Academy is accredited by the Accrediting Council for Continuing Education and Training (ACCET), an accrediting agency recognized by the US Department of Education (www.accet.org).
Source of Official Student Records

Titles of all evaluated learning experiences
Descriptions and credit recommendations for all evaluated learning experiences
Active Learning Experiences - Camphill Academy
Curative Education Program, Glenmoore, PA; Social Therapy Program, Copake, NY; Soquel, CA; N. Vancouver, BC; and instructor-led individual study at various locations across North America.
15 hours.
September 2013 - Present.
Upon successful completion, students will be able to: have met the life and deed of Kasper Hauser and the impulse of Rudolf Steiner for renewal of the social life together with the inner principles and outer workings of the Camphill Community life, and recognize the specific contribution of the Camphill community for social renewal; describe the inner context of their work; reflect on the experience of creating spirtual community as an example of community building; and demonstrate engagement with questions related to the Camphill Community and the Antrhroposophical Society.
This course is integral to the fourth year curriculum and builds upon the work of Camphill Impulse I and II in the first and second years, respectively. Concurrently, it complements coursework in Human Being IV, Medical and Artistic Therapies, Philosophy of Spiritual Activity, and (in the Curative Education program), Curative Application of the Arts and Integrated Arts Projects, or (in the Social Therapy) program) Social Therapy III, as well as coursework in the arts.
In the upper division baccalaureate degree category, 1 semester hour in Curative Education, Social Therapy, Philosophy, Cognitive Studies, Consciousness Study, Contemplative Practice, Contemplative Spiritual Practice, Western Spirituality, and any discipline that could benefit from such a complementary learning experience (11/15).
Social Therapy Program, Copake, NY; Soquel, CA; N. Vancouver, BC; and instructor-led individual study at various locations across North America.
300 hours over ten months.
September 2012 - Present.
Upon successful completion, students will be able to: safely manage a workshop independently; explore ways of accompanying the workplace meditatively; consider and develop ways to maintain and enliven the work life of participants, in close cooperation with the mentor; implement considerations arising from annual review reports with support from mentor; communicate with other workshop leaders, therapists, houseparents and participant regarding individual program and needs; plan, oversee and lead the program over an extended period of time with guidance and support from workshop leader; review and participate in the annual review process for each participant; participate in biography meetings and personal planning meetings, contributing significant observations; and reflect and assess the strenghts and weaknesses of ones own work.
This practicum is integral to the third year social therapy curriculum and offers opportunities to practice social therapy in the context of living and working in a community including others with developmental disabilities. Concurrently, it complements coursework in Human Being III, Social Therapy II and Social Therapy Project III, as well as coursework in the arts. This course lays the foundation for work in the fourthy year, especially for Human Being IV, the Practicum concentration and Final Project.
In the upper division baccalaureate degree category, 3 semester hours in Social Therapy, Human Services, or Special Education (11/15).
Version 1: Upon successful completion of the course, students will be able to: describe the idea of the four-fold human being as it emerges in the development towards adulthood, distinguish three different aspects of bodily development and how these are promoted or thwarted in the first 21 years of life, recognize on hand of examples how the individual learns to take responsibility for their life and what questions typically arise in the learning process as the I meets the world, define the virtues of creativity, morality and wisdon as they can blossom as the spirit comes to expression in the last phases of life. Version 2: Students will be able to: appreciate the importance of biography to Curative Education or Social Therapy, study individual life story and distill main biographical themes and challenges, use a basic understanding of patterns in lifespan development, and particularly the seven-year rhythms described in anthroposophical literature, as a tool for perceiving and finding meaning in biographical and developmental processes and events, articulate leading motifs of a biography in imaginative or poetic formulation, observe a complex developmental situation and discover unresolved issues related to the developmental processes studied in the student's area of focus, articulate these issues in a clear and objective manner, give an imaginative characterization of a complex developmental situation as a meaningul biographical challenge, develop capacities to be able to accompany others through biographical challenges in a supportive way.
Version 1: Upon completion of the course, students will be able to: describe in detail the milestones of development in the first three years of life, give examples of how the development of the fourfold human being coincides with changes in body, soul and spirit, describe a wide variety of influences on physical development, discuss ways of developing thinking, feeling and willing, so that they become healthy and balanced expressions of soul life, give examples of how adults can have experiences that allow them to change towards their own self-realization during the second seven-year triad (age 21-42); give examples of illnesses manifesting in the threefold human being, having their roots in the developmental period of the first 21 years of life. Version 2: Students will be able to: develop a dynamic overview of the developmental processes of the entire life span, as well as a basic understanding of the developmental processes being focused on in this course, discuss death as a spiritual process, including the spiritual-developmental process between death and birth, explain significant milestones in the developmental process and recognize the effects when these capacities have not be established, especially with regard to the first 3 years, be able to identify life phases and turning points in biography, become supportive co-creative of the developmental pathways, discuss the importance of biography understanding in curative education and social therapy, develop an in-depth, integrated and meaningful picture of a complex development situation of a person with disabilities, use this picture to develop practical ideas for educational, social and therapeutic support, use art and conversation toward understanding an individual with disabilities’ life story.
