Build A School, Build A World: Teach What You Want to Learn
For the Worldbuilders Ep. 043
“What if it is not an experiment, this creative life of refusal. This rarely institutionally-funded disloyal life of practice for a world as yet unnamable. This insistence on transformation when the bank account screams “conform.” What if this life as an independent experimental artist is not itself an independent experiment? What if it’s an interdependent ceremony?”
— Alexis Pauline Gumbs, “The God of Every Day” published by Topical Cream on December 22nd, 2021
Dear Worldbuilder,
What if we focused on practicing the right questions instead of concerning ourselves with being right?
Welcome back to a new episode “For the Worldbuilders” released every Thursday, where we dive into the practice black feminist worldbuilding and explore how community-based teaching might fund, expand and deepen a creative life of refusal. Over the next 4 weeks we’ll be exploring how teaching is a worldbuilding practice we all have access to. “Build a School, Build a World” is a 4-part podcast series, based on the questions in the Creative Offer Questionnaire to Oneself, helping you discover what your educational offering might be.
Inside Today’s Podcast Episode
We…
⏳ Reflect on what creative practices have persisted over thousands of years. (HINT: Teaching is one of the them)
💡 Focus on practicing the right questions instead of concerning ourselves with being “right”.
🔋 Highlight the most reliable source fueling our creativity and our questions.
🤲🏾 Explore the value of teaching what we want to learn inside our creative practice.
What you’re most curious about should inspire the shape of your education offering. We all have an educational offering waiting to be packaged and shared inside our creative ecosystem. “But Ayana! I’m not a teacher”. And to that I ask, “Why not?” Please listen carefully, we all have the capacity to teach because we all have the capacity for curiosity. A curriculum is simply a question. What questions are you practicing, living, breathing into at the moment?
Will you allow us to breathe alongside you?
Register for the Worldbuilding Workshop
I want to invite you to join us for the upcoming Worldbuilding Workshop Series where we will ask the questions inside this episode, TOGETHER, in real time. Register to this 2-PART workshop series to find out how to “Seed A World Rooted in the Truth of Your Desire” and “Resource A World Rooted in the Truth of Your Needs”.
1️⃣ In the first workshop, you’ll learn how to fund and expand your impact and time inside your creative practice. Together we’ll go over how to design, market and sell an education offering inspired by your interdisciplinary art practice, cultural work and/or community organizing.
2️⃣ In the second workshop, you’ll get clarity on how to price your digital course in alignment with your needs and values using the Price Calculator. We will ensure your offer isn’t priced at a point that prioritizes making it accessible to everyone else that it becomes inaccessible to you as the creator. (A trap I caution us against falling into inside this episode)
Teach what you want to learn and build a school. Build a school and build a site for practicing a creative life of refusal. How might a classroom serve as a stage for rehearsing interdependent ceremonies? Let’s find out together.
So be it, see to it, breathe through it,
Ayana
