Thread: But I don't wanna teach!

Or do I?
My hubby's been letting it slip that he thinks I should teach. I keep telling myself that I'm just not ready. But is it true?

What made you decide to start teaching? Did you fill in for another teacher or did you just one day decide that you needed to share your dancing with the world?

I'm hoping that in reading the answers, I'll come to my own conclusion. I don't think I'm under-qualified. I have a very large dance vocabulary(and can demostrate them and break them down in several different ways), get along with almost all of the teachers in this area, and am the only tribal fusion gal in the area so I have something brand new to bring to the table.
I just don't know if I'm ready for the leap or even how I would go about it.

Thanks in advance
Rya (She of many questions)

Originally Posted by sweetie_1916

Or do I?
My hubby's been letting it slip that he thinks I should teach. I keep telling myself that I'm just not ready. But is it true?

What made you decide to start teaching? Did you fill in for another teacher or did you just one day decide that you needed to share your dancing with the world?

I'm hoping that in reading the answers, I'll come to my own conclusion. I don't think I'm under-qualified. I have a very large dance vocabulary(and can demostrate them and break them down in several different ways), get along with almost all of the teachers in this area, and am the only tribal fusion gal in the area so I have something brand new to bring to the table.
I just don't know if I'm ready for the leap or even how I would go about it.

Thanks in advance
Rya (She of many questions)

Why is it that your husband thinks you should teach?

~~Kimahri

Don't let flattery push you to teach. Let it be based on dance skill and ability to teach. This takes the ability to truly assess your skills and your dance resume.

Let's assume you are qualified... Do you even *want* to teach? Is it a way you want to spend your time and a commitment you feel you have the time, energy and will to take on? It's ok to not want to do it.

Originally Posted by antimony

Let's assume you are qualified... Do you even *want* to teach? Is it a way you want to spend your time and a commitment you feel you have the time, energy and will to take on? It's ok to not want to do it.

... and do you have time to teach? Don't forget to add on preparing lessons, travel, lugging gear around, organizing publicity, paying bills, answering the phone and emails, keeping up with teaching related developments (eg teaching methodology, safe dance practice, business requirements) and the occasional stint as counsellor.

There are days when I just want to dance myself but after teaching I only have energy to read a book.

I decided to teach because its what I am good at. I found myself in positions during this journey where I was teaching be it at our student troupe practice when our instructor was out of town, then teaching my partner in a duet who also use to join me for my personal practice sessions and so forth.

I found that I had a large vocabulary of the movements and helped students who were just not getting it from other instructors out side of class. They all wished I was teaching.

I've been an instructor in every job I have had. Its what I enjoy and its what I do best. So I decided that I would teach belly dance.

I don't think that teaching is something someone should do unless they feel inspired and self-motivated to do it, any more than having children is something people should do without those conditions. So many people seem to think that if a dancer becomes accomplished, then the natural next step is to teach. Not all dancers want to teach or need to teach. It should be something a dancer enjoys and desires to pursue. Just take your husband's opinion as an indication of how much he admires you and your abilities, but please don't teach if you don't feel the interest in doing so.

One of my former students who has become a very accomplished dancer was just telling me the other day that she does not have a desire to teach and does not enjoy teaching. I totally respect that. Teaching is a totally different activity from performing - it's not for everyone, or at least it may not be for you at this particular time of your life.

Your reluctance will pass onto your students. say no more.
Too many people teach because there is no where else to go with their dancing.
I never intended to teach because I was a teacher in my day job BUT my arm was twisted and I enjoyed it . Not only do I pass on my love of the dance but I totted up the other day that I have passed on my obsession to around 20 girls who are still dancing around the UK and two are teaching themselves.
Now retired I am employed in another town with another new class and therefore still in touch with the world of work and a lot younger women so teaching pays off (not a lot salary wise with college teaching rates!)
I only wish I could teach locally but there are already too many doing so!

I've been thinking about a lot of these issues myself recently because I have been very firmly encouraged to teach by my own teacher. I am delighted and flattered that she thinks well enough of me and my dancing to suggest this path to me but at the same time I'm trying to keep my feet on the ground and not let it all go to my head.

I think that its rather easy to get on a conveyor-belt where you've been dancing for X-years and someone suggests that you teach/there is a local need for it and so you end up teaching. However I think that if teaching is not for you then there should be no obligation to do so, especially if you want to maintain a concerted focus on your own dance improvement.

As a long sufferer of mediocre instructors in a variety of disciplines (not really dancing though) I am determined not to become one myself.

As a result I have decided to do the JWAAD foundation course as a useful and informative course in its own right. Hopefully, if I complete it, I will think again about whether teaching is the right course for me in the long term but I don't see doing the course as obliging me to run out there and start up a class.

In my case, there are many excellent teachers already within my local area (or a short drive out of it) so its not as if another one is desperately needed.

Woo Yay! 3 stars!

<does a shimmy of glee>

I can't say that there was one particular thing or incident that made me decide I wanted to teach...just a sense that it was the obvious 'next step' for me, especially living in an area where there aren't really many performance opportunities. On reflection, that probably wasn't the best reason to decide to teach, but it worked for me in terms of kick-starting the next phase of my personal dance development, as having to reflect on and break down my own knowledge helped me to gain a deeper understanding of what I was doing, and having to actively research what I thought were the gaps in my knowledge revealed a whole other realm of *actual* gaps On the flip side, focussing on developing as a teacher meant that I put off focussing on developing as a performer for longer than I perhaps should have, so there were downsides for me in terms of dance development as well.

I actually also genuinely enjoy passing on what I know, and enjoy watching others 'get' it, and also enjoy teaching those who might not 'get' it straight away but enjoy the journey nonetheless. I think that has to be a crucial element if you're considering moving into teaching.

