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Image by Tara Swiger
In this show:
• An interview with Tara Swiger, an accomplished knitting teacher who has a lot of interesting things to say about teaching a craft.
• We talk about what it’s like to teach one-on-one vs. in a group setting.
• Some discussion of how different people’s learning styles affect their approach to crafting, and how a good teacher can help
• Some good ideas for starting up a teaching practice in your own community.
Links:
• Check out Tara’s online yarn store, Blonde Chicken Boutique, and her new brick-and-mortar shop, A Novel Yarn.
• Want to meet Tara on Twitter? Here she is!.
• And I highly recommend Tara’s Learn to Knit Kit of you feel knitting-challenged.
You might also enjoy this interview Kim Werker did with Tara about social media and crafty businesses.
Loved this show so much! You two inspire and the show is just what I want to hear now as I'm always thinking about what I could be teaching, if I would… Thanks for sharing your knowledge.
This podcast is so good. You guys covered everything! It is really helpful to put myself in Tara's position.
Thanks, Chris!
This podcast is so good. You guys covered everything! It is really helpful to put myself in Tara's position.
Thanks, Chris!
Listening now – ohmygod what you were talking about with people needing to be guided with every step (“which fabric should I choose?”) and thinking they must be doing it “wrong” even when there is no right or wrong… that is why I don't teach more! Why I'm trying to phase out teaching completely, really. I can't stand that!! It's craft, it's for fun, whatever way you WANT to do it is the RIGHT way!
I think a lot of us bloggers/teachers are the same way – self-taught, experimental, finding whatever works best for us personally, even if it's different from what the book says, or what the “expert” says… and I think a lot of the people taking the classes are the exact opposite, which is why they feel the need to take the class in the first place – to be taught the right way… not all, of course, because there are plenty of people who just want to learn something fun and new and play (“splash around in the pool”!)… But yeah, I just don't have enough of that teacher's patience that's needed with crafting – I have plenty of patience with showing/explaining something over and over, but NO patience with those wanting me to tell them exactly how to make their creative decisions, or needing to know which is right, when I've already said, “this is how I do it, and I know some people do it this way, and some do it this other way, so choose whatever you like best.”
I understand that our brains all work differently, and if one needs to feel like they are doing it the right way in order to enjoy it, ok, I can accept that… but I sure do admire you and Tara and all the other teachers who can handle that type of student better than I can!
It took me a long time to realize that, for these students, the best
thing is to help them feel like they're doing it “right” the first
time – so I give them those tight step-by-step instructions. Once
they've ben led through the first time, they're much more willing to
experiment.
…But it is challenging, because it runs completely counter to my
nature!
Lee, I feel like you're typing my thoughts!
Before I closed my brick and mortar shop, I had to take a long break from teaching, because all of those same frustrations were sucking all the fun out of it for me, which made it a drag for my students, too. I have no poker face, so every bit of puzzlement or irritation showed on my glass face, and the students definitely saw it. I like my new online format classes, though, because I get to share all the things I love, but I can take a breath and think about the best way to respond that clicks with a student, even high-maintenance one, in a way that I just couldn't do regularly in real life. They're happy, I'm happy, everyone wins. I feel the same way about posting tutorials and patterns, i get to share at a level I'm comfortable with.
Sort of related- I visited two different S&B groups in town in the last two days (they meet in the SAME coffee shop on two different nights, deja vu!). The difference in the attitudes of the members was night and day. One had mostly new, twitchy, low-self-esteem new knitters, the kind that look at my weird complex projects and get weirded out and clam up. The kind that drove me bonkers as students. The other had a variety of knitters, more independent minded, that looked at my wacky-looking knitted plaid and started to get excited and wonder how it worked, asked questions. Guess which tribe I'll be sticking with? (See Dudecraft's excellent “Tribes” post on Making+Meaning, perfect timing).
Awesome, Merdeces! Thanks for sharing your perspectives. And I agree –
that post on Tribes is excellent!
After emailing Diane and getting her permission I’m adding this little update. I have just published a book, ” How to Teach Art & Craft”, a comprehensive guide. It’s more of a business book than a craft book. I wrote it so that hopefully novice teachers can avoid the pitfalls that most experienced teachers learnt by trial and error. Experienced teachers can also benefit as it explore different methods of teaching that they may not have considered before.