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Teaching What You Want to Learn
A Guidebook for Dance and Movement Teachers
Bill Evans
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eBook - ePub
Teaching What You Want to Learn
A Guidebook for Dance and Movement Teachers
Bill Evans
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About This Book
Teaching What You Want to Learn distills the five decades that Bill Evans has spent immersed in teaching dance into an indispensable guide for today's dance instructor.
From devising specific pedagogical strategies and translating theory into action, to working with diverse bodies and embracing evolving value systems, Evans has considered every element of the teacher's role and provided 94 essential essays about becoming a more effective and satisfied educator. As well as setting out his own particular training methods and somatic practice as one of the world's leading dance teachers, he explores the huge range of challenges and rewards that a teacher will encounter across their career. These explorations equip the reader not only to enable and empower their students but also to get the most out of their own work so they are learning as they teach.
This is an essential book for anyone who wants to teach dance and movement, from professional and academic settings to amateur artists and trainee instructors.
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I Notes to Self
DOI: 10.4324/9781003290209-2
1 Remind Yourself That You Love to Teach
As you walk from the office or dressing room to the studio, take a moment to notice your breath, ground yourself and remember that you love to move and to teach. Sometimes, the difficulties of managing a challenging workload or interpersonal conflicts with parents, colleagues or students can deprive us of the joy that is waiting for us if we remember who we are and why we chose to become teachers.
It is possible to let external circumstances come between us and our ability to be fully present in each moment of our interactions with students and colleagues. Before entering the studio, initiating a Zoom session, beginning a conference with a student or attending a faculty meeting, it usually helps to take a few moments to return to the peaceful home we can find in the body and remind ourselves what a rare privilege it is to follow oneâs bliss and do for a living what we would want to be doing even without remuneration.
I had two highly-accomplished brothers. My older sibling, a university professor of physical education, retired at age 62, exhausted by academic politics. My younger brother, a family court judge, retired at age 60, because the work to which he had dedicated decades of his life generated more stress and anxiety than he could continue to endure.
I kept teaching full-time as a college dance professor through age 78, and I still teach as an online adjunct, in summer gatherings of dance educators and as a guest artist in academic and professional programs whenever someone offers me an interesting gig because my work is my joy. Nonetheless, there are moments when overwhelming demands of the moment make me forget that I have chosen the work I do because it brings me profound satisfaction.
If we reflect on how fortunate we are that our livelihood focuses on encouraging, guiding and witnessing positive transformation in the people we teach, we can affirm that our time is extraordinarily well spent. Yes, there are challenges in the studio, on the internet, in the classroom or in the conference room, but being positive, open-hearted, grateful and alive in the moment will help us face those challenges and continue a forward journey toward positive change for ourselves and those we teach.
For Your Consideration:
I encourage you to describe an âembodiment practiceâ that helps you prepare to enter the classroom or studio or to begin an in-person or online interaction with students, peers or parents.
I invite you to write three things you love about being a dance teacher. What might occur that could cause you to temporarily lose sight of what you cherish about teaching? How could you cope with such an obstacle?
2 Embrace Evolving Values
Our beliefs donât matter to those we teach until we act on them, incorporating them into our professional practice and interactions. Sometimes, teachers will say words that were said to them that are not truly reflective of their current convictions. Sometimes they pass on exercises learned in the past without modifying them to incorporate or accommodate knowledge gained from their own lived experiences.
I find it important to âtake inventoryâ of the things I say and do in my classes frequently. I want to make sure that Iâm not repeating things out of habit that no longer represent the thinking/sensing/feeling educator I have become and that my most deeply held current beliefs about learning and moving are reflected in what I share in the studio or classroom.
As we teach, we also learn. Our beliefs evolve as we immerse ourselves in new experiences. However, we donât always take time to recognize that we have changed, and it is often easier or more convenient to continue passing on practices we no longer fully value than to incorporate new knowledge into our teaching. We may not want to ârock the boat.â We may not want to say something to students that contradicts what they are hearing from our colleagues. We might want to avoid confusing students by changing what we said and did in the past or fear that our new words and practices could make them frustrated or uncomfortable.
