TEACHING: TRUST, ENCOURAGEMENT AND KEEPING STUDENTS =================================================== From: Ernie Tremblay --------------------------------------- Erik Kammerer said: (snip) >>Do you think this is the reason for the extremely high percentage of new >>students who quit? I've yet to see a particular style of martial arts >>that does especially well at new student retention. I have seen particular >>instructors that do well at student retention. Are we all just confused? >>Lousy communicators? >>So how do we help new students to trust what they are learning? Although I'm a student, not a teacher, at our dojo, I have done a lot of teaching in elective learning situations, and I've always had a fair amount of success with student retention. So a couple of points I think are relevant: First, any type of instruction that people aren't forced to take will tend toward a high rate of attrition. This is as true for music lessons or adult night school as it is for the martial arts. A small percentage of people will be self-motivated enough to remain, but the rest will need a little extra motivation from the teacher. How does a teacher do this? By GIVING OF HIMSELF OR HERSELF. They have to be willing to spend time with, and more importantly, to form a real, personal relationship with each student. That means time on and off the mat. New students--all students--want to know how they are progressing. Occasionally, the teacher needs to take a moment between classes to let each person know how or she is doing--and in a constructive, supportive way. Likewise, both teachers and students need to let new people know that EVERYONE feels confused or just plain stupid on the mat sometimes. It's discouraging, but it's natural and we all go through it. Newbies need to be reminded that they're not the Forrest Gumps of the martial arts: it's just that aikido is damned difficult. And if a new student stops coming to class, someone--a teacher or another student--ought to be calling them and finding out why. You don't need to browbeat people, but sometimes if you let them know they're missed, they'll feel supported enough to continue their practice. There is also the problem of helping people to see their own accomplishments in an art that gives up its secrets very slowly. You can help beginners by giving them very small, very well defined tasks to perform. If the class is doing a very complicated waza, a new member should be allowed to concentrate on PART of the waza--such as the entering movement, or the musubi, or the throw/lock, rather than doing the whole thing at once. This works especially well if each tecnique taught at a given class comes from a single attack or uses a single tai sabaki. The point is, give new people bites small enough for them to chew. Finally, it's important to give people a sense that they're involved in the life of the dojo. Give them tasks or responsibilities early on that will help them to feel they belong and are integral to the place in which they practice. I know that little of what I've said comforms to traditional ways of teaching the martial arts, but I hope some of it makes sense. From: Eric Kammerer at Sac Net ------------------------------------------------------- > First, any type of instruction that people aren't forced to take will tend > toward a high rate of attrition. So how do we force them? :) > Occasionally, the teacher needs to take a moment > between classes to let each person know how or she is doing--and in a > constructive, supportive way. Likewise, both teachers and students need to > let new people know that EVERYONE feels confused or just plain stupid on > the > mat sometimes. It's discouraging, but it's natural and we all go through > it. Newbies need to be reminded that they're not the Forrest Gumps of the > martial arts: it's just that aikido is damned difficult. My biggest problem here: how do I convince them of this? Somehow, students are always convinced that they're doing worse than they really are. This conviction is very difficult to contradict. The four stages of learning (at least one model): 1. Awareness (that there is something to learn. 1A. Discovery (of something new) 1B. Reminder (of something you were taught before, but forgot) 2. Awkwardness (you can do it, but not well -- probably the reason many quit) 3. Skill (When thinking, you can perform well) 4. Habit (no thinking required for proper performance) Martial arts are particularly good at placing a person at stage 2. Even worse, when you get better at a given skill, you place yourself back at stage 1 for that skill -- which is immediately followed by stage 2. This can be very frustrating, especially if you are used to "mastering" a skill and moving on. So, how do I teach students to _accept_ this process? I can usually get them to understand it -- acceptance is not so common. >And if a new > student stops coming to class, someone--a teacher or another student--ought > to be calling them and finding out why. You don't need to browbeat people, > but sometimes if you let them know they're missed, they'll feel supported > enough to continue their practice. Good idea, I agree this helps a lot. It's used as a very effective tool by "Mc Martial Artist" schools -- unfortunately because of money, rather than any real concern for the student. (of course, this doesn't invalidate the concept) > > > There is also the problem of helping people to see their own accomplishments > in an art that gives up its secrets very slowly. You can help beginners by > giving them very small, very well defined tasks to perform. If the class > is > doing a very complicated waza, a new member should be allowed to concentrate > on PART of the waza--such as the entering movement, or the musubi, or the > throw/lock, rather than doing the whole thing at once. This works > especially well if each tecnique taught at a given class comes from a > single > attack or uses a single tai sabaki. The point is, give new people bites > small enough for them to chew. Yes, this is particularly common to new instructors. > > Finally, it's important to give people a sense that they're involved in the > life of the dojo. Give them tasks or responsibilities early on that will > help them to feel they belong and are integral to the place in which they > practice. How do I do give them tasks/responsibilities without making them feel imposed upon? Few people these days will be eager to pay for lessons and then be expected to clean the floor, (which was expected of me). I think this is good, _if_ the "task" is perceived as useful without being perceived as a chore. (I'd like some suggestions here...) > > I know that little of what I've said comforms to traditional ways of > teaching the martial arts, but I hope some of it makes sense. > > Ernie T. Makes sense to me. As for tradition, I don't think many "traditional" teachers would disagree with you. They might vary in the details, but not in the concepts. From: "Nikolaj T. Hansen" <32nth@BUT.AUC.DK> ------------------------------------------- On Fri, 24 May 1996, Eric Kammerer at Sac Net wrote: (large snip) > > Occasionally, the teacher needs to take a moment > > between classes to let each person know how he or she is doing--and in a > > constructive, supportive way. Likewise, both teachers and students need to > > let new people know that EVERYONE feels confused or just plain stupid on > > the > > mat sometimes. It's discouraging, but it's natural and we all go through > > it. Newbies need to be reminded that they're not the Forrest Gumps of the > > martial arts: it's just that aikido is damned difficult. > > My biggest problem here: how do I convince them of this? Somehow, students > are always convinced that they're doing worse than they really are. This > conviction is very difficult to contradict. Well, this discussion has convinced ME (who is in the complimentary situation). I think the problem is that (we) students are used to receiving similar "supportive" comments from others who give them automatically without really meaning it (school-teachers, for instance) and thus we get unconscously used to not believing that kind of comment to have any real meaning at all: this is where students say that "they understand". Did you experience the same difficulties when you started? If so, perhaps you should tell your students: Being told from someone who is evidently much better than oneself will (I believe) be a great help in accepting that this is a normal situation. (large snip) > > Finally, it's important to give people a sense that they're involved in the > > life of the dojo. Give them tasks or responsibilities early on that will > > help them to feel they belong and are integral to the place in which they > > practice. > > How do I do give them tasks/responsibilities without making them feel imposed > upon? Few people these days will be eager to pay for lessons and then be > expected to clean the floor, (which was expected of me). I think this is > good, _if_ the "task" is perceived as useful without being perceived as > a chore. (I'd like some suggestions here...) > It is not a problem in our dojo, as when we pay our fee (which is quite large compared to other sports and martial arts) we don't feel that we pay a person, but rather the dojo. We don't feel that sensei IS the dojo so to speak, but we feel that he too works for it. Accomplishing this is helped by the dojo not being called "'s dojo", but rather " Aikido Club". Sometimes we get money back: for instance when there are training camps the dojo will give an amount of money to each person attending. To sum up, there is a sence that we are working for Aikido itself. Accomplishing this is perhaps difficult or easy depending (somewhat) on what your culture is like. From: Berna Slikker -------------------------------------- At 15:37 24-05-96 PDT, Eric Kammerer wrote: [snip] >> Newbies need to be reminded that they're not the Forrest Gumps of the >> martial arts: it's just that aikido is damned difficult. > >My biggest problem here: how do I convince them of this? Somehow, students >are always convinced that they're doing worse than they really are. This >conviction is very difficult to contradict. Our sensei just gives us compliments fairly often, especially in the beginning. As everyone can sense her sincerity, this works fine! For another thing, we don't have separate beginners classes, which means that every now and again you get to compare: "Wow, I used to be like this, too; I really must have learned something!". Another thing is to tell them right at the beginning how difficult it will be. When I notice people getting impatient with themselves, I tell them about this book I have, where Shirata sensei says after almost 50 years of aikido: "I'm finally getting the hang of shiho-nage"... Now if I'd only remember that when I get impatient with *myself*! ;-) From: Terry Roberts --------------------------------------- >First, any type of instruction that people aren't forced to take will tend >toward a high rate of attrition. This is as true for music lessons or adult >night school as it is for the martial arts. A small percentage of people >will be self-motivated enough to remain, but the rest will need a little >extra motivation from the teacher. >And if a new >student stops coming to class, someone--a teacher or another student--ought >to be calling them and finding out why. The above quotes and various other messages seem to imply that there's something *wrong* with the student or the teacher if a student doesn't end up dedicating his/her life to aikido. We live in a world of *lots* of opportunity. People can and do dabble in all sorts of things. But there are only so many of those things that they can turn into lifelong obsessions. Should they not try other things if they're not going to do it for the rest of their lives? Of course not! Our lives are richer for having experienced a bunch of stuff. Let's let it go at that. I recently tried quilting. Made a fairly passable quilt, and have plans for another but haven't gotten around to it. Should quilters be calling me up to find out why I'm not doing it? I used to post to this list a lot more than I have recently. Should y'all be contacting me privately and asking me to come back? Actually, it's nice to hear from individuals -- as it turns out, a couple from this list have recently sent me messages -- but I certainly don't need any implications about what I "ought" to be doing. I have other things going on in my life (changing jobs and moving) and in my e-mail (a single mothers' list). Y'all should (and do, I think) respect my priorities, without making me explain them. Similarly, we shouldn't be making judgments about the persistence or character of people who come to our dojos. Some people will choose to stick with aikido. Some people will stick with the other obsessions in their lives, and will just have been broadened by their limited experience with aikido. As long as we didn't *drive* them away, we should accept either choice as valid. From: Ernie Tremblay --------------------------------------- >From Terry Roberts we had: The above quotes and various other messages seem to imply that there's something *wrong* with the student or the teacher if a student doesn't end up dedicating his/her life to aikido. (snip) Not true, Terry. It implies that we should take an interest in members of the dojo and let them know we're interested. It means we should care about them and tell them so. And I make no apologies for feeling a loss when students, new or not, leave. Practicing with someone means building a relationship with them. I don't expect every relationship to last forever, but it's always a little sad when they end after what seems too brief a time. No one is suggesting we should try to make everyone obsessive about aikido, but that doesn't mean we shouldn't try to improve the teaching of our art or to make the dojo as welcoming a place as possible. We practice and hone and polish--whether we're students or teachers. Finally, there's a practical side to all of this. A dojo needs a certain number of members to survive (depending on overhead), and we want to make sure we're doing everything we can to make each dojo a place people want to come to. If after our efforts they still don't want to come, c'est la vie.