| Current mood: |  grateful |
Winter Quarter of my Discontent
The deadline for submission of courses for Winter quarter has passed and not even I have managed to get my classes completely up and ready on Moodle. I still hope that I will do so and rather more feebly hope that some of the other members of the faculty will manage it too. However, the level of commitment seems low. The faculty members do not communicate with me as much as I want them to and I dislike having to badger people. That is one reason, I imagine, that I am not a great "boss." I trust people to know what is going on and get their work in on time. That works to some degree with students, who if they fail to get their work in will just not get a grade for their class. But for teachers, if they do not get their courses developed and set up on Moodle, then Avalon Center has precious little to offer our prospective students.
We founded this organization to be a school, to provide resources for the study of druidry and ancillary subjects. I imagine Avalon serving not only self-labeled "druids" but a wide range of clients in search of knowledge and a structured environment for learning that goes beyond reading books at home in one's spare time. Druid orders are growing. Many independent druids are doing excellent work. But as for my little school, I am not very satisfied with it. When I cancelled classes for Bealtaine and Lughnasadh quarters in 2007 I felt that it was not possible for me to manage the organization and teach, or at least not teach enough to really make our study programs viable. If we are offering just a class here and there, I'm afraid we are not going to hold people's interest. I wonder if seekers will decide that we aren't really offering enough or that we are promising more than we actually deliver. That last statement is really true. Our catalog and web site promise more than we are able to deliver at present.
So, we may well ask ourselves, why have we not had greater success in developing and teaching courses? We've opted to change the format, which I think will help matters, but the fundamental lack of committed teachers is the central problem. I have teachers who hardly ever contact me, even if I send them an email. When I call a faculty meeting, only a few stalwarts show up. And although they mean well, those among our teachers who have promised me developed courses have as often as not failed to produce them. In the mean time, the past year has seen three or four teachers leave for other pursuits or mysteriously disappear without a word to me.
I don't suppose it will be surprising, under these circumstances, that I am frustrated and disappointed in Avalon Center. It may be that some folks think I should just give it up. My nine year old daughter suggested that I could do that herself. One day when I was feeling particularly overwhelmed and miserable, she said, "Well, you could just stop, couldn't you?" The difficulty is that If I stop, then all the work and money of so many people will be lost and at least a few people will be disappointed. I have had several email letters from prospective Avalon students who have been writing to say that they admire what we are trying to do even though they cannot afford to take classes right now.
When I began Avalon Center, I insisted to the members of the Advisory Board, that if it was going to be all about me, then I wouldn't do it. I am not a know-it-all and cannot teach most of the Avalon Catalog. Even those fields such as history of magic in which I have a deep interest, I do not yet feel competent to teach because I have not had the time to do the reading and research needed to develop a course.
So, at this point, I am not sure of the prospects for Winter quarter 2007-2008. I think I will have a couple of my established courses up and running. I may get the first module of Druidry Today up as well, if I can write a few more lectures this week.
Saturday is a meeting of the Board of Governors. They are usually encouraging meetings. It does me good to have a few people in the same room with me who care about Avalon and sincerely want to help, even if they too have too little energy to contribute much.
I've been thinking of relatives to whom I could write fundraising letters, but have not yet been able to do so. There are some talks in the works however, which should at least give Avalon Center more visibility in Masonic circles. Yet, I worry that as we increase our public relations adn advertising, if we do not have any classes to offer and if our online library is still not very far along, what do we have to offer the people who do hear about us? I feel as if I'm pulling on one end of a rope and the other end is getting shorter. If I devote more energy to promoting the school, then I devote less to teaching and developing courses, and even less to beating the bushes for new teachers to join us.
Time, perhaps, to post a call for teachers again on the OBOD message board and the AODA yahoo group. Occasionally, I do get a nibble. However, it occurred to me over the week end that what I really ought to do is research the cost of putting job notices in the Modern Language Association's job list and equivalent lists in history and other branches of the Humanities.
Despite all these apparent complaints, I am really grateful. Grateful for all the support and interest so many people have shown. Grateful for those donors who have made monetary contributions and have shown faith in me. Grateful to Arianrhod and Dagda for calling upon me to take up this challenge. If there is one thing that Celtic myths will teach you, it is that even a failed enterprise can make a fine story and indeed tragedies are usually better entertainment that bland success stories. I have been having fun working on my floor plans for Avalon Center Villa, our castle in the country and thinking and planning about what we will need for that day when we lay the cornerstone.
And too, I cannot let myself lose sight of the fact that the Internet has permitted us to build something out of electrons and light that otherwise we would not have had at all. If I had been forced to wait until I assembled a local group of teachers and a building to put them in, this dream would be a great deal more dreamlike still.
Samhuinn is the end of Summer (Samios) but the beginning of a new year, a new period of gestation that will bring forth new buds and new shoots in the Spring. And that is always good comfort.
From the Chancellor's Desk,
Alferian
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alferian) wrote,
