Coach education and assessing for orienteering
Posted on 12 Feb, 2010 by Lynne Walker | Filed under Blog • Coaching
Retirement at the end of September 2009 came at a very fortuitous time for me. During 2008 and 2009 there had been many changes happening within the coaching side of orienteering. These were connected with orienteering coming under the United Kingdom Coaching Certificate (UKCC). This is a nationally recognised coach education qualification which sits at the heart of a cross sport initiative to make the UK world leaders in coaching by 2016. There is more technical content – so coaches can be confident with not just HOW to coach but also WHAT to coach – and each course is well supported with coaching resources and mentoring.
I had undergone training to deliver the new UKCC L1CCO (Coaching Certificate in Orienteering) as well as updating my assessment (IAPS) and coach education (CTS) qualifications. I was also working towards being an Internal Verifier (CIVPS leading to IV). Lots of letters, all meaning something! There was also an onus on me to complete the various certificates within the time limit of two years between training and completion.
Since retiring I have been able to put all the training and experience to use. British Orienteering is able to assess their own coach educators and assessors; they also have the contract to train and assess the archery assessors and coach educators.
Each assessment (whether it is for UKCC L1 or L2, for IAPS or for CTS) follows a strict seven stages. This is so that the ‘examinable evidence’ produced by the candidate is not contaminated by any interference from the assessor; once the candidate is informed of the decision then the assessor changes hats to become a facilitator/mentor with giving feedback and helping the candidate with an action plan.
I have been involved in some of this work and found it interesting. When assessing the candidate assessors, it actually does not matter which sport you specialise in. However I also enjoy watching coaches working in other sports and there is always something to learn.
The work has also taken me around the country. I have visited Glenmore Lodge three times (once to assess UKCC L1, once for a couple of IAPS candidates and also to watch the delivery of a L2 course followed by assessing the internal component of the course); been to Northern Ireland twice (as an IPAS assessor for two archery candidates and as IV for an orienteering L1 assessment day) and over to Fife for archery IAPS. With archery, I have been inside all the time so far - but it is often cold - while orienteering takes you outside and the weatehr can be very cold as the pictures show (Glenmore Lodge UKCC L1CCO assessment 31st January 2010).
There is a lot to get your head round with regard to the assessment and ensuring that the process is correctly carried out. In December I was given a contract to spend a few days writing guidelines for assessors of IAPS, CTS and UKCC L1&2. Once I had done a draft of these I placed them on Google Documents and then gave about a dozen people access to them. They gave me good feedback and so version 1 was issued to people at the start of February. Hopefully, the documents will provide a reasonable aide memoir for people, especially those who do not carry out frequent assessments.
However work has not been all assessment. In Scotland there is a demand for Teaching Orienteering (TO P1 & 2) courses. Niall (from Stramash) has asked me to deliver a couple of these. The first one was to mainly Primary teachers at Helensburgh through a couple of three hour twilight sessions. Twilight was the correct word as I really wanted the teachers to experience orienteering outside in the school grounds, but would it be light enough? It was – just! I have another course to deliver on Mull in March.
Through Hilary Quick (SOA Development Officer) I have also delivered a TO P1 to school staff in the East Neuk on their recent Inservice day. I have enjoyed working with the adults and helping them to find out what is involved in orienteering and how they can introduce it to their pupils. The courses are very active and involve the attendees in trying out many of the exercises. Each person also goes away at the end of the course with a certificate and a CD (provided by British Orienteering) full of resources. I am also running a weekend for Duke of Edinburgh leaders; this will be based in Saltcoats and will involve TO P1 & 2 – so a bit of preparation required!
I like the variety in the work; I really enjoy the coach education courses as I love the teaching side. The assessment has given me a lot to think about as well.
I am a level 4 orienteering coach and a qualified Assessor & Coach Educator. I have been orienteering for xx years and have coached on many foreign tours.