THE BIG 5

AUTHOR

Loel Collins

With over 35 years experience in the Outdoor sector, Loel is a Lecturer in Sports Coaching at the University of Edinburgh. He is also a senior coach developer with Greymatters Performance Ltd UK. His doctorate and research interests lie in judgement and decision-making in complex environments. Email at: Loel.Collins2@gmail.com

So far in this series, we have explored the nature of decision-making for outdoor instructors. In addition, we have explored the challenges that decision-making poses for the instructor and how better decision-making may be developed. By developing better situational awareness and understanding. This final article outlines a structured thinking tool called the 5 (1).

As Mees et al. have shown, outdoor professionals are adaptive experts. This adaptability requires high levels of situational awareness and an understanding of the demands that it creates for the instructor. Both affect the decision maker and the options they select (2); ‘Doing the right thing in the right place at the right time with the right people.’ As a sector, we have often assumed that experience is the way to develop good situational comprehension and thus sound judgement and decision making and ultimately adaptive expertise.

However, “Experience is not what happens to you; it’s what you do with what happens to you.”(3). It’s clear that learning from experiences counts, not just having the experience. The way we learn from our experiences is to think on them whilst they are ‘fresh in our minds’, considering what worked, what didn’t and how it could be improved. We know this as reflection, yet we tend not to see ourselves as reflective practitioners. Indeed, we appear resistant to the models advocated in many professional development programmes; they seem time-consuming,

DEVELOPING PROFESSIONAL JUDGEMENT AND DECISION-MAKING

unproductive or just plain obvious (4). This sits in contrast to the value we place on judgement and decision-making skills. We appear to value thinking about the things we value, decision-making being one of those things (5).

Developing a professional thinking tool

Working with the Outward Bound Trust, Collins and Collins sought to develop a guide that enabled instructors to structure their thinking with the specific purpose of improving judgement and decision-making. In addition, we wanted a model that could be used individually by instructors, between instructors working together on a session, and by an instructor's mentor as part of a continuous professional development process. The result was an approach called the BIG 5.

In the BIG 5, a progressive series of five steps is used to frame a structured thinking process (Figure 1). While the steps are linked to a particular question it is the aim of the step that is important, and questions can be modified depending on the end user. Experience with this approach has also demonstrated that instructors may need to be guided through the process gradually, progressing until they can achieve the aims of each step. Initially steps 1 to 3 may only be used, with steps 4 and 5 being introduced as the instructor’s skills using the BIG 5 develop.

A framework for instructor development

Because “everything works somewhere but nothing works everywhere” (6) the instructor chooses the best course of action in any given situation. Safe and effective practice outdoors depends on many interrelated factors- like all teaching, ‘it depends’ (7) on multiple factors - the environment, the group, the session aim and the instructor.

Consequently, practising decision-making, understanding the elements at play that influence those decisions, how they interact and what options are available are all important. As a result, responses at each step of the BIG 5 can provide valuable guidance in the development of an instructor’s decision making.

This final section examines typical answers in the BIG 5 and their meaning as part of an instructor’s development.

What did you do?

Responses to this first step will indicate the level of situational comprehension. Instructors may need to be encouraged to pay greater attention to their environment, the group or the relationship between both. Instructors with good personal activity skill levels may already have good situational awareness but may need an understanding of the group’s demands. Indeed, the instructor may need to understand the difficulty that members of the groups may have with particular tasks- an effect called the Dunning-Kruger (8) effect. Instructors with teaching experiences may need more comprehension of the environment or activity. Other instructors may need time with groups, as an assistant, to understand the nature of work as an instructor, they require some experience to reflect on.

Why did you deal with the situation in that way?

Instructors may respond in one of several ways in this second step. Some may react with a single option, stating that this is how ‘it’s done’ to complete this task. This could be because your organisation insists it’s done only in one way. For example, a single possibility could be correct in manufactured environments with specific safety procedures.

However, the critical part of this step is to understand why the instructor chose as they did and if they chose at all. Those not making a choice are en-route to being routine rather than adaptive experts, the former may be required.

What other possibilities did you consider?

