PT Teaching: A New Perspective

The ten-year-old child in us would never have guessed that one day the 

concept of teaching would go beyond what our gradeschool classrooms and teachers offered. That it would cover instructing someone for the first time how to properly breathe in a video portfolio requirement to pass a subject. That it would mean thinking of strategies how to approach and introduce yourself even to just a simulated patient. That it would even deal with yoga.

And on the 16th of March 2015 it materialized. My thoughts? 

Teaching always seemed to be something natural yet unnoticed. What remains more neglected is the "how" when we approach it--the different creativities we utilize to fulfill the ultimate goal of learning. The uniqueness of the events that took place on that fateful day was their focus on self-discovery and self-assessment. It was something no written exam could evaluate, or at least not with as much hands-on experience and delectation. And more so, the activities ensure learning more than a written test (where students would frequently forget the concepts after passing). Indeed, with great experience comes great remembering.

So what's the point? The point is that by actually teaching how to teach, not by words but by actions, it can help the learner learn how to teach effectively. It may be just as confusing as it sounds, mainly because we have different tactics in pedagogy and different preferences in the reception of knowledge. This means being a PT is a huge challenge. We have to match our teaching style with the numerous possibilities of learning strategies the client prefers or is capable of. In addition, multitasking is warranted as you instruct, assess the environment if it facilitates learning, and pick up non-verbal cues.

And now, I have no choice but to remind myself of this everyday, to notice what was once unnoticeable, if I ever want to become not just a licensed PT but an effective PT.