How Waldorf Teachers Talk to Their Students

Oh gosh. Here we go. I hope I don’t offend anyone.

I have SO many thoughts and opinions about how Waldorf teachers talk to their students. I actually can’t believe I haven’t written about it before now.

As is often the case, this post is inspired by a recent experience in my classroom that helped me to be aware of the frank, no-nonsense way I like to talk to my students. Here’s the story.

We’re currently learning about prefixes — this week it’s UN-, DIS- and IN-. We’ve been practicing them in various ways, learning what happens when you put one of these prefixes in front of a word and otherwise immersing ourselves in the world of prefixes.

This week, I gave the 3rd graders a new assignment. Now that we’ve been practicing these prefixes for awhile, they were ready to do some writing with them. So, without really thinking much about the topic or giving it much form (the 3rd graders are so creative, I figured they wouldn’t have trouble coming up with something) I gave them an assignment. They had to write three sentences, including an UN- word, DIS- word and IN- word in each. I told them if they wanted to make it a complete story, they could, but that was optional.

As they were gathering their supplies, the room was buzzing and I heard them start to talk to each other about what they were going to write. It was then that I realized my mistake.

Because all of these words have a prefix that means “not” all of the word choices were pretty negative and unpleasant. I started hearing kids figure out the words they were going to use.

• unkind
• unfair
• unsafe
• unusual
• incorrect
• inappropriate
• dislike
• dishonest
• disobey

Oh gosh. What were these stories going to be about?!

Then I looked over a shoulder and found that the student had made a classmate his main character. In the first sentence, the classmate got 2+2 “incorrect.” I shuddered to think about where the story would go from there.

Telling Them Like It Is

I realized I had to stop everything and put some boundaries on the assignment. I didn’t want to stifle their creativity, but I also didn’t want them to be unkind to their classmates.

So, when I got everyone’s attention, we had a little laugh about how silly their stories could become. And then I told them they had to be careful about their main character. I said, “It’s fine to have your main character cause all kinds of trouble, but don’t choose a real person.” They completely got it, some changed their characters’ names, and nobody groaned about me changing the assignment. I realized that even though it meant they would have to change things and not get as silly as they perhaps wanted, they like it when I assume the best in them and expect kindness. Of course they wouldn’t want to hurt someone’s feelings!

There was a time in my teaching career when I would have been nervous about making a change like this mid-assignment. In those days, I would have listened to my students’ protests saying “it doesn’t matter” or “nobody minds if we use their name.” I would have been worried about stifling their creativity and I would have let it all slide.

But since then, I’ve realized that it always pays off to insist on kindness — even if some students grumble in the process. And when I talk with my students assuming their kindest intentions and the hurt that could “accidentally” happen if they wrote about a classmate, they feel supported and loved.

Today, when we continued the lesson and they learned that some of their writing would be hung in the hallway on the bulletin board, someone asked if there was anyone at the school named “Callie” because that was the made up name of her character. She said she wouldn’t want another student in the school to think she was writing about her.

So sweet.

Authenticity Above All

This experience made me think about the various ways I have heard teachers speak with their students. You see, it’s not just about the content, or the message, of our words, but we also need to consider the quality of our pronunciation and vocabulary.

Many Waldorf teachers speak to their students with a lilting, articulate, melodic quality. I’m not sure where this manner of speaking originated, but I’ve heard so many teachers speak with this same quality, it must come out of some teacher training somewhere. My teenage Waldorf grads call it “the Waldorf teacher voice.”

To my ear, this manner of speaking sounds forced at best, and inauthentic at worst. I mean, I’m in full support of giving consciousness and intention to your language, but when it starts to sound disingenuous, our integrity and authority is undermined.

I believe that it is possible to be aware of our articulation, vocabulary and tone, while still remaining authentic. And if we can strike this balance, our students will respect us more for it.

Cutting Out the Fluff

I also, probably more than many Waldorf teachers I know, give it to my students straight, even when their behavior or intentions are not the highest. I’m not afraid to come out with a sharp, “No,” when necessary.

I swear, there are times when that clear, direct “no” is hanging in the air, and if I don’t give it voice, someone else will.

The world is not always sweetness and light. Sometimes gently delivering or singing admonishments feels just wrong. Everyone knows it needs to be said, just say it.

So, the big takeaway here? Be conscious of your language. Give intention to pronunciation and word choice. But most importantly, be authentic. Don’t pretend to be someone you’re not. Don’t put on the persona of the perfect, even-tempered, fictitious Waldorf teacher.

Speak to your students with love in your heart, even when you raise your voice. Then that warmth and connection will come through.