I used to believe that "anyone can do anything they want to do, if they want it badly enough", as that was the way I was taught. But, over many years of trying different things that interested me, and watching others try to do things I was successful doing, I came to understand that some people are just NOT going to be able to do some things.
When I was in HS, for instance, a Trombone player a couple of years older than me practiced 3x as much as I did, and sounded like he was playing a sewer pipe! He was terrible. It did not matter how much he practiced or the fact that he actually did practice correctly: It didn't help.
Years later, I was aspiring to be a competitive level Trapshooter, and watched many other shooters trying to do the same thing as me. No matter how much they practiced, or paid for Coaching lessons, they simply could not do it. They would show up at the beginning of the Spring with a NEW GUN, thinking that a better gun would make them a better shooter. NOT.
I believe, like Mr. Brooks, that there are some people you can show how to do something, and they still Can't do it. But they will probably own newer, and more expensive, chisels, chasing hammers, and wood planes than you will!
As talented as my own father was, he had no patience to do fine work. He would be called a Rough in Carpenter- someone you turn loose on particle board, and 2 x 4" to rough in the frame of a new garage. He was the not the guy, however, to do fine cabinetwork, carvings, inlays, etc.
So, instructors everywhere have to face the fact that there will be that student one day who you simply cannot teach to do what you do well, no matter how patient you are, how attentive you are, and how good your communication skills are. You will need to encourage them to explore other areas where their "talents?" are more suited to the work.
After years of teaching, I have begun to think that many of these students have learning disabilities that have yet to be defined. Once defined, the Medical field has a high rate of success in finding treatments for these people.But, even the best trained instructors, with Education Psychology courses in their backgrounds, can't spot inherited problems in students unless the profession has already defined a problem, given it a name, and, hopefully, suggested methods of dealing with people who have the disorders. :hmm:
