Thank you to everyone who read my last post and shared their stories! It has really encouraged my thoughts to progress...
As an SEN teaching assistant, I recognise that by building positive relationships with students is extremely important to their learning and development. But when I reflect this on education in dance, it's like entering a completely different world. I now question whether dancers would have a better chance of success if they had better relationships with their teachers.
I also came across an inspiring (yet comical) TED Talk entitled 'Every kid needs a champion'. Rita Pierson (a professional educator) discusses how every student deserves a teacher who understands the power of connection and insists that their students become the best the can possibly be.
What I am noticing during my research so far is there is some great literature that discusses the importance of a teacher/student relationships, but not so much in dance education, especially in the most recent years.
To be an artist is extremely challenging, and it can be particularly difficult for students with big ambitions who are uncertain about the future. It can be even harder if they don't feel supported by their educators. (Buckroyd, 2000)
So, what do I think makes a good dance teacher?
I already know that to be a good teacher you need to be organised, trustworthy, creative, patient and knowledgable. But is an emotional connection as important to students studying dance?
I once had a dance teacher who I will never forget. I shall name them X for the purpose of this blog...
X always had time to talk to students about issues out of class whether it was personal or about dance. X gave feedback in a positive way and their use of dialogue was professional, fair and reassuring. X wasn't intimidating, but strict enough to get the best out of students. X was passionate about dance, and this was obvious in all lessons. All students wanted to respect X because X always showed respect to students. In my eyes, X had all the qualities of good teacher physically and emotionally.
I am concerned that I am using my own assumptions to help me find an inquiry topic, therefore I would be very interested to know what you think makes a good teacher, whether that be in dance, musical theatre, acting or music?
References
Ballet Papier. 2021. [image] Available at: <https://www.balletpapier.com/about-us-and-what-we-do> [Accessed 4 March 2021].
Buckroyd, J., 2000. The student dancer. Cecil Court London: Dance Books
Hi Alice, it's nice to hear your ideas are progressing! It seems as though learning about student/teacher relationships in dance would be really beneficial to work as a SEN teaching assistant and I think exploring the different dynamics would be really interesting.
ReplyDeleteFor me (completely personal and this would definitely be my bias if I was doing this topic), 'connection' is really what makes a good teacher. They can be knowledgeable and skilled and even kind but without connection I feel like I might as well be on my own teaching myself (I've had to do this before). I will say, I felt this in academic college as well as dance training. I am someone who is usually quite different to people around me and so feeling 'seen' and understood by a teacher effects everything - my mentality in/before their class, my progress, feeling safe, feeling okay to ask questions, engagement, understanding, motivation etc etc. That really is just me, and I know some people don't really mind who teaches them as long as the lesson is fun, but I see connection as massively powerful in all areas of life and particularly in teaching. Even if we only connect because we have the same sense of humour, that little connection can mean the world to some.
Looking forward to hearing your progress! x
Hi Roanne, I completely agree with you and feel this was so important to my learning during professional dance training. I love what you have said about feeling safe and motivation. Thank you for sharing :) x
DeleteHi Alice it seems you've really found your topic now since our last student Skype which is awesome! Such an interesting topic to and will certainly develop your professional practise.
ReplyDeleteI think a good teacher needs to have empathy, they need to be able to understand and relate to their students. They need to be approachable, for students to be able to ask questions and progress their learning. Also be creative in the fact that its good to have multiple ways of explaining things as not everyone will learn the same way!
This got me thinking about two ballet teachers I had in the past. One was very traditional in the way that she favoured only the girls who had the typical ballet body and had a way of putting the rest of us down. Baring in mind we were at a MT college and no one really was ever going to make it in a ballet company... The second teacher embraced that we were at a musical theatre college and encouraged us to use our strengths of performance and story telling into our ballet and I always used to leave her class inspired and consequently my love for ballet grew and my technique progressed leaps and bounds in such a short time, compared to the year I had with the previous teacher!!!
Hi Emily, thank you so much for sharing! I love what you have said about empathy and being adaptable to the students needs. I feel that many dance teachers (from experience) have their way of teaching and don't differentiate their style of teaching. I love what you have said about your second Ballet teacher, I can understand how they inspired you :)
DeleteHi Alice, to echo what Emily said above, during my MT training, it was clear with most teachers that if you had come with previous formal dance training it was much better and the rest of us were definitely overlooked the majority of the time. However, there was definitely one teacher who respected and took note of the people who gave it their all, and really felt the music, even if they weren't the most flexible or experienced and it brought a much better energy to class to see effort and practice praised rather than 'the finished product'.
ReplyDeleteHi Shelley! It is nice to hear your ideas as a former MT student in dance! I am definitely recognising (from former students' perspectives) that students learnt better from teachers who are respectful and recognise hard work. Thank you for sharing x
DeleteHi Alice,
ReplyDeletethanks for sharing your thoughts! I am so envious of your apparent self organization skills and you commitment to your work and your blogs, it really seems like you know what you are doing (even if it doesn't feel like it to you) or you have created your own way of finding your way to know what you are doing, if you know what I mean!?
Going to your question about "what makes a good dance teacher? "
I had a similare perusal for my own enquiry (which I am actually not pursuing as I have chosen a different avenue) but my thought was about the role of a director. Is there more to it than telling an actor "how" to act? I think that it is definitely about how they connect and engage with them. This also links to the research we did in module 1 about Learning theories and how people best learn. Everyone responds to different triggers, and it would be the same in this situation too.
I have assisted a director who would talk very thoroughly with an actor and listen about their personal lives and experiences and thus drawing parallels between themselves and the role they were playing. This was all done outside of the rehearsal "classroom" and not in rehearsal time and so it never felt as though it were part of the "process". Of course this is a technique but it felt different to a normal director - actor relationship. Like you have said we all know the fundamentals of being a good teacher but I think there are definitely a few hidden extras underlying and I think much of that are psychological elements. Sorry I don't think I have explained that all that well but hopefully you will get the gist!
Thank you again for sharing your thoughts . I wish you all the best for continuing your work, Lauren x