NEW ZEALAND Training Instructors to be Adaptable

By Jeremy O'Sullivan

The NZSIA used their indoor workshop to demonstrate their student centred teaching model which was introduced at Interski 2019. New Zealand set the scene by reminding participants of their objective in Bulgaria to develop their teaching model and seek feedback from participants in order to better understand what the industry thinks and feels so that they could present a complete version by Interski 2023.

So how do the NZSIA create adaptable instructors?

 

Set up (Introduction)

Creating repour, connecting with guests, and negotiated goals to centre the lesson around their guests wants and needs.

 

Teaching cycle

In the past more linear, step by step and less of a cycle, NZSIA sees this cycle as a natural human communication model, things you do daily, understanding body language, how do you respond to another person’s attitude, beliefs, topics important to them.

 

Feedback Loop

Built on three actions, Activity, Analysis and Adapt, NZSIA use the 3 A’s to cycle through their lesson to support and tailor the learning of their guests.

 

Activity - Understanding and doing – why it’s a new task, reflect on information from a previous experience.

In this phase the instructor needs to create clarity of outcome, create better understanding of what the student wants to get out of the lesson and have control over their learning outcomes. What, why, and how which is common amongst other systems.

 

What: focused on what the skis are doing, the function.

Why: should be reflective of the overall goal of the lesson, providing justification for the lesson plan.

How: using a skiing approach where they use tactical objectives to get the skier moving and trying new tasks.

 

Analyse - reflection on performance and giving feedback

NZSIA use various analysis models in their system which span across all their instructor levels. The concept here is the learner should be given understanding of what it is they are trying to achieve, by giving them the space to talk and reflect on their progress. NZSIA brought up the Fitts and Posner learning phases, cognitive, associate and autonomy phases and how this model supports greater understanding of how the guest analyses their own skiing and centres the lesson around them.

 

Adapt – decision making, collaboration with guests, two-way communication, providing autonomy for the guest to have choice and control. Active recipients of information where they are given choice and control of their learning.

 

My takeaway from the NZSIA session was that they are focusing on empowering their guests to be more aware and self-sufficient with taking ownership for their lesson, their movements, and their authority to learn. This is something I have been trying to implement in my own teaching and training of instructors, having them take ownership of their training, understanding what their body is doing, how they move, and making their choices determine the lessons outcome. I look forward to learning more about how the NZSIA develop this teaching model into the future.