Pat Colyar on sat 8 jan 05
So Wayne, why do you think the teacher didn't just tell her what
was happening? Why let her waste the rest of the session
struggling unnecessarily? Why not reiterate how important it is
to be sitting solidly while centering, and let her go on to
learning other skills? Why didn't any of the other students clue
her in?
As someone who has taught throwing for several years now, and
who had a typically frustrating time learning, this sort of story
drives me f-----g insane!
Every quarter I work with pottery students who are the
walking wounded from previous teachers like this jerk, who don't
really teach much, but "let the clay show them what to do"...More
often, these unnecessarily frustrated students quit after the
first class and never take pottery again. The students will have
plenty of time during practice sessions, with no teacher around,
to "figure it out themselves". The least the instructor can do is
pay attention and help them, not walk off feeling smug.
The teacher also has the responsibility to foster a sense of
safety and camaraderie in the classroom, where people help each
other and no-one is afraid to ask "stupid" questions.
So there! Aaargh!
Pat Colyar, in Gold Bar, WA, who wishes that every MFA
in Ceramic Sculpture who only has a vague idea how to throw,
would refrain from getting teaching jobs that require them to
teach it!
wjskw@BELLSOUTH.NET on sat 8 jan 05
Pat:
I'm reprinting your entire post, because I think that people
need to read it, and learn from it, rant or no.
Your points are valid, and EXACTLY the reason I took ONE class from
this particular instructor (and never again).
As students, how many times have we heard (or been trained to
believe, perhaps) that "the teacher is always right, that's why
they're the teacher." How many courses/classes have I personally
been failed at because some pompous (insert your own choice of
expletive here) decided he or she didn't like "my attitude" when I
dared question them? Too damn many.
Books and videos don't have an ego. They love questions. The
information can be repeated as many times as you need to get it
through a thickish skull. They don't roll their eyes, make
exasperated sighs, or feel superior.
These days, whenever I hear a presenter or teacher say "because I
said so" or words to that effect, or if an instructor attempts to
massage his/her own ego at the expense of a student, either
withholding information (even common knowledge) or refusing to
answer a stupid question (asked innocently, not asked from
laziness); I immediately get up and leave.
And go get my money back.
And make SURE that the "powers that be" know exactly WHY I'm
choosing that course of action.
"You can't do that!" always merits the same response from me these
days..."Watch me!" (Well, that's the PG version, anyway )
In the case of that class, being all "new" to ceramics, we kept our
mouths shut out of fear. Fear of being failed, fear of being
labeled a troublemaker, fear of being the brunt of some teacher's
wrath.
And that's the real shame of it.
Best Regards,
Wayne Seidl
who has "Troublemaker, questions authority" written on "his
permanent record" (yes, really)
-----Original Message-----
From: Clayart [mailto:CLAYART@LSV.CERAMICS.ORG] On Behalf Of Pat
Colyar
Sent: Saturday, January 08, 2005 12:23 PM
To: CLAYART@LSV.CERAMICS.ORG
Subject: Re: rolling chairs, crappy teaching - rant!
So Wayne, why do you think the teacher didn't just tell her what
was happening? Why let her waste the rest of the session
struggling unnecessarily? Why not reiterate how important it is
to be sitting solidly while centering, and let her go on to
learning other skills? Why didn't any of the other students clue
her in?
As someone who has taught throwing for several years now, and
who had a typically frustrating time learning, this sort of story
drives me f-----g insane!
Every quarter I work with pottery students who are the
walking wounded from previous teachers like this jerk, who don't
really teach much, but "let the clay show them what to do"...More
often, these unnecessarily frustrated students quit after the
first class and never take pottery again. The students will have
plenty of time during practice sessions, with no teacher around,
to "figure it out themselves". The least the instructor can do is
pay attention and help them, not walk off feeling smug.
The teacher also has the responsibility to foster a sense of
safety and camaraderie in the classroom, where people help each
other and no-one is afraid to ask "stupid" questions.
So there! Aaargh!
Pat Colyar, in Gold Bar, WA, who wishes that every MFA
in Ceramic Sculpture who only has a vague idea how to throw,
would refrain from getting teaching jobs that require them to
teach it!
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