Your goal as an instructor

[Ella]

Not only a question for the instructors, but more of a "what would you choose to do" type question.

So, you are a nice shiny new black belt. You begin to take private lesson students as an instructor at your school, as well as teaching group classes once or twice a week.

If you thought that the average student at your school was good, but thought they could be held to a higher standard, which you personally held yourself to when rising through the ranks, would you:

Hold your students to the same standards as the other instructors, keeping to the status quo, producing good students which you feel could be better,

OR

hold them to the standard which you think they are capable, causing your students to be better martial artists, but perhaps causing negative reactions such as jealousy from other instructors' students that they are not as good, pressure from other instructors to lower your expectations, or frustration from your own students who, while being better martial artists, want to advance in rank not having to put in the extra effort which other students are not required.

Or perhaps something in the middle?

 

[tntma12]

Personally, I feel as an instructor, you should help your students become the best they can be. If you let things slide, or keep the status quo, or produce good but not great artists, I feel not only are you cheating your students, but also your art. As an instructor, you have a responsibility to represent your art in your teaching. Also, if this is done for too long, dont you think that it would aid in the watering down of a style as well?? I dont know, just my opinion.

 

[ejaazi]

I think you should help the student become the best that they can and help them to find the path that they need to walk down. You should also teach the student to be true to themselves as well as to their art, and to always remain humble, and to always maintain a beginners mind.

 

[morph4me]

I think an instructor is a guide an mentor, and martial arts are a personal journey that each student takes in his/her own way and time. There are minimum standards that everyone should be held to taking into account any physical limitation and the instructor is there to teach the art and encourage and push the student but, ultimately it's the student who determines what his/her goals are and how far and fast he/she wants to go.

 

[stickarts]

There are a number of things that I am trying to accomplish such as sharing what I have learned with others, helping others to become more fit, learn to protect themselves, and become better people by learning more about themselves as well as about others. I have also tried to give opportunities to others to grow. The list could go on but really in a nutshell, I am trying to make a positive difference in the lives of those around me. I consider myself to be a coach or a guide.

 

[Cirdan]

I`ll instruct my students to the best of my ability. There is no other way. This of course also means taking care of those who are comfortable with progressing at a slower rate. I can`t imagine my Sensei telling me to produce less capable Karatekas.

 

[whitetiger2001]

As instructors, we are there to help our students achieve everything they can and sometimes that means pushing them beyond their percieved limits and standards. It would be cheating them to do anything else. Other instructors who feel threatened should reevaluate their own standards. We as instructors are there not for each other or to make eacher other feel good about ourselves but for the students. They are the reason we have the ability to teach and without them, we'd be just students ourselves instead of students and teachers. Teaching is the most important profession there is because we are shaping the future whether it's in math or martial arts.

 

[Mr. E]

I think that before you raise standards for others, you must raise your own by tenfold or more.

I think someone should spend a lot more time perfecting themselves before they demand their students meet a higher standard. I don't think there should be any rush to teach others to a higher standard, or even to teach. If someone took ten years to just practice what they knew and test it and only then tried to raise what others did by a small percent I would have a great respect for them.

But all too often it seems that people talk about raising standards to somehow say that they have more skills than others. If you take the time to not teach, not reform, but instead perfect yourself then the objections would lessen by a great amount. You must have something to show that you are not just trying to play some sort of superiority card over others.

I am all for higher standards. I hold them to myself and don't talk much about it with others. I just have public announcements that somehow what you do is better than someone else. That seems to be the cause of friction.

 

[stephen]

If you don't think of yourself as a "teacher" and rather as a student, you'll find that the only way to improve YOURSELF is to have good training partners.

If you're in the position to be 'teaching' you're probably there because there's not many other people in the area to train with of a sufficient level to push you to a higher skill level.

So it would seem that making your students as good as you can as quick as you can is good for YOUR training.

 

[Kacey]

If you are teaching students who are motivated enough to be taking private lessons in addition to regular classes, then you are already dealing with a self-selected portion of the population - the portion that wants to improve beyond the opportunities presented in class.

Also, as has already been said, an instructor is responsible for taking each student as far as s/he can go - which is going to be different for each person.

If you are unsure about how far you should push a student beyond what occurs in the general class, you need to talk to the senior instructor for whom you are teaching, and get some guidelines from him/her. There are too many variables in such a situation to give an answer that is correct for all situations.

 

[MarkBarlow]

I didn't realize how little I knew until I started teaching. It forced me to study harder than ever so I could provide my students with competent instruction. My sensei would drop by frequently to offer constructive criticism (which may be painful at times but it's part of the learning/growing process) and my style of teaching has evolved considerably over the years.

It's important that an instructor know the student's abilities and limits. To succeed, a student has to be pushed to their limit, both physically and mentally. My sensei compared it to forging a sword and it takes skill and insight to know how far to push and when it's time for a student to relax.

Also, I think an instructor should follow the physicians code. "First, do no harm."

 

[kingkong89]

every student is different, everyone learns at a different pace, so an instructor should hold someone to the standards they are able to live up to

 

[Danny T]

Not only a question for the instructors, but more of a "what would you choose to do" type question.

