Unlike learning psychology or literature, when it comes to earning skills such as driving, dancing or swimming, hands on training works much better than large scale lesson system. Take flower arrangement for instance, it is much more ideal to learn by way of private or semi-private training. If there are many students in a class, instructor cannot take care of each student and it is next to impossible to make corrections even if a student arranges flowers in a wrong way.
In this sense the typical training system found in Japanese traditional floral art called “Ikebana” can be said to be a very ideal way. Namely in most cases, number of students per instructor is usually 2 to 3 and COULD be 5 to 6 maximum seemingly because the art of Ikebana requires a very delicate and sensitive technique. In order to master the skill of ikebana arrangement, students need a sufficient support from an instructor.
Lessons by small class makes it possible for an instructor to pay sufficient attention to each student who can get a timely advice for improving their skills during a lesson. This can be done only with interactive and real time communications between a student and instructor. Classes having many students cannot make it possible to make interactive communications between a teacher and a student. Especially when a student requires a training for special designs that are not covered by standard curriculum, tailor made instructions are badly needed. If a lesson is done with a very small group system, it is possible to work quite flexibly which allows instructor to offer special lessons.
Most students just follow standard curriculum for each program. However some limited number of students who are so enthusiastic to earn a broad range of flower arranging skills are not satisfied with ordinary lessons. They often find creative and unique floral arrangements in articles introduced in floral magazines or websites and want to challenge making similar arrangements.
We are not supposed to make a dead copy of designs introduced publicly in magazines or websites. Namely exact duplication MIGHT cause infringement of copy rights. Therefore we should find an idea and concept used for such publicly announced flower designs and according to such idea or concept we should make a similar or our own concept of design.
By the time of completing Fresh Flower Arrangement Intermediate Course offered by our floral design school, many students can earn pretty good floral design skills. And some of them are motivated to challenge doing a “custom design arrangement”. Quite unfortunately such designs are not introduced in our standard curriculum. Therefore if the instructor judges that such students are eligible for taking special lessons focusing on custom arrangement they want to try, we sometimes offer irregular lessons besides ordinary routine classes. The above decision by instructor is made JUDGING from the level of floral design skill and also artistic sense of each student. If the skill and sense are not in the level satisfactory to instructor, it is pretty difficult for a student to follow a special lesson.
What should be remembered in connection with special lesson for custom arrangements, it is so important to try this way of lesson only after earning decent skills of basic flower arrangements. At our school, only students who have completed at least the Intermediate Course and have earned reasonable skills with good artistic sense quality to take such special lessons. Skipping to earn basic skills will cause serious problems not only with students but also with instructors. Both of them do have hard time to get the job done.
California Flower Art Academy has been teaching a variety of floral designs from European arrangements to Japanese Ikebana, wedding to funeral decorations, regular decoration to custom arrangements and beginner to professional levels. California Flower Art Academy has been educating local students in the San Francisco Bay Area (San Mateo County) and Silicon Valley (San Jose) since 1990 as a floral school certified by Flower Decorators Association (Tokyo Japan). You can start from Introductory Trial Budget Program for only $69 covering tuition, flowers, floral foam and container as well. No hidden cost at all. For more information, contact info@california-academy.com
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