If you’ve been reading the blog or listening to the podcast for any length of time, you likely know that I am a HUGE fan of mentoring. Truly, in my early teaching years, mentoring made a huge difference for me. I honestly don’t think I would still be teaching without it.

Now, there aren’t many people out there who would disagree that teachers, especially new ones, need strong mentorship. The challenge always comes in how to provide that mentorship when budgets are tight, people are busy and mentors are hard to find.

But despite those challenges, schools NEED to invest in their teachers. And teachers NEED to insist on their need for mentoring. This is a place where compromise just isn’t worth it.

As you can imagine, as opinionated as I am about mentoring, I am equally opinionated about the how, what and who details. Here are some of those thoughts.

Who Should Mentor?

Most often, when schools have tight budgets, they turn internally to find a mentor for new teachers. Most schools have an experienced teacher on staff and that person is often called upon to support newer teachers.

And while I completely understand why schools turn to this solution, there are a few reasons why it just doesn’t work.

Availability

The first challenge is availability. Usually, that experienced teacher is holding a class of his or her own. She has her own students, parents and curriculum to care for. Time out of the classroom may be limited. And the time that is there is often full of distraction. Far too often I’ve seen those weekly mentorship meetings get canceled, especially when things get busy — which is when teachers need the MOST support.

Conflict of Interest

The second reason why those internal mentorship relationships are complicated is because of the conflict that exists when teachers wear so many hats in the school. Often those experienced teachers are involved in school leadership, which can compromise their role as mentor.

To be clear — no one on school leadership should ever mentor a teacher at their own school. Here’s why.

Mentees need to be able to confide with utmost confidence in his or her mentor. You should feel comfortable turning to your mentor in despair when something goes wrong. You should be able to fall apart completely and then use the support from your mentor to rebuild.

If the mentor is part of school leadership, and involved in hiring decisions, the mentee is likely to gloss over those challenging moments, giving the mentor the impression that everything is going perfectly.

Or worse, the mentor, at some point down the line, is involved in a discussion about the mentees future employment and remembers those breakdowns and challenges that the teacher had.

For this reason, it is of utmost importance that the mentor is an outside resource.

Now, this doesn’t mean that teachers within the school can’t support one another. They should! But teachers need to be clear when they are talking with colleagues, that those colleagues may be a part of conversations about your employment and there is no confidentiality agreement about those casual mentorship moments.

The integrity of the mentor-mentee relationship must be held in the highest regard and not compromised because of finances or circumstances.

Sign up for my free online workshop The 3 Classroom Management Strategies Every Waldorf Teacher Should Know

What should be included in mentoring?

After years of providing mentorship, I have equally strong opinions about what kinds of support a mentor can provide. Here are just some of the supports I have provided teachers in the past.

• A format for self-reflection
• Classroom visits
• Guidance with creating rhythms
• Supporting documents for providing feedback to students and parents
• Communication support
• Classroom management advice and systems

Ideally, a mentor guides the teacher in identifying the areas of their work that need strengthening. Then they work together to create a system and a plan for doing that work.

Out of respect for the mentor-mentee confidentiality relationship, the mentor should NOT be expected to provide feedback to school leadership. This can be a tricky thing. The school is paying for the mentoring and will certainly want to know that the work is happening, but the mentor’s obligation and allegiance is to the teacher, not the school.

If the school is truly needing that kind of feedback and insight into the teacher’s work, they should hire an evaluator. An evaluator’s duty is to the school, not the teacher. When I have worked as an evaluator, there is a degree of detachment. The teacher knows that I am reporting to the school. He or she should assume that anything they tell me can be mentioned to school leadership.

Often, when I work as an evaluator, I provide some mentorship. I can give advice and support to the teacher, but my priority is to report to the school. For this reason,

• an evaluator can provide mentorship
• but a mentor can not move into an evaluative role.

What should be the format of the mentoring?

I have definitely found that frequent mentorship visits are more valuable than intense visits that happen once or twice per year. If you think about how our students learn and grow, we see the most progress when students have frequent, regular exposure. The same is true for teachers who are working on improving their skills.

