In 2013, well known musician and instrumental music teacher Zana Clarke left her music studio to take up a new career in Steiner teaching at The Armidale Waldorf School.
Zana has been involved in many areas of music in Armidale over the last few decades, performing on both violin and a variety of recorders, teaching recorder and violin, running ensembles, and organising workshops and festivals, along with time spent as a classroom music teacher.
Zana has recorded eight music CDs, taught at courses throughout Australasia, Europe and the UK, and her approach to instrumental teaching has been the subject of articles in both National and International music magazines.
And so what now draws this talented musician to classroom primary school teaching? Says Zana: ‘As an instrumental teacher, one only ever has tiny glimpses into the daily life of a class, and it has led me to want to be a part of everything a class does, not just catching the snippets.’
In Zana’s new position as the Year one teacher at The Armidale Waldorf School, she is making a commitment to taking the class right through the primary years. In Steiner schools this is a special journey that the teacher takes, allowing a strong bond to develop, and giving the teacher a deep knowledge and understanding of the students in her care.
“I had a Steiner education myself, so it is a very familiar world to me and I also home-schooled my own two children in their early years using these concepts,” said Zana.
“And the daily activity is still teaching, which is a skill I learnt in the field of music, and have been practising for a long time now.”
Being a Steiner teacher draws on a diverse range of skills and life experiences, and lessons are delivered using creative elements as a means of fully engaging the imagination of pupils in the learning process, whether it be the forming of letters, first steps with numbers, study of great lives or mapping of the night sky. To complement her teaching degree, Zana recently completed a two year Foundation Course in Steiner Education, developing this breadth in presentation.
“Ever since my own time as a Steiner school student I have drawn, painted pictures and written poems, and the Foundation Course provided a wonderful opportunity to go more deeply into all of these artistic mediums, and to see how they can be focused on the task of teaching what could otherwise be a very dry subject matter,” said Zana.
Zana began her association with the Armidale Waldorf School some years ago, teaching the Class 3 and 4 String Programme, along with private violin students from the school.
“As time went by this became the place I really wanted to work – it is a beautiful and ecologically inspiring environment, with a vibrant atmosphere. I have also come to value that using the imaginative artistic approach can still set such high standards in aspects like literacy and numeracy.”
