Ep 517: Being a Pottery Educator with Ian Childers

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In an internet world where there are seemingly endless “educators” available to learn from, what actually qualifies someone to teach a skill? Is it a traditional piece of paper, or diploma, saying that some institution has decided you can? Is it the number of years you’ve been doing the thing? Frankly, there’s really not a fixed formula we can say where x+ y = qualified educator! However, during this chat with Ian Childers, a potter who, as often happens, fell into education by necessity and yet has found a passion for it, I’ve found a few thru lines and a couple of Ian’s philosophies I wholeheartedly agree with - namely, the fact that he’s not only teaching his students a skill set to hypothetically go make a living at this craft, he is also showing his students what it takes to make a living at this craft. As Ian says during our chat, how can he expect his students to trust him if he’s not out there doing it himself? And that I couldn’t agree more with.


Guest Resources:
Ian Childers Instagram - @ianchilders

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