By Ollie Midgley in 2023.
Note that this was not an article written for the Trainers Certification, but a piece written by Ollie to help encourage the process of self reflection within SBINZ instructors.
As Instructors, Trainers and Coaches we’re constantly guiding our students to progress and develop their snowboarding. As riders ourselves we are often looking to improve our riding, aiming to be more efficient or even going out and learning a new trick. A beneficial tool that is used when out improving our personal riding is intrinsic feedback. For example, within my switch riding, in steeper off-piste terrain, I’m practising using progressive vertical movement to ensure I can manage the terrain and the changes in pressure on the board. If I head out with that focus and understand what it feels like and how to do it efficiently I can take steps towards developing that movement pattern. Self reflection gives us an opportunity to get intrinsic feedback with how our lessons and sessions are going, so that we can progress our teaching just like our riding.
Without purposeful reflection in our lesson, we continue moving through them without learning or taking the time to evaluate what is working well and what is inhibiting your ability to connect with and inspire development and stoke in your students snowboarding. A reflection sheet is a helpful tool that we can use as a framework and to guide the process of learning within our lessons. Below are some points to consider when undertaking reflection on a lesson or session.
No Such Thing as a Perfect Lesson
Even as an SBINZ Examiner and having taught, trained and coached for over 20 seasons I am reflecting after each session I lead and finding areas for improvement. This could range from over complicating an explanation on how I want the students to move, to asking questions that are too open or maybe not giving each student enough time to get mileage on a task. To maintain a growth mindset involves consistent contemplation and aiming to always be learning and reflection is a great means to doing that.
Keep it Simple and Focused
Just like when we’re out developing your riding, it’s important to have an idea on what you’re working on and how to do it. This could be based on something you noticed in previous lessons or something you recently started exploring in a training clinic. This will ensure you’re clued up and have an idea on what to look for and measure your performance.
For example, after attending a clinic on enhancing your ability to check for understanding, you challenge yourself to gain more insight from your students through questioning. Instead of asking the common “does that make sense?” you consciously go into the lesson with the idea you’re going to offer your students more guided questions, as well as allowing them space to reply and offer their observations. Keeping a concise focus on what you’re developing and reflecting on will ensure incremental changes are made and then retained.
Timing of Reflection
As we instruct we naturally reflect throughout each lesson to adapt to the outcomes as the lesson progresses. This could be reflecting on what you just said as you provide the riding demonstration, or on the chairlift after analysing their riding of a task, as well as reflecting following the lesson and whether or not the students goals were met.
Understanding how reflection occurs within these different time frames ensures you can make the most of them for different learnings to take place. Reflecting throughout the lesson allows you to ensure some changes are made on the fly, reflecting following the lesson ensures our memory is fresh and we can more accurately recall the sequence of events that happened. However, sometimes giving it space and either reflecting on it later and even with another instructor can be helpful. Taking the time to take notes and go through a reflection process can consolidate learning and help to process the complete picture. Being open while talking with fellow instructors about what happened in the lesson and how they may have approached it can also support your learning.
Balanced Reflection
To reflect on a lesson effectively it’s important to view both the elements of the lesson that worked well, while also identifying the areas for improvement. Bringing to light the positives within a lesson and delving deeper to understand why it was effective, can create awareness to help replicate it in the future. This could include coming up with a new way to explain a movement, utilising questions more effectively in a lesson or even using a new piece of terrain for a different task.
Looking at the lesson through a critical lens and identifying inefficiencies can assist in learning from mistakes and foster growth as an instructor. This could look like a lack of rapport being built with the students causing a lack of trust, or identifying that more time could have been spent building the students’ confidence before taking them to more challenging terrain. There’s always room for improvement and self-reflection can be a useful tool in enabling that progression.
Throughout the SBINZ manual there are a range of questions within each progression to prompt reflection on your lessons. Make use of these questions to guide your understanding on appropriate areas to reflect on based on the different tasks, outcomes, goals etc. Once you are beginning to understand the framework for analysing your teaching performance feel free to adapt the process and reflect in a way that suits your teaching and learning style.
