Alex,
I agree too, it's very unprofessional as a teacher not to offer all of
your knowledge. If you have bright students who are interested in the
subject there are bound to be times when they ask something you don't
know. Providing you either make every effort to find out, or encourage
the student to find out for themselves that's OK. It could be that the
query is "Why do you do something this way? what happens if you
don't". Often trying it the other way is the best way of learning why
something is done.
As for getting 'bums on seats' over the years I've seen that happen
with other crafts too. One jewellery tutor from years ago always tried
to ensure that his students never finished a piece of work at the end
of a term so that they had to go back the next in order to use the
equipment. (very few students have annealing facilities or polishing
equipment at home)
I started teaching BL way back in the early 1980s - because the teacher
was retiring and there was no-one else around to take over her classes.
I remember asking her "do you think I could do it?" and the reply was
"well you can start and you can finish, and you can wangle it when it
goes wrong!" What I think she meant was that I didn't rely on her
starting every piece - which many of her students did and I think she
encouraged them to, to be sure that they didn't take on something she
couldn't do herself.
Wangling is sorting out a mess, not necessarily undoing the mistake(s)
but compensating by perhaps leaving out a pair less or a pair more
somewhere else to get all the pairs back to the correct places - not
good practice!
Sometimes if a beginner got into a muddle she would take their pillow
home to sort it out before the next lesson. She only did that to me
once and when it came back the carefully marked workers had become
passives. I think that was a deliberate action, but I learnt more from
undoing it again to get back to where they had been switched over.
That was as a pretty raw beginner; I don't bother about winding in
matching pairs now. Work a few pieces with half stitch and you get
used to all the bobbins moving around independently of the original
partner.
Brenda
On 1 Apr 2009, at 22:39, Alex Stillwell wrote:
I thoroughly agree with you. Anyone learning lace must be taught how
to start
and finish, they are essential parts of the process of making lace. I
usually
get my students to think about starting and what to look for when they
approach a new piece, and make sure they are well aware that for some
patterns
there may be several different lines along which to start, all of
which may be
equally valid. I always suspect teachers who do not teach starting and
finishing. 1. As you say, they think they are keeping 'bums on seats'
but the
students are being short changed. 2. They are they incapable of
teaching them
because they do not understand the process properly, in which case
they should
not be charging for their services. I have always taught everything I
know, I
keep nothing back; that is what a teacher is paid to do. If you are
enthusiastic and teach to a high standard you are more likely to keep
students
than by short changing them. If you are a teacher and do not know the
answer
to a question that comes within your remit then it is up to you to
find the
answer for the student. I kew little more than my students when I
started
teaching in the early 1970s, but I studied hard and did my best to
keep ahead
of them. Students are surprisingly tolerant even when you make
mistakes,
providing they know you are doing your best.
Brenda in Allhallows, Kent
http://paternoster.orpheusweb.co.uk/index.html
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