Post by KittyLane on Mar 9, 2007 23:46:22 GMT -5
Teaching Yourself How Not To Need A Recipe
by Jenett Silver.
by Jenett Silver.
I've been thinking about the question of teaching versus training ever since I read an article on the subject for one of my grad school courses in Fall 2000. The course was on Library User Instruction - essentially, how to go about teaching people how to use libraries and related resources better - for some variety of 'better', whether that's more efficient searching, more relevant results, or whatever else.
About that article:
The article was by a man named D. Scott Brandt, and it was called "What (How, Where, When, Why) Is Training?" and was published in Computers in Libraries (Feb 1999 v19 i2 p32(1)) (If your local library has access to the Infotrac database, you may have access to this article.) He argues that there are significant differences between the concepts of teaching, training, and instruction, and defines how he sees all of these (based in part on his background as a technology training librarian.)
He defines traditional training as "learning how to deal with the mechanics of whatever it is you are working with, either to do work or to achieve a goal. It implies learning how to use tools, usually physical or electronic ones, to accomplish this work." He gives the example of himself training someone to use a word processor or other complex computer program. These tools can be used for a variety of functions, (different kinds of documents) once one understands the basic functions of the tool and its parts.
He defines instruction as using a tool as well as some additional information to achieve a specific outcome. He uses the example (familiar to his audience of other librarians) of teaching someone how to use a web browser. There is certainly a training aspect here - how do you navigate in the browser, move around, get back to where you were - but you are also aiming at a specific goal, which means that you need to be taught how to use a specific kind of syntax or a specific method - which probably can't be broadly applied while using that same basic tool Think about how different some web search engines are, for example - compare how you use something like Google (google.com) which asks for keywords (words having to do with your subject) to something like Ask Jeeves (askjeeves.com) which asks for real language (You type a question like "What is the country with the highest per capita income" or whatever...) Those use some different skills and thought patterns on the part of the person searching for information.
Instruction usually includes an element of what he calls 'conceptual training', which, if we extend our Internet search example, means you might talk about why you use a search engine, which kinds of search engines exist, and which might be best for a particular kind of question, as well as some conceptual differences in how they work.
Finally, he argues that teaching is something which occurs over a longer period of time - in order for the teaching to be successful, he argues "The teacher teaches as the student learns, and in order for learning to take place the students must grapple with the learning, internalize it, and make it their own." In other words, just mimicking what they've been trained to do isn't enough, just being able to repeat a limited set of tasks isn't enough - they've got to be able to understand complex issues, deal with their own reactions and preferences, and to be able to feel they have a strong control over the material, so they can go on and work with it on their own.
The summary so far:
Training is learning how to use as specific tool or set of tools, and learning what those tools are good for. (how to use a web browser) Instruction is learning how to use those tools to achieve a specific goal. (how to use a web browser and a specific search engine to find information on a specific topic)
Teaching, on the other hand, is not so much goal orientated as learning orientated - the student will have a fuller and much more personal grasp of the information when you're done. You can't summarize something you're teaching down to bullet points on an outline - you can summarize training and instruction in those ways.
So how does this all apply to Pagan stuff, anyway?
Well, take a look at a number of the Wicca 101 and equivalent books out there. A fair number of them (certainly not all, but probably a clear majority) are aimed far more at training than teaching. While they may include some information that is teaching related (using the definitions I've already given) most of it is training and instruction. And unfortunately, many authors - and far too many readers, based on what I've seen on the Net - don't go beyond the training techniques.
Unfortunate? Why? Because then, when readers *do* have a goal or something they want to accomplish, they often don't have all the skills and interrelationships of knowledge that will make accomplishing that goal much easier. Perhaps even more scarily, a lot of people *take* such books as teaching, and as a one-true-way to do things. I'm reminded of a person on a mailing list I was on which was discussing Silver Ravenwolf's book "To Ride a Silver Broomstick". In there, she has a recipe/ritual for making holy water, which involves doing it at midnight under the light of the full moon.
Now, I don't know about you, but I know a *whole* lot of people who have other things to be doing at midnight (myself, I get up for work just after 6 am, and I function a whole lot better with sleep) And, in fact, this was the case. This woman worked night shift, and was unable to be free at exactly midnight, and was quite upset that of course she would never be able to (or would have to wait months to) make holy water. Now, mind, I've also made holy water in broad daylight on a sunny afternoon, as well as at a variety of other times (and pointed this out), but that didn't seem to make a difference to that woman because it wasn't what was in the book.
So why bring this up?
This is a perfect example of the training vs. teaching vs. instruction problem.
From the training point of view, of course, you already need to know some basic tools - casting a circle, basic ritual procedure, how to use your tools.
If we look at this from an instruction point of view, there's a limited set of tools (water, salt, time of day), and a specific process to follow. Theoretically, if you follow the process the right way (including the right attitude) then you have holy water. (I haven't tried the ritual myself due to a lack of desire to lose sleep trying something I already know I can do in an simpler fashion, but I don't see anything in it that should cause it not to work...) But still, in order to reach that goal, you need to follow directions - there's not a whole lot of individuality or personal input involved.