When you discover new information, even if it contradicts previous beliefs, donât be afraid to let students and colleagues know that you are exploring new ideas and practices. Students need to know that each of us can be a life-long learner and that new information sometimes forces us to re-evaluate or reconsider what we have previously thought to be true or essential. Without judging ourselves or others, and without apologizing for changing our words and movement phrases, letâs explain to our students and colleagues that our research has led us to new information, and invite them to support us as we meet the challenges of refining our language and modifying our methods and materials as we move forward.
I like to remind students that we have âcommencementâ ceremonies because finishing a degree or a course of study is the beginning, not the end, of the life-long process of figuring out who we are and what we most want to contribute to our chosen field. Growth is change. Embrace your evolving beliefs. I encourage teachers to continually ask themselves, âIs this still what I want to be saying or doing?â As Maya Angelou famously said, âDo the best you can until you know better. Then when you know better, do better.â
For Your Consideration:
Have you changed a teaching practice based on new knowledge or convictions? If so, was it worth it? Why?
Have you developed a significant belief that has not yet influenced your teaching? If so, I invite you to relate it to yourself now. What might account for the delay in applying it to your practice? How could you modify language or movement experiences to make room for that belief in your exchanges with students?
3 Teachingâs Not Easy, But If Itâs Your Calling, Nothing Else Will Be as Satisfying
We will encounter reluctant learners, students who are afraid of change or donât yet realize that change is an ongoing, life-long process. It can be challenging to engage such students in new ways of thinking and moving. Jack Cole1 an iconic and dynamic teacher who had an enormous impact on me as a young professional dancer in New York City, often asked, âDid it say in the brochure that it was going to be easy?â I often hear those words in my head when I am endeavoring to guide resistant students toward positive change and growth. Every now and then, to reduce undue tension in a teaching/learning situation, I ask students almost the same question. âDid it say on the website that it was going to be easy?â
The arts are usually at the bottom of the pecking order in our schools and colleges, and dance instructors are often given heavier workloads and less pay than teachers of the other arts and, especially, professors of business and science. Teachers of most subjects are not generally respected or appreciated as I believe they deserve to be in the U.S. culture. When I taught in other parts of the world, particularly India, Japan, Guatemala and Brazil, I was more demonstrably valued than in this country. Nonetheless, the internal satisfaction I experience as a dance teacher anywhere, even in difficult circumstances, makes me grateful to have chosen this path. When I encounter reluctance, I take a deep breath, remember the big picture and long-term goals, and do the best I can under the circumstances of the moment.
Our world has never needed what dance educators have to offer as much as at this time. The wisdom of the body moving with integrated harmony is sorely lacking in most of the political and corporate leaders who are determining the fate of our planet, and in those who emulate them.
I say, âI didnât choose dance; dance chose me,â and I feel that I was born to be a teacher. After a lifetime of guiding, nudging and encouraging people toward positive change, I can attest that the intrinsic rewards you will receive as a teacher of dance will make it well worth confronting all the obstacles that will come your way. If teaching dance is your calling, nothing else will satisfy you as deeply.
For Your Consideration:
Have you recently confronted a difficult challenge as a teacher, or have you observed another teacher confront a daunting situation? If so, please describe how you or the observed teacher reacted to that challenge. Could it have played out more effectively? If so, How?