So, you are a nice shiny new black belt. You begin to take private lesson students as an instructor at your school, as well as teaching group classes once or twice a week.

If you thought that the average student at your school was good, but thought they could be held to a higher standard, which you personally held yourself to when rising through the ranks, would you:

Hold your students to the same standards as the other instructors, keeping to the status quo, producing good students which you feel could be better,

OR

hold them to the standard which you think they are capable, causing your students to be better martial artists, but perhaps causing negative reactions such as jealousy from other instructors' students that they are not as good, pressure from other instructors to lower your expectations, or frustration from your own students who, while being better martial artists, want to advance in rank not having to put in the extra effort which other students are not required.

Or perhaps something in the middle?

Ok, I’m instructing for the school and the lead instructor. This helps me grow as well as those I help instruct. Because I am instructing for the school I would hold those I instruct and train to the standard of the school first and then slowly raise the standard to the level of the individual’s ability. I would also attempt to work with the other instructors to help me grow as an instructor. As they help me grow I can then also help them grow. In doing so you show you are a team player, the whole school grows and the standard for the whole school is raised.

It is not about who is the better instructor nor is it about who produces better students, it isn’t about you. It is about what you do to help all whom you work with to be their best. In so doing the whole school grows to a higher standard.

Danny T

 

[Adept]

I consider this to be another wholly artificial problem created by a needless and arbitrary ranking structure.

An instructor should always encourage their students to be the absolute best they can be. And students should appreciate it.

However, in a system with belt ranks, those students will progress at a slower rate as their instructor requires more from them at each level of progression.

As a result, those students become disgruntled and upset, wondering why they are working harder than their peers but still have a lower rank. They wonder why, even though they are better than their peers, they still haven't been promoted.

And so the instructor, who has done the right thing and pushed his students as hard as they can be pushed, ends up out of favour as his students prefer to get the same 'result' (belt rank) with less work through other instructors.

The problem is that in any system with belt rankings, people will focus on the belts rather than their training. There will always be people who don't care how 'good' they are, so long as they have that next belt level. Or to be more accurate, they will confuse a belt rank with ability and skill. And there will always be people who are jealous and bitter, feeling that they are 'owed' a belt promotion, or that someone else has been promoted without merit.

 

[whitetiger2001]

I thought that this would make a good story to share

A king once decided to honor the four most important people in his kingdom and sent an envoy out to find them.
When the envoy returned, he had four candidates. The king asked about the first one and was told that he was a brilliant general who'd wom many battle but was also well known for his mercy in battle.
The king agreed and asked about the second and was told he was an important business man who'd emassed a great fortune but was known for his acts of charity to those less fortunate.
Again the king agreed and asked about the third man who was described as a great athelete who'd won many contests but was know for his sense of fair play and good sportmanship.
The again agreed that he was important and asked about the last man who didn't seem to fit in with the others. The envoy looked at the old man in question and said. "He was their teacher."

My instructor told me this story a long time ago and it's always stuck with me. I think it's an approoriate story for this thread

 

[Balrog]

My goal as an instructor is to turn out students better than I am. And since I am still trying to be better than my instructor....

 

[Em MacIntosh]

My goal is to teach honest and effective self-defense skills to anyone who wants to learn. I'm hoping to enrich their lives with knowledge and transferrable skills to help them produce a compassionate and developemental perspective in an attempt to do my part to make the world a better place. You heard it from the face biter...

 

[whitetiger2001]

Ok, I’m instructing for the school and the lead instructor. This helps me grow as well as those I help instruct. Because I am instructing for the school I would hold those I instruct and train to the standard of the school first and then slowly raise the standard to the level of the individual’s ability. I would also attempt to work with the other instructors to help me grow as an instructor. As they help me grow I can then also help them grow. In doing so you show you are a team player, the whole school grows and the standard for the whole school is raised.

It is not about who is the better instructor nor is it about who produces better students, it isn’t about you. It is about what you do to help all whom you work with to be their best. In so doing the whole school grows to a higher standard.

Danny T

Nicely said.

 

[Rob819]

When training someone in anything combative, be it empty hand/impact wpns/edged wpns or firearms, the number one underlying factor you need to keep in mind is the fact that your students are counting on you to train them to the standard. When the day comes that they have to call upon their skill set to defend themselves, their loved ones, their friends or their country, you want them to be as prepared as possible. When you accept a new student, you are accepting the responsibility that students successes and failures in combat. This reason alone is why you cant allow people to slide by with just going through the motions, or advance people in rank just because they occupy a space on the mat in your academy. Looking at your instruction from a business mindset and doing things simply based on keeping the students happy will keep your wallet full......that is until you end up in a court room defending yourself because you over enflated a young kids ego by giving him a "black belt" too soon and he ends up crushing a mans wind pipe in a bar room when he doesnt need too because he wasnt mature enough to walk away. Not only that, when you promote someone to advanced levels, their actions no longer represent only themselves. They represent you, your instructors, and your entire organization. So promote wisely.