The Spirit of Youth and Enquiry On 11th May, 14 Alexander Technique teachers with a particular interest in teaching young people converged on Uppingham school. Stephen Williams, the supportive Director of Music at Uppingham, had generously offered the use of the premises to Polly Waterfield, who heads the A.T. department there, and she and her colleague Catharine Gunningham had developed the idea of a forum where everybody’s voice could be heard and valued. A spirit of friendship and generosity permeated the event. Polly and Catherine didn’t just tell us about working with 13-18 year olds at Uppingham; they also shared their insights experientially and visually. A highlight was our visit to their AT teaching room where the walls were covered with pictures, feedback posters and displays relating to the ‘sitting project’. This enthusiasm and willingness to share radiated back from the attendees and the event became a rich collaboration of the experience and expertise gathered there. It was encouraging to see how having a permanent presence in a school, and the support of key staff, can allow the effects of AT to have a profound effect on the life of the school as a whole, as well as on individual pupils. This was reinforced when the Director of Music and a Housemaster talked movingly about the challenges of boarding school life: getting enough sleep, relating to each other even in uncomfortable situations and dealing with the stress of a busy schedule[C1] . AT can help them focus on posture and find inner space, which adds up to being able to find ‘down time’ even when busily committed and active. The weekend was enriched by the presence of Sue Holladay and Judith Kleinman, who gave us sessions in the same generous spirit. Sue had notably lugged a whole library of AT/children related books to Uppingham for us to look at……but had forgotten to bring a copy of her own book, ‘Playing with Posture’! In the initial session we all talked a little about our teaching and our aims. We all aspired to connecting more effectively not only with children and their parents, but with school staff as well. There was an understanding that these relationships underlie the potential for us to fulfil our passion to get AT into child education. We want dialogue and interaction between AT teachers too, to work out a common language with other specialists which is nevertheless true to Alexander’s principles. We need the expertise of these professionals who know certain aspects of child development, education and behaviour, to fill in our rather naïve expectations of what is possible and what is unrealistic. Polly then talked about her teaching. What became clear here too is that the relationship with the young pupil is the most important thing. Polly demonstrated how throwing a beanie frog is memorable and versatile, and can not only start to teach inhibition, but also help make the connection with school demands and the need to take a moment of pause. Catharine showed us how she makes AT relevant by exploring applications selected by the pupil, so that the lesson is a joint exercise in problem-solving rather than a disconnected ‘capsule’ where the teacher is in ‘tell’ mode. In the afternoon, Judith focussed on the choice, not to be rushed, to trust, to listen and to pay attention. She invited us to experience collapse, over straightening and then the enjoyment of being easy. We played with Cathy Madden’s idea of the neck as a sleeve joining the head to the body that can be overstretched, crumpled or hung down. Judith suggested that a period of silent work in almost every lesson is important, and encouraged us to trust that the different aspects of the Technique will come up; we don’t need to endgain to cover them! [C2] [C3] On Sunday, there were presentations from participants. Janet Pinder –Emery talked about a workshop she has developed for children aged 9-11 called ‘Look After Your Back’, for which she had prepared 6 activities for the children to do with a partner. She observed that AT teachers not only have the skill of their hands but have developed visual skills beyond the skill of other professionsals. Chrissy Frazer, an experienced Paediatric Occupational Therapist, proffered a wealth of detail such as ‘with young children AT goes straight into the body’, ‘boy’s spines grow more at the back that at the front, girl’s spines grow more at the front, resulting, unless they are taught how to use themselves well, in a habit of either slouching, or narrowing the back’ and ‘a child should only carry 5% of their body weight. She has experienced incredible results from releasing the Atlanto-occipital joint, freeing up a disabled child to sit unsupported on the back of a horse, to the delight and astonishment of the riding instructor. It was during Saturday’s ‘what now’ session that Sue allowed the emerging coherence and enthusiasm of the group to gell rather movingly into a force for good. A week post-forum, sharing has continued by e-mail, and thanks to Jeremy Cassidy a wikispace space connection has been set up. There is a strong desire to start to ‘get it out there’, to collaborate with institutions, to train teachers both in school and in the Alexander community, and an understanding that we would be well served to use computer technology in order to communicate internally and store our communal knowledge and experience. The sense of potential that emerged from time spent together in such an enlightened environment was palpable, and all who attended the forum are deeply grateful to Polly, Catharine, Judith and Sue.
[C1](avoiding repetition of ‘school life’) [C2]I have moved this down from the paragraph above, as I think it was Jude who made these points, rather than Polly & Catharine [C3]Para about ‘what now’ deleted here, to avoid duplication – it’s included below.
