Tuesday, 8 December 2015

Navigation and Observations

While the bad weather is already back in the mountains, we decided to stay on the edge of the National Park and conduct our navigation skill lesson in the lee of the prevailing conditions, over near Conwy. The weather was far from perfect, with intermittent heavy pulses of rain, but it was a lot nicer that over in the heart of Snowdonia National Park which was largely covered by huge clouds like this one for most of the day! 


When I say 'teaching navigation', I was actually observing someone else 'teaching navigation' as part of a role that I am involved with as a 'mentor' for students studying for a PGCE in Outdoor Education. While was was 'observing' the session, I noticed that I too was being 'observed' by this little guy!...


Believe it or not, it's actually quite hard 'observing' someone else teaching, as you have to be noticing a lot of detail simultaneously, for example as well as checking content, you have to notice what the students are doing and how they are reacting - are they all engaged? If not, why not? And on top of this, you tend to spend a lot of time standing around, which on a day like today, involves making sure you are wrapped up and warm enough! Still, it's a very rewarding role and you also get to see all kinds of new ways of teaching, ideas and strategies which help keep your own lessons current and energised.



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