A few thoughts:
• A Thai medicine/bodywork classroom is a healing arts learning space. People need to feel free to get things wrong, break down in tears, and be messy unguarded humans. While I love the art of film and photography, taking pictures, videos and audio recordings can inhibit this dynamic.
• A good teacher must bend instruction to meet the students where they are at. Sometimes we show someone a workaround for a technique, in order to accommodate for specific body needs but if that workaround ends up in a photograph on Facebook, it teaches the world something that is incorrect for most, perhaps only correct for one. We often share information in a way that isn’t our normal pattern. We read the classroom and sometimes say things only meant for those specific students. This time together is special and even if we have taught this class a hundred times, it is uniquely tailored for you in a thousand tiny ways. Teachers being filmed feel they must teach to a generic catch-all population rather than the individuals in front of them.
• When teachings are being filmed and photographed, the student steps back from learning. A part of the brain thinks “it’s okay, I’ve got that saved for later, I don’t have to work hard to learn it now”. The problem is that looking at a photograph later will never replace the level of learning that can be accomplished by being present in the moment with your teacher.
For these reasons, I ask that my students always ask permission before recording any part of class, and that they understand that the answer might be no. It depends on the moment, but in general I appreciate students keeping their recording devices away during class.