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Thread: Part-Time vs. Full-Time Teachers

  1. #1

    Part-Time vs. Full-Time Teachers

    Many of you are teachers, either in your own schools or someone else's. I was wondering what your thoughts were on whether it's preferable to attend a school where the instructor has no job other than running the school.

    On the one hand, it would seem preferable to seek out a school where the teacher has made his school his life's work. That way you know you're teacher's focus is not diverted by a "day job." On the other hand, a teacher who isn't depending on his school to put food on the table may not be tempted to "water down" the art in order to recruit or retain students.

    So what do you think? Are full-timers forced to accept and promote students who may not be deserving in order to keep the school open and provide income or are they preferable because they or more fully immersed in their art? Are part-timers better because they can afford to be harder on students and train fewer or are they distracted from passing on their knowledge? Or...is this something that cannot be answered in general terms because school quality is so variable school to school?

    Thoughts?

  2. #2
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    I don't think it's a black and white issue at all.

    some full time teachers are great
    some full time teachers suck
    some part time teachers are great
    some part time teachers suck

    some full time teachers are greedy and will dupe you
    some full time teachers are not greedy and will not dupe you
    some part time teachers are greedy and will dupe you
    some part time teachers are not greedy and will not dupe you

    some full time teachers are great, but are also greedy
    some full time teachers....

    and so on.
    It's different in each and every school.

    If the teacher lives by the art and the words he expects you to, then you are likely ok.

    If the teacher demonstrates hypocrisy consistently, rethink what you are doing.
    Kung Fu is good for you.

  3. #3
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    Ideally, I would train with an instructor and 3 to 5 guys who are committed.

    More than that you start getting dead weight. And if there is overhead to worry about then everything gets slowed down to the lowest common denominator.

  4. #4
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    Quote Originally Posted by Ray Pina View Post
    And if there is overhead to worry about then everything gets slowed down to the lowest common denominator.
    I can see your point.
    So from this perspective, what about your kids(I don't know if you have kids, just saying for example). Kids usually go to schools with other kids, lots of them.

    So in that case, would you change your view or make an exception?

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    Quote Originally Posted by Tainan Mantis View Post
    I can see your point.
    So from this perspective, what about your kids(I don't know if you have kids, just saying for example). Kids usually go to schools with other kids, lots of them.

    So in that case, would you change your view or make an exception?
    Not sure your point...
    Psalms 144:1
    Praise be my Lord my Rock,
    He trains my hands for war, my fingers for battle !

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    Quote Originally Posted by Tainan Mantis View Post
    I can see your point.
    So from this perspective, what about your kids(I don't know if you have kids, just saying for example). Kids usually go to schools with other kids, lots of them.

    So in that case, would you change your view or make an exception?
    Kids should train with kids, and adults should train with adults.

    While adults can learn in big classes by helping one another, I think kids do better in smaller classes because they need so much individual attention.

    Having 30 kids in one class just leads to mayhem. You are basically getting paid to babysit.
    He most honors my style who learns under it to destroy the teacher. -- Walt Whitman

    Quote Originally Posted by David Jamieson View Post
    As a mod, I don't have to explain myself to you.

  7. #7
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    If you have 10 people who move in a group, the whole group will only progress as fast as it's slowest member.

    hence, cutting the dead weight, which is where you start getting into elite training...until some schmuck comes along and makes you all look like weenies, in which case, that guy sets the new standard by which the group moves.
    Kung Fu is good for you.

  8. #8
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    Many good points have been mentioned here on the topic. And David Jamieson
    has probably listed out enough resulting cases. To me, teaching full-time or part-time possibly has no effect on the quality of teaching. It might means that full-time teachers have more students than part-time teachers in the same period, and no other difference.



    Regards,

    KC
    Hong Kong

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    In my school, the Sifu is full time and has had the school for several decades. Sifu is the only one that teaches the students. Adults and children train together. Sifu travels from person to person, either correcting or showing new movements. Nobody stagnates, and nobody moves to fast to keep up. Sifu knows everyone's skill level as they continue to learn, and he adds on new teachings as soon as the student is ready.

    This is very different from the Kenpo school my daughter trains at. There, classes are only sometimes taught by the Master. The Master does not persistently know every student's skill level. The kids all learn at the same pace, which is proving to be problematic. My daughter started in December, a couple of months after the other kids started. She practices everyday at home, while the other kids do not. Within six weeks, she had greater skill than any of the kids. They just had a test this past week, and the Master was very shocked at how good she was. He awarded her a yellow belt, which was purportedly the fastest jump from white ever. The next day, she went to class, and the teacher was working on Katas that she had mastered two months earlier. I feel dissatisfied with how this school organizers their programs.

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    Quote Originally Posted by wetwonder View Post
    The next day, she went to class, and the teacher was working on Katas that she had mastered two months earlier.
    mastered?
    every time I practice my first form, I learn something new.
    "My Gung-Fu may not be Your Gung-Fu.
    Gwok-Si, Gwok-Faht"

    "I will not be part of the generation
    that killed Kung-Fu."

    ....step.

  11. #11
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    Quote Originally Posted by TenTigers View Post
    mastered?
    every time I practice my first form, I learn something new.
    Come on TenTigers. You know what I mean. She should always be practicing what she's learned, but she should also be permitted to learn something new, rather than waiting another 4 weeks for the class to catch up to her.

    You don't agree with that?

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    Quote Originally Posted by TenTigers View Post
    mastered?
    every time I practice my first form, I learn something new.
    I take it Gung Gee Fook Fu?
    It is bias to think that the art of war is just for killing people. It is not to kill people, it is to kill evil. It is a strategem to give life to many people by killing the evil of one person.
    - Yagyū Munenori

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    Quote Originally Posted by TenTigers View Post
    mastered?
    every time I practice my first form, I learn something new.
    You too?
    Kung Fu is good for you.

  14. #14
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    wetwonder-your daughter's school may have a rotating curriculum, where the entire class works on the same thing, and allows the teacher to cover material more thoroughly.
    "My Gung-Fu may not be Your Gung-Fu.
    Gwok-Si, Gwok-Faht"

    "I will not be part of the generation
    that killed Kung-Fu."

    ....step.

  15. #15
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    Quote Originally Posted by TenTigers View Post
    wetwonder-your daughter's school may have a rotating curriculum, where the entire class works on the same thing, and allows the teacher to cover material more thoroughly.
    Yes, that may be true, I don't know. But the majority of the kids don't practice at home, and still don't know the few forms that were taught months before. Much of the class is spent showing those kids the same things over and over again. It's just that my daughter, only 8, and two other kids that are committed and practice at thome, are becoming a little frustrated at the pace. I guess they are just paying their dues - I don't know.

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