View Single Post
Old 07-27-2015, 02:11 PM   #16
Susan Dalton
Dojo: Greensboro Kodokan
Location: Greensboro
Join Date: Mar 2004
Posts: 346
Offline
Re: Martial Arts Instructors Should Learn To Teach

Oh no, Peter, I wasn't thinking you were saying there is only one way to teach. Your column got me thinking and I went running off in my own direction (as usual). Since I am a teacher by profession and married to a teacher, I have lots of thoughts about teaching. In my opinion, my husband and I are both effective teachers even though we teach very differently.

One night I was grading essays and I read my comments out loud to my husband. I had written almost a page about how the student was capable of so much more and how I wanted him to put forth more effort. My husband started laughing. I asked what was so funny. He said he was addressing the exact same problem, and he then read what he had written to his student: "Get off your ass."

We've been talking about the responsibilities of teaching/being sempai in our dojo. Over the years we've seen that some folks really want to teach/be a senior student because they want to be in charge and tell people what to do. Being sempai doesn't mean you get to be the boss but means you have responsibility towards those folks junior to you--you take care of them.
  Reply With Quote