Working with experts in person teaches what books cannot.

principle — attributed to J. Francisco Núñez

Núñez's argument for in-person mentorship is sensory and direct. You can read about what you want to be when you grow up. You can imagine it. But working directly with someone who does the work transmits something that reading cannot. You feel the energy. The impulse. The nuance in every facial expression. The sweat. You hear the singing or the playing or the way they speak. The transmission lands in a way that affects a child profoundly. The implication for any youth program with access to professional networks is that the in-person exposure to working experts is the multiplier. Books are necessary; bodies in rooms with experts are sufficient.

For arts educators, professional development programmers, and program designers thinking about whether to invest in expert visits or in self-paced curriculum. The principle is most useful as a budget argument when expert visits are the line being cut.

mentorship, direct-encounter, expert-presence, transmission