.png)
Already Teaching But Not Certified? Your Path to a Waldorf Teaching Credential
Updated: 3 days ago
Please note: Information contained in this article pertains to Sunbridge Institute's programs. Other teacher education institutes may present their offerings differently.
Who is this article for?
Teachers who are already doing the work without holding the credential.
In general, this means:
Assistants in early childhood or grades classrooms
Lead teachers hired before completing (or beginning) their training — sometimes with completion written into the hiring offer
Teachers who moved into Waldorf education from another kind of school and learned the pedagogy in the classroom
Which path to the Waldorf teaching credential fits your interest and background?
A full-length (25-month-long) program in Early Childhood, Elementary, or High School Teacher Education — the route most commonly taken by Sunbridge diploma program students
Completion Track — a 13-month subset of our Early Childhood and Elementary programs designed for highly experienced teachers. Prerequisites include five consecutive years of lead teaching in a Waldorf setting, together with 200 hours of relevant prior coursework — workshops, conferences, courses, and guided studies — primarily taken at AWSNA- or WECAN-affiliated institutions. You continue teaching while you study.
Transfer admission. If you’ve already completed substantial coursework at AWSNA- or WECAN-recognized teacher education institutes (or an international equivalent) but do not meet the Completion Track requirements, you may qualify to apply as a transfer applicant and have some or all of your prior work applied toward program completion. Transfer requests are reviewed and approved by the program director during the application process, and the amount of transferred course hours awarded is at the discretion of Sunbridge Institute. Documentation — including transcripts and syllabi and/or course descriptions — must be provided, and transfer course hours may not exceed 50% of the course hours required for Sunbridge program completion.
If you’re not certain where you fit, ask us!
Can you complete a teacher education program while teaching full time?
Absolutely. While residency requirements differ by program, all Sunbridge programs are designed to accommodate working adults.
Because grades 1-12 teachers often find it difficult to leave their own classrooms during the year, our programs for teachers of these levels eliminate any requirement for in-person coursework outside of summer months.
Here’s how our programs are structured:
Elementary Teacher Education — requires a three-week residency during each of three summers. Coursework during the two interim school years happens in the form of five online weekend sessions per year, plus additional asynchronous coursework. There’s no need to spend time away from your classroom during the school year.
High School Teacher Education — requires a two-week residency during each of three summers. Coursework during the two interim school years happens in the form of five online weekend sessions per year, plus additional asynchronous coursework. There’s no need to spend time away from your classroom during the school year.
Early Childhood Teacher Education — requires a three-week residency during each of three summers, plus a one-week residency each November and March of the two interim school years, augmented by some online coursework. Since most Waldorf early childhood classrooms feature two teachers working together, your two-week, school-year absence is generally covered by someone the children already know, rather than by a substitute the school has to recruit.
What does teacher education cost, and how do people pay for it?
Sunbridge’s tuition is published on its website. For those who qualify, financial aid can reduce those posted figures in meaningful measure, often cutting tuition by up to a third, and, in some circumstances, more. The Sunbridge finance office works with you — and, where it applies, with the school at which you teach — to assemble a package that helps make your enrollment possible and your tuition manageable.
The following tuition assistance exists for those currently teaching:
AWSNA loans-to-grants — forgiven a third at a time for each year you go on teaching at three-quarter time or more in an AWSNA or WECAN member school. These applications have a spring deadline (check website for exact date).
AWSNA Currently Practicing Teacher grants — for teachers already working in an AWSNA-affiliated school. Your school writes a short letter confirming you are in good standing and stating what, if anything, it is contributing. Applications are due in the spring (check website for exact date).
Sunbridge Scholarship Grant — needs-based, assessed on an impartial scale but with consideration made to your individual circumstances. Awards begin rolling out in February, so applying early genuinely matters.
Your school — many schools have professional development budgets specifically earmarked to help their teachers achieve certification.
Your school district — some schools are located in districts where title funds are available for teachers working in district-based schools.
Volume discount — Sunbridge offers 10% off when two or more teachers from the same school enroll in the same term (regardless of the program). This discount applies to your school's contribution as well as your own tuition.
Canadian dollar discount — get 10% off tuition paid with CAD. This discount may be combined with our volume discount. Discounts are applied after any financial aid has been awarded.
Payment plans — these help you budget tuition payments across the entire year and can defer final payments up to 18 months after you graduate.
Why does a Waldorf school care which teacher education program you completed?
Because AWSNA stipulates that its member schools hire teachers “trained, or in training” at AWSNA- or WECAN*-member programs.
That requirement is not administrative box-ticking; it exists because those programs are held to published standards — minimum contact hours, curricula areas, observation, and supervised practice teaching — so a school considering your teacher preparation background knows what preparation stands behind it. If you’re currently working in a school that’s not an AWSNA- or WECAN-member, graduating from one of its institute-member programs will expand future job opportunities for you within the Waldorf movement.
*If these acronyms are still fuzzy, our earlier piece Waldorf Teacher Certification Explained sets out how AWSNA, WECAN and the various credentials fit together.
What changes once you hold the credential?
More than just the paperwork.
If you were hired on the understanding – or the requirement – that you would begin or complete a teacher education program, your program completion is what allows you to keep your position. That is the most immediate change, and for a good number of people it is the reason they begin.
Beyond that, the credential opens a path toward greater teaching responsibility — carrying a class, taking a class up through the grades, moving from assisting to leading — along with leadership opportunities within the school and, generally, salary progression. Exactly how that is handled varies from school to school, so it is a conversation worth having with yours and schools at which you are hoping to teach in the future.
And there is the part that is hardest to put on a form: it makes you a more capable teacher.
Graduates generally describe that as the change that mattered most:
“Sunbridge's teacher education program has added immeasurable depth to my understanding of children and Waldorf education that I could not have encountered, even after seven years of working in the classroom. Ranging from the philosophical to the very practical, Sunbridge's program has enhanced every area of my teaching for the better.”
“This program has supported my teaching in every way. I feel more prepared, relaxed, and better equipped to meet daily tasks and needs. I am a better colleague and can offer so much more to my school and community, not just my classroom.”
“My teachers and cohort at Sunbridge have informed almost every element of my work in the classroom: how I move through the room; how I use (and don't use) my voice; how I attend to seasonal changes and festival life; how I sing songs and imagine circle gatherings that meet the needs of the children in my care; how I engage in purposeful work in the classroom with the children; and so, so much more.”
“I would be feeling absolutely overwhelmed without solid direction in my position if it were not for what I learned and experienced at Sunbridge. It’s invaluable.”
“I have grown immensely as an individual and teacher during this process.”
Where to start
Four things, in order:
Determine which admissions path applies to you. Are you coming in as a first-year student? Or does your educational and/or teaching background qualify you as a Completion Track or transfer applicant?
Talk to your school. See if they’re willing to contribute financially and otherwise support your Waldorf teacher education.
Apply to your selected program. Applications for summer matriculation open up each October 1; late fees apply for applications submitted after June 1.
Apply for tuition assistance (if applicable). Sunbridge’s staff accountant (finance@sunbridge.edu or 845-425-0055 x725) is always happy to discuss assistance options or ways of structuring tuition payments to make pursuing your Waldorf teacher education credentials possible.
These pages describe each diploma program Sunbridge offers:
Questions? Come to an online Meet & Greet or contact us to learn more.
Comments