season. “National Academy gives me the opportunity to focus on my skiing after a long season of focusing on the advancement of my students,” said Al Eggers, a Level II alpine instructor at Squaw Valley. Others, such as Lonny Clark, a Level III alpine and Level II adaptive instructor from Holiday Valley, come to get a bigger picture of the state of U.S. instruction. “I come to Academy for perspective – national perspective for what we do in our industry,” said Clark. “Sometimes we get lost in our fishbowls at our own hills, and the social activities here work for me.”
VIEW VIDEO
snowboard friends from last Academy and from Interski at this year’s event,” Boyd said. “And our message, crafted in Te Learning Connection, continues to hold true, communicating a message of simplicity to our members and their students.”
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Want to relive your National Academy 2016 experience, or see what you're missing? Check out this video that captures the essence of the event.
HOW OTHER PARTS OF THE SNOWSPORTS WORLD APPROACH INSTRUCTION
In hour-long evening sessions that proved tremendously
popular,
PARTICIPANTS TREATED TO A MINI INTERSKI EXPERIENCE
Top clinicians from the current and former PSIA-AASI Teams were joined by delegates from Australia, Canada, the Czech Republic, New Zealand, and Switzerland, giving NA16 an exciting, international feel. Evening sessions by PSIA-AASI Team members and their foreign counterparts allowed attendees to enjoy many of the same presentations that marked a very successful Interski 2015 in Ushuaia, Argentina. “Tis year’s National Academy really was about bringing all the ideas and insight from Interski back home,” said PSIA-AASI Director of Education Dave Schuiling. “Tere was a tremendous outpouring of support that led to the Teams attending Interski 2015, and this event is just one way to share that experience with everyone.” Te Adaptive Team’s Geoff Krill said he was glad to share so much of the Interski experience with the members who had been instrumental in making it possible for the Team to attend – especially since all the work at the event is meant to benefit them. “Tis was our chance to show that what we learned and
presented at Interski works!” said Krill. “We had an entire season to tweak and present what we learned and give it back to the people we developed it for in the first place.” In sharing the presentation PSIA-AASI made to the international instruction community in South America, Alpine Team member Matt Boyd outlined the ways in which Te Learning Connection creates a developmental framework with an overall focus on each instructor’s teaching skills, technical skills, and people skills – which collectively contribute to the success of both the student and the teacher. For PSIA-AASI members, Boyd said, the biggest buy-in for Te Learning Connection is its effective simplicity, direct benefit, and relevance to every aspect of teaching. “Is it about creating a people spark, a teaching spark, or a learning spark? Te answer is ‘Yes.’” Boyd said. “Tis is effective for everybody.” Incoming PSIA-AASI Team Manager Jeb Boyd said the
TEACHING SKILLS
opportunity to dive deep into Te Learning Connection, along with great snow and a healthy mix of perennial and new National Academy attendees, helped create a level of excitement and interest that benefited everyone involved. “Tere was good snow and good weather, and good ski and
50 | 32 DEGREES • FALL 2016 international
delegates offered a glimpse into snowsports education in their home countries.
Following the U.S. presentation, Richard Jameson of the Australian Professional Snowsports Instructors Association (APSI) spoke about how much Australia’s teaching system mirrors that of the U.S., and how they are also working to create a balanced system that combines a very structured teaching approach – built on a core group of fundamental skills – with an equal amount of creativity. Where Jameson said the Australians may differ, is that the majority of their guests don’t come from alpine communities. “Everyone on our demo team grew up a long way from the snow, and we all developed a passion for snowsports that we try to pass on to our guests,” he said. “We try to create a sense of belonging and a fantastic experience that they will want to share with their friends and families.” Canadian instructor Kyle Armstrong said that, similar to
TECHNICAL SKILLS
THE STUDENT
countries such as Australia and New Zealand, snowsports schools in Canada are moving away from a focus on progressions and looking to create more “reflective” lessons in which the students are integral to the decision-making process. “We want to train instructors who are critical thinkers, who can assess the objectives their students want to achieve and help them develop the skills to get there.” Central to that process is what the Canadians call, “Te Learning Contract.” “Tis is a contract between yourself and your student,” he said. “It involves understanding what they want, what their physical abilities are, their athletic experience, the situation on the slopes – including weather, visibility, temperature – and their skiing objectives. Rather than being a learner who is just being told what to do, if you create a reflective learner they will have more ownership of what they’re being taught.” In another international presentation,
PEOPLE SKILLS
U
the New Zealand representatives – Tim Café and AASI Snowboard Team member Tony Macri – discussed how they are working to create a comprehensive program
to make prospective instructors aware of all of their training options. New Zealand focuses on student (and instructor) retention through achievement by changing the “safety, fun, and learning” mantra to “safety, fun, and achievement.” Tey are also looking to add more creativity to their lesson plans. Swiss Team member Nadine Grünenfelder said Switzerland
wants guests – especially children – “To enjoy and love the sport as much as we do so they want to become instructors themselves.” Using the Swiss Snow League and Swiss Snow Academy, kids advance from newcomers to beginners to advanced to expert, establishing a
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