The Student Experience

By Terry McLeod

I recently had an opportunity to be on the other side of the “learning partnership” and the value of this experience for me as a teacher was once again highlighted. I definitely recommend occasionally learning something new and/or taking some lessons, if for no other reason than to improve your own skills at leading others through the learning experience. Ideally some type of athletic, motor skill intensive sport will lend you the best observations, but really anything that reduces you to a rank novice can be of benefit. Some suggestions include golf, tennis, windsurfing, skateboarding, guitar, piano, sewing, knitting, specific art/craft methods, horseback riding, waterskiing, dancing, or in my case, surfing.

I was fortunate enough to be able to take my first trip to Hawaii last fall and of course I wouldn’t have felt complete if I hadn’t learned to surf. Here are some things I liked about the whole experience and that I suggest we should all try to incorporate into how we work with students, followed by some less than stellar items that I hope our clients won’t have to deal with.

  • The phone conversations I had during the registration process were great. Lots of options and flexibility to meet my needs. They called me back when they said they would with clear directions and easy “protocols”.
  • We started with very basic, on the beach steps that didn’t rush me into the water. It helped me know what to do before I was faced with the possibility of drowning.
  • Our instructor, Inikea, led us to a section of water with mellower waves and told us why we were going there. Until he explained his choice and pointed out what he was looking for, everything looked the same to me, so I was glad he let us in on the factors he used to choose our location.
  • Inikea gave us some directions and assistance, but also gave plenty of space for our own practice time. I never felt like I was waiting for his lesson plan to develop before I could try something.
  • He gave people in the group different tasks and assistance based on how fast or slow they were progressing. In other words he tailored his teaching to each person, even though it was a group lesson.
  • Inikea was available for some questions and conversation as the lesson wrapped up. He had another class starting but was still able to manage the time well so that I didn’t feel like he was cutting me off as he moved on to the next project.

My experience wasn’t perfect. Here are some things that I’ll try to prevent my clients from feeling.

  • The instructor was late; not much, but I was wondering what was going on.
  • He didn’t start with an overview or outline of what we were going to cover. I had some concerns about how the ocean was going to treat me and I would have been better able to focus on his initial instructions if he’d assured me that we were going to cover some water safety strategies. The point here is, that I wanted my biggest concern to be acknowledged at the beginning, so that I could relax a bit knowing that my fears would be addressed.
  • He never used any of our names. Not a big deal, but it made me wonder how much he cared about us.
  • I didn’t come with the right gear (clothing) and got some pretty good surf board rash by the end of the session. This was no one's fault but my own. I still had a great time, but it highlighted how our students feel when they don’t have decent goggles, gloves, snow pants, etc.

The things I’ve emphasized here are nothing new; we’ve been taught them and read about them for years. The point I’m trying to make is how much more valuable it is to put yourself in the student's role and actually experience how it feels to be on the receiving end of the student/teacher relationship. The things you notice will stick with you much longer and their relative importance will be readily apparent. Plus it’s way more fun than just reading another manual. So quit wishing you could juggle, do the Macarena, skydive, or speak Swahili. Make plans to go out and do it and then chalk it up as another part of your professional development as a snowsports instructor.