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Assistants
Assistants work with Rachel to teach
the tai chi for health and
tai chi
for fitness curriculum.
They are all enthusiastic, friendly and enjoy
training tai chi.
Despite being conscientious and keen, nobody takes themselves too
seriously.
Who are they?
Teaching assistant: Chris Young
Helpers: Julia Pattison, Maria Peppa and Peter Hobson
Volunteer coordinator: Chris Young
Social secretary: TBA
Chris
Chris possesses
terrific people skills and is a 'natural' when it comes to teaching
students. He is an versatile mentor; offering a zero-pressure approach to
the cultivation of the desired skills. With an extensive background in martial
arts (including karate black belts) Chris brings a lot of insight
and martial experience to his taijiquan. He is very involved with the
running of the school and became an 'indoor student of taijiquan' in 2019.
Chris endeavours to attend additional training opportunities. Hardy and
robust, Chris has no fear and is always eager to try new things. His
adventurous, experimental attitude makes Chris open-minded and receptive.
As Volunteer Coordinator, Chris ensures that all teaching assistants
have an equal opportunity to engage with students and deliver the material
in an appropriate way.
Julia
Julia became an 'indoor student of taijiquan' in 2020. She is a highly
disciplined student with a comprehensive daily training routine. Her
progress through the syllabus has been strong and her fighting spirit is
formidable. Typically the first person to volunteer (for anything), Julia is
an extremely nice person to work with and shows her enthusiasm at all times.
Maria
Maria is a very keen, athletic individual with a highly sociable, friendly
personality. Maria is extremely approachable and enjoys interacting with
other people. She finds herself deeply intrigued by qigong, massage and
taijiquan biomechanics. Maria is interested in eco-related matters, new
science and engineering. Her hobbies and lifestyle reflect her appreciation
of nature and the desire to find harmony, balance and grace.
Peter
Peter is a 'nuts and bolts' guy; keen to know how things
work, why they work and how to improve their functionality. He enjoys a wide
variety of past-times and hobbies, and is an extremely patience, measured
individual. His training has been enhanced by considerable reflection,
insight and methodical exploration. Peter
is an exceptionally curious, thoughtful gentleman with a great sense of what
tai chi is about and is always a delight to talk with.
Assistant levels
There are 3 stages of assistant in our school:
Helper (tai chi for health)
Teaching assistant (tai chi for health)
Assistant teacher (tai chi for health)
1) Helper
Helpers occasionally help Rachel but have no ongoing responsibilities
within the school.
2) Teaching assistant
A teaching assistant is responsible for multiple groups within the
tai chi for health class and will attend to these on a frequent basis.
3) Assistant teacher
An assistant teacher can (to some extent) step-in and cover the class
for Rachel when she has other responsibilities within the school.
Suitability
Assistants
all possess qualities necessary for
tai chi instruction:
Friendly and personable
Interested in other people
Caring
Reliable
Earnest
Committed
Trustworthy
Genuine
Punctual
Motivated
Expressing the teaching
Being an assistant is a challenge; it requires the student to articulate skills and
ideas in a way that makes sense to other people.
This requires considerable effort. Expressing
the teaching to somebody else is not easy.
Dismantling
In order to explain, you must dismantle things, give examples, illustrate
and demonstrate.
You need to answer questions and to re-consider your own perceptions.
Mark is an extremely successful high school mathematics teacher. When we
asked him when he really learned calculus, he said, "When I first taught it.
There is no better way to learn anything than to actually
teach it. When I
teach something, I have to confront many fundamental questions: What is the
motivation to learn this topic? What are the basic examples? On what aspects
of this material should I focus? What are the underlying themes? What ties
the ideas together? What is the global structure? What are the important
details? These questions force me to discover the heart of the matter, and
see exactly what I truly understand and what I still need to work on."
(Edward B Burger & Michael Starbird)
contact details Sifu Waller rachel waller
Page created 2 March 1995
Last updated
20 June 2022