There should be those intense mentorship moments at the beginning of the year, and maybe again at the end when assessment and evaluation needs are strongest. But otherwise, the best plan includes frequent, short visits that help teachers touch in and remember their improvement goals and measure their progress.

The value of these short visits, over longer, intensive mentoring just a once or twice, is a big reason why many schools turn to internal resources. It can be expensive to bring a mentor to the school with frequency, especially if your Waldorf School is the only one within a few hours’ drive.

I’ve done so much thinking about this mentorship need, and been on both sides of the mentoring relationship enough, that I’ve tried to determine a system that can provide the mentorship that is best for teachers, in a way that is affordable for schools.

This is part of the reason why I created my program The Practical Art of the Waldorf Classroom.

And that program is great. So many teachers have benefitted from what it has to offer. But if I had my pie-in-the-sky mentoring dream, this is what it would look like.

• Two 3-day classroom visits (one at the beginning of the year, one about halfway through)
• Bi-weekly check-in phone calls
• Weekly journaling in a shared Google doc. Feedback and insights provided in response
• Curriculum, record-keeping and communication support documents
• Email availability for questions as they come up
• Membership in a private Facebook group with other teachers

Oh my gosh, you guys. Wouldn’t that be great? I have no idea what it would cost to provide this level of support, but imagine the confident, capable teachers that would come out of a program like this!

Want to work with me to make it happen?

I’m kind of joking. I mean, I’ve got my own students, parents and school to look after, but I would LOVE to do this work.

Until we find a way to make it happen, though, I’m pretty satisfied with my Practical Art course. If you’re interested in learning more about it, a new cohort is about to start in February and I’d love to have you join.

You can find out more about the program here. Or just email me at meredith@awaldorfjourney.com to find out if it’s a good fit.

The post Waldorf Teacher Mentoring appeared first on A Waldorf Journey.

For me, it was the spring of my final year of college. My oldest son was 2 and I was considering my next steps after graduation at the same time that I was looking for a preschool for my son. My soon-to-be husband, son and I took a day trip into the city to attend the information evening that the Waldorf teacher training was hosting.

This was the first time I had set foot in a Waldorf classroom and I was blown away. I’ll never forget — the kindergarten teachers were preparing for easter and there was a giant bowl full of carefully blown eggs for the children to dye the next day. The lights were warm and subtle and the room smelled like beeswax. I felt like I never wanted to leave.

And then, on my way out, I tripped down the four concrete steps leading up to the classroom, with my 2 year old on my hip. I gracefully landed him on his feet and quickly stood up, blushing away concerned onlookers.

A memorable moment, indeed.

In the years since, I have consulted with many aspiring young teachers. Questions about teacher training institutions land in my email inbox almost daily. There’s a lot to consider, so it’s high time I put together a post.

What makes a good Waldorf teacher?

The first question you may ask yourself is if Waldorf teaching is suited to your temperament. What kinds of interests, personalities and qualities are nurtured and encouraged in Waldorf teaching? The best way for me to think about it is to summarize the things I love about being a Waldorf teacher.

I love that I get to be creative.

I absolutely love that my job requires that I sing, draw, write, tell stories and create every day. Who knew that those 3rd grade piano lessons would result in a skill that I rely on every day in my career. And that creativity is encouraged by 28 other individuals who are also singing, drawing, writing, telling stories and creating every day. I honestly can’t think of a more inspiring environment.

I love that I get to learn new things.

Through Waldorf teaching, I’ve filled the enormous gaps that existed in my own education. The stream of Western history? Not taught in the Los Angeles public schools of my youth. I’ve become an authority on Norse Mythology (my grown Waldorf-education children and I kill it when that category comes up on Jeopardy.) But I’ve even learned about topics I never would have pursued on my own. Mineralogy, Physics, Chemistry are all subjects that I’ve explored and grown to love.

But learning how children learn has been the most interesting facet of my work. I love watching lightbulbs go on in my students’ eyes and figuring out the best way to extend their learning.

I love that I have the freedom to observe my students and use my expertise to respond to their needs.

