The Road to Teacher Training
“How did you come to the teacher training?” Here are these students’ stories.
Susan Robinson, Class of 2010
As I reflect back on my life experiences, I see all the paths that have led me to the Waldorf teacher training. My childhood was very idyllic, full of fantasy play and living in the country. I spent most of my time playing outdoors. I have vivid memories of creating magical houses and villages in the long grasses in the summer. Snow was the medium for my creations in the winter.
My mother spent a lot of time with my sister and me, teaching us cooking, sewing and other crafts. I began sewing at the age of eight and I was soon entering my sewing projects in local and state fairs. I took these skills that I learned as a child and kept developing them in adulthood.
After graduating from college, I started my own line of clothing called Penelope Starr. I sold my clothing wholesale throughout the United States and Japan. I soon opened a store in the Lower Haight district in San Francisco to sell my clothing.
During this time, I was approached by California College of the Arts to teach in their fashion department. I accepted the position and I have found teaching to be a truly rewarding and enriching experience. My classes at the college are open to non-fashion majors. I love watching other artists take sewing into their artwork in different mediums.
I joined the San Francisco Waldorf School last summer. Arts Program Coordinator Patty Townsend had called me and asked if I would be interested in teaching the Sewing and Design class. I accepted, feeling honored and very excited to be a part of the school. The Waldorf students were very impressive young adults. They were confident, creative and ready to face challenges.
The seed was planted. I began to think about Waldorf teacher training.
So here I am, ready and open to accept new experiences and challenges in my Waldorf Education.
Wyliam Holder, Class of 2009
I have always wanted to make a contribution to others in my life, and I have also wondered how we could raise our children so that they would be happy, joyous, and free. The combination of these two questions was my entryway into how I came to the teacher training. I learned, much to my dismay, that our children, in the early years, copy adults in behavior, tone and attitude. I discovered that we humans are not born as independent beings, but as members of a community, and that it is up to the community to raise the children so they can have a good life. What a burden, I thought! I just want to be me and let other people work it out for themselves. And yet, this is not how it works. My love for children exceeds my desire to have an easy life. The further into the training I go, the more my love for other people expands. It is this love which has me practice the recorder, read books, write essays, and dance around in seemingly crazy Eurythmy patterns. Someday, I may even find myself in front of a classroom of children showing them the way, as best I can. The thought is both frightening, and a source of great joy.
Joan Tannheimer, Class of 2009
It has been a long road because the road is my whole life. That’s too long a tale to tell, so here are highlights. In my own childhood, art, music, and reading were what I loved most, but since they were only brought in as specialty subjects in early grades, they were, I felt, unimportant. Except for music lessons, I stopped pursuing them.
I’d been exposed to Waldorf education through my Guru in the 70′s, who started a Waldorf-inspired school in Denver, who, among others, led me to believe it was a good alternative. But educated in public schools, and in college as a public school teacher, I thought private schools were elitist, snobbish, and too expensive. But when I began substituting in public school, I realized I would not want to put a child of mine into some of the situations I was encountering.
When my daughter was four we went for the first time to the Halloween festival at the local Waldorf School. It was a journey to a magical world – enchantment, delight, humor, perfectly adapted to young children, with healthy treats given out, along with a tiny crystal for each child. I decided this beautiful setting was where she should go to school. All through her nine years there I learned from her teachers about caring for the young and growing child. I attended as many of the Waldorf School for Adults classes as I could, and wished I could have had such a profound, thoughtful, stimulating education myself. Some parents in my daughter’s class had attended the San Francisco Waldorf Teacher Training with Dorit Winter.
I realized a few years ago that the administrative job that has been my career for several vears was becoming less than fulfilling. I asked myself, “What would I most love to do when I retire?” Teaching in public school didn’t appeal to me, but just thinking about teaching in a Waldorf School filled me with enthusiasm. I acknowledged that this is where I would want to go to school.
A close friend encouraged me to join the Bay Area Center, as it provided a comprehensive and in-depth study of the philosophy underlying the curriculum. Now that I’m here I’m grateful to be receiving the artistic education I lost after second grade. It feels like I’ve been given a rare, precious gift — delightful, challenging and full of surprises!