To return to the original question...I wouldn't go into teaching just because someone else thinks you should. But I suspect you're drawn to it in some way, otherwise you wouldn't have started the thread...seriously consider what mish_mish and kashmir have said in their responses - you need to have an aptitude for teaching (or be prepared to learn how to teach), and you need to be prepared for all the *work* that goes with teaching...it isn't just as straightfoward as 'sharing your dancing with the world'.

I wanna quote everything but I'll be here forever, so I'll just touch on a few points. I do enjoy teaching. I find that people come to me if they're not getting something and so I try to explain in a way they understand. We're sorely lacking teachers here. There's a couple of really good ones, and then a couple who do it solely because they want to teach buy aren't necessarily good at communicating the steps. I would NEVER go into teaching just because it's a way to make money or because there was no other option. Some days I think about teaching and I don't want to do it because of the time/energy involved. I know that once I start down that road, there will be less time for personal growth and more time spent on lesson plans and events. Other times, I'll see a dancer who hasn't been trained very well or has so much potential and I just yearn to teach her. *shrug* Like I said, my mind's not made up and I don't want to just jump into it without being fully commited. It would be a waste of my time and any students that I had.

I was thinking of teaching a few small workshops though. Most of the local workshops are super small and I think that might be a way to see whether I enjoy it or not.

Originally Posted by Kimahri

Why is it that your husband thinks you should teach?

Well, I just asked him and here it is from the horses mouth ..g.:

He said, "1: You're very good. 2: You're passionate. And 3: You have a very strong aptitude for teaching."

That's verbatim. I'd go into a long spiel about how awesome and supportive he is but that's a whole 'nother topic.

Having not taught belly dance, I don't know, but I know that through teaching other things, I've learned more and understand things better.

I don't, though, think that you should teach if you don't want to teach. Would private students interest you? You wouldn't have to make lessons every week for 8 weeks.

I said going into this that I didn't want to teach, but then again, I also said that I did not want to perform in public and I am doing that. When my teacher hinted and me teaching one day I was a little taken aback and didn't respond because I didn't know how I felt about it. I have taught Algebra to high schoolers before and I didn't mind that. I wonder what it would be like to teach something that the students in class actually want to learn....

I am a far way off from teaching but I know that I am good at breaking things down and visualizations of moves, now I just have to perfect the moves themselves!

Long story short, give yourself time to really know how you feel about it. I think that teaching a workshop or two is a great idea to see how you feel about it and if you want to put the time and energy (and cost) in to it.

Originally Posted by sweetie_1916

Well, I just asked him and here it is from the horses mouth ..g.:

He said, "1: You're very good. 2: You're passionate. And 3: You have a very strong aptitude for teaching."

That's verbatim. I'd go into a long spiel about how awesome and supportive he is but that's a whole 'nother topic.

Teaching is a higher form of learning. Figuring out how to explain something you know in different ways so the student who doesn't understand explanation A may understand B or C takes an entirely different thought process, and you learn the movements in deeper ways by doing so.

I have found that both my training in how to teach movement and the ability and experience of writing are the skills I bring to the classroom.

Or, using choreography as an example: not every dancer can choreograph, or wants to. Choreography is writing - you are telling a story using a vocabulary of movements that express the song, style of dance and costuming, and the mood you are creating with the piece. Some wonderful dancers don't choreograph and just dance. Some choreograph certain parts and then fill in the rest with improv. You try to find within yourself what kind of things work for you and honor that. Like with dance styles. Some people prefer one style above all others, and other people explore many styles, and still others fuse different styles into new forms.

The idea of starting with teaching a workshop or two is a good one. Think of the aspects of dance you enjoy and want to share the most, and build from that. If you enjoy what you are sharing, it will show and the participants will probably enjoy learning from you.

If you don't feel ready, then don't. If you think you can but you are uncertain or scared, it may be time to challenge yourself. Either way, good luck with your decision!

___________________________
Persephone's Daughters

Originally Posted by sweetie_1916

I was thinking of teaching a few small workshops though. Most of the local workshops are super small and I think that might be a way to see whether I enjoy it or not.

Excellent idea - sometimes you just don't know how well you can do something or whether you'll enjoy it until you try. You might also try teaching a mini-course of 4 weeks, to see how you feel about it. Students often like to sign up for short courses, and it'll give you enough experience to assess whether you want to pursue teaching further.

Your headline is 'But I don't wanna teach.' If you don't want to, then you absolutely shouldn't do it.

If you do want to, then ask yourself why you wrote that! Are your feelings about teaching conflicted, and why? What were you thinking when you made that statement?

The reason my headline is "But I don't wanna teach!" is because I've been saying that for about 4 years. Until recently, I was not ready at all to teach. I was only a casual dancer (due to time, money, etc) and while I loved it, I was definately not focused enough. In the past year, I finally got off my butt and start practicing with the intention of performing...but I still always said that I didn't want to teach. I think it's more fear than anything. That I'll get up there and the girls will look at me and say, "You're going to teach us?" ,f::

I have refused to teach for about 8 years ..g.:
I did the odd replacement for sick teachers and that was it. All I wanted to do was perform. And I thought that since my teachers were better than me, people should go and take lessons with THEM.

The wish to teach should come from yourself. You might not be ready for it now, but maybe in 4 years?

Also think about the form of teaching you want to do. I for example am still refusing to do weekly classes and only do workshops and private lessons because these are the forms of teaching that fit my lifestyle.

And after all, you can still start teaching just an introduction course and if you find that it's not your cup of teach, simply stop teaching. There's now law that says you have to continue teaching once you start.

MEISSOUN