the top 10 of teaching

didactics is more than just presenting science. teaching includes inspiring people and transforming minds. so it should happen carefully. a 10 item list of succesful teaching methods. 

I enter the room. No one is there. Tables somewhere strayed around the space. Some listeners enter, confused where to sit down. Ten minutes later the teacher comes in. She wants to hold a presentation, using her laptop, but she forgot to bring an adapter. She tries some inappropriate jokes and personal comments about students in order to regain the lost attention of her students. Instead of listening to her unprepared words, I start thinking about didactics and teaching methods. What makes a good teacher? How can we successfully lead learners? The result of a psychology-course on mental diseases is this 10 item list, how we could improve our lectures and trainings! 

1.      teaching is timing

Teaching is location. Location means: time, space and environmental conditions. I love to compare teaching contexts to Christmas Eve. Even though we would hold the celebration in our living room, we would prepare everything perfectly for hours. We would dress up in nice clothes and get ready as early as possible.

Getting ready for a course is kind of the same. As a teacher you should check if your teaching space corresponds to your ideas of teaching? Are tables set in a useful order? Did you check your devices for showing videos or playing music? Is the space clean? I usually enter my teaching space as early as possible. Also, being early creates a meditative character of taking my time for a mindful preparation towards teaching.

Another aspect is clothing: As I’m teaching movement, I work in trainers a lot. Anyway - I learned that dressing up for teaching helps being serious and confirmed. People who work in home offices hear that advice quite often: even if you don’t leave house, get ready for work! From my own perspective, I can share this attitude: even if I teach in sport clothing I try to care as much as possible on my appearance as a course holder. 

2.      teaching is preparing

One of my most astonishing impressions on teaching is the fact that a group always realizes your unpreparedness. I never met a group which would not notice any kind of insecurity towards my own concepts. A good preparation is everything. Preparation includes a time structure, but also a reflection on what your student group might ask and need. Consider plan B’s once you are insecure about an exercise. Of course, something always can go wrong and many teachers are stressed dealing with lecture emergencies. I developed a good technique for myself how to handle failures and unexpected events: I first often talk about the problem and then ask them how they would solve it! I never met a group which wouldn’t be able and willing to support any situation (unequal number in exercises, bad weather during outdoor trainings etc.)

3.      teaching is transparency

A good class starts with a structure. All your students should know what you planned for the session and especially – why! Structure means security and security allows opening your mind for thinking and reflecting. Also structure means care and preparation, which will be associated with valuation. If people know what will happen during a class and why they might be more likely to interact and cooperate.

4.      share your methods and your way to approach

What we all remember from school are our good, and our bad teachers. Many times I wondered how my good teachers – people who inspired me to learn, became the person they were. How did they behave as students and how did they learn the content they are sharing today? As a teacher, you do not only share the content you are supposed to teach, but also your personal way of being a student in the past. You incorporate experience, failure and reflection – and all these should be shared with your students. My personal experience in learning was that I would be more motivated when I could imagine the real person behind my teacher. I would not only be encouraged in improving my goal orientated skills, but also my personality. 

5.      teacher’s characteristics

Yes, most of us grew up being influenced by the ‘Dead Poets Society’ teaching ideals. Someone who is unconventionally loving and believing inspires young students to do greater than they would ever imagine. What does the fictional character John Keating teach us? A good teacher is enthusiastic, and a good lesson should never stop with the bell ring. Instead, a successful lesson continues in books, journals, conversations and in your student’s thoughts. Moreover ‘Dead Poets Society’ taught us that good teachers act encouraging and authentic towards their students. You can’t use any better method than your own one. 

6.      respect people as learners

Everyone joining your class is a fully functioning person, filled with creative and individual thoughts and shaped with own experiences of life. Even if your students are just half of your own age, I invite you to respect them as a mature and self-determined people. How much did you dislike it, when your parents replied to your questions with: “because I said so.” Once we interact with students in a cooperative way, we invite them to participate and also improve our own teaching situation. 

