I recently went on course for hockey coaching which turned the tables on me a little. I went from being learning provider to learner and I have to admit I didn't like it all that much. They say doctors make terrible patients and I imagine the same goes for teachers being hypercritical of other training providers. Well that is my excuse and I am sticking to it!
Both trainers were obviously very good hockey coaches but evidently disliked being in a classroom, as of course did the 30 odd hockey players sitting in front of them with a folder full of paper. A combination of a bunch of sports people sitting in a room and a load of unnecessary paper got me thinking. Why do we persist in forcing trainees to fill in lots of boxes on a bit of paper while half-heartedly discussing it in groups. I will confess at this point, I hate group work and always have but as a teacher I also see that there is limited point in giving people a question, asking them to discuss it and then showing the answers. 80% of the time there is nothing to be gained from the discussion which inevitably leaves the 20% that would be great to talk about with limited time. Equally giving people a stack of info and some papers seems a little bit like a test, not to mention a total waste of classroom time. Time which you could use to practice coaching techniques, discuss the rules or, just putting it out there... playing hockey!
So what is the answer?
Clearly everyone has access to a computer with the internet because one of the course pre-requisites was an on-line safeguarding course so why not give attendees and information handbook in .pdf (so if people want the paper copy they can) and a nice little on-line quiz which they can do in their own time before the course thus freeing up a nice amount of time to focus on things which are actually better when done in a group!
Both trainers were obviously very good hockey coaches but evidently disliked being in a classroom, as of course did the 30 odd hockey players sitting in front of them with a folder full of paper. A combination of a bunch of sports people sitting in a room and a load of unnecessary paper got me thinking. Why do we persist in forcing trainees to fill in lots of boxes on a bit of paper while half-heartedly discussing it in groups. I will confess at this point, I hate group work and always have but as a teacher I also see that there is limited point in giving people a question, asking them to discuss it and then showing the answers. 80% of the time there is nothing to be gained from the discussion which inevitably leaves the 20% that would be great to talk about with limited time. Equally giving people a stack of info and some papers seems a little bit like a test, not to mention a total waste of classroom time. Time which you could use to practice coaching techniques, discuss the rules or, just putting it out there... playing hockey!
So what is the answer?
Clearly everyone has access to a computer with the internet because one of the course pre-requisites was an on-line safeguarding course so why not give attendees and information handbook in .pdf (so if people want the paper copy they can) and a nice little on-line quiz which they can do in their own time before the course thus freeing up a nice amount of time to focus on things which are actually better when done in a group!
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