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Signs that you need more / better dance teacher training. (Part three of three.)

Posted 8/7/2021

By Francisco De La Calleja

You have decided to share your passion for dance with the world. And if you can earn a living with it, how much better!


You may have noticed that teaching requires very different skills than you apply to dance and show. And it is that not all your students have the same objectives or abilities. Juggling all of this while maintaining the professional image you've built with every dance, competition, or show requires tremendous mental flexibility and dedication. Here are a few more clues that will tell you if you need to hone your teaching, not just your dancing skills:

You believe being patient is a teaching quality.

Teachers become patient because something is missing from their teaching method that will invariably lead to repeated “mistakes” by the student, which will create the need for massive amounts of repetition, both of their explanation and of the exercise the student will attempt, with the corresponding frustration and need for patience. You need to further develop other, more important, teaching qualities such as empathy, curiosity, observation, organization, creativity and communication.

 

You have to actively recruit students from other dance schools for your performance troupes.

This means your attrition rate is so high you cannot induce and retain enough students from each beginner cohort to form a performance troupe when they get to an advanced level. You will need to work on building value into each of your lessons in order to keep your own beginner students motivated about their future.

 

You repeat your explanations. A lot.

If your explanations and corrections do not work you are either trying to communicate in a way that is not compatible with your student’s learning process or you are simply correcting the wrong mistake. You need to learn how to organize your lesson plans. Your ability to observe and evaluate what you see in class also needs an upgrade.

 

You have a “step / combination of the week”.

Teachers that cannot separate their own learning from that of their students will often do this, using their lessons to practice the latest combo they learned, regardless of whether it is pertinent to the student’s learning process. Teachers that do this do so because they are unable to teach ideas, so they teach steps instead. The price is paid by their students, who find themselves unable to dance with anyone who did not learned the same step /combination. You have to learn how to teach concepts or ideas rather than steps and combinations.

 

You get the feeling that dancing is not very important for some of your students.

Ever notice that some of your students seem to skip group classes or seem to postpone private lessons quite often? They come in late for class and are rarely seen in practice socials? You may be tempted to think that dancing is not a high priority for them and that their lack of assiduity will naturally result in mediocre results. You may feel it is not in your job description to motivate your students. That may be true, but you could be losing students not for lack of motivation but for lack of information. Remember: those students thought dancing important enough to sign up for the lessons in the first place. If they are losing interest it may be because they are not getting what they need, want or expect. You will not need to motivate your students if you at least inform them of what to expect in order to go where they need to get what they want. You need learn how to keep your students informed of their own learning process.

*****

If you recognize one or more of these points in your teaching it may be time for you to look into becoming a more proficient instructor. After all, your teaching qualities should match your passion, drive and professional pride as a dancer.  If you are going to teach, learn how you can be the best teacher you can be.

Be part of the true teaching elite. Contact us for information about our teacher training program at www.shedanceswithhim.com It will make your career a more pleasant and profitable one.