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Instructor Considerations

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  • Attempts to make each class a fun experience for students. Good instructors appreciate the emotional thrill that students experience when they do things that they had previously thought they were incapable of doing.
  • Encourages students to help each other learn. Good instructors pair senior belts with junior belts to reinforce proper techniques and behavior.
  • Always uses positive reinforcement—the most productive teaching method. Good instructors praise good performance by students when they notice it. When students perform a technique incorrectly, good instructors avoid criticism and explain to the students how to improve the technique. If students must be criticized, good instructors do it in private. They explain to students that undesirable behavior will not be tolerated because it is discourteous, wastes other students' time, makes it difficult for others to learn, and may result in injuries to others as well as to themselves. Never ridicules or embarrasses students under any circumstances; it can destroy their self-confidence. Good instructors try to build self-confidence and self-esteem in each student since it is essential to producing excellent Taekwondo students. They repeatedly compliment students for some attribute, action, or accomplishment, so the students feel good about themselves. After a promotion test, good instructors acknowledge and congratulate each student in front of the entire class. After a tournament, good instructors compliment each student for every award and, for those who did not win an award, acknowledge their courage and initiative for participating.
  • Treats students with respect and ensures student dignity is maintained. Students refer to the instructor and each other as sir or ma'am. This helps all students, especially children, learn to be respectful of others. Good instructors never use punishment as a teaching tool because it is degrading and counterproductive. Good instructors attribute student misbehavior to their own failure to motivate the student to be a good student. When students exhibit undesirable behavior, it usually indicates insecurity, especially among children. Good instructors make an effort to praise something positive that students do, even if it is difficult to find something, to encourage positive behaviors. If students obviously do not want to participate, instructors may eventually have to ask them to leave. Instructors may then have to explain to the parents that the student really does not want to learn Taekwondo and should try another activity.

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