Interview conducted by François GAUTIER
Madame Pic had known me by name and face for more than a year. We met in a warm room a little outside the school on a dark, windy day.
How did you learn about Waldorf education?
As a schoolgirl in London, I had a distant and yet vivid impression of it. A couple who were friends of my parents, whose wife was German, a rare thing at the time, had put their children in the Waldorf school at Kings Langley. As much as I felt reluctant about this on the part of my mother, her children, when they talked to me about it, made me envious.
And this childhood memory came back to you on what occasion?
When I had my daughters, our family was living in Dijon at the time, I looked to see if such an opportunity existed in the area. It did not. So they went to the "national" school, happily at first (good teacher), less so later on.
But then what?
For professional reasons, my husband, an engineer, was looking for a change. He found an interesting job in Geneva, in Plan-Les-Ouates. We moved to Bernex, and a sign reading "École Rudolf Steiner" jumped out at me! So I applied to teach English there - which I had been doing for twenty years in a large high school in Dijon, with enthusiasm at first, then more heavily afterwards: the educational policy seemed to work only on the cheap (more students in class, more extra tasks).
So you've been hired?
Not immediately, but in December 2019, an English teacher was out of work, and I immediately took a class. Then two. Then three!
What were your feelings in this new setting?
I felt welcomed by the teachers, they wanted to get to know me, they cared that I was doing well! It was a very different atmosphere from the large high school I had come from. The language classes did not exceed 15 students, whereas in the high school 26 students were a minimum. Then I admired the involvement of the parents and felt that there was collaboration between three entities: students, teachers, parents.
And what about the students?
They surprised me with their confidence and I was happy to trust them. Very quickly, they wanted to know me, and obviously wanted me to know them: they spoke to me about themselves: I liked that!
An example?
Back from Christmas vacation: "Can we tell you what we did during the vacations? - Yes, of course - but in English!" We had to get them to use we went (past tense) instead of we go. They understood, and a whole hour of exchanges - in English - took place!
Have you had the opportunity to get to know teachers from other Waldorf schools?
Yes, and finally live (since the pandemic), by an "English week" in Germany. Many teachers from Germany, but also from Eastern Europe, Asia, ... especially for pedagogical questions, but where a Waldorf link is evident.
How do you feel about Anthroposophy?
I feel like I am just at the beginning of the "journey". There is a terminology that takes some getting used to, but my "mentor", Mrs. Ripaux, knows how to talk about it in a very lively way.
A strong image?
My first visit here, in thefirst class, with Mrs. Grewe. It was the first time I entered a Waldorf school. I have an overwhelming image of it. My husband and daughters have since had that opportunity. They were also taken by it!
Madame Pic has a Burgundian name, that of her happy husband, but Rosemary is a flower name: Rosemary, she teaches me. How the Pic and the Rosemary (feminine in English) met: it's a pretty fable that I hope one day she will tell us.
