Main Lesson Myths that need Debunking

In Waldorf circles, we find several pervasive myths about the creation of Main Lesson blocks. And these myths are overtaxing many a class teacher, for they imply that getting help is somehow incompatible with our ideal of individual and creative teaching. These myths contribute to questionable outcomes in the classroom, and they lower the expected standard in ways that could easily be avoided.

These myths are traps for the inexperienced beginner and need to be debunked. As a Waldorf class teacher, you ought to know them and take a stand. Read on, and I’ll show you why and how.

In no particular order, the myths I mean are these:

The “Always Invent Your Own Main Lesson” Myth

This one is pernicious and causes unnecessary problems. Starting out as a class teacher, I took this myth to heart. Having been a Waldorf student myself, as well as a parent and a subject teacher, I did enjoy the freedom this unwritten rule grants, and it worked for me.

But I couldn’t help noticing that it didn’t work for everyone.

Even so, it wasn’t all plain sailing. As a Swiss national in England – see The Story – my main challenge was: How to teach reading, writing and arithmetic, the Waldorf Way, in a foreign language and country?

I felt uncertain, the strain of preparation was overwhelming, and I cast around for a guideline. When I consulted an experienced colleague (a former Waldorf student herself), she lent me some of her Main Lesson Books.

Relief! These practical examples were such a helpful guide and safety net! They increased my confidence, saved oodles of preparation time, inspired good ideas of my own, and made me feel well prepared every day.

No more sleepless nights! And best of all was the certainty that I was doing it right.

LESSON LEARNT: It is alright, recommendable even, to consult someone else’s exemplary Main Lesson plans.

The “Being a Waldorf Teacher is All About Doing it All Yourself” Myth

As you can imagine, this one is especially hard on class teachers who are single parents. We know about doing it all ourselves! Even in the Waldorf World the deck is stacked against us, and this is rarely acknowledged.

LESSON LEARNT: Don’t let this misguided myth exhaust you. Get qualified help quickly!

The “Guides and Examples Stifle Imagination, Originality and Creativity” Myth

This notion is widespread, not just in Waldorf circles. But do examples of someone else’s creativity really blot out our own?

Does watching Jamie Oliver make us less creative in the kitchen? And does using his recipes make us bad cooks? Don’t musicians hone their skills by playing great composers’ pieces before writing their own? Didn’t the Renaissance artists copy or complete works of their teachers before creating masterpieces?

You see, not only did my colleague’s Main Lesson examples support my creativity; I had experienced this in my time at Art College too, many years earlier. There, most teachers bought into this bizarre myth and set creative tasks without showing examples of what was expected. Only a few did – and guess which approach I found to be less stressful, more enjoyable, and inspiring better outcomes?

LESSON LEARNT: Good examples inspire creativity and joyful confidence. This myth is utter bunkum!

The “We Don’t Follow a Method” Myth

This common misunderstanding is also the one that is most easily debunked, because Rudolf Steiner himself spoke of Waldorf teaching as a method and described how it differs from other methods.

LESSON LEARNT: Don’t trust this misconception, and read Steiner. (A good move in any case.)

For a nifty keyword search, use the Rudolf Steiner online archive at rsarchive.org

The “Your Own Imperfect Main Lesson is Better than Any Other” Myth

This one contains a kernel of truth, which hinges largely on the teacher’s enthusiasm for, and immersion in, a topic. This enthusiasm, when transmitted to the class, may compensate certain shortcomings.

But, with all due respect for freedom and creativity in teaching: One does come across creative ideas, proudly presented on social media, that are objectively questionable. In such cases it would have been better to be guided by good, authentic examples.

RECOMMENDATION: Learn the ropes from others first and invent your own Main Lessons later.

RELATED PARENTAL CONCERNS

The previous myth raises the question: Is a random individual approach in hit-and-miss style fair on the children? Class teachers may have years in which to improve their lesson plans, but the children experience every lesson just once.

And what about the parents, many of whom make considerable sacrifices to afford Waldorf Education? They will be understandably dismayed when one of ‘their’ class teachers appears clueless. This is especially hard on those parents who are Waldorf alumni and can tell what is right, and what isn’t.

Every year, parents nervously anticipate who their Class 1 child’s teacher will be. Does s/he know their stuff? Is s/he a real Waldorf teacher?

If it is an experienced member of staff, they breathe a sigh of relief. If it isn’t, they tensely hope for the best. And their critical scrutiny makes the new class teacher even more apprehensive.

Myths vs Quality Control

The mentioned myths compel Waldorf Schools to trust individual inspiration and variable skills, and the resulting lack of quality control can be a problem. The best policies fall flat when there isn’t the (paid) manpower to provide guidance, observe lessons, and manage a sound follow-up process.

But paid manpower is always a problem in self-funded schools, and so ‘Peer Reviews’ are placed as an additional burden on the teachers’ shoulders.

PROBLEM: Would you want to call out a colleague on questionable standards?

Of course not! No one wants to be The Bad Guy. And so it falls to worried parents to bring up a class teacher’s struggles and failings. They may not be heard straight away – but that is another matter.

Waldorf class teachers are often left to their own devices, and one assumes that this would not happen in any other profession where people shoulder similar responsibility.

Class Teacher in Crisis

Back to our Main Lesson Myths: Class teachers feel obliged to invent every block themselves, in an exhausting process known as “reinventing the wheel”. They seek information in the recommended literature from Steiner to Stockmeyer, but the niggling question remains: “Am I doing this right?”

Worry and anxiety are fuelled by the pernicious myths. Overwhelm sets in. Critical voices are heard. Parents complain. Things come to a head, and a mentor is sent to step in. This is an experienced, often semiretired colleague, who now gives the step-by-step guidance that would have been great to have from the start.

In this moment of crisis all myths are set aside, for now it is vital to provide some tried-and-tested techniques and materials to save the struggling class teacher from throwing in the towel and limping off into the sunset.

And if you’ve worked at a Waldorf School for a while, you will likely know what I’m talking about.

Debunking the Myths

Many years in Waldorf Education made me see that one should not expose newcomers without guidance to the demands of being a class teacher, expecting that they will figure everything out by themselves.

It cannot be right to operate on the assumption that uncertainty will lead to good results. More often than not, it doesn’t.

The resulting crisis may then appear to mean that a teacher is not up to the job. And is that fair? Of course not!

So let’s debunk these harmful myths and take a different view:

How about using a helpful day-by-day Main Lesson guide for Waldorf class teachers? An informative resource that can be a safety net, a mentor and a fount of inspiration? Ideally one that provides materials with insightful footnotes and comments, illustrates the expected standards of work and shows examples of an artistic approach to every topic; including concise summaries, well-researched presentation notes and a number of good stories.

Don’t get me wrong: I am very much in favour of a creative, individual approach to the crafting of Main Lesson blocks, and can prove that I have successfully done so in my time. But I maintain that a certain level of expertise and insight is needed to do this well.

And I claim that beginners should be encouraged to make use of informative guides and authentic templates until they have gained the necessary experience and confidence. Should they be inspired with good ideas in the process, these can easily be incorporated too.

But the pressure is off, and errors are avoided.

In summary, Waldorf teachers do follow a method. And this wonderfully creative method is most easily understood and effectively acquired by studying exemplary examples and learning from them.

To provide such examples, I am publishing my Main Lesson plans in A WALDORF DIARY – DAY BY DAY THROUGH SEVEN YEARS. This helpful resource, designed to support and inspire Waldorf class teachers, can also be used by any other educator.

My second aim is to help teachers free up valuable time for family and friends, recreation, personal development – and sufficient sleep.

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