The level of students, or the diversity.
When you teach math for six graders, you have a certain expectation for what your students know and can do. College biology, the same. Some students may be under-prepared for the course, or have different ideas about the course. They may or may not flunk or drop out. Others may be exceeding at the course content. The student may be at an eighth grade class but he can be ready for tenth-grade materials. Unfortunately in a class setting, the teacher cannot necessarily make big changes to the course material itself to adapt to a student who is out of the scope of the class.
Independent dance teachers have to teach people with very different levels, and in many different settings, such as in a large group class, in a small group class or in private lessons. It is like the same person teaching from sixth grade to graduate school students.
For a group class the teacher can make a previous announcement and roughly define the scope of the class. Things get trickier in privates. They need to determine the student's level on the spot, and work with them with the material appropriate for the student.
And in dancing, knowledge for the particular dance, the student's physical ability and skills for moving well, and the student's motivation and purpose, all these parameters come in different combinations.
For example, you have to teach Argentine Tango to an accomplished salsa dancer who can move well in general, but has never danced Argentine Tango and knows very little about the Tango... a situation like this is quite common.
And the material...most of the time learning is a step-wise process. Students need to go through basic concepts and moves, then move to more advanced applied concepts and moves. You cannot embellish your step when you are having difficulty executing a basic step with good balance.
Is it appropriate to tell a student material that he is not ready for yet? I am not certain about that.
Some teaching and concepts appropriate for and understood easily by advanced dancers may not work for an intermediate-level student at all.
So the teacher needs to make a judgement call when they teach a student in a private setting.
Many people want to believe that they are good, and that they are ready for very advanced materials and concepts. The "want" can be part of the cause of the student's slow progress. Have patience and practice to get past a level, so that you can go further ahead. The "want" can override the patience.
To me this looks obvious, and for many others it is obvious, too. But there are always people who see things otherwise.
Recently I was watching an Argentine tango instruction video on YouTube.The instructors seem to be good dancers, and they were talking about show-type Argentine Tango, which is a tricky issue because it is a very different "Tango" when viewed from the eyes of traditional Argentine Tango danced in crowded milongas (Argentine Tango parties). The video was attracting a variety of opinions including negative ones from apparent "Traditionalists", about their dance being too spacious, or for showing little passion.
I don't think the criticisms were on target. For me, it seems to be an example of the difficulty dance teachers face in dealing with the masses. With YouTube videos open to anybody, the teachers cannot talk to their correct target students.
For our book "Beginning Argentine Tango", the prospective readers are people who are starting, or at an early stage of Argentine Tango dancing. As I heard from the reader response, some were quite positive, such as "yours was the best" from an early stage learner. I was very glad to hear that.
In fact, we are making some companion videos for the book and will release them on YouTube. We are hoping to make the scope clear, so that the videos are viewed by the correct target students.
We have not set release deadlines yet. Holiday season and what not. But we do hope the videos will be viewed by people who find them helpful and useful.
For a group class the teacher can make a previous announcement and roughly define the scope of the class. Things get trickier in privates. They need to determine the student's level on the spot, and work with them with the material appropriate for the student.
And in dancing, knowledge for the particular dance, the student's physical ability and skills for moving well, and the student's motivation and purpose, all these parameters come in different combinations.
For example, you have to teach Argentine Tango to an accomplished salsa dancer who can move well in general, but has never danced Argentine Tango and knows very little about the Tango... a situation like this is quite common.
And the material...most of the time learning is a step-wise process. Students need to go through basic concepts and moves, then move to more advanced applied concepts and moves. You cannot embellish your step when you are having difficulty executing a basic step with good balance.
Is it appropriate to tell a student material that he is not ready for yet? I am not certain about that.
Some teaching and concepts appropriate for and understood easily by advanced dancers may not work for an intermediate-level student at all.
So the teacher needs to make a judgement call when they teach a student in a private setting.
Many people want to believe that they are good, and that they are ready for very advanced materials and concepts. The "want" can be part of the cause of the student's slow progress. Have patience and practice to get past a level, so that you can go further ahead. The "want" can override the patience.
To me this looks obvious, and for many others it is obvious, too. But there are always people who see things otherwise.
Recently I was watching an Argentine tango instruction video on YouTube.The instructors seem to be good dancers, and they were talking about show-type Argentine Tango, which is a tricky issue because it is a very different "Tango" when viewed from the eyes of traditional Argentine Tango danced in crowded milongas (Argentine Tango parties). The video was attracting a variety of opinions including negative ones from apparent "Traditionalists", about their dance being too spacious, or for showing little passion.
I don't think the criticisms were on target. For me, it seems to be an example of the difficulty dance teachers face in dealing with the masses. With YouTube videos open to anybody, the teachers cannot talk to their correct target students.
For our book "Beginning Argentine Tango", the prospective readers are people who are starting, or at an early stage of Argentine Tango dancing. As I heard from the reader response, some were quite positive, such as "yours was the best" from an early stage learner. I was very glad to hear that.
In fact, we are making some companion videos for the book and will release them on YouTube. We are hoping to make the scope clear, so that the videos are viewed by the correct target students.
We have not set release deadlines yet. Holiday season and what not. But we do hope the videos will be viewed by people who find them helpful and useful.
