Teaching bell handling

Teaching principles

There are some basic teaching principles that you might want to consider.

Intensive teaching

Research demonstrates that intensive training leads to faster learning. Intensive training is both frequent and concentrated. More of what has been learned is retained between sessions. Intensive teaching is:

• Several handling lessons on successive days is ideal.
• Twice a week should be considered the minimum.
• It is likely that 10 to 15 hours will be needed to get your ringer to the stage where they are ready to start ringing with others. They need to be able to ring a bell independently, raise and lower a bell, and set it at hand and back at will.

Learning to handle during the general ringing practice is not the preferred method. It takes an average of 10 to 15 hours of one-to-one tuition to learn to handle safely, accurately and reliably, which equates to 40 or 60 week's worth of practices if this is all that is on offer.

Group teaching

People like learning in groups, which provide a sense of camaraderie and mutual support which just can't be replicated when a learner is being taught on their own in the tower. It's heartening for a learner (in perhaps a perverse way) to see others struggling in the same way they are and to help them overcome those hurdles.

ART Module 1 course

An ART Module 1 (teaching bell handling) course will introduce you to new ideas and allow you to practise different skills and techniques in a safe and supportive environment. It is suitable for those who are new to teaching and those who've been teaching successfully for many years. Each course is led by an experienced ART Tutor and although common ground is always covered there is room for the discussions and practical exercises to be tailored to the needs of each set of delegates.

Module 1 provides you with the skills and techniques necessary to take a ringer from their first lesson to having competent bell control and ringing rounds unsupervised.

You will learn through a mixture of practical and classroom sessions:

• How to teach a skill
• How to break down bell handling into easy stages that the new ringer can master
• About different learning types and how to adapt your teaching for them
• The benefits of intensive teaching

The practical sessions will give you plenty of time to practise your new skills in a safe environment. Working in pairs you will also have opportunity to hone your observation skills and get feedback on your feedback.

We don't know how and when the pandemic is going to end, so if you'd like to attend or organise a Module 1 course in your local area please contact Rose, the ART Administrator and we will be in contact when we know more.

Currently, we are thinking that our first courses after the end of the pandemic will be small and local (not nationally advertised) and some of our requirements about minimum course size will be dispensed with.

» Contact Rose

About the ART Modules