thoughts on Reclaiming teaching
Mar. 13th, 2006 05:27 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
chelidonFor them's that's interested in such things, a lightly-edited glom together of two comments I made earlier today about a subject I have some passion around...
I was thinking about some topics I've been digging into while moving into facilitating year 2 of a regional priest/ess training process we've been teaching up nawth. It's no accident, I think, that some of the best large-group priestesses I know are also among the best performers I know, and/or the best directors of performers and performances. In some realm or another, there's an overlap between priestessing, and their "day job," what they do over and over and over again. There's no substitute for experience, lots and lots and lots of it -- making mistakes, learning from them, trying new things every night... And as much as I love the concept that we are all capable of many things, there's often a big difference between reading something in a book, or even doing something as a hobby, dabbling, experimenting...and really, truly wrapping your life around a calling, a career, a vocation. One of my friends and mentors talks about it as the problem of "clergy" in a tradition without much of any formal structure. It's much the same with performers -- there are always more people who want to perform than performance slots, so in a sometimes brutal fashion, who "makes it" is a combination of luck, talent, and dedication, and you pretty much have to have all three, and even then, there's no guarantee...
One of the things that often irks me about Reclaiming is the almost reflexive pattern of, in the name of open-heartedly wanting to make space for all to step into their power, downplaying the role of deep experience. We've lost an awful lot of elders, and people who could have become elders, over the years, by downplaying the value of experience, at times in very harsh, hurtful or disrespectful ways.
There's a difference between what you can expect on karaoke night, and what happens when seasoned pros take the stage, and it doesn't mean some of those karaoke singers aren't talented, and can't become pros, if they want to and have the drive and ambition and discipline, but if I pay $25 to get into the show, I want to see the pros, at least after the warmup band is done ;> And it doesn't mean some of the pros aren't past their prime or living on past glories, but even there, some lessons are best taught after going through the school of hard knocks.
Of course it's a balance, it has to be. How do we learn, without venues in which to screw up as well as shine? How terrible if the only alternatives are singing in the shower or standing in front of a packed auditorium of 25,000 people! What I see is that we (the hypothetical "we" of Reclaiming as a whole) tend to err at least philosophically on the end of the spectrum of trying to make opportunities for people to grow and learn, and that is wonderful. It really, truly is. I'm deeply dedicated to that myself, which is one of the reasons I find that the increasing majority and energy of my teaching over the past couple of years has been around teaching teachers, which is a related, but different-in-focus skill-set from teaching in a more general sense. At the same time, we do too often embrace a "sink or swim" model, largely because I think not many of us have overmuch experience with creating other, more humane models...
It's so very important to make space for people to grow, for each person to learn the skills which can help them to find their own superpowers. And...the shadow side of that orientation is that I have seen, as a very real pattern, a serious dissing of many of the most experienced among us, a genuine lack of respect for the value of experience, and for a long-term dedication to the craft and art of teaching. I'm not talking about any one place or time or circumstance -- this is endemic to much, if not most of Reclaiming, as far as I can tell. And it's not universal by any means, communities vary widely, and there are a lot of reasons people step back and move on to other things...yet, often enough that I see a real pattern, I've seen people go through a process in which they do good work for a number of years, get used and then spit out, and another generation moves in, making and re-making most of the very same mistakes all over again. There's often little longevity to teaching and organizing in Reclaiming, and precious little institutional memory. I'd like to think there's a better way, a more constructive process we could create or reclaim from the past.
Yes, every teacher is a student, or better be. One very accurate word for someone who's stopped learning is "dead." What I am feeling and observing is that in an environment which is allergic to entrenched power structures, or anything which seems to have a whiff of that, "we" tend to value the new (and the "young") over the old, and place opportunity for people to step into power, over making places for the grandmothers, the elders, the professionals among us. Long-term experience is often viewed with suspicion and antagonism, more than respect or admiration. And that emphasis, to a large extent, simply reflects the dominant culture in which we live. But...isn't that honoring of the best of the ways of the past supposed to be a part of what we are reclaiming? Where are our Councils of Grandmothers, the elders among us, those who balance the wisdom of the Fool, and the Magician, with the wisdom of the Emperor, the Empress, the Hierophant? I've been involved in this tradition, and others, long enough to note that most of those who were my teachers are gone. And that's a sad thing, just as if there was no place for the Robert Plants, the Carlos Santanas, those who were not only a bright flash in the pan, a one-hit wonder, but who had staying power as well, who had something(s) of value to contribute over a lifetime.
How do we honor experience and professionalism, recognize long-term dedication, and the knowledge born of experience, which cannot be gained any other way, without closing doors to those who want to dabble with priestessing, to experiment (or simply to try new things, no matter how experienced)? For how else to know if you want to dive into the deep end, without at least getting your toes wet first? How many stars started out by belting out a show tune on karaoke night? More than a few, I'd wager.
It's a question which is very interesting to me. And it's a dangerous question to ask, which is part of the reason I ask it. It's hazardous in our culture to be seen as identifying with the "old guard" -- what's good is the new, the fresh....everything else is...so 15 minutes ago, neh? Even the concept of "teachers," much less "clergy" in Reclaiming has the distinct whiff of heresy about it ;> I joke, but sometimes it really does.
I do believe there is a balance. I see the possibility of karaoke and open-mike nights alternating with $25 cover nights and Robert Plant playing to a packed house, and spaces and times for pros and amateurs and dabblers and the possibility to move between and amongst those categories according to each person's level of talent, dedication, skill and desire, and the needs of the communities. With real respect for experience -- not entrenched oligarchy or unearned hierarchy, but real value on experience, on those who go on tour and do the shows day in and day out, who pay their dues and walk the path of service.
