Day Twenty-Seven – Quality

Tomorrow, on Saturday September 28th, Cathy Madden officially launches BodyChance’s first school in the United States. Those participating are entering into the first of 3 x 2 year modules that are prerequisites before entering the 2nd stage of education. 2nd Stage education is where you educate your Self to be a teacher, with BodyChance’s support. 2nd Stage Teaching Practice I take the same position that Marjorie Barstow took all those years ago when people asked her at Stony Brook in 1986: “Do you train teachers?” Marj replied, “I do not…” then, with a twinkle in her eye, she went on to say: “…but I do help people who want to be teachers.” Maybe that is too Zen for some people, but it makes absolute sense to me. I’ve seen too many students at other schools go through an Alexander Technique education process, and graduate with no confidence to teach. At BodyChance, the only time we explore the teaching process is when a student requests it in class. Otherwise, it is not a subject. I want highly motivated students who do not require me to push them into teaching practice, but are willing to put themselves in that position often. In the early days of BodyChance’s development, around 2003, I started to see this tendency of students giving up on teaching, lacking confidence to do so. In response, I decided it was part of my job description to ensure my graduates had both the confidence and business ability to set up a financially sustainable teaching practice. Starting with the confidence angle, I added a 2nd and 3rd stage to BodyChance’s education system: Teaching Practice (Stage 2) and Teaching Apprenticeship (Stage 3). 3rd Stage Teaching Apprenticeship After a lot of practice teaching in class, 2nd Stage students must then pass three teaching assessments to graduate to 3rd Stage. At Stage 3 you may attend full-time for two years as a student teacher. During this time you are supervised by one of BodyChance’s Education Directors who will meet with you regularly as you give 50 individual sessions, run your own workshops, and assist in BodyChance sessions of all kinds. If this whole 1,600 hours thing is your criteria for quality, BodyChance aces that better than any school in America today. 3,000 hours+ is quite possible at our school. How do you clock up that many hours at BodyChance? We have invested a considerable amount to build a public membership learning program. All of our ProCourse members can attend inclusive in their tuition fees. It more than doubles the number of hours available to study Alexander Technique, but better than that, it gives 3rd Stage student teachers a chance to see how ordinary people are learning Alexander Technique at BodyChance. What is an Introduction like? How do you give a first lesson? What happens after three months of lessons? Well, come along to BC Basic and found out, every day of the week. What other Alexander school do you know of that can offer that to their students? Of course, as Australian education academic and Alexander Technique teacher Terry Fitzgerald has been tireless to point out, the idea of 1,600 hours being a “standard” is a questionable proposition. Only a few days ago in a post to a FaceBook Alexander Technique group, Terry commented:

Terry Fitzgerald I've mentioned this elsewhere, but these numbers [1,600 hours] were invented by STAT some 50 years ago for administrative, not educational, purposes. Until those who still defend these numerical protocols conduct rigorous research into forms of training that allow alternatives, they (we) have no authority to say they remain the best way of conducting AT teacher education in the 21st Century.

It amuses me to see such wide-spread ignorance about what BodyChance will offer in America, as we are doing what Terry advocates: testing alternative methods of Alexander Technique teacher education. Our program is one of the most detailed and explicit processes of education in the Alexander community today. I am supremely confident that if you put a BodyChance teacher up against any graduate from an alternative Alexander school, our teacher will do as well, if not better, in their teaching abilities. That’s my standard. Your Task – To Review How You Maintain Your Standard of Teaching How do you determine your standard of teaching?

We discussed this recently in one of our ProCourse classes, and we came up with a list of 9 inner guidelines to get you planning this for your Self: 1. Start and finish on time 2. Utilize what I teach in my own behaviour first 3. Be rested, fed appropriately and in good mental health 4. Teach using forms created by listening to my student 5. Use student wish as my means to educate 6. Choose creative choices over habitually known ones 7. Have no hidden agendas, and clarify personal opinions 8. Discern the difference between need and strategy 9. Be self-honest in all aspects of the session The list is not comprehensive. I can think of another 20+ conditions I could list as part of my own personal criteria when teaching. Also, none of the 9 points concern how well the student receives your lesson. Most teachers who profess to be “nervous” about teaching, usually involve criteria that gauge the student’s reaction as a measure of their standard of teaching. This is an insane way to assess your Self. You have no means of controlling another person’s reaction to your teaching. The fact that it seems you do have control is why so many people fool themselves into getting uptight – you want to exert your influence in a place where you have none. It’s a torturous way to live. You have no control over your students. Admit it. Accept it. When they decide to follow what you suggest, it’s because they decided to follow what you suggest, not because you suggested it. However, what is possible is that you present your Self by following what you previously decided you would implement. That’s a standard you can live by, and self-assess at any time you choose. Your mission (should you choose to accept it) is to share on Facebook at least one criteria you have for ensuring your quality of teaching is at a level acceptable to you.