Re: [lace] Teaching lacemaking
Hi Clay and all Spiders, I would like to add just one small point! Even knowing the subject inside-out is not always a good preparation for teaching said subject. My lace is not quite of the quality of other really marvellous lace-makers, but many of my students have said that they have come to me via other students, as they have been dissatisfied with previous tutors and classes. Sometimes, I feel that this could be that I can still remember the difficulties (and tears shed) with some techniques, and it helps me to find other ways to explain, so that the student can understand. We had a Maths tutor at High School - he was a brilliant man - a forces intelligence chap, a Russian speaker, and all sorts of major qualifications - but because Maths came so easily to him, he could never understand our difficulties, and if questions were asked, tended to stand in front of the class, looking bewildered that anyone should be unable to understand! Some of us got through our Maths GCEs, but it was a major triumph when we did. Carol - in North Norfolk, UK 'Deliver us, Lord, from every evil, and grant us peace in our day.' - Original Message - From: Clay Blackwell clayblackw...@comcast.net Subject: [lace] Teaching lacemaking Sent from my iPad On Aug 22, 2014, at 3:14 PM, The Lace Bee thelace...@btinternet.com wrote: Just because we have not been trained as teachers is not proof that we are not capable of being good teachers. There are several ways that a teacher/student relationship can be magical. If both teacher and student respond to the visual approach, they will get along! If they both function on an auditory level, then again, they get along! Then, there is the kinetic approach, which is essentially the hands-on learning. - To unsubscribe send email to majord...@arachne.com containing the line: unsubscribe lace y...@address.here. For help, write to arachne.modera...@gmail.com. Photo site: http://www.flickr.com/photos/lacemaker/sets/
[lace] Teaching lacemaking
Sent from my iPad On Aug 22, 2014, at 3:14 PM, The Lace Bee thelace...@btinternet.com wrote: As a qualified business trainer who supports people taking their qualifications for teaching at colleges who is married to a PTLLS holder (the qualification for teaching vocational skills at collets and other environs) and who's sister literally wrote the book on making learning inclusive I hate the quote by the otherwise wonderful George Bernard Shaw that those who can't Teach I take offense to this on a number of levels. I'm going to overlook the typos and grammatical errors as part of this crazy internet communication system! However, lacemaking is an artistic skill. Artists do not think like business trainers, nor do they think like vocational teachers. My professional training was first as a teacher (Masters in Education,[M.Ed.]) but later as a clinical Mental Health Therapist (M.P.C.). But my undergraduate degree was in Art History, which was my first true love. My point is that people are drawn to lacemaking for many reasons, and creating a balance in our lives is often a major reason. So, we find that there are teachers and teachers' aides among us, as well as, for example, members of medical professions such as mine, child care workers, homemakers, lawyers, legal aides, accountants, Engineers, secretaries, office managers, court clerks, Judges, retail sales clerks, city managers, custodians, fast food workers, artists and designers. In today's world, those of us who would be starving artists usually take a profession that pays the bills, but seek out satisfaction in our hobbies. Many of us are lucky enough to discover lace, and it is in the pursuit of perfection in this field that we achieve balance in our lives. Just because we have not been trained as teachers is not proof that we are not capable of being good teachers. There are several ways that a teacher/student relationship can be magical. If both teacher and student respond to the visual approach, they will get along! If they both function on an auditory level, then again, they get along! Then, there is the kinetic approach, which is essentially the hands-on learning. In lacemaking, this is a dominant learning style, but can be over-rated, especially after moving beyond the basics. Often, a new lacemaker is attracted to another member of the group, mainly because they have the same learning style! My opinion, based on my assessment of the most influential teachers in my lacemaking journey, is that if the teacher is thoroughly grounded in his or her style of lace, and takes the time to develop study pieces which guide the development of basic skills in the particular lace being studied, then regardless of learning/teaching style, progress can be made! More than anything else, patient encouragement is the key ingredient! I emphatically add that cutting bobbins off of a student's pillow is not good form! Bad Teacher. At some level, I'm curious who that was, but in truth, ignorance is bliss!!! Clay Clay Blackwell - To unsubscribe send email to majord...@arachne.com containing the line: unsubscribe lace y...@address.here. For help, write to arachne.modera...@gmail.com. Photo site: http://www.flickr.com/photos/lacemaker/sets/
Re: [lace] Teaching lacemaking
