[Jewelry making - Article 00028] - Re: [Orchid] Ethics of Learning & Teaching

[Lisa Van Herik]

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    A final word about workshop ethics that I think provides a lovely
    resolution for some instructors. 

    I've taken workshops for many years and I realized that things have
    changed significantly in the past couple years. It's very rare that
    I'll come home with any handouts these days and while it may just be
    my perception, workshops now seem a lot more subdued than they used
    to be. I do think it's correlated to the lack of obvious ethics. 

    It saddens me to hear from old friends who no longer feel free to
    give handouts in their workshops because they have students who will
    just turn around and use them to teach their own workshops. I know a
    couple of women who make their living this way: taking as many
    workshops as they can around the country so they can then go home and
    teach what they just learned. And they don't discriminate: they'll
    take pretty much anything, feeling entitled, and have no qualms...no
    thought for the endless hours many instructors put in creating their
    courses/workshops and no consideration for the fact that they're
    cutting into someone else's livelihood. Can it get any more
    audacious? 

    I don't think the solution is for instructors to start workshops
    with detailed info about copyrights. I've been in a workshop where
    that's happened and it casts an unfortunately suspicious pallor on
    the whole thing. 

    I once took a workshop with a renowned instructor who handled the
    whole issue this way: After briefly describing the workshop plan for
    the day, she added, " I do make my living teaching these techniques
    so I ask that you not teach what I'll be teaching you today". She had
    a very light touch about her and everyone in the workshop seemed just
    fine with that. The instructor, again lightly, and with a touch of
    humor, then turned to us and added, "Oh, yes, and please don't copy
    my pieces...I want you to use them as inspiration and then find your
    own style". Lovely, experienced instructor. I felt bad that one of
    the above mentioned women then went home and promptly scheduled her
    "own" workshop based on this instructor's...it happens and I think
    much more so today than in the past. It does seem to be a trend and I
    can't agree that it's an acceptable one. It's just too entitled. 

    Personally, I need to feel open and enthusiastic when I teach and I'm
    just not gonna do it unless I can approach it that way. I spend years
    researching a technique, thoroughly exploring it, before I hold a
    workshop because I need to pass on extensive, in depth knowledge. And
    I'm gonna keep on giving out my handouts so my students can easily
    recall all the points of the workshop. And my eyes are wide open.
    Funny thing is, had any of the people that taught workshops from one
    of my books asked me about it, I probably would have said, "sure". I
    also don't teach workshops based on those books myself.......since
    they're mass market how-to's, they've always seemed so basic that
    workshops never seemed appropriate to me. Anyway, courtesy, respect,
    ethics go a very long way particularly in this arena.
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