Emulate Great Teachers!
Không thầy đố mày làm nên. When translated this Vietnamese proverb means: No one can accomplish great things without teachers.[1]
For 13 years, I had the wonderful privilege of living in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. Walking along Dong Khoi Street was a favorite past time. Located in the heart of District 1, it is the most historic, enchanting, and vibrant street in the city. Đường Đồng Khởi has many beautifully appointed and mercifully temperature-controlled art galleries filled with original paintings by Vietnamese artists. Tucked away in the dark alleys between the tall narrow buildings lining the street I observed young art students practice their craft by copying the paintings of the masters. The people of Vietnam are incredibly talented, creative, and artistic. Their heritage and culture honor the ancient practice of apprenticeship. I own a few small embroidery pieces in which the techniques and skills used have been handed down for centuries, the original artisan highly venerated, and his or her methods copied meticulously. To be a teacher in Vietnam is considered a noble profession and celebrated with a national holiday on November 20th each year.
Dong Khoi Street, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
I reminisce on this little snippet of my life in Asia because I was brought up to believe that copying other people’s work was wrong. Yet, I have been “borrowing” and “mashing up” ideas for a very long time. My home is an eclectic mix of early American antiques and Southeast Asian art and furnishings which strangely feels like me. This is a welcome realization as my doctoral work will be a creative endeavor that connects the work of others with my topic, experiences, and expertise. I am learning from great teachers.
Our reading this week, Steal Like an Artist: 10 Things Nobody Told You About Being Creative, by Austin Kleon, was a breath of fresh air and helped me make connections that clarified my thinking and reduced some anxiety about producing blog posts every week and ultimately my NPO Project Portfolio. Regarding the process of writing his book Kleon stated, “The book was made by practice that it preaches: stealing bits and pieces from all over and pulling them together to try to make something new.”[2] That sounds familiar! Aren’t we learning to steal like an artist in this program while finding our own unique contribution to the world? Kleon goes on to say that the process is not new, but ancient, “It’s a traditional method. It’s what artist have always done. You study what came before you. You take little bits and pieces of the stuff you love and turn it into your own thing.”[3] That sounds like apprenticeship. Kleon’s book is a unique expression of himself. His process of “stealing” quotes is one brilliant example of how to creatively connect learning, thinking, and writing into something useful and enjoyable.
Eve Poole wrote regarding the history of apprenticeships. She notes, “…apprentices copy to experiment with style.”[4] Every time I sit down to write a blog post it is an experiment. I never know exactly what is going to happen, what will be produced, or if it will be worth reading. I am experimenting with style, but I am also learning the basics of the craft while creating something new that is truly mine. The reading, writing, and responding to posts is a leadership apprenticeship. I am studying the masters, finding my own style, and passion, all while preparing to create something new. Kleon states, “The reason to copy your heroes and their style is so that you might somehow get a glimpse of their minds.”[5] Every book read this semester has given me a glimpse into the mind of a true master. I am not going to catch everything these authors have to say, but I am gathering a body of knowledge with wonder and curiosity which aids my learning. Kleon continues, “Imitation is about copying. Emulation goes one step further, breaking through into your own thinking.”[6]
Emulating great teachers is an important step in the doctoral process. Great teachers help me through the threshold spaces of learning. As I engage with the authors, cohort, peer group, project faculty, lead mentor, and stakeholders, (all my teachers) I am presented with a wonderful opportunity to put my new learning into practice. I know I have said this before, but practice makes progress. Whether I am learning new ways to take notes, engage with System 1 and System 2 thinking, practicing non-anxious presence, or learning how to read statistics or book, I am moving closer to my goal of implementing a meaningful project. The reading assignments, blog posts, essays, and research are creating space for me to put the concepts of Steal Like an Artist into real life practice and pushing me along in my doctoral journey.
I am emulating the great teacher Austin Kleon by stealing his ideas:
Leave home and do some travelling.[7] I fly out on Friday!
Wonder at something and invite others to wonder with you.[8] I look forward to reading and responding to our blog posts!
Be boring and take care of myself.[9] I’m sticking to my routines and getting a good night’s sleep!
