Korean TV look to Camphill as international model for best practices

Programme to show how Camphill helps those with special needs

Close on the heels of a Romanian delegation visit early this year, the Camphill Rudolf Steiner School has again secured the privilege of showcasing its educational, care and therapeutic way of working to an international audience, but this time in Korea.

A three-member television squad from the Korean Broadcasting System (KBC) visited Aberdeen to film Camphill School as part of a special report on Camphill. 

Led by correspondent Tae-sung, and accompanied by cameraman Younghun Kim and production co-ordinator Meeyeon Ahn, the crew is currently working on a special report to try and encourage people in Korea to learn something about the role of the welfare communities and its responsibility of providing care to the disabled. 

The aim of the programme is to build a bridge between the UK and Korea, sharing best practices in teaching how to build a great model community for the physically and mentally disabled individuals. 

Says KBC correspondent Tae-sung, “As a public broadcaster in Korea, we want to show by way of our programme how the Camphill community projects work. In Korea, we are currently experiencing a lack of care and support provided for the disabled members of our society”.

“In this respect, Camphill shows a great example of how people with such physical or mental difficulties are supported and cared for. To us, this is a great model community where workers live, learn and work together with disabled people, both children and adults”, says Tae-sung. 

According to Laurence Alfred, co-ordinator at the Camphill campus of Camphill School Aberdeen, “This is not the first time we have welcomed an international team, and it is a confirmation that we are recognised and acknowledged as an international centre of excellence”. 

“More than 700 people live and work in the six Camphill communities in Camphill Aberdeen City and Shire, and such visits are a great opportunity for us to be able to inspire and encourage a wider global community to provide support and care for people with special needs within their own countries”, continues Laurence Alfred. 

As part of the programme, the KBC crew filmed a normal day in the lives of all at Camphill School Aberdeen. This involved filming some classroom sessions at the school’s Camphill Campus and then moving on to the Murtle campus, where they filmed the horse riding, stone carving and metal workshops that form part of the current curriculum. 

The crew also interviewed one of the Korean volunteers currently working at Camphill School Aberdeen to help gain better understanding of the educational system and other demographics relating to the pupils, teachers, therapists and student co-workers. 

Adds Laurence Alfred, “It is fitting that the film crew choose to film one of the Aberdeen City and Shire communities as the Camphill Movement, which now extends to 100 centres in 23 countries, began in Aberdeen in June 1940. Furthermore, the community chosen Camphill School was also recently acclaimed for ‘sector leading standards of excellence’ in a joint report by the HM Inspectorate of Education and the Care Commission.”

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