Intrinsic and External feedback

In this next blog entry I am going to discuss feedback. In coaching there are two types of feedback, these are; Intrinsic and Extrinsic. The first of these forms of feedback occurs from our senses, This happens when we do anything such as reaching for a hold whilst climbing learning to climb, or swimming 50m freestyle with a perfect technique. Our senses inform us if we have doing it correctly or incorrectly and then we get negative or positive feedback. The second type of feedback in extrinsic. This is feedback which comes from an external source such as a teaching or a coach. External feedback can then be split into two. These are Knowledge of Results (KR) and Knowledge of performance (KP).

Knowledge of Results (KR) is used because the student can see the results of their performance, such as how accurate their bearing was whilst walking. This result then allows the student to adjust their performance and try again.

Knowledge of performance (KP) comes watching your own or another’s performance to see what you or they are doing correctly or incorrectly. With the advances in technology it is also possible to use technology to see muscle movements, heart rate, hydration levels and a lot more. However the role of a coach will always be the most effective way for beginner and intermediate students to receive feedback. There are a few main reasons for this;

è A coach is able to focus on specific points of what needs improving.

è  Coach is able to limit the information that is given to the student to just allow them to work on one issue at a time.

è A coach can use different methods to give feedback to student, such as verbal and visual feedback.

When helping a group of people or an individual on the mountain I have found feedback to be a vital tool to help them reach a higher level of performance. When teaching a group how to utilise dead reckoning the forms of feedback I used to start with were external, I verbally and visually showed the group their mistakes or successes. I did this by using methods such as group discussions about each members individual performance (Knowledge of performance) and also discussed with each member separately after they had finished an activity I had given them (Knowledge of results). After a while I would start to ask the student how they felt they were doing, was their bearing was accurate? Was their timings on? Was their pacing’s were correct? By asking them what they think of their performance it allows them to start receiving intrinsic feedback and therefore learn to recognise their own mistakes and correct them without my aid. By the end of the session I had used both forms of external feedback (KP and KR) and also taught the students in the group to give themselves internal feedback on their performance.

Tuckman's Group Dynamics

In this entry I want to discuss group dynamics, The theory I have chosen to look at is Tuckman’s theory of groups (1965). This theory states that a group will go through four stages, these stages are;

è Forming

è Storming

è Norming

è Performing

The first stage is when the group meet for the first time and start to bond and form a hierarchy of order within the group.  As the group start to work together conflictions in ideas will occur and needless to say friction between certain team members will start to rise. This friction will at some point trigger an argument and the group will begin to argue. These arguments can led to a change in the structure of the hierarchy within the group, and in some cases a member of the group leaving. After the storming stage Tuckman’s theory states that the group will start to improve and start working better together with the results of the group also improving. This is the norming stage of the group. The order of the group has been sorted out and every member has a role to do within the group. The group generally starts to work together to produce reasonable results. The final stage is the ‘performing’ stage. Each member in the group performs their role well and this allows the group to work like a well-oiled machine. The Target of the group starts to be hit consistently at a high standard and this makes the group work harder to keep improving.

            In the mountain environment when a group is told to work together these four stages are regularly seen, Especially in groups of school children where the status quo can be mixed up to allow different children to work with fellow school members from different social groups. As a coach there are certain roles you can play within the group to help ease through the first three stages and allow the group to get to the performing stage with relevant ease.

            The group will have to find its own leaders and leadership style and there is not much you as the coach can do there except for choose a leader. However in the storming stage it might be necessary for the coach to step in to help resolve the issues that have arisen within the group as quickly and effectively as possible whilst allowing each member of the group to feel like a valued member. Once the group is in the norming stage the coaches role changes again to helping each member of the group to start achieving their potential within the group. This is can be done in all different manner of ways but personally I prefer the use of Socratic irony. This way the student learns to solve their own problems and that will help them remember it better. The final stage of performing is really down to the group. The coach in this stage will normally allow the group to just proceed with what they are doing and allow the group to thrive in what they are doing.