One last observation… Austin Kleon demonstrated that creating is fun! Steal Like an Artist began as a blogpost.[10] That is inspiring!
[1] Steve Phan, “Modern Success Lessons From 50 Timeless Vietnamese Proverbs” Steemit.com, Accessed March 7, 2023
2 “Austin Kleon Looks Back on the Creation of Steal Like an Artist, Ten Years Later.” Lithub.com, March 11, 2022. Accessed March 6, 2023.
3 “The Chase Jarvis Show” Interview with Austin Kleon. Accessed March 6, 2023. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AvUELPpj63s
[4] Eve Poole, Leadersmithing: Revealing the Trade Secrets of Leadership. (London, UK: Bloomsbury Publishing 2017), 65.
[5] Austin Kleon, Steal Like an Artist: 10 Things Nobody Told You About Being Creative.(New York, NY: Workman Publishing Co. 2022), 36.
6 Austin Kleon, Steal Like an Artist, 38.
About the Author
Jenny Dooley
Jenny served as a missionary in Southeast Asia for 28 years. She currently resides in Gig Harbor, Washington, where she works as a Licensed Mental Health Counselor and Certified Spiritual Director in private practice with her husband, Eric. Jenny loves to listen and behold the image of God in others. She enjoys traveling, reading, and spending time with her family which include 5 amazing adult children, 3 awesome sons-in-law, a beautiful daughter-in-law, and 8 delightful grandchildren.13 responses to “Emulate Great Teachers!”
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I appreciate the connection you made between Austin Kleon’s work and Eve Poole’s emphasis on apprenticeship. There’s a bit of a tension, isn’t there, between studying and learning the basics of how to do something well (that’s what I think of when I imagine an apprenticeship) and then embellishing on it and making it your own? How does that play out in your NPO?
I’m still trying to answer that question for my own project. In many ways I’m trying to do something that is outside the box and so I’m not finding anyone to specifically emulate. Or rather, I have to emulate different aspects of several researchers/practitioners and “mash up” something (I liked the way you said it in your blog.) It’s stretching my creative muscles, for sure!
This was the same point I was interested in. I wonder how you know when you start to move from an apprentice to a master?
Is it when you notice that people start coming to you with questions about the topic? Or maybe when you find yourself making your own riffs off other masters? These both seem arbitrary, and also driven by external approval, so I am not sure what I think, but good dialogue all the same!
Hi Jennifer,
I am an apprentice working towards mastery, for sure! I am sort of bumbling my way through hoping I’m heading in the right direction. But, I also see movement. I’m not sure I will ever see myself as fully mastering anything. I wonder if those we consider masters consider themselves masters? Maybe mastery has more to do with time, experience, and a feeling of satisfaction, enjoyment, less self-judgment, and coming to a place of self-understanding and self-confidence. I have more thinking to do on that!
Hi Kim,
Thank you for responding to my post and for the question. Regarding my NPO what I am looking at is not new. The concepts are familiar to me and many well established personally, but not all are fully developed. So there is movement and tension between apprenticeship and mastery for me. The application to my stakeholders in Southeast Asia will be very new. There will certainly be tension. It will be interesting to see culturally what it will look like and what the impact will be. The NPO will feel like an apprenticeship to my stakeholders, mastery will be up to them. Honestly, I hope they make it their own. It will require a lot of listening and flexibility on my part, as well as offering experiences to help them engage. Creativity and flexibility will be key for me moving forward.
Spot ON! Love reading your posts. I did not fully realize that you were living in Vietnam. This week I met Pastor Hai Luong (probably got the spelling wrong). His mom was one of the boat people (a ways back) and he is a Pastor in Oklahoma City. I am working out how to support his tasks there.
Anyway, YES we emulate teachers. In my younger days we copied our Kung Fu teacher, drilling everything into our muscle memory. We practiced forms every session as the base, the supposition that the forms will respond in battle. The movements will respond (so the thought goes) in a way that conforms to the situation and become ours for that split second.
I am enjoying the synoptic approach we are learning in this class. On a similar track, my four Masters – International Studies, Teaching English as a Second Language (TESOL), Theology and Global Leadership are all providing fragments of themselves to my NPO.