- Projective Geometry (Formerly Geometry) [Course 2] OR
- Form Drawing [Course 3]
Course 1: Light and Color and either Course 2: Projective Geometry (formerly Geometry) or Course 3: Form Drawing: In the lower division baccalaureate/associate degree category OR in the upper division baccalaureate degree category, 1 semester hour in Curative Education, Social Therapy, Educational Arts Methods, Goethean Studies, and any discipline that could benefit from such a complementary learning experience (9/05) (10/10 revalidation) (11/15 revalidation). NOTE: Light and Color must be completed with either Projective Geometry (formerly Geometry) or Form Drawing to receive credit. Form Drawing is an alternative to Projective Geometry. In some programs, the course "Geometry" may be offered as part of the Year One curriculum.
Social Therapy Program, Copake, NY; Soquel, CA; N. Vancouver, BC; and instructor-led individual study at various locations across North America.
45 hours
September 2008 - Present.
Upon successful completion of the course, students will be able to: explain the significance of ‘mask’, ‘adornment’ and ‘clothing’ in relation to the threefold constitution of the human being as expressions of the soul in establishing identity; extend this understanding to how they perceive and engage with others with whom they live and work; compare and contrast how thinking, feeling and willing manifest differently in males and females; demonstrate insight into the nature of self-consciousness and the existential gap between the Self and the world; articulate the polarities of cognition and will and their relationship to consciousness; illustrate the interplay between the human being and the world in the course of life between birth and death and life between death and rebirth; and apply the ideas of reincarnation and karma, from an anthroposophical viewpoint, in daily practice within community life.
This course builds on Social Therapy I in which students became aware of the importance of the social context of the human for their well-being, including the ideals and practices within a Camphill community which support therapeutic living for every human being and especially those with disabilities. The focus of this course is the second series of Village conference lectures by Karl Koenig as well as other texts, through which the student gains insight into the process into adulthood, which brings human beings into relationships with the world, and how that can be brought into balance through social therapy.
In the lower division baccalaureate/associate degree category, 3 semester hours in Social Therapy, Human Services, or Special Education (11/15).
Social Therapy Program, Copake, NY; Soquel, CA; N. Vancouver, BC; and instructor-led individual study at various locations across North America.
45 hours
September 2008 - Present.
Upon successful completion of the course, students will be able to: demonstrate a full understanding, in his or her area of practical responsibility, for the individual’s need to discover a personal vocation; assist the individual to adapt this discovery of personal vocation to their ability within the overall context of community needs; integrate ideas of reincarnation and karma (as articulated by Rudolf Steiner) into all areas of community life and particularly their respective fields of activity; support a healthy work environment in a leadership capacity out of an understanding of the importance of dignified work and vocation for every human being; engage their evolved capacities of inner flexibility and imagination, which they have developed through study, observation and artistic work with Goethe's Metamorphosis over the past four years, and apply to living and working situations, such as being able to perceive other human beings as always having hidden new capacities and to help to draw them forth.
This course focuses on questions of the transition from education to vocation, of the morality of work, of individual destiny versus the social context as well as the creation of viable and authentic work opportunities for mentally challenged individuals. This course is conducted through a combination of presentations, conversations, observations, reflection, group work and shared insight through interviews and group work based on prior reading of the text (Third Village conference lectures by Karl Koenig).
In the upper division baccalaureate/associate degree category, 3 semester hours in Social Therapy, Human Services, or Special Education (11/15).
Social Therapy Program, Copake, NY; Soquel, CA; N. Vancouver, BC; and instructor-led individual study at various locations across North America.
Independent Study; varies.
November 2008 - Present.
Upon successful completion, students will be able to: discuss the underlying principles of Social Therapy in research project involving and benefitting the community and its members; develop an activity with a group of persons with disabilities based on a question around the value and role of a particular activity in the development of both the individual and the community; combine experiential learning with self-reflection and an increasing degree of narrative, literary, and action research; and create an activity with a group of persons with disabilities (project partners) in that particular field over a period of at least four months.
This third year project is a practical initiative upon which the fourth year final project is based. Students choose an aspect of Social Therapy and create an activity with a group of persons with disabilities (project partners) in that particular field. This course combines experiential learning with self-reflection and action research.
In the upper division baccalaureate degree category, 1 semester hour in Curative Education, Education, Special Education, Waldorf Education, Social Therapy, Social Work, Human Services, and any discipline that could benefit from such a complementary learning experience (11/15).