On 11th May, 14 Alexander Technique teachers with a particular interest in teaching young people converged on Uppingham school. Stephen Williams, the supportive Director of Music at Uppingham, had generously offered the use of the premises to Polly Waterfield, who heads the A.T. department there, and she and her colleague Catharine Gunningham had developed the idea of a forum where everybody’s voice could be heard and valued.
A spirit of friendship and generosity permeated the event. Polly and Catherine didn’t just tell us about working with 13-18 year olds at Uppingham; they also shared their insights experientially and visually. A highlight was our visit to their AT teaching room where the walls were covered with pictures, feedback posters and displays relating to the ‘sitting project’. This enthusiasm and willingness to share radiated back from the attendees and the event became a rich collaboration of the experience and expertise gathered there. It was encouraging to see how having a permanent presence in a school, and the support of key staff, can allow the effects of AT to have a profound effect on the life of the school as a whole, as well as on individual pupils.
This was reinforced when the Director of Music and a Housemaster talked movingly about the challenges of boarding school life: getting enough sleep, relating to each other even in uncomfortable situations and dealing with the stress of a busy schedule[C1] . AT can help them focus on posture and find inner space, which adds up to being able to find ‘down time’ even when busily committed and active.
The weekend was enriched by the presence of Sue Holladay and Judith Kleinman, who gave us sessions in the same generous spirit. Sue had notably lugged a whole library of AT/children related books to Uppingham for us to look at……but had forgotten to bring a copy of her own book, ‘Playing with Posture’!
In the initial session we all talked a little about our teaching and our aims. We all aspired to connecting more effectively not only with children and their parents, but with school staff as well. There was an understanding that these relationships underlie the potential for us to fulfil our passion to get AT into child education. We want dialogue and interaction between AT teachers too, to work out a common language with other specialists which is nevertheless true to Alexander’s principles. We need the expertise of these professionals who know certain aspects of child development, education and behaviour, to fill in our rather naïve expectations of what is possible and what is unrealistic.
Polly then talked about her teaching. What became clear here too is that the relationship with the young pupil is the most important thing. Polly demonstrated how throwing a beanie frog is memorable and versatile, and can not only start to teach inhibition, but also help make the connection with school demands and the need to take a moment of pause. Catharine showed us how she makes AT relevant by exploring applications selected by the pupil, so that the lesson is a joint exercise in problem-solving rather than a disconnected ‘capsule’ where the teacher is in ‘tell’ mode.
In the afternoon, Judith focussed on the choice, not to be rushed, to trust, to listen and to pay attention. She invited us to experience collapse, over straightening and then the enjoyment of being easy. We played with Cathy Madden’s idea of the neck as a sleeve joining the head to the body that can be overstretched, crumpled or hung down. Judith suggested that a period of silent work in almost every lesson is important, and encouraged us to trust that the different aspects of the Technique will come up; we don’t need to endgain to cover them! [C2]
[C3] On Sunday, there were presentations from participants. Janet Pinder –Emery talked about a workshop she has developed for children aged 9-11 called ‘Look After Your Back’, for which she had prepared 6 activities for the children to do with a partner. She observed that AT teachers not only have the skill of their hands but have developed visual skills beyond the skill of other professionsals. Chrissy Frazer, an experienced Paediatric Occupational Therapist, proffered a wealth of detail such as ‘with young children AT goes straight into the body’, ‘boy’s spines grow more at the back that at the front, girl’s spines grow more at the front, resulting, unless they are taught how to use themselves well, in a habit of either slouching, or narrowing the back’ and ‘a child should only carry 5% of their body weight. She has experienced incredible results from releasing the Atlanto-occipital joint, freeing up a disabled child to sit unsupported on the back of a horse, to the delight and astonishment of the riding instructor.
It was during Saturday’s ‘what now’ session that Sue allowed the emerging coherence and enthusiasm of the group to gell rather movingly into a force for good. A week post-forum, sharing has continued by e-mail, and thanks to Jeremy Cassidy a wikispace space connection has been set up. There is a strong desire to start to ‘get it out there’, to collaborate with institutions, to train teachers both in school and in the Alexander community, and an understanding that we would be well served to use computer technology in order to communicate internally and store our communal knowledge and experience. The sense of potential that emerged from time spent together in such an enlightened environment was palpable, and all who attended the forum are deeply grateful to Polly, Catharine, Judith and Sue.
[C1](avoiding repetition of ‘school life’)
[C2]I have moved this down from the paragraph above, as I think it was Jude who made these points, rather than Polly & Catharine
[C3]Para about ‘what now’ deleted here, to avoid duplication – it’s included below.