ARC MAGAZINE

The Teachable Moment

Some people are born to teach. Others evolve into the role over time, after various other life experiences. But like many who come to a teaching career more gradually, Olivia McCleery has developed an understanding of the education process that encompasses the perspective of the student as well as the teacher.

McCleery teaches welding – stick, TIG, MIG, ASME pipe – as well as plasma and oxyfuel cutting at Lincoln Electric’s Welding Technology and Training Center, located on the company’s main campus in Cleveland, Ohio. She originally hails from Hudson, a quiet northeast Ohio suburb that’s not typically associated with heavy industry, fabrication or related trades.

“Where I grew up, I didn’t even know about welding,” she says. “I didn’t get into it until much later in life. I went the traditional route. I went to art school and I got a degree in interior design that I never used.”

Instead, she spent a couple years in sales and advertising, and then went to work for a friend’s demolition company where she cut beams into small pieces. She transitioned to Lincoln Electric and took a job in production, and took classes at the weld school at the same time. Her original plan was to work in R&D when she finished her training, but when an instructor’s position opened up, she took the job and never looked back.

She admits that the rigors of teaching can be daunting at times, but she takes pride in the quality of instruction that she – and the school in general – are able to provide.

“The students are here six hours a day, five days a week, several weeks at a time, and the majority of time they spend here is very hands-on,” she says. “Plus, if anyone has a question about anything, ever, that we can’t answer, I can go ask an engineer in R&D or a product manager or a metallurgist. I can find the answers.”

And at the end of those six hours, McCleery is convinced that the students are the best part of the day and the best part of the job.

“You meet so many interesting people from all over the world,” she says, “and everyone has their own reason for being in the school. The fact that people are coming here to learn about something we love to do is inspiring. Some days you might not feel motivated about welding, but when it’s new to someone else and they’re excited about it, you do it and it reminds you of how exciting and important welding really can be.”

Like so many teachers – not just welding instructors but educators in any discipline – McCleery derives great satisfaction from the “ah-ha” moment, the turning point in the learning process when the student makes the transition from “I don’t get it” to “I’ve got this.”

“It happens all the time, and it never gets old,” she says. “Students who keep an open mind, who are willing to accept help, and who realize that they will not be the world’s greatest welder on day one will have the best experience in welding school. Some people do know how to weld when they get here, but they can always learn something new. Brand new students who have never welded before are my favorite, though. I really love introducing people to welding and being a part of those very important moments of teaching and learning.”