We had a good tied practice on Friday morning (most Fridays, 9am. All welcome but check it is on first.). I though I would blog about it as it really reminded me that when teaching your have to go back and reinforce correct technique at regular intervals. It happened to be a one-to-one session so when I was thinking about what to write I suddenly came across a problem - how did I refer to the other person there? I do not want to use names, even if most people can work it out , so what do I use? Beginner? Well we don't really have beginners any more; most people are plain hunting on several bells, and are well on their way to ringing the treble to touches even if they are not quite there yet. Learner? Well yes, they are learners, but aren't most of us? I can't remember the last time I tied up a rope after ringing and had not acquired some new fragment of knowlege or insight about something - striking, conducting or even bell maintenance. So while on Friday morning I was the 'teacher' and the other person the 'learner' I suspect that I 'leant' almost as much as they did. There seem to be many options - novice, inexperienced, less experienced, student, & level 2 amongst others were all rejected for a variety of reasons such as accuracy and ease of use, but one thing I considered in each case was how someone reading it would perceive it.
Take the ITTS use of the word 'style'. I forget the exact phrasing but it is something like 'beginners should have a good ringing style'. It's a perfectly correct and reasonable word defined by the OED as a particular procedure by which something is done; a manner or way. However this word caused many letters to The Ringing World, most naming excellent ringers (mostly past, maybe nobody wanted to offend any current ringers) who had a wide variety of odd actions. Yet I doubt there is anybody in ringing who would not agree that new learners should be taught to have long backstokes with thier hands finishing low and central, and to pull the handstroke with both hands, releasing together and the 'free' hand moving onto the tail end as quickly and smoothly as possible. So why were so many people upset enough to put pen to paper (or fingers on keyboards) and contact the Comic? Maybe it is because the main use of the word 'style' today is the other definition - a distinctive appearance with the expamle 'for a glamorous style, hair was brushed out after setting' Could it be that the substitution of a word like 'technique' for 'style' would have caused much less muttering in the ringing community as it would have seemed less frivolous? Never mind, it was all publicity, and eveybody develops their own bad habits eventually.
Back to my own problem of how to refer to people in my blog. I finally decided on 'learner' as it seemed the most accurate. It is a teaching situation and therefore someone has to be the official learner, but I hope they learn as much as they teach me in these Friday morning sessions.
Take the ITTS use of the word 'style'. I forget the exact phrasing but it is something like 'beginners should have a good ringing style'. It's a perfectly correct and reasonable word defined by the OED as a particular procedure by which something is done; a manner or way. However this word caused many letters to The Ringing World, most naming excellent ringers (mostly past, maybe nobody wanted to offend any current ringers) who had a wide variety of odd actions. Yet I doubt there is anybody in ringing who would not agree that new learners should be taught to have long backstokes with thier hands finishing low and central, and to pull the handstroke with both hands, releasing together and the 'free' hand moving onto the tail end as quickly and smoothly as possible. So why were so many people upset enough to put pen to paper (or fingers on keyboards) and contact the Comic? Maybe it is because the main use of the word 'style' today is the other definition - a distinctive appearance with the expamle 'for a glamorous style, hair was brushed out after setting' Could it be that the substitution of a word like 'technique' for 'style' would have caused much less muttering in the ringing community as it would have seemed less frivolous? Never mind, it was all publicity, and eveybody develops their own bad habits eventually.
Back to my own problem of how to refer to people in my blog. I finally decided on 'learner' as it seemed the most accurate. It is a teaching situation and therefore someone has to be the official learner, but I hope they learn as much as they teach me in these Friday morning sessions.
RSS Feed