Faculty

Bernadette Raichle: Bernadette trained as an Early Childhood educator in New Zealand and took the Wynstones Rudolf Steiner Kindergarten training in Gloucester, UK. She pioneered the development of a community Waldorf kindergarten in NZ. In the 1990’s, she also pioneered the first child care center in NZ, based on a Steiner/Waldorf understanding of the needs of the infant and young child, and developed work with parents, educational and craft workshops and seminars. Bernadette currently provides professional development and training for co-workers and students from other centers in NZ and abroad. She is the Director of Awhina Day Nursery in Havelock North, NZ, and as a consultant in this work has travelled to Japan, Canada, and the USA. www.awhinachildren.co.nz

Marjorie Thatcher: Marjorie trained and worked as a RN in New Zealand. In Canada she trained as an Early Childhood educator and obtained her Waldorf teacher training from Emerson College in England. She was a kindergarten and early childhood teacher for 28 years at the Vancouver Waldorf School. During this time she taught pre-natal classes adult seminars and introduced Parent-Child classes. She was a founding board member of WECAN and served on the board for 15 years. Together with Dorothy Olsen she developed the Early Childhood Training at the West Coast Institute and is a co-director.