How We Teach at The Bovine
At the Bovine our teachers use a standardized curriculum. In Level 3, Class 1 everyone plays the same games as anyone else whoever took Level 3, Class 1. Our teachers are all given the same games and the same information to teach. In training, each teacher is given a description of the exercises and ’side coaches’ to say during the exercise and then told what the ‘purposes and objectives’ are for each exercise. ”Side coaches” are phrases we say to get the players to experience the exercise through their body. “Purposes and Objectives” are to get them to consciously understand what they just did.
Each exercise builds on the last one and all are targeted around the point of the night. The idea of each exercise is to get the student to discover the “purpose and objective” of the exercise, if necessary through the use of “side coaching”.
The Big Idea
The idea is to get the student to embody the exercise, so they become the lesson. We need to get the student to do the exercise in a way that they get into their body and out of their head. When someone is in their body they are present. They are not worried about the future or concerned with the past. They are here and now. Being in your body and trusting it is hard for some players, but it is the only way they can discover their Improv.
Why Side Coaching is Key
Side coaching is what we say when the players are playing the game. It is more than a positive affirmation, it is way to gently get the player to discover the exercise and get into their body and out of their head. It is our way of having them let go of control or fear and to play. Once they embody the game, they own what they felt. It is theirs and we don’t have to teach them anything, because they discovered it themselves.
Why Purposes and Objectives are Overrated.
After the exercise we ask “What did you get out of that?”. We do this so that the players can make an intellectual connection to what they experienced. As teachers we have a tendency to focus on this part, because we want to “teach”, but this is a false ideology. Anything learned by talking about it must first be understood, then believed, then set into practice and then embodied into actions. This is a mush longer and difficult route that gets players in their heads and out of their bodies. And although I love the connection to the intellect, unless they experience something for themselves, they can not fully understand it.
How We Should “Teach”
We want the students to discover their own Improv, so we must focus on getting them to embody the exercises. We get them in their body through having them play games. If we think they are thinking, planning, isolated, in general missing the point, then we side coach. By side coaching we can get players back on the tracks. Once they are playing in their body we pull back on the side coaching to let them discover the game. We reinforce afterward by asking what they got out of it, but we don’t make that the focus. Our focus should be on having them learn by doing.
Bottom Line
To get the players to be improvisers, focus on side coaching. If you want to get players into their heads, focus on purposes and objectives.