7.      from where the people are

Compared to their students, teachers have one advantage: they already traversed the stage of learning. They had their own time for confusion, disillusion, explanation and motivation revivals. I love to compare learning things to starting training for a marathon. You start training small distances, interrupted by breaks of walking. When you just start training, you are still getting out of breath very early., How much would it help you, if someone tells you how to regain your energy after two hours of running? It would not help you at all. I experience these situations during my classes quite often: I personally love dancing and working on the floor, but I often interact with people who haven’t sat on a wooden floor for ages. Telling them to roll around and start moaning would only cause confusion and fear. I usually start with simple and concrete exercises, which invite students to find their own ways towards this unknown universe called “floor”. As teachers, we are not teaching fix concepts, but pathways. And maybe a new perspective might result out of this. 

8.      trust in your groups abilities 

Humans interact compassionate, empathic and group oriented. This is my experience from teaching groups and individuals. It has taught me a great lesson on trusting my students in very basic ways of taking responsibility about a situation. I often meet teachers who get stressed. They feel they have to care about their students. I would love to share a perspective I have on responsibility and care: I think we all need to care and feel responsible about the content we are teaching – and we should invite our students to explore it, but also care for themselves! 

9.      love what you do and believe it’s important

Universities are packed with people absolutely engaged in research and who view teaching as a need to do to obtain a perspective in research. I also followed courses, held by unmotivated teachers, who thought that teaching is actually unnecessary. But note: what you do is not a research add-on – but a possibility to inspire and influence many followers – more than possibly read your research outcomes! Teaching allows us to share our ideas – and also to receive input from many people with a different perspective on things. Teaching is a conversation, a mental dance in a universe filled with knowledge.    

10.  leading is listening

This is my favorite one! I don’t have to be a great leader in order to teach courses – the most important is that I can follow! Teaching means processing empathy towards a group of learners, understand their needs and their routines in learning. How much do they pause during a lesson? Does this group need more structure or does chaos provide a baseline for creative thinking? Are these people used to follow routines or does organization stress them out? I never experienced a group to be identical to another group – which inspires me a lot in my work. Therefore I don’t see myself as a leader – I consider myself to be a listener. 

One of my most exciting discoveries in teaching is the fact that teaching provides learning. Every group I’ve been teaching and every session I guided through has changed and broadened my perspective and therefore I am thankful for every person that I met during my classes.

how two people with autism would teach me about love

Autism and Love have nothing to do with each other? Here are 5 things I learned from an autistic couple. 

I never thought I would do this: write an article on love and relationships. And I never thought I would use “autism” as a positive example of how relationships should be conducted. But as life is not always about planning and thinking – I am thankful to share my experience on how two people, diagnosed with autism, taught me about loving. 

She loves clothes. Skirts and shirts we would not associate with society-appropriate styles, but she absolutely shows she likes wearing them. Her parents had migrated from another country, and even though she speaks both languages perfectly, she sometimes has troubles in writing. I met her as a caring and friendly person, sometimes confused by rules and structures. She is interested in everyone surrounding her and asks many questions.

He loves eating, even though he is allergic against many things. When he talks, his fingers start trembling, which does not correspond to his attitude of speaking very slow. He always uses full sentences and every word he’s sharing seems to be well selected. When he is starting an action, he prepares every step on it. He knows when the busses are running and is informed about opening times in supermarkets. I am impressed about the details in life, he is caring about.

Both have autism. In our society ‘autism’ is associated with a lack of empathy and less emotional understanding. People having autism are not able to love – that’s what we think. 

I work with autistic people for seven years now. She and he both joined my intervention groups for more than one year in order to meet people who are supposed to be alike. We’ve spent nights cooking, playing games and just talking about life. Sometimes I did not feel any difference between people having autism and myself. The only impression I had is that their lives included more obstacles than my own one. Love could be one of them.

I remember when they first met, it took them two hours until they’d ask for each other’s name – and two more meetings to exchange numbers. In the meanwhile, I observed small tryouts of interaction, such as choosing a sitting place next to each other and shy looks trying to start a conversation. I also observed caring and attention, small gestures and thankful moments when the other person replied as hoped.

