Dear Colleagues,

February 2nd, also known as “Groundhog” Day, Candlemas, or a quarter day, signaled another turning in the year, looking toward the future. In Northern California, recent days have been very soggy but noticeably lighter in the morning and evening. We are blessed here with early and abundant plant growth - there are visual and olfactory reminders everywhere that Spring is coming!

The turning of the seasons is another reminder of the broad spread of our schools and the impact of our setting on our lives. The light is different in Florida, Hawaii, Alaska, and all of our states than what we are experiencing here. This impacts many things. Geography is a theme that weaves throughout Waldorf education. In the “traditional” Waldorf curriculum, local geography is a key feature of fourth grade. As the children settle into a new phase of development, one marked by greater comfort with an imperfect world and an interest in the foibles of being human, local geography supports a feeling of groundedness, of belonging, of a known “home base” from which to venture bravely forth. This is not unique to Waldorf education - local geography and history are mandated subjects in most schools, a fortunate intersection of our developmental understanding and external requirements!

Of course, because we work developmentally, we take steps in developing a strong sense of place from early childhood on. Our early childhood teachers skillfully build layers of connection for our youngest students through seasonal songs, stories, crafts, as well as direct experience of the seasons, the changing skies, and the weather. Our young children learn about water, soil, mud (glorious mud!), seeds and plants. If we are fortunate, they are able to dig and build. If local conditions permit, walks allow their world to slowly expand, giving them a broader sense of home, school, and neighborhood. This provides foundational knowledge for many subjects, including the essential study of geography. The journey continues and the child’s world expands in first and second grades, through fairy and folk tales, fables and legends, nature stories, and continued direct experience of nature, climate, and their surroundings. Third grade expands the study of geography in many wonderful ways: farming, housing, clothing, cooking, measurement…. the busy third-grade year invites our students to strengthen their connection to their surroundings and to the earth itself.

The more awake, critical mind of the fourth grader is typically delighted by an invitation to start with self and build out–to a classroom, a school, a neighborhood, a city, a state. This journey will, of course, continue beyond fourth grade to a country, a continent, a region, a world, and, eventually, the cosmos! For the fourth grader, local is enough. In an age where the majority of children are driven or bussed to school, a child’s growing consciousness and self-awareness is supported in being able to track the journey from home to school. It is essential for all our students to study and understand the history of their home; the stories of the first people, how they lived, how they honored, worked in harmony with, and used the gifts of the place a child calls home. It is essential for their growing social awareness that they understand who in their community helps them and supports their lives. Gratitude for and awareness of our helpers and friends begins with early childhood and is an important aspect of geography: the rich resources, human and non-human, that are available to us.

When we turn more broadly to considerations of geography, we see again the wonderful tapestry of similarities and differences across our Alliance schools. We understand that each school must work to meet the needs of a particular student body and community at this time in a specific place. The implications of this are significant: here are just a couple of examples.

First, we must adjust our content to our location. In the big picture, this is the ongoing task of Waldorf education in this century: to interrogate our “traditional” curriculum and methods, to “decolonize,” and to ensure relevance, appreciation, and inclusion. For each school and teacher, this requires examining our portfolio of songs, poems, stories, and more for relevance. I well remember the shock of moving from a school in New York City to a suburban school in Sacramento. There were things I could easily adapt (orange poppies, not scarlet! Winds of October, not November!) and things I chose to keep unchanged to increase cultural knowledge and invite comparison. There were many things I needed to research and add. I was not “of this place” - I needed guidance and instruction from locals so I could more effectively teach my students.

This cross-country move also taught me a lot about the impact of place on the needs and capacities of my students and how I approached teaching: place impacts this in trivial and profound ways. The “soul mood” of my New York class was markedly different from my Sacramento first graders. What worked in one place did not work here. Their capacity to picture seemed to be influenced by their surroundings. The seasons were different; the California light pulled my students out through the windows! We could be outdoors more, but it was harder to “hold” them when we stepped outside the classroom. Who needed to adjust, the class or me? Obviously, this was my ongoing task, one that would be filled with surprises.

Then there was the big question of being “local." Not being of the place and already working with the gifts and challenges of being an immigrant, yet not yet preparing for fourth-grade local geography, I had much to learn and many connections to build. This is important work for all of us, no matter which grade we teach or what role we take in a school. It can be rich and rewarding (and, I would argue, essential) for faculty and staff work to ground ourselves in a deeper knowledge of place, the location, and the history of our school. Can we invite in elders, those who hold Indigenous knowledge, to increase our awareness of place and our ability to truly fulfill our mandate of “these students, at this time, in this place”? Can we shake out the cobwebs of assumption, of adopted but perhaps unexamined practice? Are we truly teaching for where we are while we slowly but steadily increase our students’ view and knowledge of the world?

I encourage all of us to observe its impact on our local surroundings - the trees, the birds, the creatures, and on our students and ourselves. Can we read the writing of the land around us to take in its wisdom as a source of strength for our work? Maybe we can start by inviting fourth-grade teachers to share a lesson with their colleagues. We would love to hear what you discover together and the ways your discoveries enrich your school!

Liz Beaven

Calling all Doctors!

We are compiling a resource list of people in the Public Waldorf movement who hold a doctoral degree - PhD or EdD. If you hold a doctorate and would like to be included, please email us the following:

Your name
Degree earned and year
Dissertation title
Type of research: qualitative, quantitative, or mixed-method
Area(s) of research interest
Any current involvement in research or publication

Please email:

carlyf@allianceforpublicwaldorfeducation.org

Professional Development and Teacher Preparation

A listing by the Alliance is for information only and does not imply recommendation or endorsement. We encourage school leaders and teachers to fully research offerings before enrollment to ensure they align with their goals and needs. We recommend that you research familiarity with the unique needs and demands of Public Waldorf education. This is particularly important if public funds are used for professional development or teacher preparation.