This is how I started my description of my conducting pattern.
(It’s an odd meter piece, with frequent time signature changes and surprising subdivisions.)
“You don’t need to know this, but here’s how I’m conducting this.”
For a y’all come, multigenerational pickup choir, the theory takes a back seat. And honestly, even for my more academic choirs, I wouldn’t worry if they didn’t know that I conduct the 10/8 bar in 4 (2+2+3+3) and the preceding 11/8 bar as two bars. They would see the big beats and follow, and the rest is trivial.
But, true to form, I saw a couple people taking notes and one stayed after to ask what I meant, exactly. He had been trying to figure out the meters and wanted more clarity.
For me, the right teaching offers multiple access points for students at different levels. If it’s above your level, it’s important not to disparage it or write it off: just recognize it’s not for you. But for someone, it’s exactly what they need to advance their own musicianship.
Groups will always have different needs; it’s on leaders to figure out ways of meeting them all at the same time.