Joy in Motion

Highly Effective Instructors Series, Habit 1: Professionalism and Respect

For the true lover of dance, exploring all aspects of their art form brings great joy and exhilaration. For the true lover of teaching, the same satisfaction is found in bringing their passion for dance into the lives of others. It is often the case that dancers who reach a certain level in their dancing move on to teaching. However, teaching is not a higher level of the art of dance, but its own art altogether. Dance instructors must therefore find themselves navigating and uniting two unique sets of skills. This can be both challenging and rewarding to the instructor who is willing to spend the same time and energy on the art of teaching as they do on the art of dancing.

The seven habits of dance instructors who are highly effective at making a meaningful and lasting impact on their students’ dancing, as outlined in Seven Habits of Highly Effective Dance Instructors, are…

1) Professionalism and Respect
2) From Stepping Stones to Beyond
3) Dance Skill and Style
4) The Art of Adjustment
5) Real Community
6) A Student of Teaching
7) Pure Motivation

Read on to learn more about the first habit, teaching dance with professionalism and respect. Please also check out the other six habits on the Joy in Motion website.

Habit #1: Professionalism & Respect.

The effective instructor, whether teaching one class a week or a full-time schedule, views him or herself as a serious professional. Every aspect of their teaching performance influences the crafting of their reputation. Words and actions can either contribute or detract from a positive reputation as a professional, respectful dance instructor. This positive reputation is not automatically given or assumed, but rather must be developed and earned. In order to establish oneself as a professional, the social dance instructor must command respect and communicate authority by acting at a higher level than expected. Maintaining high standards and therefore a strong reputation can be achieved by attending to one’s communication skills, timeliness and preparation, conduct outside the teaching environment, and treatment of the “hot topics” in social dance instruction. Keeping high standards in these areas will ultimately serve to build trust and develop one’s presence as a professional and respectful social dance instructor.

Communication Skills.

The professional instructor pays particular attention to how they communicate, as the art of teaching is primarily viewed in terms of one’s presentation methods and communication skills. Communicating professionalism can be achieved by proper word usage and voice dynamics. The professional instructor should speak in a clear voice, loud enough to be heard throughout the room or teaching space. While it is not necessary to be extremely formal, it is important to speak in a presentational manner instead of a conversational one. This means using proper speech and complete sentences and avoiding slang and curse words. It is helpful to think of being one level above one’s students in speech and voice dynamics in order to communicate with the authority of a professional instructor and command respect.

Because the focus is on social dance, which is often taught by dance partners, it is important to address the additional communication skills required between two instructors who are teaching together. Both partners need to agree in advance or have an implicit understanding of the division of teaching responsibilities for a class. This will prevent any confusion or miscommunication between instructors as well as with students. It is helpful to agree on who will be the primary instructor or to decide who will be responsible for explaining the steps for leaders and followers and determining the focus and flow of the class. When instructors express disagreement in front of students or conduct a disjointed class, it comes across as unprofessional and confusing. Therefore, advance planning and communication is a worthy investment. It is also important for dance instructors to choose a teaching partner wisely and make sure it is someone they can communicate well with and someone who compliments their own teaching style.

Timeliness and Preparation.

The professional dance instructor pays as much attention to timeliness, preparedness, and their personal appearance as they do to the content of their instruction and verbal cues. This includes timeliness, preparedness, and physical appearance. The professional instructor always arrives early and makes sure that the music is cued and ready to go and that the equipment requirements and room conditions are addressed. By arriving early, he or she can also greet newcomers and be available to speak with any students who may have questions or concerns before class begins. In addition, it is important to dress in a manner appropriate for a dance instructor. As with their communication skills, instructors should dress one level above their students in order to set themselves apart as instructors.

The professional instructor also prepares for the content of their class. While allowing for deviations from their initial plan based on the needs of the students, he or she sets goals for the class as well as a plan for accomplishing those goals. The effective dance instructor ensures that the class includes an appropriate warm-up, explanation and breakdown of moves and concepts, practice time and structure, and a review and definitive conclusion to the class. He or she has also planned for the partnering of couples, the use of space and time, and the possibility of the unexpected. In short, the professional instructor gives his or her class as much consideration and preparation as possible to allow for a pleasant experience for all students.

