studio non troppo : mindful design : facilitation

Photo: L.Brumm Photography

We all know that advice is overrated (except our advice to others, which is unheeded). It’s just hard to acquire wisdom through advice-giving.

We also all know the “other person’s shoes” idea, how experiencing something from another point of view can bring insight.

I’m not going to give advice in this post; I’ll just tell a (short) story.

My day job for years has been as an educator. Educators are fond of talking about how a good teacher is always learning. I’ve heard myself say this many times, I believe it, and I thought I was practicing it, too. It’s funny, though, that it was only recently that I signed up to take a course, the first college-level course I’ve enrolled in since 1997.

It’s an art studio course, and wow is it hard work!

Only now do I remember what it feels like to be a student.

The instructor explains something, and I think I understand, but I can’t put it in to practice.

Or: I’m thinking about what she just said, and I realize I’ve just missed the next four things she said.

Or: My classmates easily pick up some techniques I find nearly impossible, and I find other techniques straightforward and see my classmates struggle.

Or: I know I’m there to learn and not for a grade, but I feel the pressure of the imminent grade.

Or: I go through frustration, despair, impatience, perseverance, more despair, and then relief over the course of a single homework assignment.

The class is an extended interaction, more than a survey form or a role-play or an experiment that I set up, control, and evaluate.

Now we’re cooking with gas!