Monday: Teaching Teachers

One thing I hadn’t thought of when I started teaching was that one day I would be teaching instructors myself.  I didn’t realize this at any single moment, it didn’t come as some sudden epiphany accompanied by a chorus of “Hallelujah!”  It was a realization that as I was teaching the class, the assistant instructor was also learning from not only the tasks I had given to them, but from my teaching the class as well.

Sounds like a no-brainer but when you are actually on the floor doing it, you don’t often consciously think about every single thing you do.  You can’t otherwise you would end up self-obsessed and taking up all the mirror time.

This also made me think back and reflect on the teachers I taught with and who through direct and indirect action taught me. The first two instructors who taught me were, and are some of the most experienced instructors in our school.  They also had very different teaching styles, both with students and with the assistant instructors they taught with.

One was very precise about what he wanted done, how it was to be done and what his expectations afterward were.  The other was just the opposite in that he would simply give me a drill to run, or something broader to work on, such as kicks (it is Tae Kwon Do after all.)  On top of that one class immediately followed the other.  It was a memorable experience, and one that proved to be very valuable to me just because it was not only very  different, but challenging as well.

When a student is just starting out the new assistant instructor can tackle it in a variety of ways.  It has been my experience that the older one is, the more nervous they become.  I guess youth doth have its advantages.

This also can be two very different sides of the same coin – watching an instructor throw themselves into the task at hand and wondering if they are going to sink or swim.  It is my responsibility as well as the other senior instructors at the school to make sure that doesn’t happen, and that the class is not adversely affected by it.

The new instructor who is overly cautious presents a different challenge.  They tend to doubt themselves and unfortunately students can smell this in an instructor.  The adults are usually more forgiving, but the younger ones will understand too, unless you try to full them.  That’s never worked in my ten years of doing this.  The ones you have to watch out for are the parents.  This is there kid you are teaching and you had better do it right!  I find myself frequently looking to the parents, desperately trying to read their thoughts.  That also hasn’t worked in the ten years I’ve done this.

The golden rule here is simple:

Teach what you know.  If you don’t know then find out.

We use a requirement book that can be referred to by any instructor, and is, including the chief instructor.

Imagine that!

Another aspect that is central to how we teach is positive reinforcement.

Praise. Correct. Praise.

You will notice it does not say anywhere to ridicule the snot out of the student, or tear them down, or berate them.  Aside from the fact that these people are paying you, not the other way around, it reinforces the core values you are teaching.

At least it should.  And this applies to the instructors and assistant instructors.  We learn from our teachers not only by what they tell us, but how they do it, and why.

We pick this up and learn from it, all of us and it is an aspect of what we do that should never be undervalued.  We teach positive values so that our students and teachers take this with them to make life better.

Simple really.