Nov 8

Nov 8 Ask an Artist: Teaching

Season 6, Episode 19: Teaching

In this week’s episode, there was a problem with the audio and we had to use the back up track for a section of Peter’s audio; we apologise for the poor quality audio between 20 and 32 minutes.

In this episode, Peter and Tom discuss teaching and share their advice and best practice for whether or not teaching might be for you.

In the first part of the episode, they share how they both began teaching and how their teaching has developed to become quite a large part of both their businesses. They discuss the different forms that teaching can take, whether that be in-person, online, regular classes, demonstrations, one off workshops or possibly even holidays. They discuss the benefits of teaching and why you may consider it; possibly to provide a welcomed regular income stream and not least, because of the opportunity it can give you to really evaluate what it is that you do and articulate why you do it.

After this, they talk about pedagogy - the science of teaching. Learning to teach is a skill, a craft and a science in itself which needs to be practiced and developed. This is not to say you need a qualification to get started but you should do some planning and research, gain some experience, be secure in your knowledge and have a passion, or at least a desire, to share what you do and what you know. It is ok to start slow and try things out - do not let the research put you off - but do be realistic about the work involved and the attention that teaching deserves.

After the break, they talk about how you might begin, what you might focus on and share some best practices. Starting with what you know and what you are known for is a good place to start - what is your unique selling point? How will you communicate that to other people? Be realistic about what you know and what you can cover in the time you have. A good point to remember is that teaching is not a platform for you - it is a platform to enable your students to grow and develop. How are you going to best facilitate that?

Writing a “lesson plan” is good practice, especially when starting out - at the very least it’s good to have a timeline of what will happen when, and a focus for your lesson. This might be “a script” but it might just be a list of bullet points. Flexibility is key when teaching but having a plan is your safety net, to keep you on track. Have a beginning, a middle and an end and revisit and evaluate your teaching afterwards - did it go as you expected? What will you keep for next time? What will you change?

A good lesson should develop a bit like a game of tennis; you pass “the ball” (the teaching and the learning) back and forth between you and the students. Explain and demonstrate for a short time, then let them have a go; explain and demonstrate the next stage, then let them have a go; answer their questions, then let them have a go - as humans we can only listen and concentrate for a short amount of time and ultimately, these people are there to learn and have a go. No-one signs up for a game of tennis, just to have balls pelted at them for the entirety of the game!

For the remainder of the episode, Peter and Tom share some practical examples of teaching strategies as well as some marketing tips for finding students.

This week’s takeaway… as with any aspect of your business, it is important to do your research; watch other tutors and teachers at work and pick out what works and what doesn’t. Use this research to help you plan how you will teach. Try it first before committing yourself long term and see whether or not you enjoy it and whether you are any good at it; you will only succeed at being a good teacher if you have a passion for it. It is one aspect of your business which is not actually about you - it is not a platform to show off what you can do, it is about inspiring your students and setting them up to succeed in their learning.