We welcome our Class 1 teacher, Fezile Mdzinwa!
How long have you taught at Imhoff Waldorf School?
15 years.
How and why did you becomes a teacher?
I didn’t really want to be one until I discovered Waldorf. Waldorf changed my mind about education in 1993. I had wanted to be a lawyer before that but I didn’t have the funds. I got a pamphlet in Wynberg and went to an Open Day and began studying the following year in the first group of teacher training at Michael Oak.
Why do you enjoy working with children?
There is an innocence and wonder in them and I love to see the look of achievement and surprise they find when they learn to do something themselves. I enjoy to see them change and grow through the seven year cycle.
What do you love about Waldorf Education?
For me, the curriculum opens one’s mind and has a path of development within it for adults and children. You teach from every group of children you tech and each group has a uniqueness. As a teacher one has to adapt and grow to meet the children.
What inspires you to come back each day and continue teaching?
One never fulfils things or reaches ones goal completely. As a teacher you are constantly climbing a ladder, a staircase of development personal and spiritual. The children make that possible. I love to see them learning and developing at their own pace and to build community within the group. I am excited to be continuing this journey next year as the Class 1 teacher once again!
Interviewed by Nan Raubenheimer, Playgroup Teacher