For half a year they would attend our group meetings, but not date each other outside that context. The first time they actually spent time together, happened when she was sick. He offered to accompany her to the doctors. That was the first attempt towards a caring relationship. 

swiping your love life

Different situation - I attended a supervision course in physical therapy, in which I didn’t know any of the other attendees before. Our trainer asked us to start our session by talking. Everyone should share his biography, current questions in life and thoughts. One woman talked about being overwhelmed with two small children. Another one was searching for love. A third person mentioned troubles in job, while another one reflected on her marriage. Three hours later I felt impressed by the density life just caused on these square meters our sitting circle comprised.

Swipe left, swipe right. The first one has blond hair; the next one is wearing sunglasses, one has black hair, another one is photographed with an alpine landscape in the background. Biographies are passing by as clouds or water. Later that evening: I was having a beer with some friends, chatting and joking until one of them starts ‘tindering’ on his phone. As I have never used the application before, he passes me his phone: “You can pick for me!” I start scrolling and deciding. Soon I was swiping by biographies. Biographies that where likely to be just as intense as in my training course. This is how love in my surroundings is conducted. Fast. Way to fast. If you saw one drop, you still don’t know about the ocean. 

time

What my couple with autism taught me the most was the value of time. And that love needs time. I remember small moments of interactions, which got closer and closer but not too close to overwhelm them. In my generation I often observe a fast lane towards love which usually ends with a hard crash. We jump onto emotional territories, we do not know, even though we consider ourselves as experts. Yes, we all might have been in relationships or affairs before – but every new person consists of completely individually shaped and complex formed memories and thoughts. We need time to sense and understand who we are meeting. One of my biggest wishes still is, to have time for a detailed observation. I am curious how someone walks, start talking, and breathes. One swipe on Tinder won’t do this job.

focus

What I admire about my autistic couple was the focus and precision they included in their meetings. There was only one person – the other one. I believe that, if we are facing someone new our emotional capacity can only last for one person, which also demands a lot of patience and courage.

curiosity

“Do you first want to go to the supermarket and then to the bakery, or the other way around?” During our meet-ups I would count many questions for each other from both sides. Questions on daily routines or on preferences. I know so many couples not asking questions anymore, because they think they know everything. They rely on their intuition, their own life experience and from what they consider having learned about other people. But people change concepts, goals and needs – and asking is a friendly way of meeting them. My observations towards my autistic couple always were subtitled with the words ‘respect’ and ‘compassion’, when questions filled the space.

attention

From my working background, I can say, that physical interaction in our society happens in a very confusing way. We shake hands with close friends or we have sex with strangers we don’t know their name.  We all consider ourselves to “know” how sexuality and touch work out – even though every’body’ consists of completely different needs and feelings. I often met people – men and women alike -, who proudly presented me their counting list of sexual contacts which would award them as heroes in bed. What I often miss about these explanations were terms of ‘listening’ and ‘empathy’, which I personally consider as the most important traits for love and sexuality. I learned that empathic touch in relationships demands a lot of asking. For my autistic friends, touch was a completely new territory, they never walked on before. Observing their physical interaction often reminded me on walking on Martian surface – packed with curiosity and attention.

acceptance

“Yes, my boyfriend has this absolutely weird behavior. I need to make him stop it.” I hear these kinds of sentences so many times. People with autism are often judged showing atypical behaviors, such as counting things or following very strict routines. What I would observe following the autistic couple in my group was that they would absolutely value the other one’s weird behavior. When I asked them about it, they would answer: “Because it is important!”

All in all, my autistic friends introduced me to soft qualities I sometimes would love to see increase in our daily life. I believe we should appreciate and respect love (or even friendship) as a great gift and not as a constant way of consuming things.

If one would ask me, how people with autism love, I would sum it up like this: No Tinder. No Fast-Food-Love. No fake expertise. But listening to each other.

