Tips for Apprenticeships
Hosting an apprenticeship? Here are some ideas to get learners going…
Give them a detailed “tour” of your workspace
Show them—and have brief discussions about—samples of your work
Have your apprentice make something
Give them real feedback often
Let them see you work on meaningful work
When possible let them imitate your work
Do what you can to make it feel serious, somewhat intense, but not tense
Share your aesthetic, philosophy, and/or ideology
Tell them about other people in your field who do similar, high quality work (and if possible show their work)
(If you have time) Teach them something that you know or can do
Guidance for professionals who want to do an apprenticeship but don’t have much time:
If a learner says they need to do a 20 hour apprenticeship, don’t think that means you need to be with them for 20 hours.
Instead, think about 1) inviting them to observe you do important work, 2) delegating (when possible) meaningful work for them to do, and 3) giving them (made up) challenges related to your field that they can do on their own and on which you can give them real feedback during regular check-ins you set up with them.
For example, a songwriter might: 1) invite a learner to observe how they mix a new song, 2) commission a learner to make a drum beat that can be added to a new song, and/or 3) give a learner this (made up) challenge, “Write a song about heartbreak and redemption. Capture the lyrics and chords in a Google doc, and email it to zzzzz@gmail.com. You have 24 hours for this challenge. Be prepared to sing the song when we meet tomorrow, to get my feedback, and to make improvements to the song after our meeting.”