Camphill Movement

The Camphill Movement is an initiative for social change based on the principles of anthroposophy. Camphill communities are residential communities and schools that provide support for the education, employment, and daily lives of adults and children with developmental disabilities ("learning disabilities" in the UK), mental health problems or other special needs.[1]

There are over 100 Camphill communities in more than 20 countries across Europe, North America, Southern Africa and Asia.[2]

Founding

The movement was founded in 1939 at Kirkton House near Aberdeen by a group that included Austrian paediatrician Karl König.[3][4] It was König's view that every human being possessed a healthy inner personality that was independent of their physical characteristics, including characteristics marking developmental or mental disability, and the role of the school was to recognize, nurture and educate this essential self.[5] The communities' philosophy, anthroposophy, states that "a perfectly formed spirit and destiny belong to each human being."[6] The underlying principles of König's Camphill school were derived from concepts of education and social life outlined decades earlier by anthroposophist Rudolf Steiner (1861–1925).[5] Today there are over 100 communities worldwide, in more than 20 countries, mainly in Europe, but also in North America and Southern Africa.[6][7][8]

History

The Camphill Movement takes its name from Camphill Estate in the Milltimber area of Aberdeen, Scotland, where the Camphill pioneers moved to with their first community for children with special needs in June 1940. Camphill Estate is now a campus of Camphill School Aberdeen.[9] There are six Camphills in the Aberdeen area.

The Camphill School Aberdeen[10] was noted in the HMI/Care Commission report for 2007 as meeting "very good" to "excellent" standards,[11] The school also holds Autism Accreditation from the National Autistic Society.[12]

The Botton village received the Deputy Prime Minister's Award for Sustainable Communities in 2005; the award cited the community's dedication to the ethos of sustainability and mutual respect, as well as their concrete achievements in these areas.[13]

Further reading

See also

References

  1. ↑ At Camphill Kimberton, crafting a different way to live - Pilly.com 2013-10-05
  2. ↑ http://camphill.net/
  3. ↑ Robin Jackson, The role of social pedagogy in the training of residential child care workers, Journal of Intellectual Disabilities, 2006 Vol. 10, No. 1, 61-73
  4. ↑ Holistic Special Education: Camphill Principles and Practice. 2006, Floris Books, Edinburgh
  5. 1 2 Marga Hogenboom,Living With Genetic Syndromes Associated With Mental Disability, Jessica Kingsley Publishers, 2001
  6. 1 2 Busalle, Rebecca, Cornelius Pietzner, and Stephan Rasch. "The life of the soul". Aperture, Summer 1996 n144: 26(10).
  7. ↑ Todd Saunders, Ecology and Community Design: Lessons from Northern European Ecological Communities, Alternatives Journal, Vol 22, Apr/May 1996
  8. ↑ http://camphill.net/
  9. ↑ Report Demonstrates Standards of Excellence at Aberdeen Special Needs School, press release, 12 September 2007. Retrieved on 28 March 2008. Archived on 2010-01-18.
  10. ↑ Camphill Rudolf Steiner Schools. Retrieved on 23 March 2008.
  11. ↑ HM Inspectorate of Education, Inspection Report: Camphill Rudolf Steiner Schools, 12 September 2007. Retrieved on 23 March 2008.
  12. ↑ Autism Services Directory: Camphill Rudolf Steiner School. Retrieved on 23 March 2008.
  13. ↑ "The Deputy Prime Minister's Award." Learning Disability Practice 9.2 (March 2006): 26(1)

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