By Erwan Le Corre
Founder of MovNat
“While we teach, we learn,” said the Roman philosopher Seneca.
Whereas ancient wisdom teaches us that the best way to understand a concept is to explain it to someone else, modern science proves why and how it works.
Researchers have found that students enlisted to tutor others work harder to understand the material, recall it more accurately, and apply it more effectively. In what scientists have dubbed “the protégé effect,” student teachers score higher on tests than pupils learning only for their own sake.
The protégé effect is a psychological phenomenon where teaching, pretending to teach, or preparing to teach information to others helps a person learn that information.
Can you learn Natural Movement better by learning to teach it to others?
The answer is a vibrant YES.
When student trainers are motivated to help others learn and practice the movements, they study the techniques that make those movements effective and efficient more conscientiously.
The perspective of instructing others will make you spend more time going over the educational material you’re teaching and learning it more thoroughly.
As they prepare to teach, student trainers review and organize their knowledge, improving their understanding and recall.
But there is more.
Student trainers are much more likely to personally gain from the teaching process when they share the information with their students during practice sessions.
They may discover missing areas in their own understanding of the techniques taught or knots while explaining them. While demonstrating techniques, they might identify a lack of personal mastery of the techniques shown.
How the protégé effect helped me
I know this quite intimately. About two decades ago, I decided to teach Natural Movement to the world. This was before I coined the term and brought it to the world. The idea of teaching others my techniques made me think hard and in detail about how each one worked.
I discovered so much in that process, had many “aha” moments, and took many notes. By consistently imagining the most effective ways I could teach my knowledge to beginners, I became ready to teach.
A few years later, writing the MovNat Certification curriculum and the “Practice Of Natural Movement” book made me detail and describe this knowledge further.
“While we teach, we learn.”
The student’s questions or issues may challenge the teacher to think and explain the material differently, depending on what the student is struggling with or is best receptive to. This pushes the teacher to keep refining their personal experience and ability to teach this knowledge. This leads to additional benefits for the teacher, such as improved attention and communication skills.
When the trainer instructs a group of students, the benefits of self-confidence and leadership ability are even greater.
Finally, there is an emotional value to teaching others.
When the students succeed, the teacher feels proud and satisfied that their knowledge is put into action with a tangible effect, solving people’s movement difficulties and physical limitations.
Lastly, teachers experience pride and satisfaction when witnessing their students’ progress and accomplishments and the joy they get from it.
There are a lot of benefits for you
In summary, the protégé effect benefits the MovNat Certified Trainer candidate (and the MovNat Certified Trainer!) by increasing your:
• Motivation to learn the material.
• Metacognitive processing.
• Use of effective learning and teaching strategies.
• Self-confidence, communication skills, and leadership.
• Emotional reward from helping others succeed and grow.
To take advantage of the protégé effect, you can learn the material as if you’re going to teach it, pretend to teach it to someone or teach it to other people in reality, or you can use a combination of these techniques.
You learn MovNat better and faster when you learn to teach it to others.
As I wrote in the MovNat Certification Curriculum, “Become a teacher, but always remain a student.“
I hope to see you join our worldwide army of MovNat Certified Trainers soon!
Warm regards,
Erwan
Find links to two scientific studies reflecting the “protégé effect” below:
Expecting to teach enhances motor learning and information processing during practice.
Expecting to teach enhances learning and organization of knowledge in free recall of text passages.
About the Author:
Erwan Le Corre is the founder of “MovNat”, a synthesis of his long-term passion for real-world physical competency, his love of movement in nature, his extensive knowledge of Physical Education history, and his personal philosophy of life. He believes it is everyone’s universal and biological birthright to be strong, healthy, happy and free. He calls this state of being our “True Nature”. Read more.
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