News

Candidate Class Proposed

Do you want to teach Scottish Country Dancing?

It's fun, exhausting, thrilling, frustrating, exhilarating, rewarding. Just ask any teacher.

RSCDS teachers undergo a fairly rigorous training. There are two ways to get the training: go away for two weeks to the RSCDS's Summer School at St. Andrews or at the TAC Summer School, or take a local class spread out over several months in the fall and winter, and take the exams in the spring. This year, the RSCDS is not offering entry-level training at Summer School.

Teacher training will be offered locally starting in the fall, taught by Elaine Brunken and Ellie and Mel Briscoe. The training and examinations are given in modules, and we're offering all of them:

For Teaching Certificate Part 1 (much like the old "prelim" level):

Unit 1: A written paper on SCD history, technique, formations, and music. Preparing for this is mostly self study, based on the RSCDS Manual, with coaching from the tutors. Start this summer! The next available date to take this test is October 11. The test is taken locally, and papers are sent to Scotland for grading; you must pass this before doing Unit 2 and 3.
Unit 2: Practical Dancing, testing on the candidate's ability to dance and brief from a pre-defined set of 15 dances (listed on the RSCDS Web site).
Unit 3: Teaching Level 1: candidates must teach two formations and a step, and teach and dance up to RSCDS standards.

For Teaching Certificate Part 2, for those who already hold Teaching Certificate Part 1:

Unit 4: Teaching Practice: a record of what teaching you have done is submitted to HQ, no less than three months before the examinations. That's another thing to get ready over the summer!
Unit 5: Teaching Level 2: demonstrate that you can analyze and teach an RSCDS dance from start to finish--steps, formations, transitions, etc.-up to standard.

This is all laid out in detail on the RSCDS Web site's examinations and training page.

Candidates would need to start self-preparation during the summer. Part 1 needs to get the manual, apply for Unit 1, start learning dances; Part 2 to compile a record of teaching. The class is co-sponsored by the Washington and Northern Virginia Branches. Class schedule, time, and location will depend on space availability and where the candidates live, but we'll probably have a kick-off meeting during the summer to get things started.

To find out more or to "sign up" informally, send an email to mail@briscoe.com or elainerb@aol.com, or call the Briscoes at 703 461-7383 or Elaine at 301-604-8385. We've heard from several people, and we'd like an idea of who else is interested by the beginning of June. Thanks!