The beginning of the school year brings a sea of changes for children—a new classroom, new curriculum, new schedule.
In a Waldorf classroom, children can rely on one incredibly important steady element amid the changes: their classroom teacher. Waldorf schools use a system called “teacher looping,” in which a teacher stays with the same class for multiple years. The practice enables teachers to get to know each student’s individual learning style, strengths, challenges and educational history in a deep and meaningful way. It also enables students to push themselves out of their comfort zones when learning new skills, grounded by the deep relationship they have with their teacher.
Though Waldorf schools have practiced teacher looping since their beginnings more than 100 years ago, the practice has gained popularity in recent years, with research showing that teacher looping improves academic achievement and classroom outcomes.
Most recently, it was championed by Adam Grant, an organizational psychologist at the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. Grant featured the concept in his book, Hidden Potential, and in a New York Times opinion piece, both of which detail how the practice plays out in high-performing educational systems in Finland and Estonia.
Ready to learn more about a school where your child’s strengths and challenges are known and understood? Visit our campus and see what learning looks like when it’s grounded in deep, authentic relationships between students and teachers.