Instructor's
Notebook #11
THE
FOUR LEVELS OF INSTRUCTION
O.k.
teacher talk. This is going to be a little bumpy at first but it
will pay off in extra time for you and skills for your students.
As I see it there are four levels to teaching (there could be 3
or 37 but that's not the point). First I will explain the levels
starting at the simplest then we'll talk about their application.
1.
SHOWING. This is comparable to "monkey see, monkey do." Actually
this is quite common in martial arts. I had a number of friends
who studied under Chang I- Chung in the 80's. He would come to
Santa Cruz from L.A. about once a month. That lesson he would
conduct the class himself which meant, ostensibly, he went through
his Chen Pan Ling Tai Chi and everyone followed. His Q & A session
after that almost never touched on anything in the form. This
was a high level of "follow the leader."
2.
SHAPING: This is very important and very specific. Say you are
the back up instructor in a group class. The head instructor is
county off kicks, "One... Two ... Three... Yi... Er ... San ...." You spot
someone who needs help. You stand next to him and while they are
practicing whisper little encouragement's into their shell like
ears such as, "Get that knee up!" "Straighten that kick!!" "Point
those toes!!!" Soft or rough, the process is the same, it is instruction
while the action is being performed.
3.
COACHING or INSTRUCTING: This is an art in itself. Coaching, in
the martial arts, often is what most people think of as teaching,
but I see a difference. Coaching has Shaping, Showing and a lot
of other stuff in it. You make corrections, you show what to do,
you analyze the student's personality, attributes and potential.
This is the personal trainer or the basketball maven. Coaching
can be one-on-one or scattered over a full stadium. Among the
great coaches I've seen Joe Lewis pops into mind. He could transform
a fighter to a higher level in minutes. Some instructors are all
coach, and they can be great. Coaching has the distinguishing
characteristic that it is goal oriented. Concretely it might be
to win at a competition, abstractly to be the "baddest ass" on
the street; but there's always a goal and a criterion in the back
of the coach's and - it is to be hoped - the student's mind.
4.
TEACHING. Teaching, true teaching, is the opposite of that wonderful
line by Mr. Robert Benchley, "We learned everything about the
chameleon except why." The teacher wraps a world into his subject.
He doesn't interest the student, he transforms him or her by showing
not how his subject can change the world but, ultimately, how
any subject deeply understood can transform a universe. The teacher
inspires but doesn't force. His goal is renovation, not achievement.
That he leaves to his student. The teacher concentrates on the
subject in such depth and completeness that the student naturally
sees the correspondences to the rest of his own life.
Some
levels of teaching require a more informed individual but no level
is "better" than another. If the student can't life his knee and
aim a kick, the socio-historical relation of the leg arts to Celdaon
porcelain production (there is one) is of no use. If you want to
win - need to win - a coach will help you reach your goal, a teacher
might well confuse you that there is a goal. In the middle of the
class setting, the back up teacher should restrict himself to Shaping,
the results will be best that way.
What
about showing? Does that have any use? Here are two examples:
1.
There are certain moves like, say, an aerial kick at some level
that it would actually be best for the student to just do, not
understand (at least yet). As a teacher you show and then you
hope. They pick it up on first try and you have eliminated a lot
of cerebral blather.
2.
When I start a new instructor's class the participants are often
unsure of their skills. My first example to calm them down is
this, "You're in line and someone joins the class late. He looks
at you and you just show him what's being done by everyone else.
At that moment you're his instructor and he's happy to have you."
Once
you see that the overall subject of teaching can be broken down
into parts you may be able to assign your tasks more efficiently;
not only to save time but to actually get a better result for the
students. Knowing what level of teaching is required for each technique
can open doors to a bright future in the art.
Mancuso
