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ACCREDITATION

4th YEAR GATE

Students who have completed 4 years of practice with Spiderflower are required to move through their 4th Year Gate before continuing practice at any level or ahead of going onto advanced levels of study and / or applying for accreditation.​ 

 

The 4th Year Gate is a review of all work completed with Spiderflower up until this point in time, and carries intent to consolidate all that has been learnt in order to ensure foundation is firm, and that students have a thorough understanding of Spiderflower's principles in form, technique, working structure and ethos.

 

Within this, Spiderflower carries a 'non-holding' policy. The ultimate intent of this work is to empower the creative potential within each individual in a way that is entirely authentic to them. I am less concerned with producing teachers. In understanding that as each participant and the path they follow will be unique, and that everything has its own season; the ultimate focus held on the part of myself as facilitator is around encouraging and supporting the discovery, then flowering of the core creativity an individual carries, and only they can carry - then weaving it to life. . . and there you have the essential meaning of the name SPIDERFLOWER.

 

​For as long as a student works with Spiderflower, which can be over many years, this is the focus.

 

The 4th Year Gate acts a fundamental health check, and is more concerned with identifying if it is right that a student continues with Spiderflower, and if so, identifies how that student needs to continue. This tends to vary from person to person, and through years of experience, I've found at that it is important to clarify this at this juncture because this gate is about the student becoming 'adult' inside the work.

 

In this way, I would say students are deterred at The 4th Year Gate.  Within this process, some students feel they want to teach, others feel they want to continue practice without going into advanced work and some find, when they actually look, it's time to move on and develop in other ways. Any of these options are well supported. What is most important is that a student uses this time to self-reflect and examine their own motivation in order to authentically stay on track with their direction and purpose . 

 

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4th YEAR GATE PRACTICS:

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  • A student may request to enter their 4th Year Gate, or Spiderflower will request they take this before continuing.​

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  • It usually takes around 6 months to complete through written and practical assignments, conversation and mentoring.

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  • This is a bespoke process, tailored around how many modules a student has completed with Spiderflower to date. 

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  • There is no set minimum of courses a student needs to complete prior to.  It is the year and duration of engaged study that matters.

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TEACHER TRAINING + ACCREDITATION

When students identify they want to teach solely or work through Spiderflower's form, techniques and working structures to compliment their own strand of work, and the ongoing relationship between Spiderflower and that individual has been identified as a good fit and right for both parties - they must move into advanced study and gain accreditation.

 

It is not permitted for students to cite they have 'trained with Rowan Jacqueline or Spiderflower' outside of this, particularly after only completing one or two courses. Please refer to TERMS OF USE for detail.​

 

Teacher training is hugely demanding and the expectation of the standard of artistry (in whatever form that may take for a student) is high, so we need to be super sure this is a correct path rather than an idealised one.​ At the same time, from Spiderflower's side, it is important to preserve and protect the beauty, integrity and depth of knowledge that sits within this work and always ensure it is practiced safely.

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ACCREDITATION PRACTICS:

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  • Accreditation is a bespoke process and works in line with an individuals unique talent and gifts.

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  • It is a non-commercial operation and acts like an apprenticeship, mainly on a one to one basis or in small groups.​

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  • There's no set start date and training may start at any point in the year.

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  • To train fully, a student must complete 4 separate levels of study. Usually, each level will take one year - but timespan has to remain flexible. A student will complete a level as and when they have a thorough grasp of all elements within that cycle of teaching - it ultimately takes as long as it takes.

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  • On completion of that level, students are required to practice that particular work cycle through their preferred art form in a dynamic way with audience or clients in attendance for a further year under supervision.

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  • When their year of supervision is complete, full accreditation to that level is awarded.

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  • A new level of study cannot begin until the year of supervision has been fulfilled.​​

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  • Full details of ethos around accreditation, breakdown of content and modules, schedule and pricing are available and discussed fully on application.

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To apply or if you have any questions simply email contact(at)spiderflower.org.

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