Coaching Developments Update

The two advisory groups supporting Mountain Leader Training in developing a coaching system met earlier this week. The climbing coaching system is being developed by Mountain Leader Training (MLT) under the direction of their Technical Officer Steve Long. The two advisory groups supporting Steve in his work are a Coaching Management Group and a Coaching Technical Group.
The Management Group is made up of MLT Board members, and comprises John Cousins (MLT Executive Officer), Steve Long (MLT Technical Officer), Nick Colton (BMC Deputy CEO), Mike Pinder (BMC MLT Board Member) and Rosie Goolden (MCofS MLT Board Member). This group is concerned with the strategic and practical delivery of a sustainable and self-funding infrastructure for coaching qualifications.

The Technical Group comprises Steve Long, Jon Garside (BMC/MLTE Training Officer), Ian Dunn, (British Team Manager), Neil Gresham (Climbing Coach), Graeme Morrison (Chair, Mountain Leader Training Scotland), Angela Carlin (Mountaineering Ireland Coaching Development and Talent ID Officer), Dave Binney (Sport Scientist) and Martin Chester (Plas y Brenin Director of Training). Being comprised of coaches and coach trainers, this group's job is to design scheme syllabi & course materials and the methodology for training, assessment, accrediting prior learning and continued coach development.

A lot of research and development has taken place over the last 5 years. A National Source Group was established in late 2006 to investigate the possibilities of a coaching scheme, with their report published in autumn 2008.  Subsequently, the BMC sourced funding from Sport England for 2009 - 2013 to develop a coaching system.
Other sports and outside agencies such as Sports Coach UK have been consulted, and Steve Long attended the recent round of National Indoor Climbing Achievement Scheme workshops to gauge the needs of climbing walls.
The BMC Coaching Symposium demonstrated the very strong grass roots support for a coaching system; the  FUNdamentals of Climbing Workshops have played a part in identifying the demand for a particualar aspect of coach education (see also Scotland and Ireland) and  Plas y Brenin has been delivereing a Coaching Processes for Climbers workshop for a number of years. A central theme of that training is that coaches don't coach climbing, they coach people. Developing coaching behaviours will be an important theme of MLT's coaching system.
However, a wholly new set of national coaching awards cannot be developed without consulting widely and taking into account the views of the many different stakeholders, all of which takes time. The sometimes differing views of the three Mountaineering Councils can lead to a pause in progress whilst issues are explored.
At their recent meetings, the Management and Technical groups discussed progress to date, and reviewed MLT's strategic plan. The short term goal is finalising syllabi for assistant coach and coach qualifications by mid-September. Steve Long presented the first drafts of these syllabi to the Technical Group who thought them a very good first draft.
MLT are working to a tight deadline. Alongside finalising syllabi, their immediate task is reviewing the coaching system operational plan covering the period from now to March 2013.

MIA registration fees: what you get for your £70

When Oxford University announced the decision to charge £9000 per year for students, it led me to the following reflections:

MLT is self-funding. This means that all of our day-to-day work has to be funded from the income from registrations and publication sales. The £70.00 that each MIA registrant pays contributes to the following (not a definitive) list:

·         Possible correspondence (sometimes lengthy) over missing pre-requisites from application, along with (normally) a 6 month “grace period” if necessary

·         Support to candidates while passing through schemes including free access to a complaints investigation panel over (rare) complaints about assessment course

·         Support for life with the following services:

o   Access during office hours to information and administration service

o   Development and maintenance of syllabus, handbook, website

o   Liaison with dozens of employment and education bodies to ensure continued recognition of our qualifications

o   Liaison with professional associations (AMI, BMG, BAIML) + voluntary association (MLTA) of award holders

o   Expenses for quarterly meetings of conscripted volunteers who constitute the development board

o   Pro-active work to protect our vocational mountaineering qualifications as the “industry standard”

o   Development and publication of the online “National Guidelines” document.

o   Representation of the UK qualifications at the Union of International Alpine Association’s (UIAA) international Training Standards, resulting in increasing international recognition

o   Parallel support and development of the MIC to complement and extend the scope of MIA

o   Quality Assurance system requiring regular inspection visits to National Centre courses in Snowdonia, Scotland and Ireland (summer + winter)

o   Marketing of the awards

o   On-going development of the MLT publications “Hillwalking”, “Rockclimbing” and “winter skills”

o   On-going development of ML, SPA CWA etc. which feed into the MIA scheme.

o   Production and postage of logbook

o   Maintenance and security of a UK-wide database of mountain leaders and instructors

o   Support for AMI, the association for MIA and MIC holders. (MLT receives no income from AMI apart from an administration service contract)

o   Regular news updates on the MLT website, blog, Twitter etc.

o   Potential access to work on SPA, ML, CWA, CWL, WGL courses

Graduates at Oxford who complete their degree will have parted with £27,000 in tuition fees plus accommodation and food costs for 3 years. Most degrees do not directly qualify them to get a job without further vocational experience and/or qualifications.

By comparison, an MIA graduate will have spent £70 registration and £1500 on tuition fees, including travel costs, and this is all tax-deductible. Apart from annual insurance costs for working there are no on-going costs for MIA holders (though of course many choose to join AMI and MLTA). Many AMI holders start earning a reasonable living immediately on completion of the qualification and continue to earn a good living for the rest of their working lives. Others work in a voluntary capacity, but either way the workplace is the Great Outdoors!

I can’t think of any other industry that gives so much in return for so little outlay.

UK's Mountaineering Associations meet at Glenmore Lodge

Representatives from the Mountain Leader Training Association, British Mountain Guides, Association of Mountaineering Instructors and British Association of International Mountain Leaders met at Glenmore Lodge on 2nd August to explore ways of working in collaboration and to provide Mountain Leader Training with information about the way that its qualifications are used by their members.

It is hoped that in the long term this collaboration may also bring benefits in articulating to the public a more unified message about the scope and remit of the UK's range of qualifications for leaders, instructors and guides of mountaineering activities.

 

THE ASSOCIATIONS COLLABORATION WORKING GROUP

 

 This new group, gathered as a working group of the main MLT (UK) board, and is made up of representatives from the:

 

 British Mountain Guides - Mark Diggins

• British Association of International Mountain Leaders – Issie Inglis
• Association of Mountaineering Instructors - Tony Halliwell
• Mountain Leader Training Association

 Through discussion it became immediately apparent that there are many ways in which this forum could enable all the Associations to work more closely together.

 

The group is chaired by Steve Long, Chief Officer with MLT and, during the first meeting, the following Role and Objectives of the group are being proposed:

Role of the Group

 

To support MLT by providing information which will:

•  enable better understanding of how Award holders are currently using their qualifications,
• how the Awards could interrelate more effectively
• how the Awards might be more easily understood

Objectives

 

To create: 

• Opportunities to share ideas
• Clear and unambiguous information about the awards and assoications to the public
• Mutually beneficial co-operation between Associations

Some Discussion Topics

 

 1.  To develop a full mutual understanding of all the current award processes

           a. Training and assessment

           b. How and where the Awards are used

2.   Professionalism, accountability and standards

3.   Effective ways of presenting the award structure to the public

4.   Ongoing development after gaining a qualification

5.   Collaborative communication and marketing