Some instructors may respond with an almost endless list of possibilities. An expansive list could be a great exercise within a problem-based learning strategy. However, these instructors may also need assistance identifying a ‘short list’ of the most realistic possibilities in that given setting. Some instructors may mistakenly think it’s about having a long list - this isn’t the case, it’s about quality NOT quantity. It’s about having the right amount in the list - a goldilocks thing, just the right amount. The order indicates the instructor’s thinking on each option. As a rule of thumb, the later in the list, the less experience, if at all, the instructor has with those possibilities. If these later options are realistic, the instructor could try those options in a suitable, safe, setting. Typically, the instructor will need 3-4, including the one they selected, realistic options they have experience of using.

Why did you discount these other options?

This step is particularly challenging and may require time. By their nature, these discounted options may have received little consideration from the instructor. The possibilities early in the list of options should be easy to deselect; however, later down the list, the inexperience with these options will become apparent. Indeed, this could be a way of creating a realistic shortlist. Like step 2, the critical part of this step is understanding why the instructor chose as they did. There is always more than one way to complete a task in teaching and natural environments. The advice for this instructor is to develop a range of approaches for a given job. It could be that they are considering too many unrealistic options. The instructors’ response provides an insight into their instructors understanding of the risk and benefits of a particular choice and their ability to discount unlikely or unworkable options based on their situational comprehension.

What would you do if…?

In this final step, the instructor is encouraged to describe how the situation will change in light of their choice and to consider what might happen had they chosen a different option from step 4. Again, multiple factors are considered: How will the group and environment change considering what the instructor has chosen? How will they develop, and how will the environment change? And its impact on group learning. The intention is to ensure the group’s skills and the environment coalesce in being in the ‘right place at the right time...’. Because this task is tricky, instructors may not find it simple to project aspects of the session. They may need to be encouraged to consider the future in their session, so they remain proactive rather than become reactive. Although again, in this step, instructors with limited experience may see unlikely possibilities or revert to describing the theoretical outcome once the next step in their procedure is applied. Thus, the intention at this point is to project the situation based on what they understand about what is happening.

Take Homes

As with any skill, effective decision-making requires practice and mentored development. It is only possible to optimise experiences by exploiting the learning potential of that experience. The BIG 5 offers a progression that effectively develops decision-making skills and offers instructors different experiences. Its application requires practice and adaptation to the user’s specific needs, setting, and intended outcome p

References

1. Collins, D. & Collins, L. (2020). Developing coaches’ professional judgement and decision making: Using the ‘BIG 5’, Journal of Sports Sciences, DOI: 10.1080/02640414.2020.1809053

2. Mees, A., Sinfield, D., Collins, D., & Collins, L. (2020). Adaptive expertise–a characteristic of expertise in outdoor instructors? Physical Education and Sport Pedagogy, 17(4), 1–16.

3. Aldous Huxley.

4. Nash, C., Mac Person, A, C. & Collins, D. (2022). Reflections on Reflection: Clarifying and Promoting Use in Experienced Coaches. Frontiers in Psychology; Movement Science and Sport Psychology. doi. org/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.867720

5. Collins, L., Carson, H.J., Amos, P. & Collins, D. (2017). Examining the Perceived Value of Professional Judgment and Decision Making in Mountain Leaders in the UK: A Mixed-Methods Investigation. Journal of Adventure Education and Outdoor Learning. doi: 10.1080/14729679.2017.1378584

6. Wiliam, D. (2016). Leadership for teacher learning creating a culture where all teachers improve so that all students succeed. United States of America: Learning Sciences International.

7. Dave Collins, Jamie Taylor, Mike Ashford & Loel Collins (2022): It depends coaching – The most fundamental, simple and complex principle or a mere copout?, Sports Coaching Review, DOI: 10.1080/21640629.2022.2154189

8. Kruger, J., & Dunning, D. (1999). Unskilled and unaware of it: How difficulties in recognizing one’s own incompetence lead to inflated self-assessments. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 77(6), 1121-1134. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.77.6.1121

IMAGES AND FIGURES

Images have been sourced from pxhere.com. Photographers retain copyright. Figures have been supplied by the author. Author retains copyright of figures.