Would you hire someone who worked in an alternative school?

[salviapages]

I'm a Primary NQT, I'm really interested in Waldorf/Steiner/Montessori schools. There are a couple in my area and I feel like now would be a good time to try to get a job in one as I'm early in my career and don't have children yet so a good time to experiment career-wise

However I'm worried about how this would impact me if I was to go back to mainstream schools in the future. It's likely we'll have to move in the future (currently in Sussex which is £££) so would have to leave and go back to mainstream schools. I don't know if I'd even want to do it forever anyway, just would be a good experience.

Any advice or opinions appreciated - would you think twice about hiring a class teacher from a school like this?

Yes

Steiner? Not a chance

I would seriously question the ethics of anyone who worked in a Steiner school. So would most right thinking people. How they are even allowed to operate is a mystery.

@phlebasconsidered why the ethics? I don't know too much about it myself

I suggest you look into the ethics first, before you step foot anywhere near a Steiner school!

@spanieleyes I've been looking into it and don't see any ethical issues, can you point me towards anywhere I can look or something I can read?

www.bbc.com/news/education-28646118.amp

Racism is a fairly large ethical issue. Vaccine refusal is another. Homeopathy promotion another. Denial of evolution another.

Anthroposophy is what you should be ‘looking into’ at the very least.

As SENCO I’d be very unwilling to hire someone who came from a school of thought that promoted the idea that learning disabilities are some sort of atonement for a previous life and that therefore the child should struggle on without curriculum adaptation or appropriate support.

Because, even if you privately think that’s a load of hooey, I’m looking at a teacher who has 2, 3, 4 years experience but absolutely no practical skills in teaching when faced with the differing needs of a mainstream classroom. So, we expect X on paper, and in fact get Y, which just makes everyone’s life harder.

Thank you! I'd quite naively been looking at it just from what I'd read during my training, holistic view of education, lots of creative activities, children being active in their learning which all sounded great. I hadn't thought about some of these other values and beliefs which may come alongside people involved with this sort of education. Thank you this was the info I needed!

There’s very few ‘creative activities’, it’s highly dictated (all drawing the same pictures for example), not being ‘allowed’ to learn to read linked to how many teeth you have, specific dance activities. Not as free and easy as is often portrayed

Montessori doesn't deserve to be lumped in with Steiner. While they are both out of the mainstream, they couldn't be more different.

I would recommend a few years in a mainstream state school first, then start exploring alternatives. The other way round will be very difficult if you decide alternative isn’t for you.