Reflections on the ITM's 10th anniversary
by Don WeedHAPPY ANNIVERSARY! March 1, 2003 was the 10th Anniversary of the first time that Don Weed taught in England. It was from this date that the real history of the Interactive Teaching Method began. To celebrate the occasion, we asked Don if he would share some of his thoughts as the ITM reached this milestone.
Ten years ago, I was sitting in the bus transferring me from Heathrow Airport to the Reading bus station. It was a cold, wintry day: dark gray, spitting snow. With the help of Lesley Stephenson, I had established a group of students to work with in Switzerland, and now, with the help of John Gil, I was having my first chance to work with people in England. I sat there looking out the window wondering what I was getting myself into.
For more than twenty years, I had organized my life to learn as much as I could about Alexander's work and how to teach it. Marjorie Barstow, my first teacher, was a tireless worker and a great innovator. She constantly reminded those of us who had trained with her how new this work was, and what an important part experimentation played in it. Marj’s example inspired me to my own experimentation, and by the spring of 1993, I believed that I had finally developed a sound, new program for teaching Alexander's work and for training teachers as well. I just needed enough people to trust in my vision in order to make it happen.
That's what I was thinking as I looked out the bus window that day: would this be the opportunity at last to turn my concept of the Interactive Teaching Method into reality?
And here we are, ten years later, and together we have accomplished so much. Over the next months the fourth ITM teacher-training course will be completed. This means that over 100 people have taken these training courses. More importantly, these individuals—either through referrals or their own teaching practice--have introduced hundreds of other people to Mr. Alexander and his work. Because every person on the planet deserves to have the benefits that can come from knowing Mr. Alexander's work, we will need to continue to reach and teach more people in order that Alexander’s influence can grow. We will need others to take up the challenge—and enjoy the personal and professional rewards--of becoming teachers.
Looking back, I can see that this last decade has been grand, but our future looks bright as well. Already there are over 60 ITM teachers qualified to teach professionally, and over 20 more working as student teachers. In the fall, we will begin two more teacher-training courses, the last of their kind and the last ITM training opportunity until 2008. We are in the process of creating a professional organization of our own design. We have already expanded the Teacher Promotion Advisory Board in England this year and we will expand it again next year on the continent. In the next ten to fifteen years, we will not only continue to explore and expand the frontiers of the work, but we will have more than doubled (maybe even tripled) in size as an organization and solved the problem of training trainers.
It has been my great honor, privilege, and pleasure to have known and worked with all of you. I am looking forward to working with the individuals in the last of the "first wave" teacher-training courses. But, most of all, I look forward to all of the days and dreams and changes to come.