You can be a better Tanguero(a)!

I can tell you how to become a better tango dancer.  It isn’t easy, but there are some powerful tools you already have.  You just don’t know what your potential is.  Been stuck in a rut?  Challenged by something that seems so easy?  No problem, we can make you better.  How do I know that you can do it?  Cue expository sequence…

I’ve spent the past few years going back to school, which is a tale all in itself.  Something strange happened to me though; I started studying the science behind teaching and learning- and in the process became a far better student.  I went from dropping out of college a decade ago to being on track to graduate cum laude.  The largest fundamental change I made was analyzing the teacher-student relationship in great detail- it is what I was studying after all.

How can you become a better Tanguero(a) then?  You are going to learn to teach!  This may sound crazy, but I have support from both published literature and dance luminaries on this one (See both Learning and Cognition in Education edited by Vibeke Grøver Aukrust and Clay’s Tango page at http://tangoclay.us/building-a-tango-community/ ).  This may take a while, and there is extra reading in this course (cue groans) but in the end, you will be a better Tanguea(o) and the community you live in will be better for it.

Next will be a discussion on the 5-E learning cycle.  I’ve got some basic links here for you to peruse, don’t be put off by the NASA and science type links.  It will come back to dance soon!  We got closer to the science of teaching thru teaching science, so I’m standing on the shoulders of giants here.

5-E explained: http://www.nasa.gov/audience/foreducators/nasaeclips/5eteachingmodels/

Constructivism for adults (aka “why all this early childhood stuff- I have kids!”): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constructivist_teaching_methods#Constructivism_for_Adults