By Ryan Anderson, Maryland Service Corps Member
On Monday morning, October 20th, I arrived at Hargett Farm in Frederick, Maryland, to start my Beyond Hands-On Instructor Training. I’ll admit, I showed up not entirely sure what to expect. As an Outreach Associate for The Campaign for Historic Trades, I hadn’t thought of my role as one of instructing. My work, alongside Jordan Riggs, The Campaign’s Recruitment and Outreach Manager, focuses on connecting people to training and career opportunities in the historic trades. We do this both digitally through social media and in person at conferences, hands-on trades rodeos, and career fairs.
While the training location might have thrown off a new visitor, I was already familiar with the century-old dairy farm, home to the National Park Service’s Historic Preservation Training Center (HPTC). Thanks to The Campaign’s partnership with HPTC, it also happens to be my office. Our group gathered in the adjoining trailers that serve as HPTC’s offices and classrooms. Inside, I saw a few familiar faces like my colleague Jordan as well as Alyssa Fortune from HPTC, but also 11 new ones.
At 8 a.m., as we would for the next four days, our instructors Kat and Molly kicked things off. Molly Ames Baker, Founder and Chief Innovator of TOPOnexus: Center for Learn Local, and Katherine Wonson, Founder and Principal of Old School Heritage Solutions, introduced themselves and the approach we’d be learning: Beyond Hands-On (BHO) Instructor Training. Each of us received a “Cookbook,” filled with concepts, activities, and prompts for “doing learning better.” The BHO approach can be applied to any subject or skill, it’s about integrating mindset and heartset into the learning process, not just the technical skillset.
Our days began and ended with “Circle Up” outside at the picnic tables. Tossing an oven mitt around, we shared stories – our favorite teachers, memories tied to bread, even the kinds of socks we were wearing. Our morning “Start Ups” in the old dairy barn got us moving and thinking about the day’s lessons. What seemed like lighthearted activities at first was actually teaching us the value of connection, reflection, and play in the learning process. Throughout the week, we explored these concepts through hands-on activities. We learned about “messy learning” by untangling string outside the silo. We explored the “learning sandwich” model by experimenting with yeast. We never stayed seated for long; Molly and Kat made sure we were up, moving, and engaging with one another.
Our cohort was a diverse mix of preservation professionals. Some, like Caitlin, run their own trade school; hers focused on blacksmithing. Others, like Tom, were building new training programs for timber framing. Then there were people like Natalie, who runs a linseed-based restoration products company and offers workshops that promote sustainable craft practices, and Scott and Lulemi, who manage crews in historic window restoration and train their teams on the job. One day, an expert mason named John asked everyone to share how many years of experience they had in the trades. When we tallied it all up, the group had a combined 306 years of experience. It is impressive that even with centuries of collective skill in the room and the variety of backgrounds, everyone was still eager to learn new approaches to teaching.
Throughout the week, I realized that while my work isn’t directly instructional, education is at the heart of what we do. Helping people discover apprenticeship opportunities and careers in the historic trades is a form of teaching. And if we want to reach new generations of historic tradespeople, we need to go beyond traditional methods of instruction. I gained not only a better understanding of the BHO model, but with a new appreciation for what it means to facilitate learning, whether that’s through a hands-on demonstration, a social media post, or a career fair conversation.
Beyond Hands-On Learning is Heads-on, Hands-on, AND Hearts-on. This highly interactive workshop allowed me to return to work refreshed and with new ideas to connect with our audience.
workshop attendee
If you are a tradesperson or instructor in the trades and looking for additional teaching techniques to add to your skill set, email us at info@historictrades.org to be alerted when the next workshop is available.