What is so different now is that our critical thinking petri dish is forcing to reach into all aspects of our past and to come up with something new.
My bible study last night covered.
Matthew 7:7-8 Ask, Seek, Knock
7 “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.
I was thinking that I got the “asking” part down, but relooked at the seeking and knocking. Perhaps in seeking and knocking, my will is being realigned to His will. Both in the physical NPO world and the spiritual realm.
Hi Russell, I lived in Vietnam from 1997-2010. So many young people so eager to learn and so very talented! Kung Fu seems to share this idea of mastery. I do think Asian cultures have a strong sense of mastery sort of ingrained in their thinking and mindset, or maybe it more visible in the the arts, athletics, and education. I wonder if the American way of fast thinking and quick solutions that Kahneman talks about doesn’t get in our way of mastery. Moving at break neck speed to get things done doesn’t feel like mastery. I personally worry about becoming a Jack of all trades and master of none. Thanks for the response and I enjoyed your selection of Vietnamese for your post too!
Practice makes progress. When I think back to the beginning of the semester and writing blogs, something I have never done before, I am becoming more comfortable with the process. Hoping that the practice is making progress.
Jenny, I enjoy hearing about all of your overseas adventures. I have a friend from Cambodia. She is incredibly talented at making art with fresh flowers and greenery. It is so beautiful.
How do you see the masters forming your perspective towards your NPO topic?
Hi Cathy,
Writing blog posts is new to me as well. I am getting lots of practice and not at all sure from week to week if I am hitting the mark, but I am enjoying it and feeling less anxious about it. Hopefully, mastery will come.
In terms of the masters forming me, it feels like a fire hose of information, but I keep making connections and gravitating toward leadership topics. I am finding validation in areas I have not expected and plenty of new opportunities for growth. Kleon mentioned something that I didn’t address in my post as I am still chewing on it. The idea of not throwing any part of my interests and passions away. I love seeing long held dreams and passions coming together. There are things God put on my heart long ago that are now coming to life. God is amazing. I still remember walking down University Ave at the University of Washington so stressed and exhausted finishing up my bachelor’s degree, just wanting to be done, and God dropping the desire of a masters and doctorate degree in my heart. Thirty-nine years later…slow and steady for sure.
Jenny! I loved reading about your Vietnam stories and being educated on the culture. FYI: It was hard getting past your Vietnamese proverb. In fact I read it three times before I moved on. Therefore, I have an easy question:
As you look back on your life, who has become a great teacher to you, that you did not consider a great teacher decades ago?
Hi Todd,
Thank you for the question. I have been sitting here reflecting for a bit and one women came to mind. Our encounter was very brief. Yet, it was a very instructive and inspiring moment for me. Margaret Seaward was a missionary for many years in Singapore. I had the great delight of attending a wedding of a mutual friend shortly after I arrived in Singapore in 1990. We were seated at the same table at the dinner following the ceremony. She graciously took the time to listen to me and spoke words of comfort to me after a recent loss. She then preached at the wedding dinner in Chinese! Sometimes it’s not what is taught but demonstrated that is the most memorable lesson. She was full of faith and compassion. She was a great teacher for me in those early days of my missionary career even though I only met her once!
Whoa…speechless! “Sometimes it’s not what is taught but demonstrated that is the most memorable lesson.” Still speechless…thank you for sharing a part of your soul with me!
Jenny,
1.Isn’t it true that we are learning to steal and borrow so that we can come into our own style? Even then I don’t think the borrowing ever stops. As U2 sings in the song, The Fly “every poet is a cannibal, every artist is a thief”
2. One of my bucket list travel destinations is Vietnam. I’ll hit you up for suggestions!!!
Hi Tim,
Yes, I hope some style of my own comes out of all of this.
I was tempted to title my post, “We are all thieves!” Our brains need other brains to function so we are borrowing from one another all the time. Dr. Dan Siegel’s theory of interpersonal neurobiology is quite a fascinating approach to understanding the links between our brains, minds, relationships, and well-being. https://drdansiegel.com/
Please do ask about Vietnam. I know some lovely places to visit and a few that still remain on my bucket list. I never made it to Ha Long Bay and Sapa. I hope you get to visit some day!