Is it Proper to Complain About Students??

[Aniseteph]

:shok: :shok: :shok: :shok:

We were talking about the upcoming student show when she said to me that she decided to cancel it since none of the students have any technique.....

Er... and whose fault would that be then? spot the common factor in a bunch of students having no technique, oh yeah, that'll be the TEACHER then.

She told me that either all students dance as well as the professionals or we don't dance at all.

Bwaaaahhhhh haaa haaaaa! Nice to have high expectations of your students, but come on... It's about giving the students a chance to perform, not putting on a professional level show. As long as the public know you are students and just learning, does it matter? An audience of friends and family and fellow students don't care about technique, they just like to see you all having a go. Maybe your teacher was more worried about what an audience of bitchy rival dancers will think. Anyway, it's mean to dangle a student show in front of you all then take it away and blame the students for not being good enough.

She is not the queen of belly dance and you have as much right to learn and enjoy as anyone else. It isn't a competition about who is "good enough" to be allowed to dance. IMO as long as you are not disrupting classes it is nobody else's business how good you are, or what you spend money on. (Hey, just imagine what would happen to all those vendors if only good dancers were allowed to buy music, costumes, DVDs etc?).

Dance on (that's an order). I hope your new teacher gives you some chances to show everyone what you can do!

 

[da Sage]

That happens to me a couple of months ago. My former teacher told me I was a bad dancer out the blue. The reasons for her behavior are still not clear to me, but I was devastated. All I could think was: "why she didn't tell me that sooner? That way I wouldn't spend all that time and money on classes, workshops, music, videos, costumes and I wouldn't spend her precious time trying to teach me something I'd never learn." I felt as if she was teaching me only for profit. I was about to quit when I realize that I'm not the best dancer in the world, but I'm not the worst either. That's why I decided to get myself a new teacher and start all over again. If the new teacher has the same assessment I better quit for good, but I'm under the impression that's not going to happen.

I'll tell you what I tell everyone else...if you don't learn well from one teacher, find another. Not every teaching style works for every student. I consider myself a slow learner when it comes to movement, but I have definitely improved over the years. Almost everyone does.

But this particular situation smacks of envy and personal control issues. If you are a bad dancer, why were you in her student troupe (I assume not everyone is invited to join)? You should not rely on this woman for an honest assessment of your dancing. Please dance as long as you enjoy it!

 

[rita1969]

If a teacher is complaining about you

If a teacher is complaining about you,stop paying for the lessons and get you
another teacher.Why should you be paying the teacher money and having the teacher complain behind your back thats stupid.You be better off getting a
another teacher.

 

[Shanazel]

How very sensible, Rita!

 

[Yshka]

Dear Fatima,
I'm sorry you had to go through that. Have you found a new teacher? How is she? I was wondering, and I'm not sure how this will sound, but IMveryHO I feel your old teacher sounds like she's either really jealous or really competitive.

You say she's told other good dancers this as well. I'm starting to think with what you've said that she perhaps tells good dancers they suck just to rule out any chance of her students ever outgrowing her becoming a better dancer/teacher than she is. I've seen this before in a couple of teachers and people who were told to be bad dancers actually weren't AT ALL, most times it seems they have even more potential as a dancer then the teacher in question... go figure.
Then she says all students should dance as pro's or not dance at all. Is she putting on a student hafla or just afraid to show that she's a bad teacher because "none of her students have any technique, and oh my she wouldn't want to make HERSELF look bad"...
And last, she did this when You came back from a successful overseas performance and were proud of it. It might have not been so much about supposed diva behaviour, maybe just out of jealousy over the fact that you got an overseas thing as a student and did well, and she just has one or two performances a month and is afraid to admit that something is wrong with HER and not with her students per sé... I cannot get into my head why on earth a teacher would think like that. For some it's easier to blame others for their own flaws than to work on their own issues to actually improve I guess.

I don't know if this is actually the case, but I thought it might well be possible. Sorry for the thread hijack, but I just got all worked up over this and had to vent.

 

[Fatima]

Dear Fatima,
I'm sorry you had to go through that. Have you found a new teacher? How is she? I was wondering, and I'm not sure how this will sound, but IMveryHO I feel your old teacher sounds like she's either really jealous or really competitive.

You say she's told other good dancers this as well. I'm starting to think with what you've said that she perhaps tells good dancers they suck just to rule out any chance of her students ever outgrowing her becoming a better dancer/teacher than she is. I've seen this before in a couple of teachers and people who were told to be bad dancers actually weren't AT ALL, most times it seems they have even more potential as a dancer then the teacher in question... go figure.
Then she says all students should dance as pro's or not dance at all. Is she putting on a student hafla or just afraid to show that she's a bad teacher because "none of her students have any technique, and oh my she wouldn't want to make HERSELF look bad"...
And last, she did this when You came back from a successful overseas performance and were proud of it. It might have not been so much about supposed diva behaviour, maybe just out of jealousy over the fact that you got an overseas thing as a student and did well, and she just has one or two performances a month and is afraid to admit that something is wrong with HER and not with her students per sé... I cannot get into my head why on earth a teacher would think like that. For some it's easier to blame others for their own flaws than to work on their own issues to actually improve I guess.

I don't know if this is actually the case, but I thought it might well be possible. Sorry for the thread hijack, but I just got all worked up over this and had to vent.

Thanks everybody for your comments. Some of you said some things I hadn't think about. I do think she has some unresolve issues and it's a pity because she's not a bad teacher, she does teach a good technique. Maybe she just reflect on us, the students, some of her own issues and insecurities.

Anyway, everything's going fine with my new teacher. So far I'm going through all the basics like figure 8, snake arms and such. As I said earlier no complaints about my technique so far and very little corrections. Like de Sage I am a slow learner, but it seems that what I learnt I learnt it right.

 

[rita1969]

Glad that you are happy with your new teacher

Glad you are happy with your new teacher

 

[Kashmir]

If a teacher is complaining about you,stop paying for the lessons and get you
another teacher.Why should you be paying the teacher money and having the teacher complain behind your back thats stupid.You be better off getting a another teacher.

If it is behide your back I'd agree. In this case it seemed rather that the teacher didn't bother to point out the dancer's short comings (assuming they were real). :think: A teacher should teach - that includes sometimes telling students things they don't want to hear. But they should make the comments in a way that the student can learn and grow.

A teacher does her student no favour by ignoring problems and letting her make a fool of herself in public. :naghty:

 

[rita1969]

To.Kashmir

Glad you are happy with your new teacher

/
Thats true,

 

[Yshka]

Dear Fatima,
that's good to know. Being a slow learner is not at all a bad thing though. You might be right about your old teacher being insecure and reflecting it on the students. She shouldn;t be doing that however. I'm glad everything turned out alright.