Now, look at this from a teaching point of view. In that kind of view, you might say something like "Here are a variety of tools you can use to create sacred space. Here are a variety of things you might do to help yourself feel like you're in sacred space. Once there, here are some varieties of creating holy water (different chants, methods, etc) or you can make up your own that suits you. Try writing one of your own first, before you try one of the ones printed here. See what works for you." and so on.
So how do you do that?
Now, there *are* some books which do a very good job (given the constraints of a book) in teaching. Most of these are books in which the principle activities are responses (such as Robin Wood's "When, Why, ... If?" book on ethics from a Pagan perspective) or in which a variety of options are given, so that you can create choices that work best for you (such as Yasmine Galenorn's section on consecrating tools using a variety of different elements in her book "Embracing the Moon") I'd also recommend books about exactly how magic works (such as Isaac Bonewits' "Real Magic" or Marion Weinstein's "Positive Magic" and equivalent books about symbols and ritual.) rather than books that just give spells.
But, by and large, many people aren't prepared to teach themselves. It's very easy at times to just want to do what someone tells you - particularly when you're on new ground - and for many people, it's unusually hard when they come from a religion where creativity, learning, and questioning are not actively encouraged. So how - given that many people have this problem, how do we teach ourselves?
First:
Learn how to critically evaluate what you read, both in books and on the web.
It used to be that a good liberal arts education would teach you this, but I know plenty of people who graduated from otherwise good schools who haven't figured it out yet, and plenty of people who don't have formal college courses who know this. For those of you who want a crack at learning this, I'm working on my thoughts on the subject. In the meantime, a number of public libraries offer free (or very low cost) classes on how to use catalogs, web browsers, and how to evaluate what you find. Schools (particularly colleges) also have classes that teach how to evaluate web sources. Most of the concepts are applicable to books as well.
Second:
Figure out how you learn best.
Some people learn best by reading. Some learn best by hearing someone talk about something. Some learn by reading and taking notes. Some learn best by doing things with their hands.
Once you've figured that out, do it. If you learn best by reading and taking notes, then do that. If you learn best by moving around and going through the motions, try that. If you learn best by using what you learn in some way (writing, creative stuff), then try that. Or try something really simple, first. Like if you want to try working with herbs and spices, try making mulled spiced cider first. It's got some nice magical associations with the herbs (mostly prosperity and health and well-being) but it's also hard to mess up, and uses the skills in a very mundane setting. If you learn best by talking and explaining things to someone, explain it to a stuffed animal, in your car while commuting, or to an obliging household member.
Third:
Look for books and resources which encourage you to explore for yourself, or which deliberately give you multiple ways to accomplish something.
While reading books which give you fixed rituals and spells can be a good jumping off point, you're going to teach yourself a lot more if you read books that aim at teaching skills rather than at training you to follow directions. I've mentioned some of these authors before - but Yasmine Galenorn's work is often varied. Robin Wood's "When, Why... If" is a wonderful guide to teaching yourself how to develop an ethical system for yourself. Ask people you respect for recommendations, and browse through the library and bookstore – look for books that talk about WHY they suggest things, and that don’t just list ingredients or tell you what to do without explaining what those things are doing there or why you’re supposed to do what it tells you to do.
Last:
Beyond that, try things.
Write about what you do. Try new creative endeavors that incorporate what you're learning about in your reading into them. (Painting, drawing, graphic design, music, other art forms, dance, whatever) Try doing a ritual or spell you put together yourself, taking plenty of time to research it.
Try new concepts. Try doing a ritual (a Full or New Moon, say) based on something in a book. Then, the next one, try combining several different aspects you like from books, and creating something new, adding your own material or focus as you feel is appropriate. Then, maybe a few months later, try doing one impromptu, after spending a few days reading about that month's associations and so on. See which one of these works best for you, or if you think they would work well in different circumstances. Try using different elemental associations, different methods of casting a circle, whatever. You may want to try them at least twice - once to get comfortable with them, and once more to give them a fair test.
Take my suggestion of apple cider, for example. If you were going to create a spell that involved drinking a potion (technically, that's what it is), and you wanted to focus on prosperity, what would you put in it that would be something you could drink (i.e. nontoxic), tasty, and focus on prosperity? What would you change if you were focusing on health? How about on general well-being? What would you change if you were making a cold drink, using something citrus-based (lemon, lime, or orange?) What kind of correspondences could you find? What sort of words would you say while you mixed the ingredients?
(Note: For ethical reasons, I'd suggest not offering these to anyone else without them knowing that you were focusing on whatever you were focusing on. Not that most people will mind things focused on prosperity or health or whatever, but I think asking first is a good idea. I've tried the cider myself, and while I don't know for certain what can be done with citrus juices and related ideas, I'm pretty sure someone can do something.)
Many people seem to find that writing about or commenting on what they are reading, learning, and trying really helps them understand it better. Keeping a journal, or writing essays about your experience (if you like complicated responses or feel so inclined) can be an excellent way to further firm up your understanding, and to then be able to explain it to others in the future.
Finally, have fun!
This stuff is a serious subject, but you should also be enjoying your study and practice of magic and religion. If it's not fun, then back up a step, and try something else for a while. It's also all right to start with training and instruction methods - just remember that moving beyond them is going to get you much more flexibility and adaptability to new circumstances, and give you a far broader understanding of why a particular ritual works or why a particular spell is effective.