*This was written in 2016 for the Labor Press, IBEW 48 edition. I was asked to write about my experience at LERC conference at the University of Oregon.
Last summer, during a much needed reprieve from a commute to the Dalles, I attended LERC (Labor Education and Resource Center). LERC is coming up again, and I encourage you to go. For three-days, LERC leaders draw on resources at the University of Oregon and the labor community to sharpen union membership. The training balances theory and practice, as evident from the brochure alone. Course-selections include “Bargaining Techniques”, “Managing Social Media” and more theoretical classes such as “Mass Incarceration and Employment” and “Labor at the Movies”. The offerings highlight a holistic approach to union-building that’s made LERC a boon to the labor community.
For this apprentice, electrical work was preceded by a decade of teaching college. That’s why I chose “Effective Teaching and Facilitation Techniques”. In case you wanted to know, I wasn’t a professor, but an adjunct instructor, a part-timer who performs most of the same tasks as a professor, sans professor pay, benefits, etc., even though he publishes, has degrees, and carries a leather satchel. Given how highly I esteemed my own teaching and facilitation techniques, imagine my surprise (and humility) to discover that I learned in 2 years of electrical apprenticeship what I hadn’t in 10 years of teaching. I left the course with a renewed appreciation for teaching and a deep sense of gratitude toward my LERC instructors. After all, holding an audience captive for 20 minutes is tough, and the instructors showed us how to do so for hours. My LERC instructors were some of the best I’ve seen - both at conveying content and maintaining interest.
My experience was only one of many. Already, LERC has borne real fruit. Melissa Farmer’s Apprenticeship Mentoring program is a case in point; and, in the near future you’ll have a chance to tell me how well I put my LERC experience into practice (shameless plug: I’ll be leading a training on critical thinking - it’s not mind-control, but it does help in reasonable debates). There’s inspiration enough for everyone at LERC. If you get the chance to attend, take it. See you in class.