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IRA LENA DOMINGUEZ
Kindergarten Gumamela
Early Childhood and Kindergarten Coordinator
Ira believes that Early Childhood and Kindergarten education are inextricably linked to Parent education. A turning point in her teaching vocation was when she became a mother to a young son, who is now in our AWS Kindergarten. She experienced firsthand the challenges a parent faces in these modern times. These have made her understand more deeply and empathize on the struggles and joys of parenting of her students and parents.
Ira received her Early Childhood and Kindergarten Waldorf Steiner teacher training under Bella Tan of Rudolf Steiner Education in the Phils. (RStEP). She trained and worked in a Kindergarten classroom with Bella Tan at the Manila Waldorf School (MWS), where she taught Kindergarten for almost five years, before she moved to AWS. She has taught Early Childhood and Kindergarten classes at AWS for 16 years and has attended most of the local Waldorf Steiner Teacher trainings. She attended her first international Waldorf Steiner Education conference four years ago. She has been a Kindergarten teaching mentor at the Asian Teachers Training (ATT) held annually at AWS, alongside Waldorf Steiner mentors from the Netherlands, and attended by teachers and parents from all over the country and abroad.
Ira grew up in Paco, Manila and finished Fine Arts, Major in Industrial Design. As a college student, her interest in education was ignited when she witnessed her own mother’s striving as a Waldorf teacher and a student of Anthroposophy. Ira taught children and worked part-time as an assistant in a summer art workshop at the Ayala Museum while she was a student in college. Ira realized that she loved to work with small children after college, when her professor recommended her to teach Art to 3rd to 7th graders at Jose Albas Santos Memorial School (JASMS) in Manila. This experience helped her decide to teach in a Waldorf Steiner School.