There’s nothing better than being a learner again to help your teaching. I’ve just started an Intro to Ice Hockey program and the steep learning curve has reminded me what it’s like to be a beginner at something! There was a mix of brilliant and not so brilliant pedagogy.

Here are some of the insights for teaching I have found so far:

• Make it okay to try and fail.
  • They did this by getting everyone to practise falling over and getting all icy!
• Start with an activity everyone can do, or one that everyone is doing for the first time.
  • Making a ridiculous activity for the most proficient to do can equalise the group.
• Help the students make friends and help each other. Asking a peer is less daunting than a teacher, especially in front of a new cohort.
  • We did this by helping each other with all the protective gear fitting.
• Don’t set students up to fail or ridicule them for not knowing something they have no way of knowing. 
  • There was no one to help us pick out the right sized gear or to help fit it so we were all in the wrong size. Breaking people down before building them up is a dangerous method suitable for only a few cultures I believe.
• Identify poor technique early on and provide regular individualised feedback to prevent bad habits forming. 
  • It was easy for us to think we were doing the right thing when we were not. Students can’t always see that what they are doing differs from the model.
• Use a mix of splitting into similarly skilled groups and mixed ability groups.
  • We do our drills as a whole group but in a matrix structure. There are four groups, and one person from each group skates off to do each new drill. The first ‘row’ to do each new drill is very competent, and it follows from there . This means as you try a new skill, your peers are also likely to fall over or have trouble, yet within your group you have a more knowledgeable team mate to provide additional advice.
• As a participant teacher, don’t focus on those who are already successful.
  • While we love to celebrate the successes of our strong pupils and enjoy an activity with them, we should focus on helping those who are struggling.
• Where possible, avoid moving on to more complex tasks before the previous one has been mastered.
  • For some students, it may have been of value to keep practising a basic skill rather than attempt much more complicated skills that required the underlying one.
• Extend the strongest students.
  • There are a couple of skaters who already know how to do everything (definitely not me!). They could be extended to put them out of their comfort zone and into their ZPD, or act as another instructor where appropriate.
• Reality is subjective.
  • In a class of 30 skaters, there were undoubtedly 30 very different perspectives of the first session. Some didn’t come back after the first session, one dislocated his shoulder in the first minute on the ice, others had an amazing time and bought all the gear for the next session. Experiences should be individualised where possible to meet the learning needs of students.