EnCompass Four Corners Caregivers Connections: Cultivating a Nexus of Learning and Love

• In Event: Harnessing Waldorf to Construct Educational Possibilities: Challenges and Opportunities

Abstract

Purpose
This paper utilizes tools for organizational development to better understand effective practices for design, iteration, and replication of transformative educational practices as centered in ‘hand-on’ engagement for adult learners, by creating adult learning communities that are safe and caring learning spaces for Black Indigenous People of Color (BIPOC) Caregivers. The EnCompass Four Corners School (E4CS) in Alameda, CA, implements a year-long in-person learning design workshop series, “EnCompass Four Corners Caregivers Connections: Cultivating a Nexus of Learning & Love.'' The first of four quarterly formal informational workshops for the Caregiver learner serves as a checkpoint for internalizing pedagogy and methodologies within a Waldorf-inspired micro-school context.

The aim of the series: to build understanding of scope and sequence of the 4th Grade Waldorf-inspired curriculum, Waldorf Essentials - Class Four, to bridge understandings of 4th Grade Common Core Standards in Language Arts/Math and Grade 4 California Content History/Social Studies Standards; to explore as an adult learning community ‘why’ and ‘how’ Waldorf Education may serve BIPOC; to assess trust and safety in an adult learning community; and lastly to embrace Caregivers as crucial school partners and stakeholders in 4th graders’ success (Mapp et al, 2017 & Warren et al., 2011). Additionally, this learning design for Caregivers of 4th grade level students provides feedback and assesses effectiveness of the E4CS program, while fortifying the Caregivers’ adult learning community and culture.

Theoretical Framework
The study uses the conceptual framework of Umaña-Taylor (2019) to interrogate Ethnic-Racial Identity.

Methods
The study employs the case study methodology outlined by Warren et al. (2011), Mapp et al. (2013) and Mapp et al. (2017), excavating the power of family engagement, using as its case the E4CS, for Caregivers of students at the 4th grade level in an intersectional Waldorf-inspired program.

Data Sources
In addition to the typical “satellite-level” data (pre and post survey questionnaires, one-on-one conference interviews), the study uses “street data” (Safir & Dugan 2021) including storytelling, joy and gratitude cultivation as a form of engagement. In tandem, satellite-level and street data measures Caregivers' growth, development, engagement and empowerment within the E4CS adult learning community.

Results
Preliminary data suggest, with oversampling of data from BIPOC families, an increase of cohesiveness of the adult learning community and of their engagement in constructive critique of the Waldorf methods. Participants reported on their sense of power as the Waldorf curriculum promotes ‘hands-on’ learning. They further reported finding it equally important to incorporate Steiner’s heart-centered curriculum (1907/1996; 1923/1996) and to engage with storytelling of the global majority; Vietnamese mindfulness practices; Ohlone-focused expeditionary learning; and Nguni Bantu Ubuntu Community Circles. Early data suggests these were perceived coequal factors to facilitate E4CS Caregivers to hone their own learning trajectories as global citizens in the 21st century.

Scholarly Significance of the Study
Study findings advance research on the importance of cultivating an Ethnic-Racial Identity (ERI) Framework (Umaña-Taylor, 2019), intersectional mindset, and BIPOC family engagement within the Waldorf Movement to bring these resources to inform U.S. public education policy and practice on a larger scale.

Author

• Monique Brinson, EnCompass Four Corners