Posts Tagged ‘Organizing’

So, Just What Is “Front-Loading”?

It’s piling on too much curriculum in the beginner and intermediate stages of training. Usually, instructors do this because they want to impress students, keep them around, or even because they want to prove their students are better than everyone else’s, because they “know more.”

“Front-loading” a curriculum is a sure-fire way to frustrate and discourage new students, and can potentially leave you struggling for things to interest and motivate your advanced students later down the road.

The problems with front-loading are that some students will feel overwhelmed with all the information you’re throwing at them. Furthermore, by running through curriculum too fast you can fail to provide the student with enough time to internalize the correct method of performing techniques, which only occurs through repetition and instructor feedback (except in rare cases with students who have near-perfect kinesthetic recall – Bruce Lee was such an individual).

How To Avoid A Front-Loaded Curriculum

So, how do you avoid front-loading your students? Simple – by following an organized and pedagogically correct training progression. You’ll best accomplish this by laying out your curriculum, technique by technique, and organizing it in such a way that:

• It is taught in a logical progression, from (Stage I) gross motor skills (stationary stance training, single technique performance, and solo drills), to (Stage II) fine motor skills (emphasizing the finer points of technique performance, such as body alignment, weight distribution, skeletal alignment, and timing, as well as two-person drills), to (Stage III) complex and compound motor movements (combinations, technique combinations in motion, and sparring);
• Introduction of new techniques and skills are spread out evenly over time;
• And, the assessment of learning and technical progress is limited to skills that are appropriate to the student’s age and experience level, while still allowing for the introduction of techniques, drills, and skill-sets that are slightly beyond the student’s level… thus allowing for the student to experience success in training while still challenging them physically and intellectually.

Example Of A Correct Technique Progression

As an example of how this might be done, let’s take a simple skill – a front kick. Stage I: At the beginner level, emphasis is Read the rest of this entry »

This month’s start-up article is essential for anyone who is launching a new school, because it has to do with staying on track using the “P.I.E.” method… 1. Planning 2. Implementation 3. Evaluation I actually learned this approach to task management when I was in the Army Combat Medical Specialist course at Ft. Sam Houston. We were taught this approach as a means of organizing the treatment and care of patients in the clinical setting. What I have discovered about the PIE method is that it’s Read the rest of this entry »