What do you consider to be the most important teaching skills to be?

What is your teaching process?

Evaluation, presentation, (im)patience.

Most important skill - Understanding what it is they don't understand.

The process is different according to what I'm teaching, and to what level. Teaching 8 year olds chess requires a totally diferrent approach to 30-somethings in the final stages of preparation for their specialist surgical exams.

A teacher on an instrument needs to have a good, solid technique on that instrument to be able to explain from personal experiemce and to demonstrate things. They should have a good knowledge of repertoire, and endless supply of enthusiasm, and be able to spot and know exactly how to correct faults. Patience is a nice bunus too.

Communication skills! That for me is the single most important attribute. It's all very well knowing how to play the instrument but you have to know how to pass that on. You also have to motivate, enthuse, plan a curriculum, spot how everyone learns, adapt your teaching accordingly, know what faults need correcting and how, set short and long term goals. Ability on the instrument is far down the list, though is of course helpful.

To make sure that in every lesson that learning is taking place. You can teach your 'cotton socks off' (got that from Wednesday eve BBC1 'The Apprentice')! but if the pupil isn't learning then there is a problem. My philosophy is take the time to ensure that the pupil understands (if parents allow) and if you need to, do some sideways teaching/learning so that the pupil doesn't get bored. I mean, repeat a concept but with different music or a different method if necessary.

I completely agree with previous posts that the teacher has to see why a pupil has a difficulty and know how to solve it.

Keeping up playing skills is important as I always feel I've got more to give if I practise and a by product of keeping this up is that I feel more confident in lessons.

Good thread - got me thinking!

As well as being able to understand what a pupil needs to know - having flexible resources to communicate the remedy to problems. Not everyone learns in the same way, and a teacher who can only explain something in one way will not be able to meet the needs of all their pupils, even if they've selected them rather carefully.
The other factor which is vital is a willingness to update and continue one's own education - we all ought to continue learning throughout our lives, we'll never know everything there is to know .

Yes, I'm pretty sure that using a scalpel on one's opponent in Chess would be considered cheating .

I'd say the ability to engender enthusiasm, followed by competence. The latter is useless without the former - one could be the best teacher in the world, but if one cannot convince one's pupils that instrument practice is worth doing, it's all for naught. The real skill in it is working out how to enthuse each pupil, there's no one-size-fits-all way of doing it.

Sometimes tempting though!

Robodoc - great answer!!!!!! If only it was as easy to do as it is to type.


Also - enthusiasm and positivity do a great deal. Getting a child enthused over a piece of Scarlatti is terribly hard to do!

All of the above, plus building relationships, and having the ability to say the same thing in a hundred different ways until it clicks!

I think that's a good summary.

To like the pupils, want the best for them and to treat them as individuals.

What I don't understand about teachers is how you can bear to listen to beautful music that you can play/sing well that is being mangled by your pupil and then say words of encouragement. But the words of encouragement are very welcome.

communication - knowing how to explain what needs to be learnt in a way that the pupil understands

relationship - making the pupil feel like it's a team effort

Perfect.

Also a sense of humour.

People skills! Being able to see the different achievements for all students (shy student actually making it into the exam room/onto the stage versus very talented student getting a high mark/performing well) and being able to encourage people through those times when things aren't going their way!

People skills! Being able to see the different achievements for all students (shy student actually making it into the exam room/onto the stage versus very talented student getting a high mark/performing well) and being able to encourage people through those times when things aren't going their way!

People skills! Being able to see the different achievements for all students (shy student actually making it into the exam room/onto the stage versus very talented student getting a high mark/performing well) and being able to encourage people through those times when things aren't going their way!

Hmmm...have a feeling this is going to be a long list!

~an understanding of how people of different ages learn (including knowledge of child development)
~being aware of the three stages of learning - unconscious/conscious/reinforcement (ie Preparation, Presentation, Practice)
~incorporating elements of each stage of learning in each lesson
~taking especial care of the first of these stages - the better the preparation, the easier the conscious understanding becomes ('children learn best that which they already know')
~planning each lesson so that activities which require a high level of concentration are alternated with relaxing/refreshing activities
~ensuring that the last activity of the lesson leaves the student feeling good about him/herself and looking forward to the next lesson
~being as highly trained as possible in your instrument or discipline
~being able to create an atmosphere of mutual respect
~being able to create an atmosphere where the student is not afraid of making mistakes but sees them as a natural part of the learning process
~excellent communication skills
~the ability to think creatively and flexibly
~the ability to inspire enthusiasm and a love for the subject/instrument
~a sense of humour - most definitely!

*feels very inadequate*

Oh blimey - NOT my intention, andante!!

Just been studying 'the art of teaching' for a very long time and just wanted to add some of what I thought was important to what people had already said...must have put my 'running a methodology INSET' hat on...

Sorry .

That is a very comprehensive list Cyrilla.

I think I'm a long way short of that.

I agree with all Cyrilla's points - but in order to put them into practice I think I'd need the patience of a saint and the constitution of an ox!!

Seriously, I just want to add one word - OBSERVATION. When I trained as an infant teacher a lot of emphasis was put on observing the child so that we could base our teaching on an intelligent reaction to what we had observed. I think we should observe and appreciate our pupils and then use all our skills to try to answer their individual needs. On a good day that's where I always try to start. On a bad day
I just hope the pupils aren't observing me!

I was just dropping by to add "sense of humour" but I see Cyrilla's already covered it

"Presence" is another one, if that makes sense. In that you are always focusing on your pupil throughout the lesson with no distractions. I won't even answer the phone when I'm teaching.

Being observant of your pupil - detecting when they're genuinely tired and have had a really bad day at school, being able to adjust the lesson to take that into account.

Indeed you do - why do you think I'm always exhausted??!




I always remember being told by one of my wonderful Hungarian teachers that if you wait until a child is/children are tired of an activity before you change it, then it is too late - and no more quality learning will take place in that lesson...

I also remember being told of some research that had been done in Hungary regarding the optimum learning moment in any given period of time - I'm still trying to hit the Golden Section in mine

And like everything else in life, the important thing about what everyone has said in this thread is that we read it, absorb it and reflect on it. If we try to 'obey the rules' by creating a giant list of points and slavishly putting it into practice, we run the risk of our teaching being cautious and rule-bound. If instead we allow others' opinions and practices to inform and enhance our own teaching methods then our teaching will remain creative and, it is to be hoped, inspirational.

Yes andante in C. You have got it exactly right ! And it's just like absorbing a piece of music or poetry - giving it all time to become part of ourselves.

What more can one say?

Hah, so true!

Cyrilla: that is one awesome list - aspirational, in my case, rather than actual, but we try


what a great post!

Definitely a good sense of humour and plenty of patience.........