The most important thing a teacher can do
The most important thing you can do as a teacher, is to inspire your students to want to learn for themselves.
This is not as simple as it sounds. The most effective way to do that varies dramatically from student to student. Something that would inspire one student would be enough to make another completely give up. So if a technique isn’t working with one student, try something completely different.
Many people are embarrassed by their lack of artistic skills. They have often been told by other people that they don’t have artistic talent. Shame is an extremely powerful deterrent to success.
Some things that I have found helps students to learn are as follows:
Enough of a challenge. Many students are bored. If they aren’t challenged, they won’t learn.
Belief that they can succeed. Students who feel that a task is impossible won’t bother trying to learn.
Permission to fail without fear of ridicule. Learning is about trying to do things that you don’t already know how to do. Students who fear that they will be ridiculed for trying and failing won’t bother trying.
These are not easy to get right. Teaching is hard. But if you can get a student from not learning to learning for themselves, you will change their lives forever.