Snowsports education is all about touching lives and helping people reach their full potential by introducing a love of nature, rhythm, balance, and belonging through connection to the environment and each other.
As an educator, it is my privilege to create safe learning environments that allow individuals of any age, gender, education, and background to try new things, to fail at them, and truly understand that growth is through the journey. The skills we learn pushing our bodies to perform, sometimes in what feels like a very contorted manner, and the mindset required to do so are applicable to many other endeavors in life.
My concept of safe learning environments is linked to the teachings of a well-known psychologist Abraham Maslow. In 1943, Maslow introduced a theory of human motivation, known as Maslow's 'Hierarchy of Needs,' that maintains that, to enable people to be motivated to learn, they must first have their basic needs met (such as physiological and safety needs), followed by psychological needs (such as love/belonging and self-esteem), before they can really embark on a journey of "self-actualization." (See Maslow, Abraham H. (1943) "A theory of human motivation", Psychological Review, 50 (4): 370–396.)
According to Maslow, self-actualization, which can be thought of as the motivations that drive us to realize our full potential and achieve our 'ideal selves' in whatever is our focus, can only occur after our physiological, safety, love/belonging, and self-esteem needs are met. Thus, for example, a student who hasn't eaten, rested and doesn't feel part of the group, is unlikely to be motivated to try to achieve the learning opportunity presented.
The creation of safe learning environments can be accomplished by fostering environments where risk taking and exploring new concepts is encouraged, supported, and safe-guarded. This can be accomplished by fostering judgment-free zones by setting up situations that are interactive, guided by clearly communicated expectations for participation, where the learner learns by teaching and helping their peers and guidance is provided by the education facilitator. Humor, empathy, and self-reflection are all encouraged at any level and for all ages.
After applying many different teaching theories and models over the years. I have found that, for learning to become permanent, the learner must own the learning, regardless of their circumstance or background. It is our mission as educators to facilitate and provide different types of learning opportunities tailored to the audience at hand. As educators, we are taught that people are primarily visual, auditory, or kinesthetic (movement) based learners. In reality, I believe every individual is some mixture of all three - the art of teaching is in figuring out how to deliver content in all modalities regardless of our personal preference. Sounds simple, but in practice requires a lot of careful listening not only to words, but to body language and physical actions, and then adapting in real time to the needs of the learners. The challenge when teaching a physical skill like skiing or snowboarding is that you must perform, listen, and think at the same time. We all need to reflect, rest, and restore.