Column July - August 2006 

Following a flower art course!

There are many kind of flower art courses. From nice courses for amateurs, workshops, till a professional training. Even a Master level is possible. Not all courses are of a good quality!

A good course plan (curriculum), no matter the level or target group is well thought-out and must have a good structure. In this structure we find practical elements, technique, form, kind of assignments, colour use and rules for finishing touch. But also there is place for theory. It always is a combined action between practice and theory. The What, How and When are only few of the criteria.

Of course it is important also to have a look to the didactical method of the course programme. What information, assignments and so will follow up each other in a logical way. Think also on the difficulty, the level of the information. How to organise each lesson?
The question always is how knowledge easy, fast and effective can be realised. Here we can find often the difference in the quality of a course.

A course need good quality of the lesson information and books for back ground study. At the end it is important that students experience knowledge and practical training. We must offer them many learning moments...

There are many floral art books for sale.
Often very nice books with nice and sometimes inspiring examples. Unfortunately in many books is written also a lot of nonsense. Especially the parts about care and handling flowers and plants is often not so good. But also information about basics, form and technique is often doubtful of confusing.

We can tell that in study books there is a big difference in quality. Organisations and authors use often many different words, meaning the same. In fact quite a chaos... Opinions in the flower world are rather different.

Another point is the man/woman in front of the class, the teacher. How good is he/she? Can he motivate students? What is his own experience in the profession? Is that only school training and a bit of apprenticeship or is it really based on experience in different kind of flower work? And there is the question how about the own knowledge and back ground information of the teacher? Is he also updated with recent knowledge? Diploma's or a title are important, but not always a guaranty for quality!

To organise a successful course is quite a job, but an interesting challenge. If you start doing this, first develop the course plan and second write the details. Than you learn how to organise this and you will not face unexpected surprises. Above all you will have happy students when you organise the whole course in the best way.
Teaching means that students must be inspired and challenged. We must stimulate them to develop their talents.

Flower art and teaching in it, and I can tell this after working 40 years as professional floral designer and after 33 year of teaching, a great challenge.
Always I strive to it not to create sameness, but to help students to explore their individual talents with a personal floral view.

The new course season will arrive soon. Hopefully you can do your advantage with this column...