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Learning at the Feet of Elders: A Return to Apprenticeships

Learning at the Feet of Elders: A Return to Apprenticeships

Last updated on: January 21, 2022 at 4:29 am by Teresa Blythe

Learning at the Feet of Elders: A Return to Apprenticeships 2022-01-20T13:39:12-08:00 Teresa Blythe

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Learning doesn’t just happen in classrooms. Apprenticing — the ancient practice of learning a trade or philosophy from one-on-one interaction with someone experienced in the subject — is on the rise.

In November of 2019, I gave up classroom instruction in the art of spiritual direction and began taking on apprentices. Earlier that year, Shaleen Kendrick, a young woman whose life situation didn’t allow her to attend any of the traditional training programs asked if I would take her on as an apprentice. At first, I balked, wondering if apprenticing would be acceptable to the spiritual direction community and if she would get the kind of training necessary without a cohort to connect with.

After considerable reflection, I agreed to give it a try since Shaleen was a perfect candidate for any training program: steeped in spiritual formation, enrolled in an online Master of Divinity program and certified in Enneagram work. Together, she and I crafted a program that met her needs and provided ample instruction in the basics of spiritual guidance. I created a curriculum and she found people to do spiritual direction with so she could learn “on the job” with careful supervision. She excelled and went on to found Desert Voices, where she offers spiritual direction, coaching, and Enneagram instruction.

Although we started our sessions in person, when the pandemic hit and we had to go online with Zoom, we found that there was nothing we did in person that we couldn’t do also online. This realization allowed me to expand the program to people all over the world.

I now work with about 8 individuals at any given time in the Phoenix Center for Spiritual Direction’s Apprentice Training Program and have graduated 21 apprentices. The program has added a second trainer who allows us to take on 3-4 additional people at a time. The spiritual direction community has embraced this work and invited me to speak about it at their upcoming annual conference. Regarding cohorts, we found that they are wonderful for community building but not essential to learning the art of spiritual direction. People who need cohorts have a lot of programs to choose from. People who need flexibility, individual attention and a program that’s a little bit more affordable have less choice — however apprenticing is a great option.

Apprenticing isn’t just for spiritual-directors-in-training. More and more people — especially millennials — are approaching people they admire and want to learn from and working out online instruction to receive certificates-of-completion in areas of expertise. I wasn’t the first person Shaleen talked into mentoring! She told me she looked for people she wanted to learn from and asked them to mentor her. So, while the concept was new for me, it was simply how she preferred to learn.

What is it you would like to learn about? Have you considered approaching someone experienced in that subject and asking about online apprenticing or mentorship? You should offer to pay them, of course. Some retired people will mentor for free, but many of the people you would approach will likely be busy people whose time is valuable. Think about what you gain: no commute, flexible scheduling and individual attention.

Consider being an apprentice with someone you want to learn from and take the risk of asking for what you need.

Teresa Blythe is a Phoenix based spiritual director, author and trainer of apprentice spiritual directors. To learn more about spiritual direction, check out her book Spiritual Direction 101. For a primer on spiritual practices, look at her first book, 50 Ways to Pray. Her website www.teresablythe.net contains a lot of information about the art and practice of spiritual direction.

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