Hi all,
Before I became a mother, I was finishing up my apprenticeship with a master
potter. (An 80 year old woman named Sue Gerard from Columbia Missouri.) The
art of mastering/apprenticing is a centuries old process that isn't utilized
as much in this century. I thought it would be helpful for me to describe
my experience for those of you talking about internships.
(I thought I would point out that internships are usually paid by the
employer, apprenticeships are paid by the employee--usually through manual
labor. And then there is mentoring, one breastfeeding mother helping
another. The mentee has no obligation to the mentor. The mentor just
shares knowledge/skills as they are willing.)
In order for Sue to agree to take me, I had to have certain skills,
knowledge, and DESIRE under my belt. I had to take classes from other
teachers (I took a college level course), I had to do a lot of reading, I
had to fondle a lot of pots, and most importantly I had to show her that I
respected her enough that this would not be a waste of her time. I begged
and pleaded for years for her to take me on. :-)
Finally one day, she and I were at the antique shop where she sold her
pottery for the Spring Open House (she was one of my mother's partners, so I
have known her since I was a small child). I was sitting with her just
chatting, as she is one of the best storytellers I know. She was working on
a small sculptural log cabin ( a scene from her life) and she handed me a
piece of clay. I fiddled with it and started to make a chalice with is the
symbol of our denomination (Disciples of Christ). When I was done, I set it
down on the table and she calmly said, "when do you want to start?" "Start
what", I asked. "Being my apprentice", she said. And so it began. :-)
I was expected to give her one hours work for every hour she gave me. I was
asked to do everything from clean the studio, doing the dishes, spending
time with her husband Chubb, who was on his last months. I did all this
willingly, including the very grunt work, because she gave as much as I did.
For her hour, she would spend time working with me, allow me time by myself
in her studio (which was quite an honor). During some of her time with me,
I listened to her talk, tell stories and it richly enhanced my education.
I always tried to give more than she asked and in return I could see that
she also tried hard to give more than I asked. And I forgot to mention that
she only took me as an apprentice after I agreed to two conditions: I would
do the same for anyone else that wanted to learn, assuming they were ready
AND I would pass on any knowledge/wisdom with it, especially to her family
if they ever asked me to. A huge responsibility that I have taken very
seriously. I credit her with my desire to help mothers breastfeed, help
people find their own answers and you will be richly rewarded.
If any of you are considering taking on an apprentice I think it is very
fair to have high expectations of what kind of knowledge and experience they
must have. It might be helpful to think about what you feel is a baseline
education. And clearly outline what you expect this person to do and not to
do. But it is also so important to help your apprentice to find the joy in
the work we do and help them see that the work they do with us is important
and worthy. So you can't make them clean your toilet the whole time.
Toilets are at the beginning, not the end. :-) As the apprenticeship draws
to a close, you are standing close by, giving them as much hands on
experience as possible. Mother support groups would be an excellent way to
encourage that experience, IMO.
For those wanting to apprentice, it is important to be clear about what you
are hoping to learn, yet being open to learning more than you can imagine.
You don't know what you don't know yet :-) It is reasonable to expect that
the master will ask you to do things at first that any 5 year old could do.
By taking on some of the grunt work, you are freeing the master to spend
more time with you. Over time, your goal is to build their confidence you
so that they will give you more responsibility. Toward the end of my
apprenticeship, I had to beg Sue to let me do work for you. She said that
is when she knew it was time for me to be "done", I had learned too much to
clean the toilet. :-)
Which reminds me, Sue said she had two kinds of apprentices. One was my
kind, seriously wanted to be a potter and was willing to do the work it
would take (that would maybe be a person who wants to be a practicing IBCLC
really bad). The other kind was someone who was a life long learner (that
would be someone who is trying to gain skills but lactation may not be their
main profession--maybe some kind of therapist wanting to enhance their
knowledge base).
In addition to apprentices, she had students (these would be people that are
not appropriate for a true apprenticeship, but it's important to do
something with them. These are the folks that pay the bills--for us
lactation folks, this is most likely moms in our breastfeeding support
groups). Students were folks that just wanted to do something fun and new,
they would watch her make a pot, then they'd make something that resembled a
pot and they were done. But they always come back to buy from her and would
send their friends to buy. $$$$ We all know that the mothers we help have
friends that might breastfeed.
For both of you, it is important to agree on how much time is available for
apprenticing and be fair to each other about it.
Hope someone found this helpful. Apprenticing was THE best education choice
I ever made.
Warmly,
Nikki Simmons in Missouri
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