Makota'ay Waldorf

Makota’ay Waldorf kindergarten is the first Waldorf school in Taiwan to teach in native language. The school is located in Hualien’s Makota’ay (Gangkou) Village where it is home to the Amis people – one of 14 officially recognized Taiwan aborigine tribes. Established after the government’s approval of charter schools in remote villages, February 2015, Waldorf teacher, Lin, Shu-Zhao and a group of village mothers founded Makota’ay Waldorf. The school has shown to not only preserve a vulnerable language but tribal culture.

While The Alliance Cultural Foundation funds part of its operation, Makota’ay Waldorf is supported predominantly by the village people – from providing space to teaching, cooking, tidying, financing. Its education centres on the Amis language and culture; and although the school is relatively new, it has already cultivated positive results for the village, its families, and its children.

Makota’ay Waldorf education connects children to their everyday living. Children learn verses, songs, rhymes that change with the season, and learn to make local Amis foods, to express through water colour painting, to knit, sow, to feel different textures through modeling beeswax. Children are taken on outdoor walks to feel the change of season, the every corner of their village, the environment, and understand the origins of their food. Much of their time is spent outdoors, where they learn to harvest, cook with seasonal ingredients. At the end of the term, children are led to climb the Kakacawan Mountain, a mountain that is believed to protect the village, allowing them to experience overcoming fears and challenges.

As children increasingly develop the habit of speaking Amis in their daily life, parents begin to rediscover their mother tongue and slowly adapt household language. Language has created a new bond between the different generations of the village; speaking Amis is no longer occasional, children gain assurance and encouragement from the elderly, and villagers begin to together care more about the future of the tribe. Makota’ay Waldorf’s long term vision is to grow into a secondary school. Villagers are hopeful to see their culture passed on for generations long, and are hopeful that the change in their children can lead to a change in the future of tribe.

Class Schedule (February – June 2015)
08:30 – 09:00    Play time
09:00 – 09:30    Waldorf circle time
09:30 – 10:10    Indoor activities
10:10 – 10:30    Snack
10:30 – 11:30    Outdoor activities
11:30 – 12:15    Lunch
12:30 – 15:00    Nap
15:00 – 15:30    Snack
15:30 – 16:00    Play time