Being a Class Teacher in a Steiner school is like tending a new garden. The gardener tries to be there over successive seasons, through both storms and sunshine, nurturing the plants as they grow. It is the same with the children in your class.

Ultimately, as the children enter the Upper School they will stand alone and bear fruit but, as young learners, they benefit from a consistent approach and a familiar, authoritative presence. The teacher's intention to stay with a class for eight years is one of the great strengths of Steiner education, creating unique opportunities for relational learning and ongoing assessment.

Perhaps most importantly, it is also an eight-year lesson in human relationships. Difficulties are recognised and resolved; successes celebrated and built upon. As teachers we must set the best example in understanding and trust; the children, in turn, learn that relationships require work, patience and tolerance.

Anthroposophy

The philosophy underpinning the teaching of Steiner education is based on the idea that each human being embraces a body, a soul and a spirit. The educational principles are inspired by a body of work and ideas and called 'anthroposophy', meaning a thorough and comprehensive study of the full nature of the human being and the world.

Anthroposophy is a developing body of research, originally conceived by Rudolf Steiner (1861-1925), that seeks to explore the comprehensive nature of the human being. Practical manifestations of this work can be found in agriculture, medicine and architecture, as well as in education. Anthroposophy embraces observations, indications and insights concening the physiological, emotional-psychological and the cognitive-spiritual aspects of the human being.