Interview with:Jeff Hall [therealjeffhall]
EDUCATION
 | What subjects do you teach? What types of students do you have? I teach the Alexander Technique. My pupils have ranged in age from 12 to 80 and come from all walks of life.
The Alexander Technique is a method of re-educating your mind and body to reduce the harmful effects of habitual tensions. It is used extensively throughout the Arts and Sporting communities to improve ease and fluidity of movement and is increasingly being used in healthcare. In a medical study sponsored by the UK's NHS, it has recently been proved to be most effective in relieving chronic lower back pain.
It is usually taught one-to-one and is a hands-on process where the teacher helps the pupil to identify undue tensions and to inhibit them. This brings about a greater state of well-being and calmness. Better posture is one of the side-effects of AT. |
| Can you provide a link to a site where we can see something about what you do or the center where you work? |
| How have your past experiences prepared you for teaching? How did you become interested in education? I have spent the whole of my life furthering my education. I didn't complete my Masters degree in Operational Research until I was 37. I ran a management training company in the early 1990s teaching finance and strategy to public sector employees and managers of multinational companies.
I came to the Alexander Technique following a back injury I had suffered while working in the UK Coal Mines as a surveyor. I became adicted to the effects of AT and took weekly lessons for nearly 13 years before finally being able to take three years "out" to train as an AT teacher. I trained in the UK with Ray Evans and Ron Colyer in a school that is accredited by the Society of Teachers of the Alexander Technique (STAT). STAT is the world's leading organisation for AT professionals. Its founders were taught by FM Alexander himself.
It is VERY important that an AT teacher should be "pure" and completely faithful to FM Alexander's original teachings. The power and subtlety of the Technique can easily be lost in the hands of someone who is either not properly trained or dilutes the teaching with other teachings or philosophies. Not that other philosophies are in any sense wrong or incompatible: they should however be kept separate.
It's important when choosing an AT teacher for yourself to know where they trained and that their school is approved by your national "official" AT body. (See the links page on my web site for details http://www.useoftheself.org/links.asp) The US lead body is AMSAT and they are affiliated to STAT.
As an absolute minimum, an AT teacher should have undergone 3 years or 1600 hours of professional training. It takes that long because an AT teacher's use of their hands is of primary importance in communicating the principles to a pupil. There are lots of AT books on the market but I'm afraid even those written by the most eminent of authors cannot hope to actually give you the experience that comes from properly trained hands. |
| Who was your most influential teacher and why? It's hard to single-out one particular teacher but Ray Evans and Ron Colyer, who directed my teacher training course, changed my life. Sadly, Ray passed away two years after I graduated. Ray was also an influential Yoga teacher (I don't know much about yoga so I can't be more specific) but he always kept that side of his knowledge separate from our teachings in AT. However I'm sure that yoga philosophy underpinned his way of working in AT. A very practical yet spiritual man.
Ron is a violinist and has hands which cannot be described in words but must be experienced to be appreciated. I still do some work with Ron at his school in Hurley on Thames. I'd like to think that one day my hands will be able to emulate Ron's but that will probably be a few years away! |
| What is your educational philosophy? You are never too old to learn new things. Challenge your brain cells every day and you will always retain your mental faculties. Be prepared to change your habitual ways of seeing things and doing things. When you stop changing - you STOP! |
| What is the most challenging aspect of teaching for you? No two people are the same. Everyone has a totally unique way of "using themselves" (as we say in AT). Every pupil needs to be understood before I can help them to change their inappropriate psycho-physical habits. Some pupils are very resistant to change. I can't change them! No AT teacher can. Only the pupil her/himself can bring about real change in their use of their body. The challenge is to find a way to make them feel safe using their body in ways that may at first feel strange, even scary.
Whilst I'm on this subject, I would advise you to avoid group classes in AT. They can do little more for you than reading a book on AT. Individual personal attention is an absolute MUST! |
| What kind of relationship do you have with your students? I like to talk! (The words "hind legs" and "donkey" spring to mind). I therefore see verbal communication as key to my relationship with students. I use verbal "cues" to support the hands-on experience that I give them. I think its important to be friendly with pupils and also to have a sense of humour. Some professions actively discourage practitioners from developing "relationships" with their clients, but as AT is by its very nature quite personal, I find it difficult to work with someone in a detached way. I have to stress at this point that I'm talking about friendship here and absolutely not romantic (or other) types of relationship! Some pupils continue to have lessons from the same AT teacher (as I did) for many years. |
| What is the secret to instilling interest in knowledge? The personality, enthusiasm and knowledge of the teacher. |
| What is your philosophy on homework and grading? Grading is not an aspect of AT. I require my pupils to continue to apply the principles outside of lessons. I can see those who do and those who don't as soon as I put my hands on them at the beginning of a lesson. |
| Is it possible to teach creativity? how? I have no idea! |
| How do you establish authority? What do you do when a discipline problem arises? Not an issue. All AT pupils are self-presenting and are therefore reasonably enthusiastic to learn. Those who can't cope with self-change usually don't come back for lessons after the first three or four. |
| How do you individualize your teaching? How do you handle the different ability levels of students in classes? By definition learning and teaching AT is a one-on-one process. All pupils have different "abilities" (levels of 'use') and it's my job to adapt my teaching to the individual. |
| What cooperative learning means to you. How have you used it? No. |
| What do you expect from your supervisor? What qualities would you like to have in your principal? Supervision comes through being a member of STAT and signing up to their professional codes of practice. In turn UK STAT members can choose to be regulated by the CNHC (Complementary and Natural Healthcare Council) but in my view, this is only really relevant to those teachers working in the health sector. |
| What issues in education are of greatest concern to you? For the Alexander Technique it is important to ensure that it is seen as education. We call it "personal re-education". There is a danger that the profession will be seen as a "therapy" and that it will be misunderstood. I have used the term "educational therapy" to describe AT because it certainly can have therapeutic effects but that can only be achieved through learning. |
| Would it be a good thing if teachers had economic incentives based on student performance? No. Even with the best teacher, a student's willingness to adopt the teachings of AT is the main factor in the effectiveness of the learning outcome. Measuring a person's response to AT teaching is too subjective for it to be used as a performance indicator. |
| Besides more financial resources, what do today's schools lack? I teach AT privately from my home so I don't have a view on this. |
| What are some ways you have incorporated technology into the classroom. Absolutely not applicable to Alexander Technique lessons! |
| In light of new technologies, do we need to reinvent the school, its methods and objectives? In one of my former careers I ran a training company where I developed computer-based training products and interactive business simulations. Getting immersed in a virtual business world is a fantastic way of giving the experience of real decision-making in a safe environment. I would like to see role-playing scenarios backed by computer simulations used in education. One experience is worth a thousand words from a text book. |
| If you could create the ideal school, what would it be like? I haven't thought about it! |
| What do you think schools will be like in 20 years? Hopefully much different to today! More personally-tailored courses will be possible as human/computer interactivity gets more sophisticated. I see the possibility of non-human teachers displacing real people in the classroom so that human teachers can devote their time to supporting the pupils' individual needs rather than teaching them "things". |
| What are your professional goals? Where do you want to be in five years? To continually improve my teaching methods and to continue working until the day I die. Even if I'm over 100! |
| What qualities would you need to see in someone before advising him/her to go into teaching? Sincerity, dedication, enthusiasm, sensitivity and intelligence.
Oh, and two hands of course since that is the main way we teach AT. |
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Jeff Hall
Chalfont St. Giles, Bucks, United Kingdom
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