The section on instruction skills counts for 32% of the
exam. The CCPDT’s study objectives indicate that there are three
main components to instruction skills: interpersonal skills, teaching
skills, and managing the training environment. To study, I read
chapters 5, 6, and 7 of Terry Ryan’s book Coaching People to
Train Their Dogs. I was a bit underwhelmed by what I read, which
I take as a good sign. After all, if there was nothing new, that
means I’m in good shape, right? Anyway, since this portion of the
exam counts for a third of the final score, let’s take a deeper
look at what is covered and what I read about.
Interpersonal Skills
This subsection includes verbal and
written communication skills and interacting with clients. It
includes an emphasis on client compliance, classroom management, and
clients with special needs. I feel confident about this section (this
is what I did for four years in social work school, so…).
Things I read about: tips to remember
the humans’ names, things that get in the way of effective verbal
communication, things that prevent you from listening effectively,
and tips for handling an emotional or difficult student.
As a social worker, I do that last one
a lot. The author recommend the acronym STOP:
(look for) Signals that you’re
getting upset,
Take control of your own
emotions,
(act) Opposite to your signals,
and
Practice doing this in
low-confrontation situations!
I think that’s pretty good advice.
Being mindful of my own feelings and reactions helps me work with my
clients better. I will occasionally find that I dislike working with
someone; when I stop to think about why, I will find that something
about them triggers my own stuff. (We all have stuff.) Knowing that
can help me either get past that or request a reassignment in cases.
Deep breathing, pausing before I reply, and using a calm, quiet voice
will go a long way to defusing situations. This is because people
tend to mirror one another’s feelings, and I want to be the one
controlling the emotional tone.
I also liked the section on working
with people with disabilities. I have been doing so professionally
since 2001, and I thought the author did a nice job of briefly
summarizing the various things you need to think about when helping
someone with a disability train their dog. You need to consider the
physical, environmental, and intellectual needs of handlers with
disabilities. From the person’s ability to use training equipment
and props to their need for additional space due to adaptive
equipment to the pace at which they learn, there’s a lot to
consider.
Teaching Skills
Here the exam addresses learning
styles, the development of curriculum, handouts, and homework,
knowledge of available resources, and the selection and use of demo
dogs.
The author wrote that there are three
main learning styles: auditory, visual, and kinesthetic (doing). A
good instructor will ensure that each lesson includes all three
styles. I did appreciate that she pointed out that for some of us,
knowing why is just as important as knowing how.
I really appreciated that when she
discussed the pros and cons of using either your own dog or a
student’s dog for demonstrations, she pointed out the need to
consider the stress levels of the dogs. Maisy can be a demo dog, but
she’s not crazy about waiting around for her two minutes to shine.
The author also gave a number of
suggestions for both developing handouts and assigning homework. I
did find her homework section interesting, as she suggested ways to
do so that I had not considered before. You can tell students to
practice until they reach a particular goal, to practice for a
certain amount of time each day, to do a certain number of
repetitions, or challenge them to beat their own personal best
records.
Managing the Training Environment
Finally, we look at the safety,
physical layout, and distractions or disruptions that may happen in a
training facility. She talked about what you should consider when
choosing a site, whether indoor or outdoor will better meet your
needs, and how to set the space up so dogs will be successful. She
recommends the use of signs and props to create stations or
designated walkways, which is pretty brilliant.
She also talked about preventing and
breaking up dog fights, as well as what to do afterwards. Thankfully,
I’ve never had to break up a fight in class, but it was nice to
read about it anyway.
The section on distractions or
disruptions was okay. She talked a lot about kids in class (I don’t
see this much, but probably because I teach primarily reactive dog
classes) and students who are talking too much. I have honestly found
that my biggest interrupters come from outside the class: when I
taught at PetSmart, it was customers, and now it’s people that are
using the space we rent or people who wander in looking for the
business next door (we keep the door locked now!).
Anyway, that’s some of what I read
for this section. What about you guys? Anything interesting? Any
books that I absolutely need to get my hands on? For the next two weeks, I'm going to brush up on Learning Theory. I feel very, very, very confident about this section, but let's do this anyway.
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