Clay, My apologies and yes the joy of replying from an iPhone with a small screen and predictive text does affect grammar and punctuation (and sometimes unique words appear that I didn't mean) which coupled with the fact that as a child of the 70s British educational system I was not allowed to use punctuation until I was 14 so sometimes I forget to use it at all. So my apologies, as perhaps my meaning didn't come across correctly. What I was trying to say was that with my background I have the privilege of observing good and bad practice and the tools to deconstruct why that works. The best teachers seem to always have three qualities: 1. A passion for their subject 2. An ability to connect with the student 3. Patience Clay, as you have trained as a teaching professional your reply went through and explained the standard deconstruct of VARK (Visual, Auditory, Read/Write and Kinestic). I know that there are lots of models on how to teach out there but I personally like VARK because it's so easy to use and so effective. A well taught teacher or trainer will try each method in turn to match the learner's style and a natural teacher (and there are many out there) will also do this. My husband admits that although he is a qualified teacher he is not a natural one and has to plan his lessons carefully to make sure he is inclusive in his methods of training. His biggest challenge is that although extremely passionate about his subject he is not naturally a patient man and has to remind himself that learners learn at different speeds and have different abilities. Because of his subject, many of his learners have limited educational experience and are often daunted by returning to a classroom. It is his job to make that experience welcoming. I knew a trainer who was very Kinestic - hands on. Every training session that they designed was practical learning but their learners were mainly read / write and wanted to know the facts behind the practical. Every time one of the learners asked a question the trainer would simple reply 'well, why do you think it does that'. The poor learners realised that the trainer either didn't know or couldn't explain so stopped asking. Then after about 6 months, they stopped booking training. When you are a paid trainer for a large company, having no delegates is a bit of an issue. My point with the GBS quote was that for many years people have fallen under that spell of thinking that anyone can pass on knowledge. The key being if you know more than the learner then you will be fine. But it's a myth. The first inspirational teacher I met was when I was 7 and learnt the guitar. He was actually 2 lessons ahead of me in the same book. But by learning at the same time as me he was deconstructing the learning experience and then reconstructing it for me. That grounding has done me well. I am a natural guitar player but it is combined with a good knowledge of music theory and guitar theory. I know how to and why and even now when I don't practice as much as I should, I can pick up my guitar and sight read music because it became a part of me through the teaching. Back in the late 90s I was rather ill and didn't do anything really for about 6 months. As I recovered I discovered I had no patience for anything and certainly no sustained levels of concentration. So I (perhaps foolishly) thought that going back to lacemaking was the answer. I realised then that the second person who taught me (in the early 90s) although not a trained teacher, was perhaps the best skills teacher I'd met. Each time I had hit a problem she would tell me that it was common and we would together trace back to where the error had started and talk about the options to put it right. She installed in me the maximum 'can you live with it' if yes, carry on, if no, make your lace backwards. I undid my return lace time and time again and was happy doing it because that teacher had installed in me the passion to make, the knowledge to do it and the patience to achieve it. Most of all, she made me feel as though I could do it. So again Clay, my apologies and I should not email whilst trying to board a plane and I must proof read on the iPhone. I often get work emails where I'm not sure if the person is being supportive or sarcastic. Because emails is so conversational sometimes it doesn't flow like a letter should. Even the iPad tried to change concentration in to condensation just now ... That would have brought a whole new level of confusion to the debate. And note to self - punctuation, punctuation, punctuation. L Sent from my iPad On 23 Aug 2014, at 03:52, Clay Blackwell clayblackw...@comcast.net wrote: I take offense to this on a number of levels. I'm going to overlook the typos and grammatical errors as part of this crazy internet communication system! However, lacemaking is an artistic skill. Artists do not think like
Re: [lace] Teaching lacemaking
Hello everyone I have to pipe up, the GBS line is He who can, does; he who cannot, teaches. and one of many Shaw-isms from his play Man and Superman based on the Don Juan theme. Happily it is not in the context of lacemaking, lacemakers nor lace teachers! I like better the proverb One in three is a teacher. and even better than that, some good advice I heard early on in lacemaking, that one way to learn is to teach someone else! It has worked for me :) Lace on and on My point with the GBS quote was -- Bev in Shirley BC, near Sooke on beautiful Vancouver Island, west coast of Canada - To unsubscribe send email to majord...@arachne.com containing the line: unsubscribe lace y...@address.here. For help, write to arachne.modera...@gmail.com. Photo site: http://www.flickr.com/photos/lacemaker/sets/
