Not About the Stage

Yesterday I posted a bit of advice for people trying to teach somebody something.

This time it is about the very nature of teaching.

Let's say you wander into a university lecture hall just as the professor arrives. She spreads her notes out on the podium, and begins. For an hour, she explains, and gives examples, and writes a few things on the board, or shows a few slides. When class-time ends, she summarizes, fields a few questions, and then packs up, and leaves.

I think we would all recognize that she was teaching. The unfortunate thing is that many people only associate that one type of behaviour with teaching.

A better definition of teaching is that if a person is attempting to impart knowledge to another person, and is successful, then they are teaching. It doesn't have to involve a lesson, although it certainly should.

Let's also assume there is a class involved in a complex sort of physical skill, and that it will require instruction given to the group, with a portion of the class time given over for practice of the movements involved. Some examples are dance, fencing, or Jiu-Jitsu.

Let us also assume that there is one hour of time dedicated to this activity.

The instructor calls everybody together, and proceeds to explain and demonstrate the first bit of material they are trying to teach. Let's assume that they do a wonderful job. They then have the class pair up and proceed to perform what was just covered.

After a while, the students are called back for the next bit of instruction, and then again practice. This is done several more times in the hour.

This sounds simple enough, and if the instructor is good at explaining and demonstrating I bet that they think they were being a wonderful teacher.

Let's examine that.

Let's say that half of the hour was involved in the instructor teaching and demonstrating, and the other half in practice.

What was the instructor doing while the class was practising? What should they be doing in order to best facilitate learning?

Recently, I observed a class being taught to a group of beginners. Every single time that they paired up to practice, the teacher walked over to the side and chatted with friends. He never once did anything in regards to observing his students, or offering encouragement for their successes, or help when they needed it. In his hour class, out of 60 minutes, he taught for 30 of them, and spent the other 30 on vacation. Even if he and been explaining and demonstrating perfectly, the best he could score as a teacher would be 50%.

Students deserve better than this. They deserve 100% of their instructor.

One time I observed an instructor finish a lesson segment, and then walk away to chat with friends during the entire practice time that followed. He never once glanced at his students. After a few minutes, he returned and called them back, praising them for how well they were doing generally, and then demonstrated a couple of things he said he'd seen them doing wrong. He was as close to "phoning the lesson in" as it is possible to get. If any of his students noticed this, what would they think? They'd know that he cared nothing about them or their progress, and that he's also a liar.

I've also seen instructors spend all the practice time helping only favourite students, and totally ignoring others.

I've seen teachers misjudge time so badly during practice so poorly that students didn't all get a chance to try the movements, or so that students are left doing the same thing for so long that they got bored and stopped.

The cure is very simple.

After the material is explained and demonstrated, and the students set to work, the teacher MUST NOT think he's on any sort of break. He must think of practice time as teaching version 2.0 instead. He needs to be circulating to everybody he possibly can, observing, and offering correction, and feedback. He should also pick a pair of easily visible students to be his timer. He doesn't need to stare at them, but should use them to gauge when sufficient practice has occurred by their rate, and approximately how many repetitions they are able to complete.

This will all do three things for the students. First, they will have somebody to show them where they are going wrong and to get them back on track. Secondly, it will show them how important that the students progress is to the instructor, and how passionate he is about the material. This is a very great motivator for students.

The third and perhaps greatest benefit is the teacher will actually be able to gauge just how well the lesson was absorbed by the group as a whole. If the group as a whole doesn't seem to understand some aspect of the material, the teacher can use this information to call the group back for a little impromptu, correction.

Suppose a dance teacher spent an entire evening NOT observing his students practising. Also suppose, they were absolute beginners, but that the teacher had been told this was their second or third lesson. Due to this miscommunication, he didn't bother to address the vital detail of execution of a proper frame. This is vital for new beginners. By the end of the hour 100% of them would be dancing incorrectly. If the teacher had noticed, he could have fixed this oversight immediately, and then everybody could have progressed satisfactorily.

Of course, there will be exceptions to this. Suppose there is an injury. The teacher will need to address this immediately. Perhaps the teacher needs to get something that they forgot, and that is necessary to proceed. Maybe the roof has sprung a leak. However, 90% of the time the teacher should be totally working for his students, for every second of the class.

Even little things detract.

Suppose a long-absent old friend shows up on the sidelines. I've seen teachers run from their class for a handshake, hug, and several minutes of conversation, even during explanation and demonstration time. What they should do is perhaps make brief eye contact, smile, and maybe a head nod. Doing more, such as calling out a greeting is likely going to be reciprocated verbally, perhaps with an exchange, all at the expense of the class.

Keep in mind, they have 30 minutes to actually get better at the skill you are trying to impart to them, and every moment you have stolen from them is precious.

The teaching does not stop when the classical instruction does. It doesn't end after the explanation and demonstration the front of the group is finished. That is only part of the job.

The students need and deserve a teacher who is present and working for them every moment.