Chapter 2.1 The Role of the teacher
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“Making children look for what they can reach with their own strength." J. H. Pestalozzi
How can we imagine the role of the teacher in a learner-centered circus class?
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As is the case in a school classroom, the teacher is invited to become a guide and a facilitator. This means that the main role of the teacher is to create an environment where the students feel comfortable expressing themselves and are able to grow and learn with passion and cooperation, in their own time. The teacher, or the trainer, promotes action and interaction within the group, with the intention of activating participants, physically and mentally. They should use instructions that encourage students to find their own path, rather than forcing them to get an expected result. Wherever possible, the teacher designs tasks that allow students to discover ideas for themselves. For example, in aerial: instead of showing students how to climb onto a trapeze, propose that they find 3 different ways to climb onto it.
Teachers should also make sure that they stay flexible and open, as students may reach conclusions that the teacher had not considered, and these are more than welcome! Increasing cooperation is one of the main goals that we can aspire to as educators, so teachers should encourage students to learn from each other: why not let them find 3 different ways to climb onto a trapeze, and let them teach each other? The role of the teacher is therefore no longer just to retain and transmit knowledge of technical skills, but to encourage the students to build their own path and determine their own trajectory, in learning and in life. The skills you need to live in society today are constantly changing and evolving, and this evolution requires a new form of teaching: students must be able to communicate, collaborate and solve problems, not just complete set tasks. Our role as teachers is to build relationships with and among our students, to help them to feel interconnected in a world that is based on interconnections.
LEARNER-CENTERED LEARNING CIRCUS EDUCATION THROUGH LCL METHODOLOGY
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