Defining the Class Teacher’s Journey

A member of this group suggested a conversation about looping, specifically looking at the considerations to take into account near the middle of the eight year journey when deciding whether to continue with a class. Let’s start with that question and add a couple of related questions that relate both to class teaching and to homeschooling.

1. How does one decide, in the middle of the eight year journey, whether to continue with a class? 
2. As a homeschooling parent, what considerations might lead to seeking help with some instruction as your child moves up the grades? 
3. As a teacher or a parent in a Waldorf community, tell us about the pros and cons of your school’s looping model? Some schools encourage teachers to complete a full eight year cycle. Other schools pause mid journey to allow the teacher and the leadership group to determine whether continuing is the best plan. Certain schools have broken the 8 year journey into two parts so that teachers specialize in the younger grades  or the older grades. What does your school do?

Also, please share anything you have learned about these issues from your personal journey.

My own journey as a class teacher took me from grades one through six in a combined class on Cape Cod followed by grade one through 3.5 at Pine Hill Waldorf School in New Hampshire. After returning to Cape Cod, I taught one year in a grade five class as a long-term substitute, grades one through seven, then grades one through five. There were many reasons why I ended up spending a lot of time in the younger grades and was never able to finish the full eight years. ( My story about six years with my first class and the family health situation that caused me to move to New Hampshire after grade five/six is chronicled in my teaching memoir, A Gift of Wonder.)

The thing is, when I faced situations where I had to leave a class, I always experienced a great sense of loss. Just over a quarter of my 22 years as a class teacher were in grades five and above. I had been a math major in the early part of my college years and I was thrilled to finally reach algebra with my students. As a writer, I especially enjoyed working with seventh and eighth graders ( I taught a couple of years of grade eight writing as a special subject.) I found it highly rewarding to delve into mature, nuanced conversations with the middle school students I had known since they were wide-eyed first graders. When asked my favorite grade level I would always make a case for the grade I was teaching at that time.

While I love the challenge of teaching every grade level, I know class teachers who are most comfortable in the early grades and others who have a natural connection with middle schoolers. Also, I have heard some teachers express concerns about the workload in the upper grades. Some home schooling parents may find that they are best suited to teaching younger or older kids, but not the full spectrum of ages.

So, please, share your experience and thoughts on the class teaching or home schooling journey in regard to moving with children through many developmental levels. How do we remake our perspectives when we move on to the next year? Is it better to turn your class over to a teacher who specializes in their grade level rather than stretch to teach topics that are beyond your comfort zone? Are there advantages and disadvantages to longer or shorter loops? And what about the often said statement that Waldorf teachers specialize in the individuality of the child rather than the grade level?

Notes:

Please help create a lively discussion!

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About this group:

The goal is to work together in the manner of a Waldorf faculty meeting to explore topics that support our work as teachers and parents. We will choose a theme for each week and will explore that theme together for seven days.

Possible topics include: Recall, temperaments, the nine-year-change, the first grade year, storytelling, math games, circle work, the rhythm of the main lesson, nature study, form drawing, spontaneity, wonder, the pedagogical story, engagement, how to meet the needs of children today, learning to write and read, novels, book work and many more. I invite you to help list more topics of interest. 

My hope is that these conversations will bring together Waldorf teachers, Waldorf homeschoolers and Waldorf parents. Parents and teachers who are not involved in Waldorf education, and are interested in the Waldorf approach, are also welcome as are those with a general interest in education.

More here about the class teacher journey.