Tango statt Tränen

warum Therapie mehr sein sollte, als ein abstrakter Raum für trübe Gefühlswelten
 

Meine erste therapeutische Erfahrung habe ich mit circa 15 Jahren gemacht. Sie fand zwar nicht beim Therapeuten, sondern in einer abgerockten Hinterhoffabrikhalle statt  - aber ihre Auswirkungen auf mein weiteres Leben, würde ich als therapeutisch bezeichnen. Ich war das, was mit 15 viele Menschen sind: latent aggressiv, emotional unkoordiniert und trotzdem träumerisch. Unsere Theaterchoreographin war eine junge Brasilianerin mit sehr großem Herz und nonverbalem Gespür für Menschen. Eines Tages bat sie mich, früher als die anderen zur Probe zu kommen. Sie drückte mir einen großen, alten Bühnenvorhang in die Hand und forderte mich auf ihn zu zerschlagen. Ich griff nach dem Vorhang und schleuderte ihn minutenlang immer wieder auf den Boden, bis der Schweiß von meiner Haut perlte. Obwohl ich mich verausgabte, veränderte ich die Struktur des Vorhangs nicht. Erschöpft brach ich über dem Boden zusammen, spürte, wie sich die Arme unserer Choreographin um mich legten. Ich glaube, wir saßen eine Stunde so da. Danach war das mit der Aggression vorbei. 

Heute weiß ich: das was damals in diesem Raum geschehen war, beinhaltete eine Wirkung, die mein ganzes Leben prägen würde. In diesem tatsächlichen Moment allerdings, verstand ich gar nichts.

So geht es wohl vielen Menschen, die eine Therapie machen.

Wenn ich mich an meine selbstrelevanten Ziele als 15jährige erinnere, sahen sie folgendermaßen aus: ich wollte cool aussehen und dabei einer Gruppe angehören. Das Theater bot mir genau diese Möglichkeiten: ich lernte Bewegungen, die im gesellschaftlichen Kontext als „cool“ bewertet wurden, und war dabei auch noch Teil einer Gruppe. Interesse an persönlicher Entwicklung oder Selbsterfahrung? Das konnte ich damals bei mir absolut nicht entdecken.

wie Therapie manchmal sein kann

Heute, rund 10 Jahre später, bin ich Körpertherapeutin. Ich tue das, was unsere Choreographin mit mir gemacht hat, mit vielen anderen Menschen. Die Erfahrungen haben sich in meinen Körper eingebrannt, mit den Jahren habe ich sie reflektieren gelernt. Ich weiß, warum es sinnvoll ist Theatervorhänge auf dem Boden zu zerdeppern. Aber aus meiner eigenen Erfahrung weiß ich auch, dass das nicht alle Leute verstehen. Menschen, die sich nie umgehend mit Therapie beschäftigt haben, verstehen Therapie vielleicht nicht. Einfach, weil sie es nie gebraucht haben. Trotzdem kann es passieren, dass sie an einem Punkt im Leben stehen, an dem sie Therapie benötigen.

In meiner heutigen Arbeit bieten sich mir oft Bilder, die ich als ironisch bezeichnen würde: Topmanager, die Körbe flechten sollen. Mütter von vielen Kindern, die ihr Leben in drei Farben auf A1 Bögen bringen. Aggressive Schwerverbrecher, die mit bunten Tüchern spielen. Oft habe ich mich gefragt, ob der jeweilige Mensch mit der jeweiligen Biographie dahinter versteht, was er da eigentlich tut. Ganz oft habe ich eine Antwort erfahren: Nein!

Wir sind Therapeuten. Wir sind dorthin gekommen, weil uns irgendwann die Idee für dieses Konzept so sehr überzeugt hat, dass wir uns dem gewidmet haben. Und ganz oft automatisch allem, was dahinter steckt: leise gesprochenen Sätzen, andächtigem Nicken und tiefsinnigen Gedanken. Oft habe ich mich gefragt, wie sehr das mit der Lebenswirklichkeit vieler Menschen da draußen überhaupt korrespondiert. Ist Therapie vielleicht ein surrealer Raum, geprägt von Weichspüler und virtuellen Milchschaumwelten?

Ich erinnere mich an Momente aus meiner Therapieausbildung, die ich wirklich langweilig empfand. Ich sollte in Übungen minimale Bewegungen andeuten – etwas, was ich in meiner Freizeit niemals tun würde. Wenn ich Bewegungen ausführe, dann soll das auch richtig sein, nicht nur pro forma. Es soll „Klettern“ oder „Tanzen“ oder „Schwimmen“ heißen. Und nicht „Therapie“. Wenn ich tanze, dann entsteht durch das Erlernen der Bewegung, durch das Schwitzen zur Musik und das absolute Versinken in der Tätigkeit ein Flow. Ich vergesse dann alles um mich herum, und lebe den Moment. Das passiert nicht, wenn ich meinen Arm in die Luft halte und ein bisschen wedele. Natürlich haben auch kleine, segmentierte Bewegungen ihren Sinn – aber den muss man erstmal verstehen lernen. Heute bin ich dankbar dafür, die Erfahrung des Nichtverstehens erlebt zu haben.

