Trainees Make the Best Teachers !

Keiko Isomura passed away in 2013.

She was one of the first trainees to graduate from BodyChance in 2003 – when it was still called ATA (Alexander Technique Associates) in honour of Don Burton.

I encouraged Keiko-san to explore the world of alternative trainings, so a year after she qualified, she travelled to London and spent 3 months studying with Walter Carrington at the Constructive Teaching Centre in Lansdowne Road.

Keiko became a trainee again.

Walter emailed to me about to me while she was there: “Jeremy, Keiko is a credit to your training school.” I’d love to take that credit – I did feel proud it’s true - but the credit all goes to Keiko, not me. She did it all, she was so dedicated to learning.

One of her favourite pastimes was doing 30 Whispered AHs in the bath every night!

Keiko was a gem.

However, it was a story she told me about her time with Walter than got me thinking about the differences between being a trainee and being a teacher. Teachers at BodyChance are trained in a discursive method of teaching – asking a lot of questions, setting up different experiments, challenging the pupil to decide what they want to explore.

Of course, at Walter’s school the predominant activity was exploring reactions to the idea of getting in and out of a chair. Keiko learnt this way of going about the work, and loved her time studying there.

One of the rich aspects of Walter’s school was the abundance of teachers who would casually drop by and offer work in the class. Of course, Japanese Keiko was a real curiosity, so a queue of trainees and teachers usually formed, all wanting a turn.

Keiko told me that she would ask the teachers and trainees the same question:

“Do you want a usual type of chair turn, or a different kind of chair turn?”

Of course the “different kind of chair turn” involved asking lots of questions: what did you notice? how did you feel? what did you think about? Tell me your plan… etc. This kind of cognitive work functions well in groups, which is why Keiko was trained in it at BodyChance.

Done the right way, it’s almost a show.

Keiko said that the trainees mostly wanted a different kind of chair turn, but the teachers mostly wanted a usual kind of chair turn. I guess they didn’t like the show!

That has stuck with me over the years.

Trainees are lucky – they don’t have to “know” yet. They have permission to “not know” and this opens them to wider experiences, more possibilities. As a teacher I realize I can quickly fall foul of thinking I know a lot…

“In the beginner's mind there are many possibilities, in the expert's mind there are few.”*

Trainees and young teachers need to keep learning, as do us veteran teachers. (I guess that’s what I am?!) My personal leading edge as a teacher concerns redesigning my thinking about group teaching – this is a work in progress. Today I base my evolutions on the remarkable breakthroughs in the brain science of recent years.

Since I began teaching in 1979, I have always had my heart set on teaching groups. I intuitively felt this was a learning edge for Alexander's discovery if it was to reach a wider audience.

Therefore, BodyChance trainees are encouraged to teach groups long before they qualify as teachers. They sign a contract promising not to use their hands, and agree to present themselves truthfully: i.e. “I am a trainee” but beyond that, they are free to organise anything exploring Alexander's discovery in a group setting.

I think trainees can do a lot to prepare their teaching skills while still in training. After all, it won’t happen by working on fellow students. They are pre-programmed to function in a particular way – it’s too familiar. You basically know the drill with them.

You need to trial your skills in a more “unpredictable” environment – say, a bunch of beginners who at least want a simple explanation. They won’t co-operate so well – you will know when your skills are insufficient to the occasion!

There are newly minted teachers in our ATSuccess line up for the London Symposium this January – they understand trainees better than teachers like me. Eleni, who trained in London, is leading a workshop with Peter Jacobson (trained in USA) on January 31st that is geared towards trainees and new teachers.

Click here now to read more about Eleni's Trainee workshop. Or join her webinar with Peter Jacobsone - you can join here.

For experienced teachers, I think the challenge of teaching groups is to situate your hands on abilities appropriately. No good trying to run around giving everyone their quota – you must find another way. I will be exploring this in Jeremy's Art of Group Teaching workshop on Jan 30th.

And interestingly, this inability to use your hands is dilemma that trainees also need to explore. It means you can begin exploring teaching before you qualify, it’s just about using hands. How can you be an effective teacher when giving extended hands-on is not an option?

Eleni and Peter are holding a free webinar about the workshop - go here to join. It is on soon!

Read here about Eleni’s workshop for trainees. It is part of our week long London Symposium so come along to develop your skills.

*Quoted from Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind by Shunryu Suzuki.