Though it was long-ordained that I would be a teacher (from a young age I presented lessons to my imaginary friend Martha — she was a very well-mannered student), freedom is the reason I am so glad I am a Waldorf teacher. My Waldorf training taught me how to observe children and understand how they fit into the stream of child development. Then my training and experience taught me how to meet each stage of child development.

In a world where teachers’ expertise is trusted less and legislators’ requirements are followed more, I’m glad to be part of a movement that prioritizes the teacher’s connection with her students. Waldorf schools understand that no one knows better how to further a child’s development than a teacher who knows and loves him.

There are plenty of other things I love about being a Waldorf teacher, but these are the big three. As you might guess, though, it’s not all rosy. Let’s dive into some of the cons.

• Low pay
• Long hours
• Little administrative support
• Running the school, in addition to teaching
• Physical demands
• Few benefits (like retirement, PTO, good healthcare, stock options)

I continue to teach, so clearly the pros are winning. How do these pros and cons measure up to your work preferences? The answer could help you know if Waldorf teaching is right for you.

Many of the potential Waldorf teachers who reach out to me are already teaching in another environment. If this is you, you already know that you enjoy spending your days with children and you probably already deal with many of the cons. You’re well on your way to becoming a Waldorf teacher.

How do you become a Waldorf teacher?

I get so many questions about the different Waldorf teacher training institutions. It seems that a lot of my readers are totally sold on becoming Waldorf teachers and are on to figuring out how to make it happen. You want to know about the different institutions and I’ve got some resources for that later in this post, but here are some of the questions I’ve seen from potential Waldorf teachers.

Q: Do I need Waldorf training to teach at a Waldorf school?

A: This is by far the biggest question I get asked. The short answer is no. In the US, at least, there is no governing agency requiring that teachers at private Waldorf schools have Waldorf training. There are a few good reasons why you should get trained though (I mean, in addition to feeling more confident and capable in your work.)

WECAN — The Waldorf Early Childhood Association of North America requires that member schools hire Waldorf trained teachers. If you are an early childhood teacher, this will likely impact your job search.

Charter Schools — These public Waldorf schools usually require that teachers have a traditional state credential. They usually do not require that teachers have Waldorf certification.

More job options — For a long time there was a serious shortage of trained Waldorf teachers. During those years, lots of teachers without training were hired and had long and successful careers. These days, though some schools scramble to find qualified teachers, the more established schools have a fairly healthy pool of qualified, trained, experienced candidates. The short answer — If you’re looking to teach at a pioneering school, you could probably get hired without the training. If you hope to teach at a more established school, you’ll need to get trained.

Respect — As a trained and experienced Waldorf teacher myself, I strongly encourage you to get your Waldorf training to help bring greater respect to our profession. Waldorf teaching isn’t something you just happen to fall into. It is a meaningful career that requires preparation and intention.

Q: How long does Waldorf teacher training take? Is there an online option?

A: There are lots of different kinds of trainings out there that require different time commitments. You can find out more about each of these on the AWSNA teacher training page, but here’s my brief summary.

Full-time — For awhile, attending full time was the only option. A full-time program meets 4 or 5 days/week, during the school day, for about 2 years. There are still some full-time programs out there, but they’re not as popular as they once were.

A slightly less intense structure arranges classes on weekends for 3 years, with intensive weeks in the summer. Both of these types of programs require that you live within driving distance.

Low-residency — It seems like most programs follow this structure these days. They require 4 weeks of intensive during the summer, 1 week in the fall and 1 week in the spring. Generally, these are 3 year programs.

Online — I believe there is an online Waldorf teacher training institution, though I don’t know much about it. Generally, online learning has not been offered for Waldorf teacher training.

As an example, I attended a weekend, 3-year program when my children were little. I completed two years in one program, took a break to move and have another child, then finished in a different program. The new program accepted the coursework I had done in the first program. I started out on the Early Childhood track but switched to the Grades track when I switched programs. I found it manageable to be a full-time mother at home with young children while attending the training.

Q: Where are the Waldorf teacher training institutions?

A: There are several Waldorf teacher training institutions across the United States, Canada and Mexico. They tend to be on the West Coast and in the Northeast.

Q: Can I attend a Waldorf training while teaching?

