What is Waldorf Education?

What is Waldorf Education? It is many things to many people. The first time I went to a Waldorf school, I was part of a group that was on a tour. We began our visit on a beautiful deck overlooking the Maui valley. The leader of the tour was giving an overview of the school, and I was tuning in and out as I looked at the beautiful view.

Tour guide: Blah blah blah …. Waldorf education was developed to rid the world of war. Blah blah blah.”

Me: Huh? Sorry? Excuse me. What was that?

Tour guide: I was saying that we promote the healthy eating of organic products in order that our students…

Me: … no, the bit about war.

Tour guide: Rudolf Steiner started the school in Germany after World War I. He and his first teachers hoped to create a learning environment that promoted peace and understanding.

Me: Sign me up! 

WStack History Part 4: End and begin again

But I was exhausted. I could not find a healthy balance in my life. Even while working in a great school. Even after learning from an amazing mentor, I did not feel that I was achieving my original goals. I was not preparing my students to live satisfied lives. I was preparing them to pass a written test.

 When I packed up my meditation cushion and rode my bike home from the river on that blissful day years ago, I did not visualize a world filled with high stakes testing. I just wanted to help make things a little better for kids as they grew up.  Instead I found myself part of a system that I didn’t believe in.  It was a well-intentioned set of ideas practiced in a way that unintentionally made kids feel miserable. I felt miserable. I hoped my students didn’t notice how I felt. I hoped they would learn to live happy lives. Maybe I put my mediation cushion away to early. How can we expect kids to live happy, content lives when we can’t do it ourselves?

This question has led me to begin a new journey. Jessica and I are taking a year off from teaching to attend Waldorf training in New Zealand. Land of the Kiwi! Hopefully, we will learn some really great ideas for using the arts to teach students, but, mostly, I hope we learn to live the satisfied kind of lives that we all wish for our children. This blog will detail that adventure. Thanks for reading!

WStack History Part 3

Three years later, I was a third grade public school teacher in an arts integrated school on Maui. It was an amazing experience. Maui is a postcard perfect island with palm trees, sunshine, and waves. I worked very hard, and, after many failed lessons, I slowly learned how to teach.

The school was cool. I got to play my guitar in the classroom and that made the tough days bearable. I met my girlfriend, Jessica, who also taught at the school. We rented an apartment across from my favorite surf break. Things were wonderful.

WStack History Part 2

I used to play guitar in a rock band. It was great. My friends and I started the band in high school. We never thought that it would become anything, but to our surprise it became our everything.

As a band, you play a lot of gigs. We made CDs and signed to record labels, but the gigs were where we buttered our bread. My nights were full of driving and rocking and drinking and laughing. My days were full of sleeping and recovering and meditating. The first years were a drunken rocket ship. The second five years spun like a satellite, orbiting in space. I married. Unmarried. Drank. Sobered up. Got drunk. I met a lot of great people and spent a lot of time avoiding people who weren’t so great. It was a world of contrasts. Euphoric and depressive. You danced to the music in order to forget your everyday worries.

As I rode my bike home from the Potomac River, I didn’t have a worry in the world. I was content. I had found my calling. I would teach, and, through teaching, I would help people live better lives. Things were looking good.

Introducing...WStack History Part 1

So there I was on my meditation cushion. Legs crossed. Counting my breaths as the Potomac River quietly flowed by. Sitting…counting…sitting…counting. A few winter birds flew overhead. Sitting…counting.

The back of Master Pohwa’s shaved head dully shined in the winter sun. Sitting…counting. The river kept flowing. His head kept shining. Sitting…counting… sitting… And then it came to me.

I stuffed my cushion away. Jumped on my bike and headed home. I had things to do. I was going to give up being a rock star. I was going to be a teacher!