Perrs and Students Revisited

[Gunnora Hallakarva]

Pug asked:
I've noticed as of late that in several cases people have made
"announcements" of squires and apprentices. I assume it happens with
proteges as well....why are they   actually announcing this? Is there a
benefit of doing this? Is there a    benefit to either person when making if
official that they are teacher  and student instead of leaving it an
informal process?   Are peers made that are not students to someone else?

Heilsa, Pug!

        I pick a gathering of my brothers and sisters of the Laurel to
announce my new apprentices.  The reason I do this publicly is that I want
my peers to be aware of the apprentice so that they will (1) offer them
assistance in the arts as needed (2) pay attention to those apprentices who
are actively striving for recognition in the arts and rarely (3) know whose
apprentice this is if the apprentice gets in hot water, so that they can
come to me to complain of their behaviour if necessary. The announcement
makes the advent of the student-teacher relationship a bit more exciting for
the apprentice, and most apprentices I've spoken with feel that they are
being honored by being accepted into that relationship.  

        An apprenticeship is a closer relationship than that between teacher
and student, usually.  I'll teach anyone anything I know... all you have to
do is ask.  But someone who will be working intensively not only to learn
artistic techniques, but also research and documentation skills, display and
presentation skills, the "noble arts", and who look to me to help them
achieve personal growth and maturity as well is more than just a student...
they have to be a friend by that time.  I offer an oath to the apprentice
that I will both teach them and learn from them.  In effect, they are
becoming members of my household for the duration of the apprenticeship.

        And most certainly you don't have to be an apprentice to be a
Laurel, a protege to be a Pelican, nor a squire to be a knight.  I was never
an apprentice, nor were many, many others.  If you look at the belt I give
my apprentices, it is indeed green in token of the Laurel wreath.  But mine
also have a stripe of squire-belt-red and protege-sash-gold woven in,
because as my sig file below says, I tell my apprentices: "I will not teach
you how to win the Honor Leaf crown (i.e., the Laurel) but rather to have
the nature and bearing of a Peer."  I am not coaching my apprentices on how
to get a Laurel.  In fact, if that is all a person is after, I wouldn't take
them as an apprentice in the first place.  

        So what does a Laurel get out of taking apprentices?  I can't answer
for others, but for me, I love to teach (I'd be doing it even if I had NO
awards).  And I love to learn.  I like having apprentices because they keep
me fired up and motivated.  I have to stay on my toes and keep growing
myself, and it is a poor apprenticeship that does not teach something to
both the apprentice and the Laurel alike. I never want to be caught "resting
on my Laurels" and so I try to keep cranking out master-level art projects
(although right now I'm not sure how I'm going to top the Scythian bowcase
and the carved "ivory" box...)  

        This is an interesting thread you started up, Pug. 

Wassail,
::GUNNORA::

Gunnora Hallakarva
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