More about words used in teaching skiing…

Many teaching jobs are not learned in a school setting, but the process begins when the teacher is facing the students. At first it can be very awkward, difficult and horrible, but eventually one finds their groove and a teaching routine begins to take shape. 

I’m not saying it’s necessarily a great one, but through repetition, feedback and measurements, as crude and ineffective as it may be, a teaching style emerge. Then, depending on the degree of passion for the subject taught, huge differences in quality can develop. 

Obviously, the teacher must realize that he or she has to step into their student shoes, both physically and mentally. That dimension will vary vastly with individuals and their capacity for empathy as well as the depth and diversity of their personal experience. 

This, at the end of a teacher’s formative process will unavoidably lead to huge differences in outcome. Then there’s the routine phase, where teaching quality may get enhanced (through “aha moments”, student or supervisory feedback) or deteriorate as time goes on (laziness, lack of motivation and passion for the work). 

This obviously begs for frequent assessment and evaluations that are both time consuming as well as costly and rarely happen in ideal conditions if at all. In the end, the result is a crap-shoot, with a select few outstanding teachers, many fair to mediocre and about the same many that are unhelpful or terrible. 

Good luck in picking the right one!