As a person who is just embarking on learning something new, it can be a little difficult assessing the standard of teaching you are receiving. This also applies to more developed dancers who have only been taught by one teacher, since there are no other points of reference. It is also true that a different method of teaching takes a little while to get used to, and so your first lesson with another teacher is naturally taken with some caution.

We feel that assessing the quality of instruction you are receiving is your right, and that it should be exercised. To help you do so, here are the top five questions that we teachers would like see answered with a resounding YES.

1.	Did you enjoy the lesson? Your spare time is precious, so spend it on something that you like doing. Did you enjoy it enough to want to go back?
2.	Did you feel safe? Where you comfortable with the content of the lesson and the way it was taught?
3.	Did your teacher explain both roles well? It’s often easier for a teacher to present information from the point of view of their own gender. The better teachers have a consumate understanding of both roles, and you can get an impression of this by how well gender-balanced the instruction is.
4.	Was the lesson difficulty adjusted to suit the class? The lesson should be challenging, but still within reach of mere mortals. It should not be too easy at the same time. Your teacher should be fine-tuning the difficulty level during the class so that most of the people in it can succeed.
5.	Did you learn something new that you could practise on your own? Even if you learnt just one thing new, the lesson was not a waste of your time. You should be potentially capable of performing the whole content of the lesson without your teacher present (even if it might take a little practice to do so). After all, your can’t take your teacher with you wherever you go.

Scoring based on number of YES answers:
1 poor; 2-3 average; 4 good; 5 very good.