Outside the Teaching Environment.

A dance instructor’s professionalism is not judged only by their behavior in classes and workshops. As an important part of the dance community, the dance instructor is also evaluated – consciously or unconsciously – at other dance events where they are not teaching. Professional instructors therefore consider how they conduct themselves in these situations and attempt to show the same consideration and respect they demonstrate in a teaching environment. The instructor’s character, as constantly open for observation and evaluation in the dance world, reflects their professionalism, or lack thereof. The effective instructor therefore acts respectfully toward dancers of all levels and backgrounds and demonstrates professionalism by developing real community (see Habit #5).

Another important part of the dance instructor’s behavior outside of class pertains to their advertising and promotional practices. The effective instructor knows that if he or she is a good teacher and instructs with professionalism and respect in addition to knowledge and skill, he or she will attract more students and need not compete for them. The professional instructor also realizes that the presence of other instructors and studios in the community is a positive reality that offers opportunities for enriching collaboration, variety, and even competition. He or she therefore treats other dance instructors in the community with respect and fairness, relying on good word of mouth and sound promotional practices and avoiding any appearance of impropriety or underhandedness. Professional instructors also focus on instruction during their classes and save the advertising for appropriate times and places. Above all, their goal is to be the best and most professional instructor they can be, not to get the most students or make the most money (see Habit #7 on pure motivation).

Hot Topics.

Because the body is the instrument of expression, and because this expression typically takes place between a man and a woman in close proximity to one another, social dance is necessarily a very personal and potentially intimate experience. The professional instructor understands this and takes this reality very seriously. He or she is therefore very careful when evaluating and correcting the student’s body and/or movement. Respecting the dancer’s natural or learned patterns of movement as well as the emotions that may be attached, the dance instructor avoids making negative comments about a student’s movement quality and refrains from imitating (i.e. mocking) a student’s dancing. Instead, the instructor explains and models the more efficient and expressive movement. In addition, he or she is very careful with how humor is used and expressed, making sure it is not offensive or directed toward the movement patterns of students.

Professionalism and respect must also extend to the dance instructor’s interactions with students of the opposite sex. This issue seems to be the bane of dance instruction’s existence. The sad fact is that too many female dance students have had negative experiences with male instructors who have used dance as an avenue for inappropriate behavior, ranging from unsolicited and unwanted flirtation to blatant harassment. While this relationship is the one most often highlighted and experienced, both male and female instructors need to pay attention to how they come across to the opposite sex in group classes as well as private lessons. As with any other area of the dance instructor’s conduct, he or she needs to be one level above expectations in order to prove him or herself to be professional, respectful, and above reproach. Therefore, the effective instructor evaluates his or her speech and actions in relating to students and welcomes feedback and supervision by fair and honest third parties to make sure they are on the right track.

The Intangibles and Presence.

While we often focus on words when it comes to communication skills, human beings are very experiential learners. Therefore, the dance instructor’s actions tell their students as much about them as their words do. It is therefore very important for the professional instructor to consider the nonverbal cues that he or she consciously or unconsciously sends. Trust takes time and energy to build, but just one act of carelessness to cripple or destroy. Professional instructors value the trust they build and safeguard it accordingly. This care and consideration – or a lack of it – communicates to one’s students and ultimately forms an instructor’s reputation in the community.

There is an intangible quality about a truly great dancer, and the same can be said of a truly great instructor. They have an “it” quality about them that is greater than the sum of their actions and words. I like to call this intangible quality presence. By focusing on the intangibles of effective instruction – one’s teaching character - this quality can set the enjoyable instructor apart from the others and truly identify him or her as an artist in the craft of teaching. Teaching and conducting oneself with professionalism and respect is one habit of the highly effective instructor who desires to make a positive and lasting impact on the social dance community.