I was thinking about some topics I've been digging into while moving into facilitating year 2 of a regional priest/ess training process we've been teaching up nawth. It's no accident, I think, that some of the best large-group priestesses I know are also among the best performers I know, and/or the best directors of performers and performances. In some realm or another, there's an overlap between priestessing, and their "day job," what they do over and over and over again. There's no substitute for experience, lots and lots and lots of it -- making mistakes, learning from them, trying new things every night... And as much as I love the concept that we are all capable of many things, there's often a big difference between reading something in a book, or even doing something as a hobby, dabbling, experimenting...and really, truly wrapping your life around a calling, a career, a vocation. One of my friends and mentors talks about it as the problem of "clergy" in a tradition without much of any formal structure. It's much the same with performers -- there are always more people who want to perform than performance slots, so in a sometimes brutal fashion, who "makes it" is a combination of luck, talent, and dedication, and you pretty much have to have all three, and even then, there's no guarantee...
One of the things that often irks me about Reclaiming is the almost reflexive pattern of, in the name of open-heartedly wanting to make space for all to step into their power, downplaying the role of deep experience. We've lost an awful lot of elders, and people who could have become elders, over the years, by downplaying the value of experience, at times in very harsh, hurtful or disrespectful ways.
There's a difference between what you can expect on karaoke night, and what happens when seasoned pros take the stage, and it doesn't mean some of those karaoke singers aren't talented, and can't become pros, if they want to and have the drive and ambition and discipline, but if I pay $25 to get into the show, I want to see the pros, at least after the warmup band is done ;> And it doesn't mean some of the pros aren't past their prime or living on past glories, but even there, some lessons are best taught after going through the school of hard knocks.
Of course it's a balance, it has to be. How do we learn, without venues in which to screw up as well as shine? How terrible if the only alternatives are singing in the shower or standing in front of a packed auditorium of 25,000 people! What I see is that we (the hypothetical "we" of Reclaiming as a whole) tend to err at least philosophically on the end of the spectrum of trying to make opportunities for people to grow and learn, and that is wonderful. It really, truly is. I'm deeply dedicated to that myself, which is one of the reasons I find that the increasing majority and energy of my teaching over the past couple of years has been around teaching teachers, which is a related, but different-in-focus skill-set from teaching in a more general sense. At the same time, we do too often embrace a "sink or swim" model, largely because I think not many of us have overmuch experience with creating other, more humane models...
It's so very important to make space for people to grow, for each person to learn the skills which can help them to find their own superpowers. And...the shadow side of that orientation is that I have seen, as a very real pattern, a serious dissing of many of the most experienced among us, a genuine lack of respect for the value of experience, and for a long-term dedication to the craft and art of teaching. I'm not talking about any one place or time or circumstance -- this is endemic to much, if not most of Reclaiming, as far as I can tell. And it's not universal by any means, communities vary widely, and there are a lot of reasons people step back and move on to other things...yet, often enough that I see a real pattern, I've seen people go through a process in which they do good work for a number of years, get used and then spit out, and another generation moves in, making and re-making most of the very same mistakes all over again. There's often little longevity to teaching and organizing in Reclaiming, and precious little institutional memory. I'd like to think there's a better way, a more constructive process we could create or reclaim from the past.
Yes, every teacher is a student, or better be. One very accurate word for someone who's stopped learning is "dead." What I am feeling and observing is that in an environment which is allergic to entrenched power structures, or anything which seems to have a whiff of that, "we" tend to value the new (and the "young") over the old, and place opportunity for people to step into power, over making places for the grandmothers, the elders, the professionals among us. Long-term experience is often viewed with suspicion and antagonism, more than respect or admiration. And that emphasis, to a large extent, simply reflects the dominant culture in which we live. But...isn't that honoring of the best of the ways of the past supposed to be a part of what we are reclaiming? Where are our Councils of Grandmothers, the elders among us, those who balance the wisdom of the Fool, and the Magician, with the wisdom of the Emperor, the Empress, the Hierophant? I've been involved in this tradition, and others, long enough to note that most of those who were my teachers are gone. And that's a sad thing, just as if there was no place for the Robert Plants, the Carlos Santanas, those who were not only a bright flash in the pan, a one-hit wonder, but who had staying power as well, who had something(s) of value to contribute over a lifetime.
How do we honor experience and professionalism, recognize long-term dedication, and the knowledge born of experience, which cannot be gained any other way, without closing doors to those who want to dabble with priestessing, to experiment (or simply to try new things, no matter how experienced)? For how else to know if you want to dive into the deep end, without at least getting your toes wet first? How many stars started out by belting out a show tune on karaoke night? More than a few, I'd wager.
It's a question which is very interesting to me. And it's a dangerous question to ask, which is part of the reason I ask it. It's hazardous in our culture to be seen as identifying with the "old guard" -- what's good is the new, the fresh....everything else is...so 15 minutes ago, neh? Even the concept of "teachers," much less "clergy" in Reclaiming has the distinct whiff of heresy about it ;> I joke, but sometimes it really does.
I do believe there is a balance. I see the possibility of karaoke and open-mike nights alternating with $25 cover nights and Robert Plant playing to a packed house, and spaces and times for pros and amateurs and dabblers and the possibility to move between and amongst those categories according to each person's level of talent, dedication, skill and desire, and the needs of the communities. With real respect for experience -- not entrenched oligarchy or unearned hierarchy, but real value on experience, on those who go on tour and do the shows day in and day out, who pay their dues and walk the path of service.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2006-03-13 10:56 pm (UTC)thanks for the brain bump start, this will give me something to think on at work tomorrow.