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Introduction
The Worldwide Initiative for Early Childhood Care undertook to establish a global network of caregivers. Responding to a mandate from the International Waldorf Kindergarten Association (now known as the International Association for Steiner/Waldorf Early Childhood Education), we sought to strengthen linkages between Steiner-based caregivers and mentors worldwide.
We devised a questionnaire, had it translated into German, Danish, Spanish and Russian and distributed as widely as possible. Caregivers responded by sending us back basic information about their programs (childcare, parent education, playgroups, etc), the ages of children in their care and a profile of their professional training, education and work experience. They also shared their personal philosophies and motivations and the particular problems and challenges they faced. They were also asked to indicate whether they felt they needed mentoring or whether they could offer it to others.
By April 2006, we had received one hundred fifty-five responses from twenty countries and six continents. Nearly half of the respondents came from North America, the rest originated from Europe ( Germany, Switzerland, Austria, France, Spain, United Kingdom, Ireland, Belgium, the Netherlands, Denmark and Sweden), plus Ukraine, Latvia, Chile, Argentina, Japan, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. Nearly ninety-five percent of respondents gave permission to share their information via a secure website.
In North America, the largest number of responses came from teachers of Parent-Child programs or Nursery/Kindergartens; the next largest group ran home day cares. Fewer worked in institutional day care settings or ran playgroups. Many offer parent education sessions. The majority of caregivers have been trained, although some informally, and eighty percent have worked in the field for more than five years. Many have dedicated over twenty years of their lives to the care of young children. A significant number (twenty percent) work alone.
We discovered that outside of the US and Canada, most caregivers we heard from work in institutional day care centers. The vast majority have earned a training certificate or professional diploma related to childcare or education. They state similar motivations and challenges as their North American colleagues, but more of them wrote openly and warmly of Steiner's ideas of anthroposophy being the main guiding principle for their work.
Respondents across the board felt they needed more training to be able to work with children and parents. They consistently voiced the difficulty of working long hours and the need for support for new programs. Over half of them requested mentoring. Fortuitously, more than half of the respondents offered to act as mentors for others.
Voices
Additionally, we have been given a picture of how caregivers across the world are using Steiner's understandings of the human being to inform and transform their work. Steiner gave definitive indications for a wide range of human endeavours, among these: education, medicine, farming and the arts, and he encouraged others to develop their own capacities of imagination, intuition and inspiration in their chosen fields. In his lifetime, however, the domain of child care rested squarely with mothers who stayed in the home and were supported culturally by close-knit communities, common practices and healthy traditions. Unlike the elements of curriculum he specified for each grade in Waldorf education, Steiner left little in the way of a specific framework of indications for the daily care of the young child. Among followers of Steiner's teachings, this area of research is still in its infancy.
Yet today, in an era when empowering women in the workplace is a progressive agenda and women are achieving more workplace parity, when families everywhere find it necessary for both parents to work to maintain fiscal stability, even more children require day care so their single parent can work to support them. One can only question: Who is advocating for the children? Who is keeping the needs of the child as a spiritual being at the forefront of concern? How can the profession of caretaking be elevated to an art? And how can mothers and fathers be supported in order to best support their own children?
Although specific writings from Steiner on the subject of infant and child care are limited, many caregivers we heard from use his broader writings on the nature of the human being to inspire their practice. Some also use complementary approaches such as those of Emmi Pikler, Magda Gerber and others to create new models of professional caregiving.
A survey of the responses highlights a number of common themes.
1. Many, many caregivers across the spectrum share the deep conviction that their work with children serves an important need in today's family structure. Many feel passionate about protecting childhood from overstimulation, sensory overload and unintended neglect. They recognize that our changing times require attention to the influences on early childhood. They feel an urgency about this work and its importance to the future:
"I am choosing this work because that I saw that many children in the kindergarten are tired, ill, nervous, unhappy, physically and psychologically neglected."A.S., Belgium
"I feel the protection and healing of childhood in our present age is of great importance for the future." F.C., Wales
"Many children in our community (Great Lakes, Canada) are at risk. I returned from work in the third world and found I was needed in Canada." M.G. Canada
"I feel strongly that the children we teach now must be prepared to meet challenges in their future that we can only guess at." E. S., USA
"In South American countries…we have a large diversity in economic, cultural, social and religious aspects This situation makes us work deeply in the social realm to find the best future for our children and humanity." M. W., Argentina
Overwhemingly, these caregivers feel passionately that the protection of childhood is critical to our future. They sense that environmental and societal influences on childhood are robbing today's children of their physical and emotional wellbeing and will have eventual impacts that we cannot predict.
