Is it ok to teach?

Neil replies to questions from our members.
Chasplaya
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Tue Dec 15, 2009 1:31 am

AndyT wrote:
Can you reccomend one for someone without a clue?
One which is the best is Malcolm Knowles book 'The Adult Learner' bit heavy but has more than you'll ever need.

Another way is Scaffolding , here is an ebook which has a wealth of info;

http://projects.coe.uga.edu/epltt/index ... caffolding

I use my own book which is not in electronic format, which was designed over several years in the Air Force


mark
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Tue Dec 15, 2009 6:36 am

I think as long as you have a genuine desire to improve the guitar playing of your students, then you are ready to teach.

I'm sure many of us have stories of guitar teachers who spent the whole lesson showing off their playing, forcing you to learn what they wanted to teach, etc, etc, etc


temo44
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Tue Dec 15, 2009 7:19 am

mark wrote:
I think as long as you have a genuine desire to improve the guitar playing of your students, then you are ready to teach.

I'm sure many of us have stories of guitar teachers who spent the whole lesson showing off their playing, forcing you to learn what they wanted to teach, etc, etc, etc
I totally agree! When I took guitar lessons from a guy at a guitar shop, I always had the feeling he only wanted to make money, and not teach me how to play the guitar properly.

The need and urge to teach people(plus having the proper skills ofcourse) is an important factor in teaching


Catman
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Tue Dec 15, 2009 8:27 am

mark wrote:
I think as long as you have a genuine desire to improve the guitar playing of your students, then you are ready to teach.
Although I agree with this sentiment, it is also important that you don't teach your students anything wrong, or allow incorrect technique.

As a personal example, my first violin teacher was lax in getting me to adopt the correct left hand/arm position (even more "unnatural" than the guitar one). When I switched to a better teacher who insisted on the correct position, I was frustrated and lost my enthusiasm (what there was of it...I was only 10, and really wanted to play the guitar anyway), and gave up on the violin. And so the world lost a second Yehudi Menuhin and/or Stephane Grappelli. :angry:


Chasplaya
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Tue Dec 15, 2009 1:09 pm

Catman wrote:
mark wrote:
I think as long as you have a genuine desire to improve the guitar playing of your students, then you are ready to teach.
Although I agree with this sentiment, it is also important that you don't teach your students anything wrong, or allow incorrect technique.

As a personal example, my first violin teacher was lax in getting me to adopt the correct left hand/arm position (even more "unnatural" than the guitar one). When I switched to a better teacher who insisted on the correct position, I was frustrated and lost my enthusiasm (what there was of it...I was only 10, and really wanted to play the guitar anyway), and gave up on the violin. And so the world lost a second Yehudi Menuhin and/or Stephane Grappelli. :angry:
This is an excellent point one of the Principles of learning is that of Primacy i.e. Things learned first create a strong impression in the mind that is difficult to erase.

Therefore I am wary of people who may well be experts in their relative fields stating they can teach. There is considerably more involved than simply being an expert. Look at Neils lessons structures for example, they follow most Adult Education principles, although in most cases sites like this have a head start as the members want to be here and want to learn making it easier. Nevertheless structure on lessons is all important, on the Intranet unless you use elearning systems its difficult to get immediate feedback to the Instructor and its difficult to use questioning techniques to reinforce learning and to test learning.


AndyT
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Thu Dec 17, 2009 12:37 am

As promised, here is the video of the performance. Adam took lessons from me for about 6 months.



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Music Junkie
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Thu Dec 17, 2009 10:06 am

Andy:

That was neat! I can see why you had a good day.

I have had some really good teachers in life and some really bad teachers in life (as I am sure we all have). The one thing that really comes to mind for me is the fact that some of the best "TEACHERS" I have had were not the gurus, but rather the ones who loved helping others. Like Dennis mentioned, you do need to be a step or two ahead of your students, but I think it is o.k. for you to continue to learn while you are teaching. I would suspect, on some level, that teaching would help your learning process as well.... Since we are still beginner or intermediate level players (most of us - I know there are some advanced players here as well), lots of this info is still fresh for us and it is good for you to pass on the knowledge from your point of view. Most importantly, the students need to see that you are enjoying the teaching process....

My two cents...

MJ


johnrfeeney
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Thu Dec 17, 2009 10:34 am

i have found that teachers who are the best are those who have a innate yearning to teach - they have a gift

their passion for the subject being taught usually drives the student to want to learn

interesting subject: none of us would be playing if someone didn't try to teach

a lot of people have a hidden pride that they are self taught when in reality they practice a lot but someone somewhere had to at least write, record, play (etc etc) something for them to want to learn

and with 6.2 billion + human being on this earth i can't imagine that we will ever ever have too many GOOD teachers


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