Interesting to contrast two recent newspaper articles about yoga teachers - one about a 75 year old who has been teaching for years and one about the numbers of young teachers entering the field.
I used to be pretty hard-ass about who should be out there teaching - but I've softened up quite a bit. I wouldn't want a younger,less experienced teacher myself, but I do think there is room for them. I also think one of the best ways to become a better teacher is to teach. There's a place for everybody. However, I do like Shiva Rea's advice to younger teachers in the NYT article - "don't talk." Ha.
I have mixed feelings about this issue Lianne. I think you know them (the feelings). I wouldn't go to class taught by a teacher with only 10 mos. experience before TT but, as you know, I'm a tough old broad. I wish people realized how very short 10 mos. is and why would someone think it enough study before the teacher thing. Why not just enjoy the study. I don't think you have to do 100 years of apprenticeships but a teacher without his/her "stuff" is kind of useless to me.
Love the longevity stories. Someday I may be one of them.
Posted by: Sharon Frost | March 10, 2007 at 02:33 PM
hey - longtime lurker, first time commenter. I've gone to Lori's class - the teacher with the least "Experience" in the article, and I find her class to be really powerful in a different way, perhaps, than learning from a teacher with years of experience. She was the first person to really reach out to me when I was healing from a sprained foot and show me some modifications not just to poses, but how to walk correctly on it to heal faster. I think even the younger teachers are aware to not do direct harm to their students.
Teachers are just people, after all, and they want to share their joy of the practice. If you've practiced long enough to consider yourself able to judge the quality of a teacher, then perhaps you're also teaching them by being in their class?
just a thought....
Posted by: ginevra | March 16, 2007 at 08:28 AM