Are We Having Fun Yet

The Tutor Podcast

Neil discusses the importance of incorporating fun into teaching and tutoring. He shares his belief that learning occurs more quickly and effectively in a fun environment, where students feel comfortable making mistakes and taking risks. Neil challenges listeners to assess how much fun they are having in their teaching and to explore ways to add more enjoyment to their work. Overall, this episode encourages tutors and teachers to prioritise fun and playfulness in their practice to create a positive and engaging learning experience for their students.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• Fun is important in teaching: It's important to incorporate fun into teaching. A fun environment enables students to learn faster and be more willing to take risks.

• Playfulness and creativity: Neil encourages teachers to be playful and creative in their approach to teaching. It suggests experimenting with new patterns, language, body posture, tonalities, and beliefs to make the learning experience more engaging.

• Embrace mistakes: It's essential to put work into creating a safe space for students to make mistakes. Encouraging students to intentionally do things badly at first can be one way, as it allows for learning and improvement.

• Continuous learning and adaptation: Teachers have to constantly learn and adapt to their students' needs. Teachers should be open to learning from their students and reverse engineering their mistakes to find solutions.

• Enjoyment in teaching: So much joy and fulfillment can come from teaching. Reflect on how much time you spend being happy, funny, and silly during your working hours and find ways to add more fun to your teaching practice.

BEST MOMENTS

"Not everybody gets this. Certainly, people look at you strangely if you say I'm off to have some fun, hang out, play guitar with my friends and get paid money for it."

"Being too serious shuts down students because they come intimidated by the perceived risk of failure and here's the thing the real risk of failure in guitar teaching and tutoring is actually zero they screw up nobody dies deal with it."

"Their blockages are my opportunities. They're my opportunities to play, to be creative. And I truly believe that playfulness is something we should all aim for and fill our days with."

"I'll usually show them one or two ways to do it then ask them to do it really badly at first and I'll do that with a big smile because it's not serious it's just rock and roll baby."

"If we're going to be spending the next God knows how many years doing something, wouldn't it be wonderful if that thing was the most fun thing that you knew how to do? And if you happen to get paid a load of money for it. Wonderful. Bravo for you."

VALUABLE RESOURCES

www.Neilcowmeadow.com

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HOST BIO

Neil Cowmeadow is a maverick peripatetic guitar teacher from Telford with over 19 years’ experience in the business of helping people. Learn how to start, grow and love your business with Neil’s invaluable advice and tips without the buzzwords and BS!