David Mitchell is the Chairman of Publications for the Association of Waldorf Schools of North America (AWSNA) and is Co-Director of the Research Institute for Waldorf Education. A past member of the U.S. Department of Education's Private School Leadership Committee, he received his BA Hons., from the University of Massachusetts, and did post graduate study at Emerson College in England, at the University of Heidelberg in Germany, and the University of Oslo in Norway. He has been a Waldorf teacher for 38 years—as a class teacher for grades 1–8, as a high school teacher of life sciences, and as an adjunct professor in education at Antioch University. In 1997 he was selected as one of the top two teachers in Colorado and presented a financial award by the Amgen Corporation. He has authored and co-authored numerous books and articles on education and is a strong supporter of childhood. He currently resides in Boulder, Colorado.