A Twenty-Year Perspective on Teacher Training

A TWENTY-YEAR PERSPECTIVE

Teacher Training with Pam Towne in San Antonio, TX; May 4-9, 2009

By Alice Holden, CCVI, Host, San Antonio, TX

It’s been almost 20 years since I received certification as a T’ai Chi Chih teacher and nine years since I hosted a training here in San Antonio, so I have a long perspective on the process. In 1991, by the time most teacher candidates came to training, they’d only just completed a basic TCC course within that year. The teacher trainer spent most of all week making sure we had the form correct. There was little time to teach us how to teach. We did, however, go through a mock TCC demonstration – that we all remember. But teaching tips were few and far between and not particularly memorable.

In 2000, when twelve teachers were accredited in San Antonio and had benefited from the teacher trainer coming to town a year earlier for a TCC review, the trainer spent a great deal of time re-teaching the movements. Although it was a good experience, there was little time to discuss and practice various teaching methods.

This year’s experience was different. From the first practice session on Monday morning, it was evident that students were well prepared. No one was leaning and everyone was turning from the center on the side-to-side movements. Every candidate had attended an intensive, which had paid off. This time it was possible for the trainer to shift the emphasis, after two days of movement review, to how to teach TCC. Each day and most evenings were full. Do you wonder what teacher training consists of at this point in our history as a community of TCC teachers and students? This is how it happened.

Days 1 & 2: With the use “Teaching Tips” and a Teacher Training Manual, candidates concentrated on how the movements are executed. Auditors and accredited teachers assisted in the process. On Monday evening the group listened to Justin Stone Speaks on T’ai Chi Chih and everyone was encouraged to make corrections in their practice. On Tuesday evening most of the group went to a local Mexican restaurant to celebrate Cinco de Mayo and my feast day. It was great fun.

Days 3, 4, & 5: The candidates divided into groups of three and took turns in leading, and then teaching, all the movements with increasing challenges at each step. They also had the opportunity to demonstrate their first real or imagined TCC presentation, after which there was loving critique by peers, auditors, and the trainer. The group was introduced to materials from Good Karma Publishing and the TCC Association in Albuquerque. An issue of The Vital Force was in everyone’s folder, and subscription forms were filled out. Participants watched Justin Stone’s visit to Folsom Prison on DVD and had a lengthy discussion about the principles of TCC. To celebrate everyone being accredited, on Friday evening the entire group visited the San Antonio Riverwalk, ate at a German restaurant, walked along the river, and attended an open-air concert at Mission San Jose.

Saturday morning began with a check-in, and the remarks were quite affirming:

• Teacher Training was an amazing experience and fun.

• I met many interesting people and we all became fast friends.

• My teachers being here, supporting me, was marvelous.

• I feel I’m entering a real community of learners and teachers.

• This is a milestone on a loving path.

• This has taken me to life’s biggest mystery.

• I learned how to let the light flow without judgment or criticism.

The greatest compliment I’ve ever received came that morning when a student said of me, “She walked among us but never above us.” How else could it be? I was learning as much as the candidates, and it was an amazing opportunity to energize my own practice.

A group photo was taken before friends and other TCC students arrived. Pam presented each student with a T’ai Chi Chih teacher certificate. As host, I presented to each the gift of an original TCC logo, created by local artist and teacher, Terry Gay Puckett. All then joined in the final group practice. Thus ended a delightful week of learning for which we are all most grateful, first to the Chi, then to Justin, Pam, Antonia, Sandy, and the entire TCC community for their invisible support. Of course we thank each candidate and auditor for having traveled together in deepening of our commitment to the Chi and to this practice.