I would like to put out there the idea of asking seniors through to juniors to cover classes as;
• a mark of respect for their extra experience
• to ensure students get the most experienced teachers possible
• to promote concord and good will in the vajrasati community
• to promote a feeling of connection with senior graduates who can feel further from the community (and therefore miss out on its benefits) the further in time they are from the teacher training program.
This will not as one might initially think mean that upcoming trainees will not get work because;
• as there are more and more graduates, there will be more and more work and seniors will be sucked up early.
• more experienced graduates often will have a schedule sorted and find it harder to find time/energy to cover.
• with people away/ill there will often be work by virtue of the law of averages..
• graduates moving away from the area or having breaks from teaching.
It is of course just something to consider because of the reasons I have listed.
I always work this way myself. First I contact Jo Jonson, then Amber, Khadine, Susie, then Donna, Anita , Charlotte, Leo, Nikki, Nicoletta, Gavin, Jackie, Shirley, Jo Shaw are on my list. After this we have soon to graduate (April 2011) Trudi, Sarah and Terry. We even have a bunch of fabulous recently 200hour certified trainees who are now able to start teach Helen, Helena, Lucy, Rebecca, Sue and Kath.
I order it from senior graduates and take into account other factors after that like;
• availabilty
• longevity of practice
• teaching experience
• familiarity with the class
in that order.
Because of holidays, already existing classes, illness other cover work it is likely the newcomers will have an increasingly good chance of covering classes.