The Importance of Effective Communication Between Teachers and Students
Advice On Being Candid About Your Health
By Claire Kaskel, DWC Ambassador
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My name is Claire Kaskel and I am one of Dancewear Center’s ambassadors. I have been a competitive dancer for about 9 out of my 17 years. Along with competitive dance comes long hours of rehearsals, classes, competitions, and conventions. And as a young dancer, I have been taught to push through all feelings of tiredness and even physical pain in order to stay training. There have certainly been times when I was not feeling well enough to continue pushing through a long day, but I did not feel safe enough to communicate to my teachers that I was in pain. I was afraid that I would be in trouble for taking a break. However, recently I learned an important lesson on the importance of communication when it comes to injuries.
I was at a competition/convention in March, and my knee injury was really beginning to hurt me. I have a reoccurring injury in my left knee that I initially hurt about two years back. I felt responsible to dance through the pain. I did not feel comfortable telling my teacher that I needed a break from the long hours of dancing to rest and ice my injury. I was afraid of letting her down by not taking a class that I was expected to take. But the more I pushed through classes and continued to dance, the more I realized how much my knee truly needed a break. My teammates agreed that I needed to sit down and ice, as they all noticed my confliction and pain. Eventually, with the support of my friends, I worked up the courage and convinced myself to let my teacher know about my injury and ask her advice on what to do. Her response made me feel so much better. She encouraged me to do whatever was best for myself, including resting, icing, and taping my knee. She even helped me tape it and sat with me to make me feel better. I was so stressed about communicating with my teacher out of fear of getting in trouble, but after I spoke with her, I realized that that was all I needed to do. Having support from my teacher to do what was best for myself truly took all my guilt and fear away. I was no longer afraid, which allowed me to focus on healing and improving my physical health.
This experience taught me the importance of speaking up for yourself and communicating with teachers. For me, this conversation established feelings of safety and care between me and my teacher. From the students’ perspective, it can be nerve-wracking to talk to your teacher about your needs out of fear of letting them down. But this interaction taught me a lot about doing what is best for yourself and how to communicate your needs in an effective and respectful manner. My advice to any other students who have felt the same way and struggled with the same guilt would be as follows:
Practice Honesty
Being consistently honest and candid about your feelings and health is highly important in establishing healthy communication between your teacher and yourself. When everyone is aware of a situation, it helps prevent it from worsening. For example, in my case, keeping my teacher updated about my torn knee helped prevent me from possibly injuring it more. Finding a private space before or after class to educate your teacher on your situation in a calm manner will help display seriousness and overall care for yourself and your training. Teachers will appreciate your honesty and respect and will be more likely to treat you with that same care and respect in return.
Prioritize Your Own Needs
If you are hurting in any way, be candid! Your health and safety are the number one priority in every situation, though sometimes it may be nerve-wracking to speak up. Be conscious of your value and take care of your body, both on and off of the dance floor.
Being sensitive to students' needs and concerns is very important for teachers. Effective communication can be used to communicate the needs of students and teachers alike so that everyone can feel more comfortable and safe at the end of the day!
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