Mark Mcinnes

Each student is different, but one thing which is consistent in my approach to teaching is an appreciation of the limits of the human attention-span. (This varies, but on average is 25 minutes. So a one-hour lesson would be broken into two halves, with a 5 minute break in the middle to allow the student to pause and refresh, and then another 5 minutes at the end to reflect on what we've covered.)

I have a BA (1st class Hons) in English and Theatre Studies, and 30 years of experience as a performer, writer, director, voice and performance coach (with a side-line in life-drawing). My focus is always on the individual wishes of the student. I ask a lot of questions, and spend a lot of time listening. I am fascinated by language, so a typical session might start with the etymology of a word, and then of all the words connected to it, deepening the understanding of how words work. That might be followed by a session on writing lyrics for a song. Alternatively the session might be a question-and-answer about whatever issues the student is having with their studies, and encouraging goal-setting and the joy of small successes. Or, we might end up doing mind-mapping to create a mental image of thoughts, intentions and ambitions. Or even some sketching.

We all have things that fascinate us. The key to happiness is finding what those things are and learning how to give them time and space, and there are many ways up a mountain.