The Key to Successful Teaching

Teaching T’ai Chi Chih can be rewarding and challenging. Many adults come to T’ai Chi Chih class with hidden physical / medical problems. Some come with attitudes from childhood school experiences of failure: “I can’t…., I’ve never been good at…., I’m uncoordinated…., I’ve always been a tense person….” Still others come carrying a great deal of tension from high-stress jobs, family or financial problems, or grief and depression. If you took a survey at your first class, you might be surprised at the variety of “problems” your students are experiencing.

Of course T’ai Chi Chih offers a golden opportunity to begin to change these conditions. If you have been teaching T’ai Chi Chih for several years, you have probably discovered that students generally fall into two categories. The first is a passive learner. They enroll for class with no goal in mind. They don’t say much, rarely ask questions or request correction, may arrive late or miss classes, stand in the back, and rarely practice at home.

The other type is an active learner. These students come to class regularly, often arriving early. They are friendly to other students, stand in the front of the class, ask questions and request correction, call if they have to miss a class and ask for makeup time, and practice at home.

As a good teacher, you want ALL your students to be active learners but wishing and hoping are not enough. You need to use teaching methods that will ensure that all your students, even the introverted ones, become active learners.

Every T’ai Chi Chih instructor should be familiar with the principles of learning that will best engage the learner and promote optimal participation in the learning process. An important one is the principle of how we learn.

Dr. William Glasser, psychiatrist, author, educator, and researcher, arrived at this noteworthy conclusion after working with children and adults for many years:

WE LEARN AND REMEMBER

10% of what we read
20% of what we hear
30% of what we see
50% of what we see and hear
70% of what we discuss with others
80% of what we experience personally
95% of what we teach someone else
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If we want to maximize student learning, we must incorporate students teaching students into our lesson plans, along with group instruction and practice, and interactive discussion and sharing.

Partner practice is one effective way to get students involved. Some TCC teachers already ask their students to pair up and explore a movement. The key is movement, not standing and talking. Noticing and checking posture, alignment, and foot position take on new meaning when working with a partner. Allowing the knees to bend and the weight to shift become an experienced reality rather than a concept spoken by the teacher.

Questions arise naturally. Awareness of improper foot positions, etc. emerge without embarrassment. Partners can encourage and compliment and critique each other without feeling self-conscious. The result is that everyone becomes empowered to improve their own movement and not just “go through the motions.” This helps them go deeper into their own practice.

After partner practice, students will say, “We were wondering about __________. Is this right?” They feel confident enough to demonstrate in front of the class! This offers a great “teachable moment” when you can say, “Yes, the question of __________ has come up for many students tonight and they have discovered __________. One student noticed that __________. Several people really were able to let go of tension and they noticed that __________.”

This type of comment really empowers the student and makes them take charge of their own learning. It makes them want to do partner practice again. It also builds a sense of community and support from their classmates and their teacher.

If we allow beginning students to work with other students right from the start, as they are learning, we will be promoting optimal opportunities for learning, at the 95% level of effectiveness. We will be creating active learners who are motivated by their own discoveries and improvement. We will be ensuring that everyone can learn, a belief that is held by every teacher in education today. Many of these active learners may be future T’ai Chi Chih teachers. They will already have had lots of experience working with others, exploring what they know and what they don’t know. They will be better observers of TCC movements and the flow of chi. They will be more aware of the limitations of their own form and how to improve it. They will be active learners and teachers of T’ai Chi Chih!