9/1/2022 0 Comments On Teaching in the ArtsI started assisting dance teachers in my early teens.
I started teaching drama workshops in my late teens. I started teaching creative writing in just the last five years or so. I've lead regular weekly classes in all three of these disciplines, with returning students, for roughly twenty years. Though my current "bread-and-butter" is working with teenagers, I've taught artists from as young as 3 up to people in their late 60's. As I take a brief hiatus from teaching this season, I'm looking back and collecting some causes for satisfaction. There are lots of different styles of teaching so not everything will necessarily jive with you. But, in no particular order, here is a mad list of items for success in the studio. Maybe these tidbits of experience will help students and teachers alike to arrive at those golden moments we all live for. Teachers: Tell them your plans. They don’t have to understand the long game but knowing that you have one will help when they get bored, frustrated, or impatient with an exercise or with a peer, etc. Know that you probably won’t see your students’ best work: build curriculum that aims to collaborate with the future. Demistify everything! Our hero’s are only people. No one needs a pedestal. Be as pragmatic as possible 100% of the time. Overpreparing for the studio time can be just as fatal as underpreparing. Know your content. Remain nimble. A culture of progressive collaboration will serve everyone better in the long run than a culture of competition. No one has to lose if no one has to win. We're here to learn and grow. Young people, especially, may bring a lot of their daemons, growth, insecurities, confusion, etc. to their creative practice. You have responsibilities. Schedule at LEAST two minutes at the beginning and end of each class to make sure everyone is okay. Ensuring everyone's emotional safety doesn’t have to look like an AA meeting. It could be almost any ritual, a stretch or a breathing exercise or a joke. But don't be afraid to check-in if it feels germane, too. And know what to do if someone says they're struggling. When people say "you set the tone" it won't feel like it if your students want to challenge you. But you do. And they will. Challenging you is a way of engaging with you. If they're wrong about something, it's your job to tell them. But challenging authority will do them good in the future, it's your job to support some of that too. Absolutely no one needs to be "broken down" in order to be an artist. Nor does a classroom need to be competitive to build success. Such notions are draconic and anachronistic. Having a "safe space" does not mean forcing people to go to difficult territory. It may mean showing them how they are capable of approaching difficult territory. Be soft if they do. And still reward them with your attention if they choose not to. One’s body, not psyche, is the safest route to one’s feelings. Breathe towards the feelings and breathe away from them. Breath is everything. Wait to use your brain till after. Talking to parents & caregivers is unpaid labour but a crucial part of teaching. Even a brief chat about the weather can tell you so much! I've had English-fluent students from homes with no English at all, parents who expect to see their teen headlining broadway next week, parents who expect their 9-year-old children to be corporate lawyers, and parents who use their child's dead-name. Having information like this will help you see your students more thoroughly, help you find their own unique goals, to motivate them, affirm, and manage their expectations. If someone asks for regular private lessons, try to say no! No, no, no. One-on-one can be incredible, especially for technique, but it is not a substitute for a peer group. We will always grow better if we can grow with a group. It doesn't mean anyone ever has to be extraverted but we can all surely benefit from a context and a mirror. (And maybe they can pay less money but you can make more when it’s a group class rather than private). Be capable of what you’re asking of them. You don’t have to be good at it (you don’t have to be good at anything) but you have to know what it feels like in your body in order to lead it well. When it’s going really well, the class will adopt the unique little eccentricities you’re unconsciously giving them. Expose them to other artists and arts teachers to dilute this. Other voices, even a YouTube video, can open unimagined possibilities. If you can get the beginner students to witness the intermediate or advanced students, and vice versa, my golly, do! Often students get much better at the thing than they realize. Your words won’t convince them of this as much as (eventually) taking away their safety blanket. This could mean maybe taking their script away, separating them from their favourite peer, speeding up the music, etc. If you get the timing right—and you will—it’s a hugely rewarding day for everyone. Context is craft. If you have room to offer it, a ^little^ history of the form gives artists somewhere to go to and somewhere to expand from. There is no such thing as perfect. (+) Trying is succeeding. (=) Exploring the edge of one's comfort zone is an A+ every time. In this environment, polish is less important than development. Never ever tell beginners that what they’re doing is "hard." You can say it challenged others or just tell them it’s awesome. Your language shapes their approach to the work. Hot take and I'll stand by it: your students are more important than you. Yes they are. Unpack that? Start from the truth that this is their time and their vulnerability. Your time is paid for, your vulnerability is guided by your leadership. They have autonomy but they don't have the power you do. Put them first. Eat well. Have decently balanced blood sugar levels. This is a biggie. Finally: Laugh. Laugh as much as possible. And if you can’t laugh today because the your blood is too heavy, just be human about it, let them see small mistakes, ask them questions. Just never forget that we're doing this because we love this. And your students should love this too. Laugh a lot. Really.
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