mel jacobson on sun 2 nov 03
i did not have rules.
i had `life experiences`.
(well, one rule, we called it rule one.)
rule one:
`treat everyone in this department with human dignity`.
you glaze the inside of your ring foot with thick
runny glaze.
you open kiln. your pot is stuck to the shelf.
you now own a kiln shelf.
you can buy a new one.
you can take a small chisel and
hammer and clean the one with
glaze on it. re/coat with wash.
or, you can endure the wrath of the other students
who are now one kiln shelf short.
hmm, that is a `real life experience`.
problem solved.
a teaching moment.
and, students learn real fast.
and, as that kid leaves class you hear
from a senior.
`hey dipshit, don't let that glaze run
on our shelves anymore...got it?`
(by the way, that is dignity. the kid screwed up,
got a kick in the pants, and it is forgotten.
(sounds just like clayart.)
when students take ownership of the department,
they see to it that things are in order.
when you make `fancy rules, post them...enforce them`
well, folks abuse them, just for spite.
mel
From:
Minnetonka, Minnesota, U.S.A.
web site: my.pclink.com/~melpots
or try: http://www.pclink.com/melpots
new/ http://www.rid-a-tick.com
Susan Setley on sun 2 nov 03
In a message dated 11/2/03 5:11:30 AM, melpots@PCLINK.COM writes:
<<
hmm, that is a `real life experience`.
problem solved.
a teaching moment.
and, students learn real fast. >>
High schools don't have those kinds of budgets and many cannot charge the
student for the shelf OR, realistically, require them to clean it. Or, if the
student does, between homework, after school activities and the part time job,
it's a week before they can. I just don't think it's the end of the world to not
let beginners make such mistakes. I actually LIKED being protected from
foolish mistakes so I could learn within my fledgling skills when I started out.
A lot of art teachers I know have spent their times scrounging for materials.
Or, they could have spent part of that time chiseling a pot, and the glaze,
off the kiln. For every student who 'learned' through this extremely annoying
way "not to glaze the bottom yet because he didn't know how" there would be at
least one other equally talented student who thought "When I make a mistake at
drawing, the whole department doesn't get mad at me, and it doesn't create
extra work with four different discussions with the teacher about when to do it.
Who needs it?"
I think what I really objected to in this discussion, though, was
characterizing the teacher as lazy for making that choice.
It's a choice. It does not make the person "lazy." It is possible to learn to
throw a bowl without glazing the bottom. I learned to blend oxides to go
nicely with the glaze until I started glazing bottoms. And, we were told wny we
shouldn't glaze the bottom -- that some of the glazes and combinations were very
runny, and if our piece (our wonderful piece!) stuck to the kiln -- it would
be ruined.
Even though our class had that rule, when someone's piece got stuck to the
shelf and was ruined, they didn't have to replace the shelf and they didn't have
to chisel or grind it. Just losing the piece was enough of a lesson.
Susan Setley on sun 2 nov 03
In a message dated 11/2/03 5:11:30 AM, melpots@PCLINK.COM writes:
<< `hey dipshit, don't let that glaze run
on our shelves anymore...got it?` >>
Actually, having been through the experience as an adult... losing the piece
was plenty lesson enough. Being called names by my friends would have just
been an extra bonus.
Lois Ruben Aronow on sun 2 nov 03
I learned as an adult, and students were not required to clean or pay
for the shelf. =20
The first lesson for rank beginners started not at the wheel, but at
the sink - and at the floor, and the clay recycling bins, and the
kiln. Our first lesson was how to respect and care for the studio
both in cleanliness and responsibility.=20
On that first lesson, the tech showed us how to clean kiln shelves,
told us what a pain it was to do it, showed us a ruined shelf - and a
ruined piece. No one was "warned", just informed of what would
happened if you neglected to take care in your glazing. We were also
told that bottoms were checked before going into the kiln. Pieces
that needed more "work" were put on a separate shelf for touch-up.
The instructor showed us how to clean the bottoms, and where the glaze
line should go. There was a list of combinations on the wall in the
glaze area of combos deemed prone to movement, and students were told
NOT to use those combinations. =20
I don't remember too many people in my class losing pieces,although
I'm sure it happened. I thought it was a good way to start out.
I used to check the bottoms of pieces when I worked in a communal
studio, loading student work. More often than not, people got mad if
I didn;t fire their pieces. I'd rather have someone a little ticked
off (and better educated) than have to clean kiln shelves.
************
Lois Ruben Aronow
www.loisaronow.com
Modern Porcelain and Tableware
The Tattoo is back!
Susan Setley on sun 2 nov 03
In a message dated 11/2/03 10:27:40 AM, gilois@BELLATLANTIC.NET writes:
<< I learned as an adult, and students were not required to clean or pay
for the shelf.
The first lesson for rank beginners started not at the wheel, but at
the sink - and at the floor, and the clay recycling bins, and the
kiln. Our first lesson was how to respect and care for the studio
both in cleanliness and responsibility.
On that first lesson, the tech showed us how to clean kiln shelves,
told us what a pain it was to do it, showed us a ruined shelf - and a
ruined piece. No one was "warned", just informed of what would
happened if you neglected to take care in your glazing. We were also
told that bottoms were checked before going into the kiln. Pieces
that needed more "work" were put on a separate shelf for touch-up. >>
Different places teach differently. In fact we are a self-sustaining studio
and I rather think they want people who have come to work with clay to actually
USE CLAY in their first lesson. These are people we NEED to come back for a
second shot, and somehow a gentle approach has worked well. In fact the tech
checks pieces and doesn't fire pieces likely to be ruined by poor glazing.
Eventually they come back to find out where their piece is, and he shows them the
problem. It works just as well -- pieces are rarely ruined by glueing
themselves to the shelf.
There is more than one way to skin a cat, and all the knowledge about respect
for the studio in the world doesn't give a brand new student the judgment
about how far down to glaze, and with what glazes. I recently fired a piece on
wadding because it was a combination that hadn't been used before. Sure enough,
it ran a little.
I think insisting that there's only one way to teach (those beginners MUST be
allowed to glaze the bottom!) is just as rigid as requiring them to hold off
on that particular skill for a little while.
Vince Pitelka on sun 2 nov 03
> when students take ownership of the department,
> they see to it that things are in order.
> when you make `fancy rules, post them...enforce them`
> well, folks abuse them, just for spite.
This is solid wisdom from Mel. I know that Mel had a pretty great setup in
Hancock MN, and that some teachers are overloaded with responsibilities and
oversized classes, so in some cases the rules are the only way to survive.
But one of our primary objectives as teachers is to foster autonomous,
self-directed, responsible people. Having lots of rigid rules doesn't seem
to contribute to that objective.
Best wishes -
- Vince
Vince Pitelka
Appalachian Center for Craft
Tennessee Technological University
1560 Craft Center Drive, Smithville TN 37166
Home - vpitelka@dtccom.net
615/597-5376
Office - wpitelka@tntech.edu
615/597-6801 x111, FAX 615/597-6803
http://iweb.tntech.edu/wpitelka/
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