It’s taken us some time to gather our thoughts and words while grieving the loss of dear Betty.
Betty Staley lived a remarkable life dedicated to Waldorf education. She was a beloved teacher, colleague, mentor, and friend. Among her many accomplishments and contributions to the world of Waldorf education, she was a core faculty member of Waldorf Handwork Educators from our very beginning. We tentatively reached out to see if she would consider working with our students and we were delighted and surprised when she quickly became an enthusiastic supporter and core instructor in our program.
Throughout her long career and extensive travels she recognized the need and fought for Waldorf education to be accessible and affordable. This included, not least, teacher training. Betty recognized the need for Waldorf teacher education to grow and expand, increasing accessibility worldwide. We were extremely fortunate to have Betty teaching our students nearly every month for the past 4 years, bringing insights into child development, anthroposophy, the horizontal curriculum, and more. She was eager to listen to her students and consider things from new perspectives, always striving to grow and challenging us all to grow with her. There were many lively discussions, as Betty stood her ground without negating the validity of other perspectives. Betty was a life long learner, and regularly shared anecdotes and snapshots from her personal learning experiences. She was a storyteller at heart and had a unique way of bringing Steiner’s ideas through warmth and laughter, grounding them into practical reality.
Betty embodied 'living the questions' as she entered into genuine dialog with our students, always interested and courageous enough to ask difficult, probing, thought-provoking questions. A favorite phrase - you may remember how she spoke it - was "That's all right".
Through her many discussions with our students Betty would often come back to a central idea. Waldorf education must always grow and evolve to meet the needs of today’s children, wherever they are in the world. Rudolf Steiner created Waldorf education after World War 1 to teach the next generation of children. Over the past 100 years, so much has changed. Teachers all have their own perspective based on their experiences, but we educate children for the future - a future which we can barely imagine.
In our last class with her on November 17, 2024, Betty and Kevin Avison led us through a discussion entitled, “What Does Waldorf Mean to You?” She asked us all to consider what it means to each of us as individuals? As a generation? As a culture? As a human living in this time and in this place? We considered what it means to have freedom in teaching and wondered, how free is free? And are we ‘free from’ or ‘free to’?
Along with our other core instructors, Betty encouraged us all to liberate ourselves from entrenched Waldorf practices, and never to stop questioning: Why am I bringing this lesson? Is it meeting the needs of these unique students? Who are the children in my care and how can I better understand their needs?
She emphasized the necessity of coming together with colleagues to have open and authentic conversations, ask questions, and ask for feedback. It is through this collaboration and conversation that we grow. She reminded us that it is the inner work of the teacher, the striving to meet each child as new, that builds the greatest learning relationships between teachers and students.
Thank you Betty for having the courage to ask the questions, and through honest and ongoing reflection to pursue answers. Thank you for encouraging us all to never stop learning, growing, teaching, and striving to meet the needs of each unique child in our care. We are so grateful for all the light and warmth you shared with your students, colleagues, family, and friends. You will be both greatly missed, and ever-present in our work with colleagues and children.
Click below to watch a 5 minute video excerpt from one of Betty's WHE presentations from 2-22-22 Teaching Children Today: Finding the Balance
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