Meet Katherine Therése Patricia Whaling | Teacher & co creator of Starseed Community School

We had the good fortune of connecting with Katherine Therése Patricia Whaling and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Katherine Therése Patricia, how has your background shaped the person you are today?
I am from East London, a coastal city in the Eastern Cape of South Africa. Being the youngest of eight children I always say I was born into community. When I was five years old we moved onto a permaculture farm on the outskirts of the city, where we lived with two other large families in an intentional community. We were very active in the anti apartheid struggle and from a young age I was aware of the prejudice and injustice that existed in the world around me and was shown by the adults in my life what it meant to be an activist, not only to fight against systems of cruelty and oppression but how through the way you speak, act and live your life you can embody those just futures you wish to see. It was during these formative years where I had the privilege of being deeply immersed in nature and where I can now draw the experiential understanding of the medicine and wisdom that nature brings and the importance of this, especially for children. I also experienced how growing up within a community of differing ages can be such a rich and fertile natural learning-scape. Once I began to go to school, the contrast of home life and school life with its particular teaching methodologies became so apparent and I started observing and questioning the system I found myself in. I started loathing school, the uniforms, the desks, the industrial set up, the rigidity and hierarchical relationships. All these things just didn’t sit right with me. The thing I did love about school, were the people, the sense of community we managed to build. One day when I was about 11 years old, I was standing on the boundary of our school, looking over the hibiscus hedge and into the rolling empty streets of the neighborhood and the thought struck me, where is everyone? I realized that all the adults were at work, all the elderly were at home or in old age homes and all the children were in these big buildings we called schools. The separation of it all shocked me. I would say, since that day, almost everything I do, at its core, is about creating spaces of living and learning that are enlivening, nurturing and community building. Spaces that integrate different groups of people and parts of our lives, which have been for too long, compartmentalised.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
After going off into the world to work and travel in my early 20’s, I returned to Cape Town, South Africa in 2009 and studied to be a Waldorf kindergarten teacher. I knew I had to do something about the education system and the Waldorf philosophy was the closest approach to education I had found to what I wished I had in my schooling as a child, it just resonated with me. After I qualified, I taught kindergarten for 2 years and loved it, but something in me knew I wouldn’t remain a class teacher forever, I needed to keep moving, I needed to be part of creating something new. At this time a group of parents from my neighbourhood of Muizenberg, had got together and were pioneering a grade 1 class for their children. They wanted local, nature based, holistic education and decided on the Waldorf philosophy, found a teacher and began in January 2015, with a classroom in one of the parents homes. From the get go the intention was to use the whole neighborhood as the learning space. The beach, the public library and swimming pools, they gardened in an old age home, had lessons from the local blacksmith, potter, baker, went hiking up the mountain and much more! I was lucky enough to be part of these beginnings and really believed in it and encouraged them to go for it. Back then it was called the Muizenberg Cottage School. Little did I know 2 years later I would be taking a grade 1 class of my own in what became known as the New Muizenberg School. This was a brave and beautiful journey of guiding an amazing group of children through the first 3 years of their schooling. I was terrified and excited, I knew I just had to do it. My classroom was in a flatlet on the property where I was also living, surrounded by a beautiful garden. In collaboration with the other teachers and classes that had formed, I learnt so much about myself and the process of learning and just how wonderful and integrated with real life ‘schooling’ can be. There were many challenges, it was exhausting work and there were financial issues, it was all based on trust and some parents struggled to pay fees but essentially it was magical, we became like a family, children and parents included and we got to experience what an ecosystem of learning looks and feels like, it inspired me to keep on keeping on. I went on to be a subject teacher, particularly teaching permaculture gardening/environmental studies to the different grades, doing much of the admin and holding the overview, as well as constantly co creating and re visioning the school with parents and community members.

Today we are called Starseed Community School, we are in our 8th year of existence, we have 6 classes from playgroup to grade 4 and each year we add a new grade 1, eventually we will go up to grade 7. We are 7 teachers, 3 assistant teachers and around 80 children. Premises is probably our biggest challenge, we have gone from all being together in one school house to the classes being dispersed in multiple locations around Muizenberg and we are about to come back together into one location again. Packing, moving and unpacking classes again and again is tiring and unsettling. We are having to rent residential houses with high rents as we have had no luck accessing municipal or city buildings even after years of trying. The school is run by us, teachers and parents and relies on parent involvement. There is no principal, we make decisions collectively. This co created aspect of the school has been the most beautiful, gruelling and transformational journey which requires a huge amount of courage and trust from all involved, because we are really creating anew, every step of the way. I have so much admiration and respect for the teachers and parents that have chosen Starseed, as it is not an easy road we walk but a worthwhile one, as I am inspired everyday by how happy, loving and enquiring the children are and so excited to come to school! We have a fee structure that allows access for all, no matter what the socio-economic circumstances. We work very hard on fundraising and welcome any funding great or small. The families of Starseed are made up of a diverse cross section of South African society, together we strive to create a space where everyone is celebrated, loved, respected and feels a sense of belonging no matter our differences. In a country as wounded and traumatised by the very recent past as ours, this is no small task. And for this reason I believe school initiatives like ours are essential in the healing and the building of just, equal and abundant futures for all in South Africa and I’m really proud of how far we have come.

.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
I love showing off my hood, Muizenberg, there’s so many cool things here. First stop is always the beachfront, I would take them for a surf followed by a beer at The Commons, a funky bar that has the best live music and events in all of Cape Town! I would then have to give them a little tour through the village, have a coffee at our local cafe Joon on Palmer rd, pop in at the community garden and for dinner we would go to Supper Club at the community kitchen. On another day we would jump in a car and cruise passed the beautiful Kalk bay harbour, hug the coast road all the way to Windmill beach, Simon’s Town. There we would have a snorkel in some of the most beautiful kelp forests in the world before ending the day with a sunset picnic in Cape Point nature reserve. I guess I would eventually take them to town to do the more touristy things like hike up Table Mountain and visit the District Six museum which I highly recommend in order to understand our history. There are endless things to do in Cape Town that’s why I always recommend people come for months rather then weeks. No one ever wants to leave.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
I have my mother to thank for grounding me in my own truth and the truth of this world. She believed in my visions for a better education system, a better world, always encouraging me to believe in myself and follow my heart. Also, my amazing friends who keep me sane, keep me fed, who have my back and inspire me everyday. Last but not least my beautiful partner who loves and supports me 100%, she’s my pillar of strength, tolerates being my personal graphic designer and tech support and all the overtime hours. So much gratitude that she is still with me despite the fact that the school is definitely the 3rd wheel in our relationship.

Instagram: Starseed_community_school

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/katherine-whaling-5ba9a817b

Facebook: Starseedcommunityschool

Other: starseedcommunityschool@gmail.com

Image Credits
Pierre Goosen Christian Doppelgatz