2. Respondents feel it is very important to serve and educate parents.
"I am most interested in exploring with parents of young children the qualities and conditions of authentic relationship." A. B., USA
"Parents have no other place to come together as community and create a network of support for themselves with others of like mind." S.W., USA
"Parents are vulnerable at this time." Y. H., South Africa
"My reasons for this work . . .to nourish parents so that their children are nourished."
"Through my work I would love to nurture a greater recognition of the spiritual mission of parenthood and encourage parents to support one another and have the courage to trust their intuition." E. T., UK
"It seems forgotten that the. . .mothers themselves are spiritual beings." C. T., Yukon, Canada
"I want to help mothers, to be there for them, to be on their side." M. J., Switzerland
They are aware of the inestimable influence parents have on their children. They are also aware that competing societal influences, isolation and insecurities play on parents' vulnerabilities. They recognize that parents are stressed in a new way, and they seek to educate and nurture the parents. The primary concern of the caregivers for the children expands into concern for the parents. They view both as spiritual beings at differing stages of development, with different but interrelated needs.
3. These caregivers work out of love for children and out of their own spiritual convictions:
"This work chose me." K. B., USA
"I would like to find a way to better myself while bringing light into the world." C. C., USA
"This work is the most intensive, most beautiful work I have ever done." M.L.N., Switzerland
"I love to empower parents and free babies." M.P., USA
"It became more and more clear to me that the first seven years are the most important, the most precious, the most awe-inspiring, exciting years. . .and that the first three are even more intensively so." C.C., Denmark
Many caregivers feel a deep sense of purpose and fulfilment in this work more than a normal "job." They mention feeling a sense of "calling" for this work, a deep resonance at being a part of something that is larger than they are.
4. To a lesser extent, they take on the work for practical, tangible reasons: to increase the enrolment base at their Waldorf Schools, to make an impact on a child care system, or as a way to support their own young family:
"We regard these parent-child sessions as the best way to inform and practically introduce parents to Waldorf education." U.E., Wales, UK
"I am an advocate for young children and want to impact in a positive way the day care system in our area and beyond." S.D. California, USA
"Right now being at home with my children as part of this program…and working for myself
fits into our family balance best." H.S., USA
While caregivers may have concrete reasons for undertaking the work, their motivations usually involve bettering the systems in which they are involved.
5. They are deeply aware of the dilemmas and difficulties of working with parents to protect the sanctity of early childhood and to counteract the influences of media and consumerism:
"Where do parents learn how to parent?. . .Parent education does not exist in any fully
conscious way in our world. . .a parent education that honors the mystery and offers
growth from observing." N.A., USA
"Helping parents face consumerism and the drug companies is a real concern of mine."
C.B., USA
"The interest of the parents for small children is disappearing. This is widespread." A.W., Germany
"Parents are more difficult to work with due to high rate of divorce and other difficulties." P.W., USA
"I am dismayed by the screen obsession of our time (TVs, computers, videogames). I struggle to remain calm in what I believe is a battle to protect the innocent." K.H., Canada
"I cannot prevent (the children) from watching TV or computers, etc. what else do they need to grow up strong and healthy?" E.S., Chicago, USA
These caregiver-educators are clear-eyed in their assessments of society's problems that impact the arena of caregiving. They show courage and conviction in tackling what is really impacting children's lives.
6. They hold profound questions about the forces and capabilities they need to do their best work:
"What kind of forces do I need to strengthen the children in a large group on long days?" L.M.K.,Germany
"How can we support mothers morally?" S.M., Japan
"Do we make it too easy for parents to leave their children to be cared for by others?" C.R., Austria
"How do we remain open to parents without becoming their parents?" C.C., Denmark
These caregivers express real courage to "live with the questions." One can sense a willingness in their responses to seek inner answers for deeply perplexing and vexing issues of our times.
