The Art Of Teaching Of An Art Teacher

With the best dumb luck in the world, I ran into A by signing up for her drawing class at the local rec center.  Being passionate about art, she volunteered to teach others in the senior program.

In A's class, we do a lot of speed drawing exercises that allows us no time to think.  Every time, there is a theme or concept that she wants us to explore.  She would give us a brief description, but not detailed instructions of how to proceed.  How we approach the subject is entirely up to us.  

Many times, we, the students, were stunned by what she asked us to do.  Yet, by the end of class, we are astonished by what she is capable of extracting out of us within such a short time.  Even we did not know we are capable of drawing like that.  

At the end of class, we follow A to go around to look at everybody's drawing for the day.  She always finds interesting angles to interpret students' artwork, and finds something positive to say about our drawings.  

She has run this class so many times.  She has a bunch of "repeat customers" like myself who keeps re-registering for her "Intro to Drawing".  There are some basic principles that she teaches over and over, but she always finds a new way of demonstrating it, and gives us a different exercise to do in order to learn and practice the idea.  We are able to develop deeper understanding of the concepts without ever feeling bored. 

As an instructor of various things, I have tremendous respect for A's pedagogy.  I decided to talk to her about it.

Me:  I really like going around to look at people's drawings with you after class.  Honestly, sometimes I feel a little nervous about it.  Of course, it is nice when people draw amazing stuff.  It is so easy to applaud them.  There are times, when I look at people's sketch pads, as classmate, I don't know what to say.  But you always manage to make interesting comments and give good feedback.

A:  Yeah, it can be difficult at times.  However, there is always some aspect you can pick out to comment on.  You can point out that the proportions are good, or the shapes are accurate.  Even if they are not realistically correct, it can be just a different perspective of looking at things.  People may express themselves in limitless ways.  It is art.  There is no wrong.

Me:  I am a martial art instructor.  Even though it is also an art form, we do not have as much leeway because some mistakes can come with significant consequences.  One can not only be wrong, but they can be dead wrong.  

A:  I have only practiced Taichi forms, but I can understand what you mean.  In teaching, we can use "reduction", meaning asking someone to stop doing certain things.  That is inherently difficult because people behave a certain way for a reason.  If you are to remove something, you need to give them a substitute.  What substitute can you provide to them?

That's why I tend to use "addition".  With addition, I praise students for things that they do well.  Since they have already demonstrated the ability to do something, it is easier to suggest that they build on it by trying another thing.  It also feels more positive and encouraging.  People tend to be more receptive to positive comments.

To do addition, however, a teacher has to have the ability to see good things even in the most difficult situation.  The praise has to be a heart-felt, genuine comment.  A pretend compliment actually hurts students' feelings and is not constructive.  That does more damage than good.

I started practicing martial arts during the "old school" era where teachers beat you up because they like you.  They may also beat you up because they dislike you.  Teachers beat you up because you do something wrong and they want to teach you a lesson. They also beats you up because they think you are great and want to teach you something new. 

In short, the only "teaching technique" was to beat you up.  Students get really confused because they cannot tell what is what.  Beating people up is not educational.

"To be able to see good even in the most difficult situation.  Nurture it and help it grow. "

I feel inspired.