'Ivan the terrible' or 'Fairy Godmonther' - which teacher works for you?

[Some guy]

I don't know if I understand the "Ivan the terrible" analogy. Are we talking about coaches who yell and scream at students or the ones that are just "tough" on their students.  Personally, I don't think yelling is ever called for in an environment such as ballroom dancing where the students are there out of their own will taking time off their busy schedules and paying good money to learn something new. 

I see coaches yelling at students all the time, and occassionally, with enough yelling, the student gets it right. Then I see those very same students go to nice calm coaches who get them to do things right just as quickly, if not, faster than the yelling coach.  Surely, if one coach had to yell at them and the other only had to "communicate" to them what to do, I can't see one being better than the other except that "ol yeller" needs to improve their teaching skills. 

I've been yelled at plenty of times at lessons, and at the time I thought it was good tough love, but now I know better in that those coaches' volume during my lesson was inversely proportional to their teaching abilities. 

[elisedance]

(in reply to BTM, but the content seems to reply also to SG )
True, I guess we should qualify it further - and Ivan the terrible certainly sounds like a gothic harpie... (perish the thought)

A good teacher judges what you are ready for.

thats not a good teacher - its a great teacher because it inherently assumes that they are effective at it .

I get more irritated by a teacher that is trying to make it easy for me by teaching me half the reality than a teacher that demands pefection and pushes me beyond my real limits.  But that really is just me - and no, I am not trying to be a professional (though if a tall pro asked me I guess..... but I digress (do I have to stop?)).....

[elisedance]

When I started the topic I did not mean to compare OTT coaches with docile ones but hard pushing/tough (no meanness) with reserved/gentle

[Bordertangoman]

hmm but that can depend on the students perceptions as much as the teachers attitude. I have long discussions with school teachers as to what constitutes criticism.
I will try not to say anything when I'm teaching that does not give a specific possibility of improvment; eg. if I say "you're unbalanced" this isnt helpful however accurate it may be. If I say " move your weight forward" or "straighten your back/neck head" or "dont look down, look ahead." then this is helpful; then keep correcting......

and if this doesnt work I keep saying it louder and louder and louder

[elisedance]

I hope you use an american accent and then dress like a drill sargent too... Ivan the BTM

[Bordertangoman]

I hope you use an american accent and then dress like a drill sargent too... Ivan the BTM

BTM the jarhead; actually my hair is a No. 4 and I could model myself on Jack Nicholson's major in that film....

GIVE ME 20 OCHOS RIGHT NOW!!

[Ginger]

ooh, cosplay...

[skipper]

I see my teacher as someone very different than my coach.
My teacher is the person that guides me and teaches me every week. My teacher also "translates" and reminds me about things my coach has brought up/added to/changed.
My teacher deals with my ups and downs on a regular basis. Yhis is especially true since I dance pro-am.

My coach, well that is a diffferent story. She usually has ONE idea to work on eaxh time we see each other. She will always ask what I want to do. She is not Ivan the terrible OR a fairy godmother--but we always sem to get to the real issues.  It is then up to me to work on them until I see her again.

Then there are the "itinerant" coaches---those that are passing thru. When we have those lessons, it is always looking for a specific piece of information.

[QPO]

is the coach and teacher the same person?

I often wonder if the response of the coach is also what the student puts out. I hear both my coaches speak quite hardly at some students but they never do it to me...they still get their message across, but they seem to be both styles depending on the student.

[elisedance]

I see my teacher as someone very different than my coach.
My teacher is the person that guides me and teaches me every week. My teacher also "translates" and reminds me about things my coach has brought up/added to/changed.
My teacher deals with my ups and downs on a regular basis. Yhis is especially true since I dance pro-am.

My coach, well that is a diffferent story. She usually has ONE idea to work on eaxh time we see each other. She will always ask what I want to do. She is not Ivan the terrible OR a fairy godmother--but we always sem to get to the real issues.  It is then up to me to work on them until I see her again.

Then there are the "itinerant" coaches---those that are passing thru. When we have those lessons, it is always looking for a specific piece of information.

I know its heresy but I see my pro-am male  - frankly as teacher, my coach and slso as my partner. 
But this all needs definition and I know we use these terms differently  - so it needs its own topic.  Back in a mo.... 

[elisedance]

So I've put this in pro/am as its most relevant and interesting there:
http://partnerdanceonline.com/index.php?topic=680.new#new

[phoenix13]

hmm but that can depend on the students perceptions as much as the teachers attitude. I have long discussions with school teachers as to what constitutes criticism.
I will try not to say anything when I'm teaching that does not give a specific possibility of improvment; eg. if I say "you're unbalanced" this isnt helpful however accurate it may be. If I say " move your weight forward" or "straighten your back/neck head" or "dont look down, look ahead." then this is helpful; then keep correcting......

and if this doesnt work I keep saying it louder and louder and louder

I response to the question as originally posed, the answer is neither.  I'd rather not have a teacher that bestows undeserved praise OR one who yells.

Someone earlier in the thread (QPO?) mentioned having a coach that uses different teaching techniques with different students.  To me, that sounds like a teacher who's on the right track. Not every student learns the same way.