This article was written by Aik Hooi Lee, a co-founder, of the Alexander Technique Diversity Coalition, based on the workshop of the same name presented at the Alexander Technique World Congress held in Chicago in 2018.
Presentor: Aik Hooi Lee
Facilitators: Kim Jessor, Rebecca Tuffey and Emily Faulkner
Looking at the demographics of Alexander Technique teachers, it is apparent that we are only a small percentage of the population. Why isn’t the Alexander Technique community more representative of society at large? For F.M. Alexander’s legacy to thrive, conscious effort is needed to spread this work across diverse communities.
To move the conversation forward on diversity and to enable collective action, the Alexander Technique Diversity Coalition was born. We started by presenting workshops at the 2017 AmSAT and ATI conference. This workshop at the 2018 International Alexander Technique Congress aimed to normalize conversations around diversity as well as to create a safe space for participants to brainstorm potential strategies to diversify and strengthen private practices, teacher training courses, and the Alexander Technique teaching profession in general.
Diversity is a form of respecting and appreciating the differences of individuals. These differences can be based on race, ethnicity, religion, age, cultural heritage, sex assigned at birth, gender identity, sexual orientation, family background, physical attributes, physical and/or psychological abilities, nationality, immigration status, political views, values, livelihoods, socio-economic class, geographic region, education, language and so forth. One major issue that gets in the way of diversity is implicit bias. Implicit bias is the brain’s automatic, instant association of stereotypes or attitudes toward particular groups without conscious awareness. These split-second associations develop over the course of a lifetime beginning at a very early age through direct and indirect exposures. When people are acting out of their implicit bias, they are not aware of their biased actions. In fact, some biases may be in direct conflict with a person’s explicit beliefs and values. We can view implicit bias as another habit, just like pulling the head back and down. It happens to all of us – not even the most mindful teacher is exempt from implicit biases. The good news is that having an awareness and utilizing inhibition, we can pause, reconsider and make new choices about the way we engage others. During the workshop, we explored our implicit bias and how it might affect our relationships with students.
As Alexander teachers, we need to learn about differences and their impact on the psycho-physical well-being of our students. For instance, knowing a student’s racial/ethnic identification can be crucial. Different cultures have different expectations about eye contact, physical touch, gestures and values. These subtle differences might be of significance to a student’s learning process. During the workshop one teacher shared her experience of teaching a student of color who had a hard time releasing her muscular tension during table work. Only towards the end of the semester was this student able to share her fear and difficulty in letting go because of her constant unsafe and threatening living situation. By understanding the background and showing empathy, the teacher-student connection will have more compassion, mutual respect and support.
Photo captured at the workshop after creating these bracelets during an exploration entitled: “How diverse is your universe?”
Some other activities we explored in the workshop included the game “How diverse is your universe?” which challenged not only our fine motor skills but also asked us to reflect on ourselves. Participants were required to answer a series of questions by picking colored beads according to the people they encounter and stringing the beads into a bracelet. The colors were pre-assigned randomly to represent different groups of people, and the goal is to visually see the types of people we encounter in our daily life. For example: the blue bead stood for a person of African descent; green bead indicated a person having origins from the Far East, Southeast Asia, or the Indian subcontinent, purple symbolized a person having origins in any of the original inhabitants of a given region or one who maintains tribal affiliation/community attachment; yellow represented a person having more than one racial identity; and clear bead was a person of European, Middle Eastern, or North African ancestry. Participants answered questions about their origin, closest friend, person they admire the most, students, neighbor, favorite music band, favorite book author and many more. We reflected on our bracelets by examining questions as follows: Do you like the color of your bracelet? Is it dominated by one group of people? How can you change that? Why is it important to work with a variety of people that are different from you?
We then moved on to brainstorming strategies to diversify our practices and actions to support greater diversity in the Alexander Technique community. How can we reach out to our communities to provide equal accessibility in learning the Alexander Technique? At the individual level, we can include photographs with people of various skin colors on professional websites and promotional items, create a sliding scale fee structure, make house calls to rural areas, teach at places that are accessible by public transportation, have exchanges with “non like-minded” colleagues, innovate teaching methods customized to a particular group of people such as vision impaired people or children suffering from trauma, and of course to build courage within ourselves to step outside of our comfort zone. At the level of teacher training courses, we could provide scholarships for diverse applicants, address diversity issues within training programs, and create outreach programs in lower income communities.
I am genuinely touched and deeply humbled by the responses of the participants in this workshop. We come from different corners of the world, speak different languages, and embrace different cultures, yet we are connected with the same goal and vision that a diverse Alexander Technique community will enrich the profession and expand this wonderful work of F.M. Alexander. When Alexander Technique teachers accept and celebrate all types of diversity, we can then recognize the impact of identity on our students’ psycho-physical Use, actualizing the integration of the whole self, and thus foster healing, inclusiveness, harmony and unity of our society.
Aik Hooi Lee is the first Malaysian to be certified as a teacher of the Alexander Technique from the American Center for the Alexander Technique (ACAT) in New York City. She holds a Master's Degree of Music in Piano Pedagogy from West Virginia University. Aik Hooi is passionate about guiding students to restore their natural poise and move through life with grace. She is also dedicated to increasing the awareness of the Alexander Technique within the Asian community through translating AT-related articles to Chinese, blogging and teaching.