The Assistant Instructor

For a lot of people this is their first exposure to teaching.  I think sometimes the Instructors and Senior Instructors forget this.  Teaching is an odd thing.  It comes naturally to some, yet others have to work at it all their teaching lives.  It doesn’t mean that one is better than the other, just that the route one travels is different.

When I first began teaching martial arts over ten years ago it was not my first time teaching, but it was my first time teaching something as interactive as martial arts.  It did not come naturally to me.  I was fortunate enough that when I first started I taught both a youth class and an adult class.  Problem was I treated the youths like adults and the adults like youths.  Looking back it was probably easier for me to identify with the adults – someone my own age – than it was with the youths.

When I was told this I was not only surprised but defensive.  I also had to look inward and admit that the input was correct.  I found myself consciously making an effort to identify with the students on a level that best suited them.  After some time this became second nature and my teaching style reflects this.  But in the beginning it was difficult.

Different styles and schools may have different specific tasks for the Assistant Instructor but the role is essentially the same throughout.  The Assistant Instructor is there to support the Instructor while at the same time learning what it is to be an Instructor themselves.  One thing an Assistant Instructor needs to keep in mind is that every teacher is different and has different things to offer.  There may be times that you may become frustrated with the Instructor you are working with and no longer see the value of working with them.  You might even feel you have learned everything you can from them.

Wrong.

Not to long ago I was the Assistant Instructor with the Chief Instructor of our school and there were still things I was picking up from him – nuances in pacing and variety in drills.

If you do find yourself frustrated what should you do?  Talk.  It’s the only way.  Be respectful but explain your difficulties.  It might be necessary in rare instances to find an intermediary.  The point is to persevere.  After all, it’s your education as an instructor that you are working on.  More importantly the students will know there is a problem, no matter what you or the Instructor may believe.  They will know, they always know.