A: Generally you can attend a teacher training while working full-time in the classroom. All of the institutions have requirements for practicum hours, which will have to be arranged differently if you are already working full-time. Many teachers have found the training to really support the work they are doing in the classroom.

Q: How much does training cost? Are federal student loan funds available?

This may have changed in recent years, but as far as I know, federal student loan funds are not available for Waldorf teacher training. I did hear that some institutions were pursuing dual degree certification, which would provide the recipient with a bachelor’s degree, as well as Waldorf certification. One of the benefits of this dual certification is that it would allow students to tap into federal funds.

Paying for teacher training is definitely a challenge, but there are some partial scholarship options available through AWSNA. Costs vary but you can expect to spend about $17,000 for a two-year, low-residential program.

I had to get pretty creative with paying for my training. In fact, when I first enrolled, I was uncertain about whether I wanted to pursue Waldorf teacher training and I had also enrolled in a traditional Master’s program. I ended up using the financial aid I had received for the Master’s program to pay for the first year of my Waldorf training and withdrew from the Master’s program after a few weeks. Pretty tricky, I know.

Q: What ages will I be certified to teach?

A: Most trainings break down into two tracks — grades and early childhood. EC covers under age 7. Grades covers ages 7-14.

Q: Do I need to have a bachelor’s degree?

A: This depends on the job you hope to get, but most schools require that grades teachers have a bachelor’s degree.

Waldorf and Continuing Education

Because grades teachers teach a different grade each year as we follow the class up through the grades, there are lots of options for summer trainings to prepare for the coming school year.

Most of the training institutions offer “Art of Teaching” courses that go through the entire year’s curriculum in a week-long course. These are highly recommended if you’re teaching a grade you’ve never taught before.

Fledgling schools may not have the funds to send teachers to these courses, but most make an effort. This is why it is a really good idea to ask about professional development support when you get hired for a position.

Generally, there are no formal requirements for continuing education hours. Some early childhood programs are certified through the state, though, and those teachers are required to do additional credit hours to maintain state certification.

The need for constant continuing education is one reason why Waldorf teachers are such good researchers who make excellent use of resources. Many teachers (including myself) have committed to sharing resources with up and coming teachers. You can find many of my resources on this site.

Waldorf Teacher Training Resources

• AWSNA Waldorf Teacher Preparation Programs
• AWSNA Careers in Waldorf Education
• WECAN Waldorf Early Childhood Teacher Training

Training Institutes

I do not have experience with all of the training institutions, so I can’t comment on them, but the list below is a selection of the trainings I hear the most about in my interactions with other Waldorf teachers.

• Center for Anthroposophy (Keene, NH)
• Antioch New England
• Waldorf Teacher Education Eugene (OR)
• The West Coast Institute for Waldorf Teacher Training (British Columbia)
• Bay Area Center for Waldorf Teacher Training (Northern CA)
• Sound Circle Center (Seattle, WA) — my alma mater

Have you attended a Waldorf teacher training? Help future teachers by giving your feedback in the comments below.

The post Should I become a Waldorf teacher? appeared first on A Waldorf Journey.

In my last post, I mentioned that this summer has been full of Waldorf mentor experiences and professional development opportunities for yours truly.

Connecting with colleagues in three different conferences has filled my bucket with all kinds of awesome take-aways. (And my iPhone camera is full of random snapshots I didn’t want to forget about in the future.)

But these aren’t the only takeaways I’ve found this summer.

The best thing about all of this professional development has been spending those full days with colleagues who have similar thoughts, ideas and experiences. Sharing and connecting in that way for days on end just isn’t something I usually get during the school year.

When you think about it, teaching is a pretty unusually lonely profession.

I mean, when I think about my friends and family who work in corporate environments, I realize that they spend all day long in an office connecting with people who share their vision, hopes and goals. When the situation is right, colleagues feed off of each other’s ideas and work together to constantly renew and revive their commitment to their work’s mission.

Teachers just don’t have this experience. For years I’ve noticed that I tend to go to my own little corner of the school, spend my days with my students, do my work and go home. While I’m at school, I know that my colleagues are out there, in their own little corners of the school, but we don’t have that daily renewing contact that invigorates and inspires our commitment to our work.

