Looking Backwards, Going Forwards
The end of the year is always a good time to look backwards. Time to reflect on what you have - or haven't - achieved in twelve months. I'm still a student, doing the same course, still working away at my assignments, still stressing over deadlines. For me, on the surface at least, things have stayed the same.
Stayed the same, yet changed immeasurably. I've changed. I've experienced so many wonderful things on this course. I've met some fantastic people: my tutors, the other distance learning students on the Apparatus course, but the real change is down to the children. The children I've had the pleasure of working with over the last few weeks of my teaching practice in particular. A chance to test out the theories I've learned on the course for real.
These children have been inspiring, perplexing, heartening, hilarious, vital. And most of all, they've made me realise that they are the heart of everything I do as a trainee Montessori teacher. They are individuals, but they help me consider the essence of the child every time they surprise me with something new - a new movement, a new way of considering the material, of relating to the world.
It's because of them that I have had the chance to start again, not just in my career but in the way I look at the world. What a privilege to have the pre-conceptions and prejudices of an adult viewpoint wiped away and to be able to look again through a child's eyes. The passing of the seasons, the beauty of the skies, the intricacies of the patterns in nature. It has been a joy to experience those anew. I love seeing them come up with the answer to their own questions; working out where Jupiter is in the night sky, or discovering what anteaters have for breakfast. My house is groaning with the weight of things I would previously have thrown away or never have collected in the first place which Might Come In Useful One Day. (Must remember to move that collection of pinecones from the radiator...)
Next year, as I continue on my path to becoming a Montessori teacher, I will also continue to celebrate the children's achievements and individuality and to empathise with their struggles. I know that the world will remain an amazing place, but in ways I cannot possibly foretell, with them at the helm one day. Staying the same, but yet changing, growing and improving. I can't ask for anything more for the new year for myself and I wish the same for you for a wonderful 2012.
What have been your highlights of this year? Please let us know in the comments below!
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