Freedom in Teaching – Part Two

52 Weeks of Steiner – Week 9 (This is part of a weekly serial started on Michaelmas 2023. To see the other entries, please see the post linked HERE and scroll down to the bottom for individual links)

It is natural in teaching that there is a certain yearning for complete freedom, and we should not dismiss this element. Notice how freedom flows into this discussion of how we might prepare ourselves to be teachers; our discussion intrinsically has something to do with freedom. … All teachers give of themselves when they teach. In this, their freedom remains inviolate. The more teachers desire to preserve their freedom, the more they will be able to enter into their teaching by giving themselves. This capacity has been almost entirely lost in recent times.

Rudolf Steiner
Practical Advice To Teachers – Lecture 5

This quote comes from a chapter that focuses on teaching writing. But just like the post from week 4 and really many other lectures from the conferences before that first school opened, it is so applicable to our work as not only homeschoolers, but as parents.

Freedom. It can be scary to forge your own path. I feel like these freedom passages are popping out at me right now as a reminder that when I give of myself to my children, the lessons are always well received. As I plan these highschool years, I am sometimes poked with doubt that maybe forging our own path for highschool isn’t the best idea. The freedom feels unsettling at times.

And then I’m reminded, the children in front of me are still the curriculum. They can guide me more than ever before as they slowly take the reins of their learning and education.

It doesn’t matter if you use a purchased curriculum, are required to follow government reporting or totally choose your own adventure. You still possess the freedom of the teacher Steiner discusses. Within the confines of ministry regulations or the script of someone else’s block lesson, you still have the ability to use your artistic soul and bring lessons to your children that support their needs and development.

A tweak here, a tuck there. Anything can be made to work with your own heart and a little bit of #steinerdust. Even that first Waldorf school had to follow state guidelines. You are never beholden to follow anyone but your children and your own intuition.

Until next time,
Marina