The Type of Dance Teacher I Could Be...
My teaching days started when I was sixteen years old, starting out assisting a ballet teacher with her tiny tots class (3 - 4 year olds). As a teenager who wasn't around younger children that much, I am proud of how much I have grown in teaching not only young kids but all ages as well.
When I started my university course, I stopped assisting at the ballet school to focus on my own studies. That was until after the COVID-19 pandemic that I was invited to take part in a teacher training course for aerial dancers. This training included how to make a plan for your class, roleplaying what to do in a situation when students don't get along/would misbehave in class, and how to speak in a way to keep the students engaged with what you are teaching.
The teachers around me in the Irish Aerial Creation Centre really helped me develop my teaching skills to this day as an aerial dance teacher. The way they incorporate creativity into the technique training is vital as it helps the students learn of their own individuality. Their styles of teaching tend to crossover many different styles, such as - practice style, inclusion style, and reciprocal style.
Now, with different age groups, the teaching styles do change. Reciprocal style is only used for older students, such as teenagers and adults as the age groups tend to be more careful when moving in the air. Whereas younger kids (especially kids between four and nine) would normally be better being taught through the other teaching styles mentioned.
The Inclusion Teaching Style is quite important in aerial dance teaching as it is very rare when everyone in a class is at the same level. So, as a teacher, I must adapt to how they progress and what they are capable of doing at this time. Normally when teaching, I would always have two versions of a move which I call "option 1" and "option 2". I would demonstrate both and encourage each student to try the harder option as they might surprise themselves.
Practice Teaching Style goes hand in hand with aerial dance technique teaching. We would start by demonstrating the moves first and then guide the students as they try the move at their own pace. This is a good teaching style as the student gets the time to explore ways that make the movements comfortable in their own bodies.
What I enjoy about including creativity in the class is that the students are given a chance to have the freedom to come up with something new.
Games I think are important in teaching. I tend to lean towards play-based learning for kids. In my teacher training, we were shown a few games and even got to create my own. I believe that games are great for getting the students to engage with the activity and, depending on the game, it gets the gears turning in the brains. Strictly, games are best for the beginning and end of class time, integrating them into warm-ups and cool-downs. According to danceedtips.com (a dance education blog):
"Your students love your creativity but they also need brain breaks and activities that aren't direction instruction from their teacher. Sometimes too much information can be overwhelming for dancers trying to grasp certain concepts and we need to switch up to regain their attention."
Have you ever gotten questions from parents about why you’re playing dance games? Maybe you’re fearful to even try them in your dance classe
I believe that we can mix creativity with gameplay. Before I finish my class, I play "The Animal Game", which the younger students love to play. After teaching the technique class, I would set a task for the students to come up with a move or a shape within their apparatus that represents an animal. Then after a few minutes of coming up with their animal, everyone would take turns presenting what they have created while the others must guess. This pulls so much creativity from them as they get excitement and fun from the game but also the freedom to make decisions. And if the students wanted to team up, I encourage it as it builds teamwork among the class.
From working with primary school students for a workshop, it was more difficult to work with them as they didn't have much of a choice to join in. So, when I was teaching I tried to make it as inclusive as possible by incorporating games for warm-ups and then allowing the students in my group to make their own movements. This sparked excitement, even among the students who didn't want to be a part of the workshop.
What I have learned from my time teaching is adaptability. Adapting to the type of students you have as no student is the same. This is an important skill to have. When it comes to game-based learning, changing up the games is what's important as sometimes the students can get overexcited, or might have a hard time focusing.
What I hope to improve in my time teaching is how to adapt to different teaching styles as in the future, I cannot guarantee what types of students I could be working with and would want to accommodate to what they need.















