I am so glad to be on winter break. Near the end of this semester things just seemed to get overwhelming. I suppose holidays can do that to people. Well, anyway, my research project has been gnawing at me since I returned from Sophia's Hearth. I started in on the experiential part right way, thank goodness. so I have about 5 weeks of research to process. My co-assistant and lead teacher did agree to work on this with me, bless them, and we have had two weeks of singing together and about three weeks of eurythmy exercises for 5 minutes at a time. We did these exercises at the end of the day as it was completely impossible to get these in at the beginning of the day before children and parents arrived.
It is a shame though about not getting the exercises in at the beginning of the day...I did finally watch Helle Heckmann's entire video: The Little Ones: Ages 1 and 2 years and was absolutely inspired. There is a whole section on the work of the three or four lead teachers at Nokken. They arrive a whole hour before the children and greet each other with a handshake and look into each other's eyes. After preparing some items for the day (outdoor bedding, the space outdoors, etc) they take time to sit down together and read some anthroposophical work, read the verse of the day and have a moment of sharing about what is going on that day. Helle describes the importance of this coming together and of the mutual respect required of all participants. I was blown away.
I shared the beauty of this video segment with the lead teacher and while we cannot spare all that time at the beginning of the day...she has agreed to start our day with a handshake. I am feeling the difference. I have also finally gotten myself together enough to create the questionnaire for Claire and Kerry and have sent it along to them and I have outlined many items for the research project. Consequently I ordered three books as additional print resources and placed a research inquiry with the Rudolph Steiner Library. (More money...yikes)
Here is a copy of what is going on with the research right now:
Sophia's Hearth Family Center Training Course
Research Project
Roxanne Anthony
TOPIC: Does a daily 5 minute group exercise assist the Teacher /Assistant relationship in the Waldorf Nursery Setting, specifically with regard to harmonizing of energies, building trust, supporting verbal communication?
METHOD of INVESTIGATION: This topic will be mostly investigated experientially I have the opportunity to practice these exercises in the classroom with my lead teacher, Kerry Hoffman and my co-assistant, Claire Mc Connell. I had originally planned to have a 5 minute song for two weeks, a 5 minute eurythmy exercise for 2 weeks and then a baseline of no activity for 2 weeks. We began on Monday, November 15 th. The song we sand was given to me by Susan Weber and it can be sung in rounds:
All things shall perish from under the sky.
Music alone shall live, Music alone shall live, music alone shall live
Never to die.
The eurythmy exercise was given to me by Mollie Aimies. Using knitted balls, the three participants passed the ball to the person on the right, or passed the ball to the person on the left by crossing their right arm over the left. These activities were done alone and then alternating with verbal cues. Afterward, a chanted Nursery Rhyme was incorporated with the movements: Jack and Jill went up the hill.... Half way through the participants would switch from passing to the right to crossing to the left.
A literary search using the Rudolph Steiner Library has also been initiated. The search request pertained to any references regarding Rudolph Steiner’s advice on strengthening the relationship between teachers and assistants in an early childhood or grades setting.
An interview with another teacher/assistant group on how they build their relationship
Viewing of the Helle Heckman video: The Little Ones: Ages 1 and 2 years
METHOD of RECORDING FINDINGS:
1. Questionnaire developed and presented to all participants in the experiential work
2. Video tape of the eurythmy work
PRELIMINARY BIBLIOGRAPHY:
Helle Heckman video: The Little Ones: Ages 1 and 2 years. 2010.
Online resources: definitions of group cohesiveness
A Teacher's Guide to Working with Paraeducators and Other Classroom Aides, Jill Morgan, Betty Y. Ashbaker
Forming School Communities: The Renewal of the Social Organism, Matthias Karutz
Teachers And Assistants Working Together - Gary Thomas
