On our first skiing trip we went to Jegersberg, which is a local area close to the university. We started our trip on a prepared road that went slightly uphill. This starting point allowed us to check if the wax on our skies was working and to warm up a bit. Especially for the beginners it was a nice way to try out the skis and techniques. Up the hill the path crossed a lake and led through the wood into an open area. Some of the hills on the way were a bit to steep for however it was possible to walk without skis because of the snow condition.
The open area offered a variety of qualities, which were suitable for a heterogenic group. One could choose between flat ground, small hills with powder or prepared steeper hills with cross-country ski runs. Hence everyone was able to find a ground to improve their technique additionally the powder allowed to practice unknown tasks without the fear of getting injured.
Most of the time we used a small hill were everyone did the same tasks. There was enough space to stop in the end of the hill furthermore it was possible to watch the others exercising which helped to learn from one another.
The role of the (vei)leader:
Veileder is the Norwegian word for guide. If you translate it directly it means way leader. In the forming phase of a group leaders can be naturally developed depending on the characteristics of the group members and their goal. Oftentimes, like in our study program, the leader is set by the structure of an institution.
Cheladurai states three states of leader behavior that depend on situational factors as well as on the groups and leaders characteristics. Hence it is required that the leader has a basic amount of knowledge, which enables him to guide a group to a certain goal in a certain situation. A preferred state of leadership is the ability to fulfill the groups expectations. Finally the actual state is what actually happens in the certain situation with the special characteristics of the group. On the ski trip we went through a wood where the path went up and down. Len was guiding us the way and as it was difficult to climb up the steeper hills on ski Len adapted his plan to the situation and as a transformational leader told us that we could take of our skis. In this situation the aim of this trip “improve the skiing ability” was changed to “reach the open area”.
Based on the state of leadership there are different ways of leading a group. These methods vary from being autocratical to delegating the decisions to a group and let them develop themselves e.g. In a case of emergency a leader should act autocratically in contrast if there are different possibilities to get to the goal, the leader can let the group develop a plan.
To learn an exact technique very quickly a teacher would give instructions about how to move the body and how the technique works. An instruction like “if you go uphill, you have to look forward. Don’t look down on your ski”. By following the instruction the students develop a functional technique to ski uphill. Another teaching method would be to let the students develop their techniques themselves. Referring to the before mentioned task he would say “ski uphill”. The students would try and maybe slip down backwards. After a while they would realize that they only slip if they look down on their ski. The first method saves time however the second method gives the student a deeper understanding for the movement of his body and is therefore sustainable.
As mentioned before the leader has to react to the given situation and group characteristics. He has to choose an area that is suitable for the certain size of group. If the group is too big for one person to handle the teacher has to organize another guide. Furthermore he has to calculate how far the weakest member can go and how long it will take. Every student should be able to join hence the trip should be to a local area. For a bigger outcome it would be wise to include the group in some decisions during the organization of the tour. This would increase the students’ internal motivation.
Observation can be done in different ways. It should help the students to improve their techniques and motivate them to keep on practicing additionally it should prevent cases of emergency. When the group is moving the teacher observes the students by walking from one to the other. If he would stay on the same position like in front guiding the way, he couldn’t actually see what is going on. This way of jumping from one to the other allows the teacher to be in direct and personal contact with one student at a time. If the group stays at one place it allows the teacher to observe specific details of each student. There he can give direct advices to one student while watching the whole group.
On a daytrip the general equipment needed is related to emergency. A first-aid kit, a rope, something to light fire, an emergency shelter like a bivouac bag or a first aid mat and always a bit of food in case someone is out of energy. For the activities you can easily use branches or other thing s you can find in nature because on a Friluftsliv trip one should be as close to nature as possible. Still if nature is not enough one can improvise like we did using our skiing poles to play with.
The role of the students:
Motivation is what keeps the student going therefore it is the fundamental requirement for each task. It can be divided into external and internal motivation. External motivation is subdivided into three states. The lowest state is called introjected motivation when people do something for an external reason like money or good grates. After this the motives become more personal e.g. if students are allowed to take part in organizing a skiing trip. The partaking makes them identify with the trip even if they don’t like skiing therefore this state of motivation is called identified regulation. The state of external motivation, which is closest to internal motivation, is called integrated regulation. For example if a student takes part in the outdoor education program because he wants to become a veileder. Finally the internal motivation is defined as the state of motivation when one does something because he likes to do it. In other words one can say: the way is the goal.
As mentioned before motivation has a big influence on how students act. Planing the activities for a daytrips has to be orientated on the motivation as well as on the goal. The group should be satisfied by the performance. This aim leads to the discussion about free playing versus organized playing. If the students are allowed to play as they like, they are highly motivated and active. The satisfaction increases and the atmosphere is positive. Additionally creativity is needed and stimulated.
On the other hand the free plays stay on one level and students can’t improve their technique. Moreover students who are beginners can rarely take part in the games. This leads to a good mixture of free games were the body can develop new moves and organized games, which concentrate on specific details and allow everyone to learn.
Activities
The activities took place on a small hill as mentioned before. We were able to watch each other and one student did the exercise at the time.
- Ski downhill
- touch your heels 6 times
- small parallel sidesteps
- left foot, right foot
- through the poles
- throw your hat at Len before skiing through the poles
These activities improved the feeling for our skis. Touching the heels provoked bending the knees without leaning forwards. The parallel sidesteps are a useful technique to stay in a curve in higher speed. They as well led to standing on one foot thus trained the balance. Likewise did the exercise number 4. Skiing through the poles was a variation of the heel touching exercise and throwing the hat at Len made it even more difficult to concentrate and react. By these exercises the gross motor skills are being trained. In the beginnings of a learning process it is important to practice the movement in an easier way. During this phase of learning the big muscle groups are used and a lot of energy is put into the movement. The movement is halting and gross sometimes too fast or too slow overall it is inconsistent. The area used has to be adapted to the student’s ability. Through repetition the movement becomes fluent and functional this is because of the afferent synthesis by the neuronal system. As this state of learning is reached the exercises should be repeated on a steeper hill come closer to the fine motor skills.
Conclusion
As I have done cross-country skiing before I don’t need to practice my gross motor skills for skiing. Anyway the exercises were important to get the feeling for my skis again. Moreover the exercises were new to me so I practiced my coordinative skills. I am in the second phase of motor learning after Meinel and Schnabel that is about repeating the technique in variable surroundings and adapting the motor skills to the changing ground. Therefore I went on a short skiing tour with a small group. As I didn’t want to wax my ski again I did the skating technique, which I know better than the classical one. So in the end I didn’t improve my technique but I learned more about how to plan a day trip with a heterogenic group.
Compared to my home university we did the skiing introduction in a totally different way. My first cross-country ski lesson started without skis. It was all about the motor skills, coordination, balance and rhythm. After one hour warming up we put on one of the skis and did some partner work. The day ended with a one-ski-soccer-match. However we were a more homogenous group then so no one was bored and skiing was new to everyone. As we are not on the same level of learning in our recent group, the exercises were suitable for a wider range of students. Considering the time we had and the group’s constitution, it was an informative tour to all of us especially as we were able to choose what we wanted to do in the end.
