We Can Do Better: A West Coast Swing Teaching Manifesto

When I was growing up, both my parents were philosophy professors. It looked like many of their debates/presented papers/books were just ‘he said/she said’ when it came to whoever’s point of view they were discussing. This seemed entirely asinine to me, not to mention depressingly uninspired. And this is what often happens in WCS as well. Instructors of varying levels often don’t bring all that much independent thought to the table and any discussion becomes just the appeal to higher authority

The advice to learn or explore by teaching is a really great one. Just like for an exam in school, having to rephrase and explain what you've learned several times to different people can be invaluable for your own understanding. Doing this, teaching with mindful purpose, is going to be better for everyone.

I’m sure I could have taught a lot of that better, if not all of it. But the idea is that this is what should be done. We need to walk in with options, with an understanding of the theories adequate to choose the one best suited for the individual at the time, and the ability to explain and rephrase and use examples to best aid with their understanding. We need to be able to show them a ‘good’ and a ‘bad’ example, in terms of using the skill effectively, and give them steps to rediscover the skill or technique if they have difficulty recreating it.