For a thorough, in depth and detailed command of your subject, read on...
I've been teaching a variety of courses for the excellent Cambridge Arts Network (CAN) this week.
The idea is to help people who work in the arts rebuild their careers after the awful times they've suffered in Covid.
One course above all the others appealed to me, and I've just realised why.
It offers the best way to become a master of whatever it is you do, it's highly fulfilling, and it can bring in quite a bit of extra money, too.
- What is this miracle? I can sense you asking.
It's not just practising your subject but teaching it, something I enjoy enormously.
Nothing else makes you explore and understand what it is you do better.
And if you're interested in finding out more about teaching your subject, this is a rundown of what I said in the course.
Planning Your Teaching
The first thing to think about is what to put in a course, and then try to find a snappy and appealing way to summarise it.
When I started teaching creative writing, for example, I had to cover everything an aspiring author would need to write a book.
There was where to start... settings... characters... stories... and quite a few other elements.
The title was straightforward, simply factual and appealing:
- All You Need to Know to Write a Novel
Never underestimate the importance of titles, by the way.
They have to hook the audience from the start, and tell them they're in the right place for what they want to know.
But then comes a few words of blurb, expanding on that, which is just as important.
Because now you've got to convince someone to sign up.
As the course ran over four sessions in one day, I chose the overview as The Four P's of Writing a Book.
People, place, plots and professionalism, since you're wondering, and added a line about each.
An effective title, blurb and outline, like that, not only makes your course appealing, it gives you a structure to what you're going to teach.
The Trick to Teaching
I hate formulas. Or do I mean formulae?!
Whatever, I really don't care for them.
You can always tell someone who really understands their subject apart from someone who doesn't this way.
Those who don't will stick rigidly to a formula they were once taught, the others experiment and innovate.
However! I've noticed there is a very handy way to teach an important point, which never seems to fail.
It goes like this:
-- Introduce -- Illustrate -- Insight -- Interaction
Firstly, introduce the concept. It might be, for the writing course, the importance of an opening line in a book.
Next, illustrate with some famous examples.
- All children, except one, grow up etc.
Next, draw out the insights.
How you need to set out your story, the character of the author, and make the audience want to read on, in this case. And all in a handful of words.
Finally, set a quick exercise for the group to put the learning into action.
There are lots of variations on the theme, and creativity is happily infinite, but if you're starting off in teaching this is a useful guide to get you going.
The Teaching Golden Secret
If there's one way to make a course go well, this is it.
Even better, it saves you work.
This teaching wonderstuff is called...
- Interactions
I've been to workshops and lectures where the tutor just droned on and on, and I quickly lost interest.
But if there are lots of interactions, be they quizzes, or polls, or exercises...
They retain the audience's attention.
Everything has to be part of the narrative of the course, naturally.
But rather than just convey a piece of information, you can usually find a more interesting way.
When talking about opening lines, for example, as above, I make it a quiz.
- Call me Ishmael etc etc
And if you can't be bothered to look up the answers, the first opening was Peter Pan, the one just above, Moby Dick.
The Character of Your Teaching
Which teachers do you remember from school?
Is it the dull ones, or those who made the lessons fun?
I doubt I need to say much more for this section, do I?
Let your character come out in your teaching and the sessions will go much better for the group, and for you too.
I always try for a light and fun touch, as much entertainment as information, although it's important to remember the learning has to be there too.
And I consider it a compliment when the group reply in kind... as they kindly did in one workshop, the results of which you can see in the picture!
Spreading the Love
This is my last point, and it's a small one, but absolutely critical.
Why do you do what you do?
I'm guessing you're more than a little fond of your subject?
Maybe, if, like me, you're very lucky...
You love it.
I can't imagine life without the world of words which has been my home for the last 30 years.
To this day, my passion for it beats away, deliciously undiminished.
Which means I'm proud to show and share that.
It comes through in everything I teach, from writing novels to blogs, public speaking to storytelling.
And what a difference it makes, for both me and the audience.
Never be ashamed to show your love for your subject.
It's highly engaging, motivating, and, most importantly, inspiring.
A Last Teaching Word
I've done well financially from teaching. And that's always pleasant. But!
It's nothing compared to the fulfillment I've experienced.
By passing on a love of my world, helping people with new ideas and understandings, showing them new directions...
And doing my little bit to give back to the vocation which has looked after me so well, and see it thriving into the future.
Of all that I've been lucky enough to do in life, it's teaching which has given me the biggest buzz.
If you're thinking of trying it, I can't recommend this most noble art highly enough.