Teacher Spotlight: Daniel Baker, Third & Fourth Grade
Daniel Baker comes to the Minnesota Waldorf School from the Pasadena Waldorf School in California. Mr. Baker grew up in the Phoenix, Arizona area. He holds a B.A. in English with a concentration in literature from Azusa Pacific University. Along with more than fifteen years’ experience in the Waldorf school classroom and a broad skillset in meeting students at all grade levels, Mr. Baker brings a deep knowledge of Waldorf pedagogy and child development.
What is your educational background?
One way of answering this question is that I grew up going to public schools, and that I have a B.A. in English from Azusa Pacific University. However, my last sixteen years teaching in a Waldorf school, working alongside incredible students and colleagues, has been its own kind of profound reeducation in what it means to be human. Waldorf Education, with its daily insistence that we “look into the world,” reminds us that the world itself is our greatest and most steadfast teacher.
What drew you to the Waldorf Curriculum?
The moment the lights go down, a match is struck, and a story is told. I was twenty-two when I first sat in a Waldorf classroom. It was a fifth grade, I remember. I’d just watched this pack of boys playing football on the dusty yard, all doing their best to play the part of tough guy. You know, normal fifth grade stuff. But when that candle was lit, something changed. Suddenly, those boys were children again, like children from any place in any time in the world. Their faces were glowing with wonder.
What is your favorite subject or learning block to teach?
My first true love in school was history, and no matter what block I’m in, I always find myself dipping my toes into it. We like to think and say that we live in “unprecedented times,” but the more deeply you engage with the human story, that chauvinism and cynicism of the present loosens its grip. You remember that there is something sacred and powerful the past has to teach us.
How would you describe your teaching style?
Genuine enthusiasm for what we’re learning, playfulness, positivity, and a deep love for the children are the engines that drive my work in the classroom. But when a learning moment – academic, social or otherwise – requires something else, I also know how to slow things down, to give things their proper weight and reverence, and to help the students emerge with their heads held high.
What are you most looking forward to the most as you return to Minnesota?
The seasons! I’m looking forward to a deep, dark winter and what it has to teach me about inwardness and true rest.
How do you help build a strong classroom community?
Even as adults, it takes a profound amount of courage to be in true community with one another. For third and fourth graders – who behind our backs are beginning to roll their eyes at all our platitudes about kindness and generosity and honesty – this emphasis on courage helps reframe what it means to be in relationship to one another. Turns out all that smooshy stuff isn’t smooshy at all; it’s the most courageous stuff we have to give.
What excites you most about teaching a combined class?
This summer a colleague shared an interesting study with me. Among students of the exact same age, the normal developmental range of children spans five whole years! Meaning that even in a traditional one-grade classroom, it’s normal to have a wildly diverse set of learning needs. Against that background, combined classes can feel a lot less daunting, and even incredibly exciting! Especially in Waldorf schools, where our idealism sometimes verges on perfectionism, a combined class offers profound, lifelong lessons – that every unexpected circumstance has an abundance of gifts, and that everyone in this circle has something to teach you.