4 You Always Have Something to Offer
About 20 years ago, I received a letter from a former MFA student at the University of Utah, where I was an assistant professor of modern dance in the mid-â70s. She told me that I was the âbest teacher she ever had.â I was astonished by her proclamation because she had studied with me before I had generated meaningful knowledge about anatomy, kinesiology, Laban/Bartenieff Movement Studies and pedagogy. âHow,â I thought, âcould I possibly have been her best teacher?â
It took me a while to figure out that what I did have to offer at that time were: a passionate curiosity about both functional and expressive human movement, a love for interacting with dedicated young people and abundant, almost explosive, physical energy. I came to understand that those were qualities this particular student needed and valued at that point in her journey. Even though I was only one step ahead of her in my knowledge base, I was able to motivate her to do her best work and to feel good about herself.
So, donât be afraid to teach because there are things you just donât yet know. We know different things in different ways at different times. Go deep inside, trust yourself, draw on what drives you to be a teacher and share who you are and what you know at this unique point of your journey, enthusiastically and generously. When you donât have the answer to a studentâs question, you might say, âIâm not sure. Letâs figure it out together.â
For Your Consideration:
I invite you to reflect on your current strengths as a teacher and then describe at least three traits, dispositions or strategies you rely on to be effective.
What specific teaching strengths do you admire in others that you might like to develop in yourself?
5 Itâs OK to Be Unpopular
I have long felt that it is my ethical responsibility to tell students what I think will most benefit them. Since those I teach are most often enrolled in a required course in a degree or certification program, I donât need to tell them what they want to hear to keep them coming back.
I occasionally perceive that teachers who are the most popular and receive the highest praise from their students are among the least effective in fostering student growth or achievement. One of the dilemmas I struggled with as the dance executive in college dance programs was knowing how to determine the significance of questionnaires in which students evaluate their instructors. It is sometimes true that we will not appreciate (until later) mentors who nudge us out of our comfort zones, even though they help us achieve positive change and growth. Teachers must try to find a balance between making students feel good about themselves and endeavoring to initiate a process of transformation.
I imagine what my teaching will mean to current students in 10 years, in 20, in 50. One major goal is to help people develop healthful habits that will serve them for a lifetime of vigorous, joyful and full-bodied movement, whether they stay in dance or not. When I perceive that several students share a way of thinking or a movement habit I know to be destructive to their efficient functioning and/or long-term health, I take the whole group âback to the beginningâ in my unpacking of fundamental movement concepts and processes, even in the most âadvancedâ courses. This usually makes some students unhappy and me unpopular, at least for a while, especially if they expect a fast-paced workout and an endorphin buzz.
I have found that even the most advanced student can generate valuable new levels of knowledge by returning to the basics, slowing down and going deep inside. Over time, many students look back on such experiences under my guidance, understand in retrospect my reasons for doing what I did, and acknowledge the value of such a process they had been unable to perceive âback in the day.â
For Your Consideration:
How do you balance giving students what they say they want and what you believe they need?
Are you able to value the knowledge you gained under a former teacherâs guidance even though you didnât âlikeâ them at the time? If so, please describe how you separated what you learned from your feelings about the teacher.
6 Itâs OK to Say Youâre Sorry
Like most dancers of my generation, I had a few teachers who were rude or even cruel, and many of my early ideas about effective teaching were based on their words and actions. Occasionally, when I am particularly stressed, fatigued or overworked, I hear some of my former frustrated teachersâ words coming out of my mouth, or sense that I am embodying their frustrated body attitudes. This happens rarely, and when it does, I am surprised and dismayed. I try to say âIâm sorryâ to those I feel I have harmed as soon as I have regained my composure, and I am striving to learn to remain my best self in stressful situations.
Debbi Knapp,2 a former Bill Evans Dance Company3 member once told me, âA person who never makes a mistake never makes anything.â I believe this to be true, and I have noticed that most students and colleagues are willing to forgive our unfortunate words and actions if we sincerely apologize.
I have noticed that some students want to be yelled at or even belittled as an indication that the teacher is being tough enough to prepare them for the âdog-eat-dogâ world of professional dance. Indeed, some students seem to mistake a teacherâs kindness for a lack of seriousness. However, I believe that we can set appropriately challenging standards for our students w...