Roles of the Teacher
The teachers in these approaches share in common the goals to be nurturers, partners, and guides to children. They depend on carefully prepared, aesthetically pleasing environments as a pedagogical tool, providing strong messages about the curriculum and respect for children. Partnering with parents is highly valued in all three approaches. However, their contrasting views of the nature of children and of learning lead them to act out differing roles in the classroom. Coulter (1991) presents an interesting argument that Montessori and Waldorf education are like "reverse symmetries," born out of their founders' responsive solutions to historical contexts presenting differing issues to children. Of course, in all three approaches, teacher roles with children change with age; adults are more nurturing with younger children.