This is for teachers of bell ringing. There are certain important things that we wish you would tell us learners, and if you tell us and we do not appear to have taken it in, then to tell us again, perhaps at a more opportune time. Sometimes you tell us, but fail to show us explicitly and if we are visual learners, we may have nodded our heads as if we have understood, but actually the information fell on deaf ears. We are only pretending that we understand what you said to please you, because we want to please and not disappoint. So many things are second nature to the experienced ringer, that you may forget that no-one is born with this knowledge and some of us require multiple exposures before we are able to absorb and implement new learning, especially as we get older. Here is my list, but it is not exhaustive and I am certain that others have their own pet gaps, that they wish had been filled but did not know enough at the time to know what they did not yet know.
1 When plain hunting from the treble, as one moves from the lead to second place, you need to extend the length of pull in order to move the bell up into 2nd place. This seems particularly relevant when "going round twice". We do not know this and finding it out for ourselves may take weeks of frustration. Just say "really long pull NOW" and it is sorted
2 we know to shorten the rope to move down a place. We have been scolded enough times for that to sink in. However, have you actually demonstrated it in slow motion? It is a scary manoeuvre if we get it wrong, so we may naturally avoid it. It is not that we do not know what is required, it is more that we are a bit hazy as to how to do it safely, so will attempt alternative strategies in an effort at self-preservation
3 if we do succeed in shortening our rope, please remind us that we need to lengthen it again immediately afterwards. Obvious to you, but not to me as I attempt to hold up with a length of rope intended to speed me up
4 if we always ring plain bob from the 3 or 4 and stop after a plain course, we may not recognise the last dodge as it comes round. Theory tells us it is there, but in practice we only execute half the dodge and need to repeat a plain course without stopping to internalise it, else when it comes to a touch we may ignore that 3-4 up/down piece of work and end up out of place
5 when ringing handbells for plain bob etc, if you make seconds over the treble at a lead end, you are always bounced into another pattern. If you do not make seconds, then you remain in the same pattern. It may be obvious to someone with experience, but it certainly was not to me
6 if you make seconds over the treble, the next thing you are called to do is lead. There may be exceptions, but I have not yet come across them
7 if you are hunting on an even number of bells, then you do not lead off the tenor because it is also involved. This sounds so obvious but watch a learner at their first attempts – their eyes will flick to the place where they expect to find a clue
8 striking in the correct place is not a matter of just watching the rope of the person that you are following. It involves all the senses and pretending that it does not because coordinating sight/feel/sound sounds scary, does no one any favours
9 theory is our friend and not our enemy. Encourage learners to try and understand what they are doing, not follow a recipe provided by the experts. It may be slow in the short term, but will pay dividends in the long term
10 whatever you say, we need to know when it applies. A clear instruction to hold up over the 4 bell into 5th place or whatever is only useful if we understand when to execute this wise piece of advice. Now? Next stroke? Next but one? You may know that one moves into a particular place at a particular time on either hand/back stroke, but we may not yet have internalised this useful information. We take our hand and back strokes as they come and may not appreciate the usefulness of knowing that, if we are in a particular place going in a particular direction, then it must be a backstroke
11 a late entrant at no.11 but it only occurred to me at my last lesson. Some of us are familiar with coursing orders and attempt to use before and after bells to eliminate some of the ropesight required. Now that it has been pointed out to me, I cannot believe that I could not see it for myself, but if you want to know which bell you budge off the lead and which bell takes you off the lead, then (at least for Plain Bob) you are the bell in their coursing order sandwich. Of course you are, how could you not be?
A final apology. Often we appear to ignore you. This is not because we do not think you know what you are talking about or that we know better. It is not because we are intending to be rude. It is probably because our brains are so overloaded at that particular moment that we cannot process what you say (in which case, try telling us when the ringing has stopped). Or perhaps we literally have no idea what you are talking about. The language used/concept introduced is not recognised and we do not like to expose our total ignorance by asking what you are on about. Therefore we smile and nod and try to give the impression that we are not as clueless as we actually are. When the penny drops you will know because the smile will extend past our mouths and into our eyes, at which point we have understood. We may even give a little gasp of recognition, which is a very good sign.
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