Learning at Taruna

Taruna is a well-loved and respected home of holistic adult education, offering learning opportunities for both professional and personal development.  What happens at Taruna connects spiritual, social and practical aspects of life and work in ways that are contemporary and relevant.

It stands on the vision of two remarkable life-long friends, Ruth Nelson and Edna Burbury who found inspiration in the work of Rudolf Steiner.  They were dedicated to practical, yet inspired ways of improving the future of New Zealand.  Early pioneers of Rudolf Steiner Education in New Zealand, their dream was for Taruna to be a hub of adult learning that connects people in ways that explore what it is to be fully human.

Ruth and Edna gifted their home and gardens to be the place where this adult education vision could be realised, and where the Māori meaning of Taruna, ‘meeting place of friends’, could find full expression.

In response to a world that can be hurried, superficial and contradictory, students often come to Taruna recognising ‘there must be more to life’.  They bring a wish to expand and deepen their understanding, to make meaning and to come freely to an inner certainty about their life and work.  Taruna provides a sanctuary where time is given to dig beneath the surface and to reconnect with what really matters. The homestead, nestled into beautiful gardens on the slopes of Te Mata Peak carries a sense of sacred energy for many who come here. At its heart it is often experienced as a place of modern pilgrimage.

Taruna programmes and approaches are informed with current thinking and ideas, and at the same time grounded on the robust foundation that anthroposophy instils. Students experience lively, artistic and imaginative ways of learning that are both experiential and affirming. Other students on the learning journey, as well as tutors, become companions for development in the process.  In this way students experience a journey that is rich, personal, engaging and where they shape their own learning outcomes. Great care is taken in the design of learning processes to make time for questions to surface and space to explore what may be answers.

While Taruna courses all encourage a giving back to the world through the personal and professional development they offer, we recognise giving back needs nourishment which happens only through development of inner capacities.  All of our courses offer this dimension that encourages a new self-knowing.

We welcome you to join us. Haere mai!