2710  Rudeness and teaching

Date: Mon, 30 Aug 2004 08:10:59 -0400
From: Mary Ellen Tormey <metormey@COMCAST.NET>
Subject: Re: Rudeness and teaching

Hi Ricardo,

I felt you raised an important topic about teachers. I have been wanting to ask "What makes a 'good teacher" or "what do you look for in =
a teacher?" But it is an individual thing I suspect. And it's not just about technique...

In this city--which is not as large as some people think--we have a couple of teachers who conduct themselves quite unprofessionally. Their =
relationship and personal problems spilling over into lessons--classes as well as privates--milongas, and practicas. I am finding out as a new =
student that the negative impact has reverberated throughout the area. It is real hubris for teachers to think that students will keep coming =
back and paying for lessons or attending milongas when the atmosphere or environment is so contaminated with this toxic emotional waste. And =
people are getting angry and feeling ripped off because there aren't too many options in such a small community. No adult I know has time and =
money to blow on these pursuits.

Additionally, these some of these characters are so narcissistic that they believe their public declarations of, "I'm the best teacher" or =
"I'm the best dancer in the city" will carry the day over their rudeness, ignorance and poor social skills which are grossly evident =
even when there isn't some interpersonal drama being acted out. The teachers who rise above all of this and make everything as clean as =
possible, create an environment of possibility and joyful expectation, and who respect their adult students as peers do the best.

It appears that some instructors don't seem to know much about the process of teaching and believe that being able to dance competently =
makes one a good teacher. There is a saying in the field of education that applies to all types of teaching, "If the student hasn't learned, =
then the teacher hasn't taught." Now, I can tell you that the first time we heard it in a class as graduate students, we were all *so* =
indignant! "How could that be?!" we asked ourselves and each other. After all, we prepared our lessons and were so knowledgeable in our =
fields and gave great lectures and spent hours knocking ourselves out, blah, blah, blah...

Well, that one statement "If the student hasn't learned, then the teacher hasn't taught" is something that all teachers should have taped =
to their bathroom mirror, and some Tango teachers in particular should also have it posted on their studio mirrors as well, so they will see it =
when they are busy admiring their own reflections instead of encouraging the growth and development of their students as dancers of Argentine =
Tango...

So Ricardo, I heard what you were saying about there's more to teaching than technique. Loud and clear!

Mary Ellen