Hi folks,
I think we seem to agree. It isn't something inherent in the NOMC, probably just some na?ve or lazy teachers. I've seen some COMS laying around my office who prefer to drive students everywhere so they don't have to wait around on a bus with them. Their students get little actual bus travel. Personally I send students out on their own to key locations as soon as I know they can handle the streets and/or area but I've observed them enough to know. I go with them to more difficult areas or less familiar ones till the end of their training when I start sending them to unfamiliar areas alone. I have bench marks in my head that I want to see them pass before they go here, there and that other place alone. I pop up out there on occasion but at some point, when they have reached an intermediate skill level, I want them to have one completely independent lesson a week. This means if it gets to be Friday and they haven't had their indy that week, I hold off on the new place I've been excited about trying. I also don't whip out the tried and true independent lessons like the store they go to on weekends with the easy route. I save those for sick days when I know they are absolutely on their own. I don't waste easy routes during cold and flu season when I know I may need to be out. Frankly, my students get pulled out of class for this, that and the other reason so finding time to write reports isn't a problem for me. Of course between my undergrad English professors, Harold Wilson of Ruston and Jeff Altman of Nebraska, I've learned to be pretty efficient in reports. I can whip out a report on a cooperative student in ten minutes and a problem student in a half hour- well, maybe 45 minutes if I need a thesaurus to be more positive. LOL.
From: NOMC [mailto:nomc-bounces at lists.nbpcb.org] On Behalf Of Maurice Peret
Sent: Thursday, July 30, 2015 12:03 PM
To: Edward Bell; NOMC Mailing list
Subject: Re: [Nomc] Discussion: Structure versus Discovery
Thank you, Dr. Bell, for including this thread on our NOMC discussion forum.
I believe it is always helpful to be reminded of best practices and professional conduct.
To be sure, there are countless days in the cold of winter and in the heat of summer when outdoor travel is less desirable than at other times for both student and instructor. I am also aware of the temptation to put off actual teaching of certain skills on the curriculum spectrum until the arrival of more conducive weather or otherwise better days.
Necessity, however, is the mother of invention and bad weather days provide optimal learning occasions. To me, the most important benefit of the structured portion of SDCT instruction is in the instructor's observation of student reactions to problem solving opportunities. For example, when a student has a doctor's appointment, it cannot be easily put off until better weather or reverted to by getting there in an alternate fashion, e.g. by being driven there or by otherwise avoiding implementing the skills that have been learned thus far.
If students are traveling entirely without an instructor early on in their training, allowing for some hyperbole here, then it might reasonably be assumed that the student is not being sufficiently challenged and that training may even not be necessary at that stage.
AT the point when students are performing address locations and the like, they are generally equipped to travel unsupervised. I think it is critical to bear in mind that confidence building is still occurring which means there is still plenty of opportunities to, say, revert back to old habits, whether this is manifested in the form of relaxing the use of sleepshades because they know the instructor rarely comes out to check at this stage, over reliance upon sighted assistance, or even more drastic forms, calling a cab to cut the trip short or whatever. There must exist a level of trust between the instructor and student such that it is expected that at any time, the instructor can and will periodically observe travel routes in progress. There is thus a genuine and demonstrated interest on the part of the instructor in the student's progress. Not amounting simply to "checking up on them" but to genuinely witness the transforming results we know happens in SDCT training. Besides, without periodic observation at all stages of training, our reports can begin to lack substance, another professional practice we must always be diligent to stay on top of.
Finally, the worst danger can set in if the observation wanes too early or too infrequently inasmuch as the instructor can actually miss progress, glumly determining that they know the limitations of a given student and begin to lower their expectation of their being able to overcome perceived limitations.
We all have days when we're just not up to being out there on the streets. We can be creative on those rare but infrequent occasions, being aware of the danger of cutting short the learning opportunities for our students.
Maurice Peret
From: NOMC [mailto:nomc-bounces at lists.nbpcb.org] On Behalf Of Edward Bell
Sent: Thursday, July 30, 2015 10:12 AM
To: NOMC Mailing list
Subject: [Nomc] Discussion: Structure versus Discovery
Dear NOMC,
Although this list is primarily for posting jobs and other announcements, we did set it up as a discussion list and from time to time we have enjoyed a bit of back and forth on important topics.
I received the below correspondence from an NOMC and I thought it was a good question and a good thing for all of us to think about and ponder. I have tried to take care to remove the personally identifying information about the person and state, but I do think that this is perhaps a broader issue and one that we should talk about openly. Maybe it is a growing problem, maybe it is not.
What say you all?
***
I have now seen three other NOMC's come through our state agency/center. ... , I have got to work with a few that have made their way through. I have seen a common problem that concerns me. The problem is that I have seen all three of these NOMC's sit in their office all day long and never leave to teach-students are just ALWAYS sent out on independent routes. I have gotten their students when they have moved on or left the center/agency that have been here for months but are nowhere near where they should be. All of them have mentioned to me that their travel instructor never went out with them on routes. This concerns me a lot, and I'm not sure if it's a state problem or an NOMC wide one, but I suspect that this is NOT the only place this happens.
I see this becoming a major issue in our field--that maybe we are understanding the independence aspect and structured discovery method the wrong way. In our Master's program, you and Darick always drilled into us the value of guided learning and teaching the skill set first--so I'm not sure why this is happening. I am concerned that this "laziness" (which is how I see it) might negatively impact our growth in the field and might need to be addressed. Maybe I'm way off--maybe it is just a center/state thing--if so, feel free to tell me. My frustration stems from teaching students who claim they are not getting any, or minimal, one-on-one instruction.
My suggestion is some kind of friendly reminder to NOMC's about the value of hands on instruction and the detriments of leaving students to learn it ALL on their own.
***
What do you all think?
Edward C. Bell, Ph.D., CRC, NOMC
Director, Professional Development and Research
Institute on Blindness
Louisiana Tech University
210 Woodard Hall
PO Box 3158
Ruston LA 71272
Office: 318.257.4554 Fax: 318.257.2259 (Fax) Skype: edwardbell2010
ebell at latech.edu