Reflections from teacher training

Since most of my writing at the moment is happening offline (and a good thing that is, too - trust me on this one!), I thought I'd share something I wrote while at teacher training.

I have been asked to describe what this Waldorf Teacher Training experience is like. There simply are no short answers, but I’ll try to give a picture of it anyway. We arrive on a very hot Sunday and gather on Monday for classes. We are in classes from early morning until dinner time or later. We do Eurythmy and chorus every day. I’ve never been so challenged by either before. We have a daily lecture on Child Development by a man who has lived anthroposophical impulses since childhood and has become the kind of person you would like to be one day: deeply warm and intelligent, caring and humorous, incredibly skilled in teaching concepts, in painting pictures in people’s minds of the possibilities of human life if we help it come to its full potential.

Over the three weeks, you come to this awesome understanding that you are here by complete privilege. You are encouraged in your skills and humanity, and you learn that every moment of every day is an opportunity to touch the divine by interacting with others in a way that nourishes body, soul and spirit. You are humbled by the idea of being entrusted with these children that come into your life for a brief time of their eternity of being, and if you can bring yourself to a point of deep understanding of serving them, you will enable them to be deeply touched. The Waldorf curriculum, essentially, so you understand, helps the children learn to place themselves in the cosmos. They learn over time that they are connected to all life and matter in time and space, and that they have a very significant and specific place in all this interweaving of bodily and spiritual experiences. What an awesome task, to inspire in children the awareness that they are here for a reason, that they are loved and that they have much to give. You begin to see how you can surround these children with kindness and understanding, with support for their development as unique souls having human experiences. You see how Chemistry class can become a vehicle to talk about fears of drowning, that being aware of and discussing feelings with a group of adolescents is an activity to be encouraged.

Home again

I'm back home, one week ahead of schedule. What can I tell you all? My three weeks of training were truly a life-changing experience. I'm still sorting through a lot of the things that have come to me during my time away. I'm not sure if it was the incredible people I've encountered, the lectures, or simply the distance from home life, but things are shifting inside and out. My path looks fairly clear at this time, though walking it will be a challenge. I have learned so much about Waldorf Education, child development, but I think the most helpful gift to me has been the long, hard look I've taken at myself, my life and what I'm doing with it. If this appears highly cryptic writing, it's because things are definitely still "in process" and probably will be for a while.

So what can I share? I've lost a ton of weight because the three weeks of intense classes and connections with people left me unable to sleep or eat. I had a lot of fun, and when I did eat, it was wholesome. The folks in my classes were nothing short of inspiring, creative, and full of life. We had a number of social evenings with guitars, songs, campfires and good company. Classes included sculpture, Language Arts, Music, Physics, Chemistry, Handwork, Fine Arts, Chid Development, Inner Development and daily Eurythmy and Chorus, both of which truly fed me.

As I return to my cluttered house in the suburbs, I am aware that this really is a turning point. I'm leaving behind almost nine years of staying home and homeschooling. Instead, our community will be focused in the school where I will teach and learn. I'll soon have to change things in the ole blog to reflect the changes in my life. I'm very excited about the path I'm walking, challenging as it will be.

I'll try to be a bit clearer as I go on writing about my experiences.