7. They articulate challenges which are practical and/or emergent in this evolving field:
"We offer childcare in a school. Yet when the child turns three, programs are only on the school schedule. . .will we expand to offering childcare year round after the child is three? What will the salary and vacation schedule be? The kindergarten teachers are not caregivers and are used to holidays and summers off." M.R., Canada
"It is a challenge working with three other caregivers in the room. It is not like being a teacher/ego and requires deep attunement to each other." M.R., Canada
" I wish to foster reverence and allow natural religiosity, but most families actually value their secularity and are cautious with anything that smacks of religion. We must take little steps with our festivals and daily rhythms if we do not wish to contradict the family. "
"I believe everything has to be redone in France for young children." Mme. L., France
"I am not happy with the "unprofessional" status of being a day care mother." R. S., Germany
"It is difficult financially to make this work." L.H., USA
They long to create structures of respect and recognition for their work, which is often underappreciated and underpaid, yet increasingly essential in today's society. Especially in the US, many providers face space and funding needs. Government support for child care particularly in Europe is measurably higher than in the US and other countries. More North American caregivers mention feeling isolated and seek to maintain balance in their work and wish for more training in special needs assessment.
Universally, caregivers feel they need more training and support both individually and within the movement as a whole. Specialized training for work with children from birth to three is especially sought by those outside of North America:
"There is no training for this parent-child work in the UK. . .there are particular skills that I need for parent-child work and I have to go outside the Steiner movement to get them. This is not necessarily a bad thing!" D.M., UK
"With the changing demand of society and high demand for child care before kindergarten, we cannot offer this kind of care yet. . .the training of carers for children is highly essential." U.E., Wales, UK
"I wish to gain more education/information about early year education."
"Personally, I need more resources more puppet show training, more singing training in mood of the fifth. I wish I had a mentor." K. C., USA
"We wish to be included in your international network so we can receive and participate in sharing information in Spanish. We warmly greet you and await your response."
There is widespread need to support caregivers with professional training opportunities and ongoing mentoring. Large scale conferences lend legitimacy and recognition; regional and local workshops and seminars provide more accessibility and the chance for ongoing exchange.
When we link individuals with peer support and professional development options we will strengthen the caregivers themselves and the movement in general. Healthier children and families will result from lending these caregivers the support they need as they nurture and care for children and families.
Next Steps
IASWECE's website may be expanded to include an on-line resource for those who wish to use it. Use of a contact management system (with user name and password) could enable users to access all of the information directly from the database without involvement of the central secretary.
The body of responses can also be practical for those who train and support these dedicated caregivers. Presenters who design workshops, trainings and conferences, can use the information voiced by these caregivers and parent educators to tailor programs to their needs and facilitate exchange among them.
In Conclusion
The network project has several uses: First, it will link caregivers and those who mentor them. This will be accomplished by closing the loop with caregivers, sending a "welcome" letter, letting them know they are now part of the main IASWECE data base and including a list of available mentors in their area and information about existing chat rooms they can join for electronic support. Other aspects of the network's future possibilities will evolve over time.
A secondary application of this information is to provide a "snapshot" in time of an emerging field of Steiner-inspired childcare. We see in it a picture of caregivers worldwide linked in a common commitment to improve the future by attending to the present. They recognize that "as the branch is bent, the tree will grow," so they work tirelessly and devotedly to create optimal healing and respectful care for children from their earliest days. These educators and child care professionals are responding to our changing world by finding ways to protect and preserve childhood, while accompanying, educating and nurturing parents. It is the task of those who are given to train and advocate for these caregivers to create a hierarchy of support for them as they embrace the parents and children who share our common future.
Many thanks to the following individuals whose quotes appear in this report:
Annelise Sysman, Fran Crichton, Marilyn Grudniski, Elizabeth Stubbs, Maria Wedeltoft, Anne-Marie Bley, Susan White, Yvonne Herring, Rosie Stocks, Emma Tyler, Chalia Tuzlak, Manuela Jacoby, Katherine Brown, Christine Collet, Maria Luisa Nuesch, Marilyn Pelrine, Christine Christianssen, Ulrike Engelbrecht, Simone Demarzi, Heather Stearns, Nikki Amodio, Christine Bassett, Anita Walter, Pamela Woods, Kim Hunter, Lucia Maria Kunz, Elizabeth Swisher, Sono Matsurra, Claudia Rose, Margo Running, Jacqueline Beecher, Mme. Larmand, Rita Schrittenlacher, Lois Hartman, Dorothy Male, Stelle Mutule
Margaret Ris has worked for a number of years at the Waldorf School in Lexington, Massachusetts, in the nursery and as a parent-child teacher. She joined the International Association's Working Group on the Very Young Child to work on a worldwide networking project for childcare providers.