Teaching Where You’re Given Space

Because I teach T’ai Chi Chih in a hospital setting, I have to make do with the space the HMO has available. There are no beautiful, large, mirror-lined, dance floor/exercise rooms in a hospital! Instead, I teach in a smallish conference room in an older, out-of-the-way building.

The room is the smallest I have ever taught in. This has led to some innovations in my teaching which have been for the better in ways I didn’t foresee. Because I am only 5’3″, many people couldn’t see me very well when I taught the students in staggered rows (with me at the front). There wasn’t enough distance between them and me for those in the middle and back rows to get a good view of me. I thought that teaching in a circle might alleviate this problem, although I also felt that it can be difficult for some beginners to learn this way, particularly those who have trouble with left and right, or balance issues. Previously, I had only taught in a circle to more advanced students. Nevertheless, I did decide to begin teaching the courses in a circle. With the very first series of courses in which I did this, I noticed a marked change in the cohesion of the group—it happened much sooner and the groups tended to bond more tightly! I now enjoy teaching in a circle more than in staggered rows—the classes seem to flow more smoothly.

Everyone can see everyone else this way, and when one person gets corrected, everyone else can see what the problem was and how it is corrected and then check to see if they are doing the same thing. The students tend to interact more—talking to each other, helping each other, joking, enjoying themselves. Everyone can see me, the instructor, clearly, too. Sometimes I’ll even walk into the center of the circle (if I want them to be able to see my leg straightening in the back and the heel staying low when I glide forward on the forward-and-back yinning and yanging, for instance). When I demonstrate/explain something in the center of the circle, I usually turn in at least two different directions (or all four directions) so everyone can see from all angles.

I am able to fit more people into the room by using the circle formation. Sometimes, depending on the movement and the size of the class, I’ll have every other person take a step or two forward to provide a little more arm room for everyone.

The downsides of teaching in a circle are:

1) It’s very apparent and can be disruptive when one or more students do not move at the pace of the rest of the group (either slower or faster)—it affects everyone. I’ll say to the group, “Let’s all try to move together at the same pace…” to bring it back together.

2) People who mix up their left and right tend to get very confused on the side-to-side movements, even though I repeatedly caution that they shouldn’t look at the people across the circle, because they will be moving in the opposite direction; rather, they should look to the person on their left or right and follow their lead. On certain movements, if enough people are having trouble with this, I’ll turn the whole group around (into a U-shape or staggered rows) to face one wall so we can all move in the same direction.

3) The group will tend to close in on each other, making the circle smaller than is ideal. In this case, when we come to a graceful conclusion, I’ll ask people to take a step or two back to open it up again.

I was offered other rooms in which to teach my classes when I first contracted with the hospital. Some of them were good-sized spaces, but had no natural light at all (and buzzing fluorescent lights), no ability to open a window and/or door to get fresh air from outside, no wooden floors or well-cushioned carpeting, and/or were noisy/busy locations. Plus, the largest room was the most popular one and there would be a great likelihood of getting bumped to make room for other groups.

After seeing these rooms, I explained to the coordinator whom I work with what I was looking for—some of these rooms had some features I liked, but none had all the features I like. She looked into more possibilites and brought me back out to look at more rooms. The first one she took me to was the small room I am in now. It has four big windows (plenty of natural light) and three of them open (for plenty of fresh air). The building is set back from the street, backing to some residences, so is a quiet location on Saturday mornings. I also felt that this room didn’t feel like it was in a hospital—it didn’t have that sterile ambience. Instead, it was a little quirky, had some charm. This suited me more, personally.

I told her this room seemed the best choice, even though it was the smallest. She understood my reasons once I explained them to her and supported my decision, even though it would mean limiting the enrollment (less income for the HMO). I have found over and over that coordinators make their best effort to find a room, but they usually don’t know what is important in teaching this movement art. Once I explain it to them, they are then willing to find something that fits my criteria (which will, in turn, benefit the students). As it happens, the room I am in is not one that others wanted, so my coordinator actually did someone else a favor by scheduling me to use it!

Once classes began, I discovered another plus. Because it is located in one of the HMO’s older buildings, there are actually wooden floors underneath the carpeting—we know because we can sometimes hear floorboards creak during class! The newer buildings all have concrete floors with a ¼ inch of industrial carpet, which is hard on the legs, particularly the knees. Since I teach classes from 9:30am – 1:00pm every Saturday, I (and my knees) are grateful for the wooden floors! I know my students, some of whom are disabled in some way, would also be feeling tension if they were practicing on hard floors. Another plus that has proven true over time is that I have never been bumped from the room I teach in, so the cumulative effect of groups of people practicing T’ai Chi Chih week after week in the same space has increased. Plus, a student can take a quarter off and when he/she is ready to come back to classes, they’re still located in the same place. This kind of consistency has a far-reaching effect on the success of any program, I have found.

The room you teach in has a profound effect on the mood in the class. I encourage you to put a lot of effort up front (before any classes begin) into the decision of which room you will teach in, whether you are teaching in an institutional setting (and have little choice) or contracting to rent space on your own. If you decide well originally, you will not have to try to find some other space later on (which will be disruptive to the program you’ve already begun). Fresh air, natural light, wooden or well-carpeted floors with a little give all assist YOU in teaching well. Lots of space is certainly nice, too, but teaching can be successfully modified for smaller spaces.