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There is another essential aspect to biography work in schools; our own life story. In the words of Parker Palmer, we teach who we are. Palmer explains this beautifully in his book The Courage to Teach: a short but helpful summary of some of his key points is available here for those who would like to explore or as a basis for faculty discussion.
Rudolf Steiner, the founder of Waldorf education, shared Palmer’s view on the essential role of “those who teach” - who we are matters a great deal. Biography work is a crucial aspect of teacher development. By exploring our life story, we develop a deeper understanding of what we bring into the classroom each day. We gain insight into our strengths, our challenges, and our “blank and blind” spots that may show up in our relationships with students, colleagues, and curriculum. Parker Palmer summarized this: Here is a secret hidden in plain sight: good teaching cannot be reduced to technique; good teaching comes from the identity and integrity of the teacher. Understanding ourselves helps us to better understand our students. It gives new insight into human development. It affirms our courage to teach, and shows us that we have the tools and resourcefulness that we need.
My colleagues at Seaside worked willingly with me to open doorways to their biographies. There are many, many ways of doing this - we engaged in a wide sample. There was laughter, quiet reflection, and recognition. We looked at factors that are really important in teaching; point of view and perspective, stages of human development, individual variation, moments of crisis and opportunity in a life’s journey. We touched on trauma and discussed the impact of adverse childhood experiences, recognizing that most of us have some, and some of us and some of our students have many. We also acknowledged our role in helping build resilience in the face of these. We respected boundaries - engagement in any activity was completely voluntary. We looked at generations and the different experiences that shaped us; this was lively, funny, and insightful. We recollected and remembered our lives. I found that this process was active as I made my journey home - and will likely continue for a while.
As it is Lunar New Year and we have entered the Year of the Fire Horse, we also grouped ourselves according to the Chinese zodiac (we viewed our peers with fresh eyes and discovered that there was a loud, large group of tigers!) This could be a fun, quick activity during a faculty meeting with an invitation to reflect on distribution. We require a study of school biography as part of our self-study; along with that, it is really worthwhile to add quick exercises and activities that provide windows into the richness of our individual and collective lives. This builds compassion and understanding - for ourselves, our students, and our colleagues - and helps us to polish the lens through which we view our chosen work.
Happy storytelling!
Liz Beaven
Executive Director
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