Don’t get me wrong . . . I love spending my days with my students, but they don’t usually help me to reframe, recommit and see my work in new and interesting ways. My colleagues are GREAT at that.

And my colleagues and I do our best to connect with one another, but we’re so busy working with our students, our only time is during our weekly faculty meeting. And while we try to make that time inspiring, we’re tired after a long day and our minds are full of the practical work that needs doing.

So, I’ve been thinking . . .

What if there was a way to connect with teachers and colleagues to re-inspire our work, without making it just one more thing we have to do?

What if there was a simple way to tap into a little bit of inspiration, just when I’m ready for it?

These thoughts have been running through my relaxed summertime mind at the same time that many of my readers have reached out with questions about the coming school year. The time spent responding to those emails and Facebook messages has been just as nourishing for me as it is for those readers I’m helping. I LOVE connecting with you all — offering my thoughts and suggestions and providing a platform for you all to help each other.

This is why I was so excited to launch a new pilot program this summer to help a small group of teachers with their summer planning. The group is nicely underway (sorry, it’s too late to join this year) and the feedback has been fantastic! Teachers are finding the motivation to get their work done, they’re connecting with other teachers and getting their questions answered.

I can’t tell you how inspiring it was this Sunday to participate in a call with teachers and homeschoolers from all over the globe — from Norway to Kenya to Australia to right here in Portland, OR!

Now THAT’S the inspiration I’m looking for!

So, my mind is reeling with ideas for keeping the good energy going.

Something big and wonderful is on the horizon and I can’t wait to share it with you all.

If you want to stay in the loop, hit this link to get on the early-interest list. You’ll be the first to know the details when they’re available.

And if you’ve got ideas — send them my way. The more we work together, the more we fulfill our collective mission and the more we’ll all feel inspired to keep up the good work!

When do you feel the most inspired and energized by your work? Leave a comment below or email me at meredith@awaldorfjourney.com.

The post Teaching Doesn’t Have to be Lonely appeared first on A Waldorf Journey.

Are you looking for a professional development course to attend this February? I’m so excited to announce that my colleagues and I are  holding a conference in Portland this February. The workshops run February 19-21, during the usual February professional development week. Workshops will be held at my school, Cedarwood Waldorf School in Portland.

There are four different workshops to choose from, so no matter what you’re teaching, we’ve got something that will match your interests and curiosity. Also, Portland is a great place to get away to for a little teacher rest and renewal and we’re sure you’ll have a great time. Here’s the line-up that we’ve got to offer.

Warmth, Light, Harmony and Life | The Mission of Japanese Language and Culture

Chiaki Uchiyama, Japanese teacher for 18 years will lead the group in their eighth year of Japanese curriculum, child development and cultural studies through Waldorf pedagogy and Anthroposophy.

World Languages | Listening, Speaking, Writing, Reading

Michelle Jarvis, Spanish teacher for over 18 years will lead a group focusing on effective ways to achieve and balance the four major tasks of language teaching in grades 1 through 8. Teachers of all languages are welcome in this group.

Renewing Impulses In Hard and Soft Handwork | Focus on Grades 5-8

Gia Davis, program director of the CWS Practical Arts program and teacher, of both handwork and woodwork to grades students. In this group, we will examine the difference in the action of making
soft toys, a stuffed animal for instance, to that of an animal carved out of wood, tackle classroom management, and look deeper into the indications for soft and hard handwork as given by Rudolf Steiner.

Curriculum Planning, Record-Keeping and Writing Reports | Practical Matters for Class Teachers

What are the systems class teachers can create for themselves to plan their year, keep records along the way and then reflect on their students’ progress at the end of the year? In this course, experienced class teacher Meredith Floyd-Preston will help the group explore these three often-overlooked, and very practical, aspects of the teacher’s work.

Save and sign up for your course before February 1 for the early bird registration fee of $300. (After that the cost goes up to $320.)

Click here to sign up.

I hope to see you in Portland in February!

The post February Break Conference in Portland appeared first on A Waldorf Journey.