Edith van der Meer teaches across the spectrum. Whether its three-year olds, lower school children, high school students, parents or teacher trainees, Edith meets them all with warmth and a sparkle. She loves what she does and does it with love!
Together with Kathy MacFarlane, Waldorf educator from Titirangi Rudolf Steiner School, Edith co-directs the New Zealand Steiner Teacher Certificate (Early Childhood) (NZSTC-EC) for Taruna. She speaks of the key skills, or “gifts”, that teachers doing this in-service course will discover. “Empathy, warmth, being prepared to work with conflict resolution and also developing your self,” says Edith. “Being able to be up-front and have humility – to be able to say ‘I’m wrong’: That’s all possible in the realm of an educator.”
With some thirty years of teaching experience, Edith’s special love is education during the first seven years. “This is such a special time. The foundation is in those first seven years. We don’t realise how important they are.”
“Ever since I was 15 I’ve wanted to work as a kindergarten teacher.” Now Edith has achieved that and so much more.
Listening to Edith talk about what she does one gets the impression that it is less like ‘work’, more like ‘play’ and certainly is imbued with great inspiration. “What I get out of being an educator in a Waldorf school is enormous - everyday.”
“I can sit there observing children and pinch myself and think: do I get paid for this job? These children don’t stop to amaze me every day. To see their discoveries, their learning and their development is truly awe-inspiring.” “Another thing I really enjoy about being in the kindergarten is working with the parents. I see it as just as important as working with their children - to empower them to be able to nurture, to set clear boundaries and teach them about rhythm. It all helps in their task to be parents”
In 2002 Edith helped set up the Mangarau Kindergarten in Havelock North, she worked in the school at Hohepa Homes and then in July 2004 “took the plunge” and did her state training. This not only lead to her current position as educator at the Taradale Rudolf Steiner Kindergarten, but also extended her involvement in adult education when Taruna invited her to co-direct the Early Childhood In-Service Course.
“We came up with a plan for a 2 year in-service course with 2 block seminars of four and a-half days each per year and additional and very important mentoring by an experienced Waldorf kindergarten teacher.” Specifically designed to accommodate the needs of the early childhood educators working in Waldorf kindergartens and day-care centres, this Certificate has proved a success. This year has seen the start of the second intake for this course and 33 kindergarten teachers, day care workers and assistants have just finished the second of their block courses for the year. The feedback is good and Edith says they have a lot of fun.
“Waldorf early childhood has been waiting for something like this,” says Edith, as with the national educational emphasis on state training, there was no longer any training or specific professional development for Waldorf Early Childhood Education available in New Zealand.
Edith and Kathy seen here with the students from the NZSTC Early Childhood course with their dolls.
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