Mit der Therapie ist es wie mit der Kunst: man muss lernen, sie zu verstehen. Für jemanden, der sich mit Kunst auseinandersetzt ist es einfach sich vor ein komplexes Gemälde zu stellen und es zu begreifen. Für mich ist es: ich stehe davor. Schön oder nicht schön. Mehr habe ich nicht gelernt. Bei Musik ist es das Gleiche: komplexe Klassik motiviert mich nicht zur Reflexion, sondern erzeugt Dissonanz, die mich eher abschreckt. In solchen Momenten, in denen ich in Bereiche eintauche, die zu komplex für mich funktionieren, denke ich dann an meinen Patienten, den Topmanager. Er soll Körbe flechten, ohne die tiefere Bedeutung davon intrinsisch begriffen zu haben. Ja, ich habe vielleicht durch jahrelange Ausbildung und Erfahrung das Konzept von Achtsamkeit und von Momentaufnahmen des Lebens erlernt. Sollte man die Menschen nicht deshalb dort abholen, wo sie gerade stehen? Und ist das bei dem Manager nicht eher am Börsenkurs anstatt beim Korbflechtmaterial?

Warum suchen wir unseren Menschen also nicht Bewegungsformen, die ihnen wirkliche Freude bereiten? Dazu müssen wir keine neuen, therapeutisch angelehnten Pseudobewegungen etablieren, sondern dürfen ruhig auf das vertrauen, was seit Jahrhunderten Menschen glücklich macht – Tanz, Spiel, Laufen, Springen, Schwimmen oder Klettern.Therapie kann deshalb in der Kletterhalle stattfinden, im Café, auf der Straße oder in der Kneipe.

Ich glaube an die intrinsische Motivation des Lernens. Menschen lernen gerne – und die beste Therapie kann genau daraus bestehen in einen Prozess aus Lernen einzutauchen, in dem Erfahrungen gemacht werden, die der Realität des Menschen entsprechen. Der idealen Realität eines Menschen entspricht nicht, in einem Therapieraum zu sitzen und dort im Stuhlkreis hockend Gefühle zu benennen. Der Realität des Menschen entspricht in diese Welt eingegliedert zu sein – auf seine individuelle Weise. Manche gehen dafür in Vereine, andere bleiben eher für sich – und sind damit trotzdem Teil dieser Gesellschaft.

wie Therapie sein sollte

Ich habe das Gefühl, dass wir in der Therapie oft vor Mitgefühl zerfließen. Therapie kann cool sein, sollte manchmal sogar cool sein, Spaß machen und Menschen zum Lachen bringen. Therapie ist der erste Raum, in dem neue Erfahrungen stattfinden können – also auch positive. Ein therapeutischer Raum sollte die Vielfalt des Lebens und seine Ironie erlauben können. Und das Leben zeigt uns oft, wie dicht Leid neben Liebe steht, welche Rolle Nähe, Verbundenheit, Wut oder Spontaneität bedeuten können. Dazu gehört auch, dass Therapie mal laut, ruppig und plump erscheint. Und, dass diese Fülle sein darf und auch schön so ist. 

Ich habe die Erfahrung gemacht, dass Menschen nicht das Bedürfnis nach Heilung bei mir suchen, sondern den Wunsch nach Entfaltung verspüren. Einen ruhigen, sicheren Raum zum Entdecken, zum Ausprobieren. Am meisten lernen die Menschen, wenn wir sie nicht therapieren, sondern sie einladen ihr Wissen über sich selbst zu erweitern. Wir, therapeutisch arbeitende Menschen sollten die ersten sein, die zu dieser Reise einladen, und mit einem Lächeln sagen: Komm einfach mit!