A Daunting Art

One always hears about the “art of teaching.” As an artist, I like to think of teaching in this way, comparing it to the creative process I feel when choreographing a dance, learning a piece of music, or designing a new show. While one may not give much thought to teaching as an “art”, I have found that this is a truthful term- to be a truly great and effective teacher, one must know what to do and when to do it, what to say and when to say it. As is true with any art, it takes many years to develop into an artist, practicing and perfecting the art until one is truly adept. The difference from other arts though is that when you are learning to dance, it does not matter how good you may be- even if you make numerous mistakes in a performance, the only one to whom it truly matters is yourself. It is up to you to take those mistakes and use them to become a better dancer. The same is true with teaching- every teacher makes mistakes, and hopefully we use them to improve our teaching. The difference with teaching is that even when you are still learning, even when you are only a beginner, what you do matters anyway. Your students are depending on you to teach them- whether or not you have yet perfected the art, you still make a difference. It’s a daunting task.