Y Garn, Glider Fawr, Y Gribbin

I want to talk about this day on my week in snowdon because i learnt a very important lesson about leadership that day. My first year group were with a different second year this day and myself and two other seond years had decided to do the three peaks in the title. This was near the end of the week and from the start of this day my shoulder injury was giving me alot of pain from my rucksack. I see myself as quite a mentally strong person, but on this day my defences were worn down, i was feeling ill, my shoulder hurt and i was prett worn out. I am not making excuses for my performance on that day, i am simply stating the psychological and physilogical state i was in. On the assent of Y garn i was already struggling to keep up with the other two second years, i knew they were going to get a pace on and i was determined to keep up with them. One of these guys noticed i was struggling and started shouting me encouragement to keep going. With this encouragement i dug deep into myself and pushed forwards, when i slowed again more encouragement was shouted down. We got to the top of Y garn in under an hour, and when you take into consideration that we went up the north-east face of it, that time is quite impressive. After that the two other guys in my group came over to me to see if i was ok and congratulated me on struggling up. after a 5 minute rest we cracked out the other two peaks and we got down all within a few hours after our accent.

This day i was in a group of peers, equal in most respects, yet even in a group of peers there is always going to be a leader, elected or not a leader will emerge in a group. The leader which emerged today changed his approach that day from being very autocratic in the morning, making me continue to the top, and then later on in the day we cam across a situation when democracy was more effective.

To descend we needed to find Y Gribbin, however the clag was in and visability was minimal, we could see nothing but each other so we got a map and out decided on an appropriate course of action. We came to the conclusion that if we hit the second of the two gliders then we had gone to far and we would take a bearing from there to Y Gribbin, as the case was we stumbled accross out descent route when the high winds blew the clag away for a vital few seconds.

All in all i really enjoyed this day. even though i struggled with mental and physical exertion for the most part. With the help of my group i was able to bounce of their encouragement and complete the walk in a fast time.

Snowdonia 2011

Ok well, I spent a week in the Snowdon area in November 2011. As a second year on my degree it was my job that week to take a group of first years out each day and adopt the leadership role in the group to get them through the days hike and even more importantly, for the group to enjoy the day.

The Topic I really want to discuss here is motivation. I found my group were struggling to get them-selves motivated, especially at the start of the walk on the first day. At first i felt stumped; I was not sure how to sort this issue out. However as the day progressed many of the members accepted the walk and started to enjoy it. One person in my group still was not enjoy the walk.

The route for that day was quite simple, up the Pyg (pub) track, summit Mt Snowdon, and then descend down the Snowdon ranger path. The issue was not a physical one, the walk is considered to be an easy stroll. i thought about how i could get this member motivated to keep walking. Within the first hour they were already lagging at the back of the group, so i dropped back to chat to them. I asked them about why they were on this course, and why they were here this week. after a little while i was able to persuade this member to look at the days walk in a more positive way. this new way of thinking had a huge effect on their attitude to the walk and by the end of the day they were at the front of the group and in a good mood to learn in.

People when in the outdoors are motivated in different ways. Some of us are out there for the challenge of pitting ourselves against the elements, some of us are out there for the location, some of us are out there to find somewhere to think in peace. The member of my group who needed motivating really just needed to be reminded of what made them get out of bed that morning and start walking. I really do not want to discuss Maslow's hierarchy of needs here because everyone who knows anything about motivation knows about this. Instead i simply just want to leave you with a quote from Johann Gottfried Von Herder to think about 'Without inspiration the best powers of the mind remain dormant. There is a fuel in us which needs to be ignited with sparks.'

What it is i Do.

My name is Tom Parsons, i am a 19 year old FdSc Outdoor Education Student at Truro College. This blog is about mountain Leadership. I will be writing down my experiences on the mountain-sides of the British Ilse and be looking and discussing psychological theories which are useful to a coach or instructor. I will also be putting in pictures of days out on the mountain.