Isildur: negation and double-negation confusion (2008-06-07 10:30) [#4743]

There's a lot of confusion seen on this page over whether for a given practice X, people are saying to do X, not to do X, or not to not do X (i.e. to in fact do X).

This could perhaps be clarified by more consistent presentation. A master edit could perhaps reorganize the items in a manner along the lines of:

!Teaching Methods to Avoid:

doing abc

Straightforward explanation of why abc is bad (NOT a long paragraph of negations)

doing xyz

Straightforward explanation of why xyz is bad

Note that the bold part is a gerund (_ing) to make it clear that this is not a practice actually being advocated. Only that initial part should have an implied "Don't do actually do this"; the explanation would be written in a straightforward manner.

So, just for example, this:

Explain brilliant tesujis to beginners. If they complain that they don't get it, ignore them. When you have a group of a few people, try to pace the lessons to match the quickest learner. The quickest one is the only one who matters.

would become this:

!Teaching Methods to Avoid:

Explaining a brilliant tesuji to someone who just picked up a stone for the first time

This is likely of little educational value, as the newcomer does not yet have enough knowledge and experience in place to appreciate the subtler details of play. Remember: Basic things first!

Pacing a group lesson to suit the quickest-learning pupil

It may be tempting to move as quickly as possible because you want to move on to more interesting stuff, but you need to stay aware of the fact that different people learn at different rates. It's a group lesson, not a one-on-one lesson, so you should be trying to help them all. Ease up on the throttle there, ace, and some of the "slower" pupils may even surprise you later on!

I think this page could greatly benefit from a master edit applying such a format. What sayest thou?