| The way people learn is very particular and peculiar | | | | eye-contact with you, listen intently to anything that |
| to them, so martial arts instructors need to | | | | is being said to them, and frequently ask for a |
| understand the teaching is definitely NOT a | | | | repeated explanation of something. They will normally |
| "one-size-fits-all" affair. Indeed, students will tend to | | | | be quite "intellectual" and will probably enjoy the |
| process information in a number of different ways | | | | history, traditions and philosophy of the martial arts |
| depending upon their overall character, age, | | | | just as much (if not more!) than the actual physical |
| personality and ability. | | | | techniques themselves. |
| This transference of information is extremely delicate | | | | TEACHING STRATEGIES FOR AUDITORY |
| and intricate, and will also be influenced by such | | | | STUDENTS: |
| diverse things as Emotional state, culture, | | | | When teaching this learning style, you should make |
| environment, etc. And, as instructors, we need to | | | | sure that you EXPLAIN everything several times and |
| take this into account whenever we are trying to | | | | in as much detail as possible when demonstrating a |
| impart some new technique or skill. | | | | technique. When addressing them, you should |
| Learning styles are a very complex subject indeed, | | | | incorporate plenty of positive "sound-bites" like these: |
| but the basics should be learned in order for us to | | | | · That sounds about right. |
| become more effective at what we do by gaining a | | | | · That rings a bell. |
| fuller understanding of the learning mechanisms, and | | | | · Tune in to what I'm saying |
| how these, in turn, can influence attitudes and | | | | · Clear as a bell. |
| behaviours of our students in the dojo. | | | | · That's music to my ears. |
| BASIC LEARNING STYLES | | | | As this will help them to process the information you |
| The three main learning styles are: Visual, Auditory | | | | are attempting to impart. Audio-books on the more |
| and Kinaesthetic, which can easily be remembered by | | | | intellectual side of the martial arts and detailed |
| the word VAK. We will take a look at each of these | | | | academic lectures are the best type of resource for |
| in turn, to increase the instructors understanding of | | | | this type of learner. . |
| them and the ways in which they will influence your | | | | KINAESTHETIC |
| teaching methods. | | | | Kinaesthetic learners are "Hands-on" people. The |
| VISUAL | | | | instructor will recognise them quite soon, as they are |
| Visual learners prefer to process information by | | | | the students who seem to always be fidgeting and |
| watching, seeing and observing. They can easily | | | | moving about, even when they are meant to be |
| visualise techniques and outcomes in their head, and | | | | sitting still! They tend to learn best by doing, touching |
| can easily be identified by the way they tend to look | | | | and feeling. A great deal of martial artists will actually |
| around a lot, letting their eyes "wonder" (Sometimes | | | | have this kind of learning style, as physical sports |
| even when you are talking directly to them!). They | | | | tend to attract them and they excel at sports, |
| will also possess good spatial awareness, which | | | | exercise and physical fitness training. Because of this, |
| makes them good at appreciating both body | | | | the instructor can expect them to be very |
| positioning (Tai Sabaki) and distance work (Ma-Ai). So | | | | competent at picking up the gross-motor skills |
| they can easily pick up the theoretical movement | | | | required in the martial arts, as they rely upon |
| underlying many techniques, and rarely forget | | | | "muscle-memory" to remember things. |
| something that has been demonstrated to them | | | | TEACHING STRATEGOES FOR KINAESTHETIC |
| properly and efficiently. When participating in any | | | | STUDENTS: |
| "problem solving" (or "discovery learning" as it is | | | | When teaching this type of learner, you will need to |
| sometimes called) they will usually be the ones who | | | | keep your demonstrations short, and your |
| get the basic movements right almost immediately. | | | | explanations even shorter. They need to actually |
| TEACHING STRATEGIES FOR VISUAL STUDENTS: | | | | PARTICIPATE as quickly as is safe to do so. |
| When teaching this type of learner, you should spend | | | | Therefore, it is much better to "break down" what it |
| a lot more time actually DEMONSTRATING the | | | | is you want them to learn into small, easily |
| particular technique you want them to pick-up rather | | | | remembered parts as, this way, they get to |
| than trying to explain it at any great length verbally. | | | | physically practice them rather than just simply sitting, |
| And, when you do give them any form of verbal | | | | watching and listening. |
| description or explanation, then try and incorporate | | | | When explaining to them verbally what you want |
| "picturesque" like these into your verbal instructions: | | | | them to do, you should use "touchy-feely" words like |
| · Let's take a look at this. | | | | these: |
| · See how this works for you. | | | | · Does that feel right to you? |
| · Can you picture that? | | | | · Can you grasp what I am saying? |
| · Let's draw a picture about it. | | | | · Stay in touch. |
| · I'd like you to get a different perspective. | | | | · Keep in touch with what is going on |
| The whiteboard, DVD Player and graphic handouts | | | | · I have a good feeling about this. |
| are, also, all very effective teaching aids for this | | | | You're body language, facial expressions and various |
| learning style (if you happen to have access to any | | | | martial arts training aids (Mitts, Makiwara Bokken, etc) |
| of these, off course!) | | | | will all be invaluable resources for appealing to this |
| AUDITORY | | | | particular learning style. |
| An auditory learner will primarily utilise their listening | | | | CONCLUSION |
| skills when trying to process information. Noises and | | | | Taking a persons individual learning style into account |
| sounds are very important to them, and they will rely | | | | will enable efficient learning to take place within the |
| heavily upon what is termed "inner-dialogue" when | | | | dojo, make the student feel more cared for, and the |
| attempting to recall something. They can be identified | | | | instructor more competent. |
| by the way in which they will make direct | | | | |