Statement of Inclusion

In our work with young children, Heart in Hand is committed to the ideals upon which Waldorf/Steiner education was founded. These include respect for the dignity of each individual child and family in honoring diverse race, culture, religion, national origin, socio-economic situation, gender identity and sexual orientation, family composition, and individual ability which form the backgrounds of their lives. Heart in Hand is committed to supporting diversity, equity, and inclusion as a pathway to social justice and to rectify the
explicit and implicit biases that undermine the creation of healthy social life in our society.
Waldorf education was founded in 1919 upon the insights of Rudolf Steiner, whose indications provide the foundations for a truly humanized education that recognizes the individuality of each person and the universal spirit living within every human being. Heart in Hand affirms this educational and social truth. Any statements attributed to Rudolf Steiner which imply or suggest discrimination or judgment toward any race, ethnicity, religion, gender or sexuality, or socioeconomic group, are rejected. Such attitudes are contradictory and undermining to the goals of Waldorf education.
Working toward these goals requires committed inner work from the adults who care for our children. Teacher preparation and professional deepening call for each educator to engage in self-reflection that will ennoble inner attitudes to support diversity, inclusion, and equity. Recognizing and celebrating the differences that make us uniquely individual fosters healing and creation of new social life. We strive to create conscious, collaborative communities of parents, teachers, and children which strengthen the children in our care to meet future challenges with optimism, confidence, resilience, and tolerance and experience their lives as filled with purpose and meaning.

Land Acknowledgement

Heart in Hand Preschool is located near the traditional village site of Neerchokikoo of the Multnomah people and on the traditional territory of the Multnomah, Wasco, Cowlitz, Kathlamet, Clackamas, Bands of Chinook, Tualatin, Kalapuya, Molalla, and many other tribes who made their homes along the Columbia River. We honor their land, this timeless sacred place, its history, and its people—past, present, and future.

Heart in Hand recognizes that this land acknowledgement is simply a first step in the work of honoring Native resiliences and Sovereignity.