Editorial

Can you teach an old dog new tricks?

Welcome to the Autumn edition of the Journal.

This expression, alluding to the difficulty of changing one's habits and mindset the older a person gets, must be one of the oldest proverbial sayings in our language. It was first recorded in 1523 in a book of husbandry, where it was used literally. By 1546 a version of it appeared in John Heywood's proverb collection.

But is it really true? Do people simply lack the ability to stop learning the older they get? Talking from experience, I certainly know I can’t do now what I did 30 years ago, as a sprightly 20-year-old, or even 10 years ago for that matter! There is definitely a lack of coordination between my brain and my body! I may not be able to run 5 miles a day anymore, and it takes me a week to recover if I stay out late two consecutive nights in a row (even more daring if it is on a “school night”) but I try to, at least, keep my mind active.

Like a lot of you, I have been working in this sector for many years. As it stands some 20 years or so which is still relatively short compared to some of you! I have always been an advocate of training, but as a manager I was always faced with some staff that felt that longevity in a role is training enough and there isn’t anything else you can teach them about the job. However, no industry stays still, and it is important to realise that times do change, as does customer expectations, with each generation.

During this last 18 months or so we have had to find different ways of working and find alternative ways to deliver our services. People generally don’t like change, but the pandemic left us no choice. We were no different.

One of the things we did was change the way we delivered our training courses. Having done face to face training for years this was the first time we had used a virtual platform. All us old dogs had to learn quickly and adapt! We embraced our virtual world (unstable internet connection and all!), and phrases such as “can you hear me?” or “you are on mute” became a universal language.

During the pandemic we have run nearly 100 courses delivering training to over 560 people. Suddenly the world of learning became accessible to everyone, no matter where in the country you were based. Having helped facilitate a lot of these, the attendees varied from those with none or very little experience, to those that have worked in their jobs for years. It wasn’t just the younger, more “tech savvy” people that attended but those of all ages, considering there are still a lot of organisations that still do not have any computerised systems at all (the age-old tradition of writing in the registers (using an actual pen!) is still very much alive). It was great to see that even those of us that struggle with technology on a daily basis, got on board. It is always interesting to speak to different training groups and share experiences. There are a few consistent themes that I have noticed that came out during and after the course. One is that those attendees that have been doing their job for years discover they don’t actually know it all, and sometimes realise that their historical practices are not always correct. The other is that there is no “one size fits all” approach and most people take away, at the very least, one new thing that they have learned. If nothing else, we could all use a refresher every now and then, especially if you don’t carry out tasks on a regular basis.

From a personal perspective I am still learning. There will always be a question or scenario that I haven’t come across before, which will inevitably end up with a discussion amongst the officers. I am continuously researching information. I have never read the Local Authorities’ Cemeteries Order 1977 (LACO) as many times before as I have since I started with the ICCM!

We have also hosted regular webinars which have included many different speakers and topics. There is always something new to discover and I hope that this has given you some useful information and you have learnt a few new things along the way. The most interesting for me are the interactive question and answer sessions that we have done. The participant must select the answer they think is correct from a range of multiple choices. The range of answers has clearly demonstrated that there is still a lot of misconceptions out there that people believe to be true. The aim of these (apart from a bit of fun) is to help educate and inform our colleagues.

I am delighted to say that the desire to keep learning has not waned and our training courses continue to be booked up – if you want any further information on the training courses we offer please contact Julie Callender (Julie.callender@ iccm-uk.com)

So – can you teach an old dog new tricks? Absolutely YES!

I will leave you with this piece I found on a Petplan website about training older dogs – I thought there were a lot of similarities!

How to train a senior dog

Although older dogs may not be quite as alert as they used to be, your dog is always learning. So you can teach an old dog new tricks! You’ll need kindness and consistency from everyone in the household, as positive reinforcement is essential. Bear in mind that an older dog may take longer to learn, and find it a little harder to readjust to new routines. Work gradually, using plenty of patience and repetition. Too much change, too quickly, can be stressful for older dogs, so use age-appropriate training techniques.

Sofia Allana Editor