Introduction to Teaching - 3/16/15

I have to admit, I was really scared of the prospect of teaching people outside our profession so I viewed PT 138 as both a nightmare and a gift. Thankfully, our activities last Monday were just introductory. Namely, they were: (1) Video Critiquing, (2) Yoga and (3) Role playing.

For the first activity we had to criticize our past performance as a teacher. I hesitated. I admit I am not my greatest fan; I am probably my worst critic. To remedy this, I decided to employ the constructive criticism strategy we use during laboratory sessions: one good point for every bad point. 

In yoga, we were learners. I’ve observed how Ma’am Rotor instructed my class with ease and poise. She conveyed a presence of authoritative knowledge while ensuring that she is still a person we can approach. 

Lastly, we role played characters with communication problems. For me, this was the most challenging since my batch was used to teaching people who are knowledgable about our profession. I must say there were a few laughs aimed at our slip ups but they were taken in stride; it was technically our first time.

Multiple values became evident in the day. One must be flexible enough to adapt to the situation at hand. One must be humble to accept that his/her plan might not be the best and listen to objective criticisms in order to create the best intervention for the patient. One must be resourceful in maximizing available communication routes and one’s environment. One must be creative to devise multiple strategies of communication. One must be compassionate, empathetic and sensitive to the condition of the patient, not to demean them, but to establish a meaningful partnership.

These values may be too much to inculcate in just one day but I believe that once we reroute them into the forefront of our minds, they will become apparent in our work behaviors. And yes, I firmly believe that we have high probabilities of becoming a great PT.