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P Plate Instructors
Marietta Mehanni
Every coordinator knows that sinking feeling when an ideal group exercise leader leaves your club and a suitable replacement has to be found. Unfortunately it is not always easy to find outstanding instructors, and settling for second best can seriously compromise your group exercise program. Instructors not only give life to a program, they create a unique and lasting experience for your members.
The reality is that instructors are not born to be great, their skill is achieved through good training, hours of practice, a genuine passion for fitness, and a commitment to the industry. If you are prepared to invest the time and effort to train instructors who show potential, you can reap the rewards over the long term.
Are you receptive when new instructors approach you asking for the opportunity to teach in order to complete the hours needed for registration? It is tempting to tell them to either come back when they have their registration or just give them fill-in classes, but this is missing an important opportunity. It is at this stage in their career that instructors are enthusiastic and willing to learn and will jump at the chance to work with a coordinator or another skilled instructor to gain the necessary experience.
If we don't give these instructors the necessary hands-on support and training, they are left with nowhere to go to gain the appropriate experience and will often become demoralised and drop out of the industry. Poor teaching habits and unprofessional work habits also develop if instructors are not supervised or instilled with a work ethic.
Training wheels
So what can be done? Outlined below is the process I go through to support new instructors through their training process. It has proved a very successful method of developing a network of outstanding instructors, ensuring I never fall short when an instructor leaves.
1. The interview
The first step I take with a new instructor is to invite them to an interview. In the interview we discuss their course experience, both practical and professional; their availability for training and other personal commitments that may become issues to work around; and their goals for their career. I also put forward a verbal agreement to help develop their skills and give them permanent classes in the future, in return for loyalty and meeting team expectations. This is an important screening process because sometimes instructors are keen to teach classes but lack the commitment to develop their skills, in which case there is no point continuing with the training process.
2. Training
Training begins with a one-on-one session that lasts for around an hour. In this session I ask them to present their favourite routine or their practical exam piece. Each instructor is different and therefore I discover assorted issues with each instructor. For some it may be technical skills like cueing, or choreography development; for others it can be developing confidence in front of a class, and presentation skills.
This session is an opportunity to find out what the instructor is capable of. From here homework is set for them to complete, whether it be to fine-tune a certain skill, put together a routine, or even to practice smiling. The next session then picks up from the last, and so forth, until the student is ready to teach a 10 minute warm up in front of a class. Often this only takes a couple of sessions; with others it can be more.
3. Mentoring
Ideally it is your own class that the student teaches their section, but involving other instructors who are highly skilled is an excellent way to improve your current instructors expertise. Mentoring is a program that I try to encourage other instructors to be a part of, as it gives instructors a sense of pride in their skills and helps to develop relationships between instructors. It is a great way to develop a strong team environment, as well as a network for instructors to depend on if they require assistance in any area.
After the student has completed their first session in front of the class they spend a ratio of 1:1 hour in and out of class time. Class time is to demonstrate their learnt skills and outside class is to develop proficiency.
After a student teaches a segment of a class they are required to stay for the duration of the class, rather than just leaving once their segment is over. I also give them a quick assessment of their performance, using plenty of encouragement and praise. As experienced instructors we often forget how difficult it is to stand up in front of a group of people when your teaching abilities are not strong, so positive reinforcement is important.
You should teach your student not only warm ups and cool downs, but also the bulk of the class (hi/lo step, body conditioning). Do this only when the student is comfortable with their choreography, and has achieved a reasonable level of presentation. This is important for two reasons:
- Your members will be understanding to a point. They will appreciate, if explained to them, the importance of instructor development, and will be happy to accommodate, as long as the instructor has a reasonable level of skill.
- It can be the worst experience your new student may have. They will be the first to know that they have not done very well, and their confidence will require some boosting and repair afterwards.
Often after their hours are completed, the instructor will continue to contact their mentor with any concerns they may have. The process is lengthy and requires patience, but it is worth the effort. The end product is an instructor who not only has confidence in their abilities, but also an instructor that you have confidence in. Of course there is no way to guarantee that instructors will stay with your club once you have trained them, but think about this: isn't it better to train someone who ends up leaving than to not have trained staff who stay with you forever? In our transient industry, instructors will always come and go - some stay for only a few months, others for years - so there is little point in asking instructors to sign a written commitment pledging loyalty to your club. If for no other reason, train your staff for the good of the industry and for the satisfaction of knowing that you can provide important learning opportunities that may not have been available to you when you started your career.
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