Home and Index| The College of Celebrancy Courses | FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS (FAQs)(1) Is there a difference between Correspondence and Distance Education courses? ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- (1) Is there a difference between Correspondence and Distance Education courses? In most Modules the student is required to attend at least three different ceremonies by three different celebrants — but we encourage you to attend as many as you can. There is a formalised learning sturucture the student is required to follow when analysing each ceremony in depth.We define “celebrant" in the broad sense. The celebrant could be the mayor of the city who presides over a citizenship ceremony - for example. And what is particularly advantageous is to attend ceremonies in cultures other than your own. (Or sometimes see films – like Monsoon Wedding! These are sometimes very advantageous and should be written up in the Learning Journal (a requirement of each Module). Seriously practised simulated ceremonies are also very advantageous. Detailed reports on such ceremonies, or if possible, video on a DVD are a great help to the learning and assessment process. Many of our students are already practising celebrancy. Studying / practising by means of a College Course, we hope, will greatly enhance a celebrant's professionalism and improve their practical skills. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- (2) Regarding Module 2 — Why should I pay for this Module? I know how to speak in public! Unfortunately, and please do not take this personally, our experience quite often has been that people who produce all sorts of documentation and references that they are competent public speakers, are quite often not competent at all. I concede to you that public speaking in funeral parlours where there are established public address systems, is not as demanding as large weddings, which are quite often held outside or in difficult venues, where there are no other public address facilities. This means that the celebrant must be able to project his /her voice, judge their breathing well, and ensure that their diction is a really clear and professional. Built into your Module 2 is a fee of $A75 to pay are really well qualified voice person to diligently assess a student of this module on the use of voice, the right level of emphasis and feeling in the reading of poetry. For weddings outside or for funerals by the graveside, one needs genuine competence in the use of the various kinds of microphones and portable PA systems. If such a qualified person professionally assesses someone like yourself we are satisfied! Also I need to Point out that Module 2 contains a great deal of organisational and choreographic information that is basic to all three Diplomas, it is, I admit mostly geared to weddings which is the flagship ceremony of any culture, but the principles of which apply to all ceremonies. For example ----------------------------------------------------------------------- (3) Why should a Funeral Celebrant be paid an hourly rate? I find that the hourly rate is the only fair way because I, like you, cannot half do the job. I have also found that people like you and I give funerals away because it takes too much out of them both in the preparation and recovery. Another angle is the hourly rate gives freedom to the family to ask you to do two or three interviews with other friends and relatives. Once this is done the necessary checking processes become much longer, because one must check back final eulogy and ceremony with those whom you have quoted and those whom you have used as a source. Most (not all!) Funeral directors are about money and not adding to their bill, but they are also about power. It took me a long time to realise this. My eulogies can be found in my book "Ceremonies and Celebrations" but I am happy to share any of them with you or any celebrant! Finally, I would like you to know that in the College of Celebrancy's Funeral Diploma course we demand the high standard that you and observe! (4) What is a Learning Journal and why do you prescribe one in each Module? The BBC puts out some wonderful stuff, (Midsomer Murders has at least one Anglican Funeral per episode !) When people know you are studying the college course you will find you will have conversations about celebrancy and ceremonies. The Learning Journal is a way of linking your studies with real life. The Learning Journal is an ongoing assessment task; in other words, it is to be started first and submitted last. The Learning Journal/Diary provides each student with an opportunity to chart their own progress through the course. As a general guide, it should include the following: - Grimes, Ronald L.., Deeply into the Bone, Re-inventing Rites of Passage, University of California Press, Berkeley, 2000 You may like to treat the following questions in your Journal --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- (5) Why isn't it OK to practice as Funeral Celebrant without proper training (to a celebrant who started a course but then stopped because he thought he would learn on the job).
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