Trainer's Bullpen

By Raptor Protection Trainer's BullpenEducation

Trainer's Bullpen episodes

September 07, 2024 EP37 "Reforming Police Training with Ecological Dynamics" with Dr. Pete Blair
Episode Summary
Dr. Pete Blair is the Executive Director of the Advanced Law Enforcement Rapid Response Training (ALERRT) Center and a Professor of Criminal Justice at Texas State University. Dr. Blair discusses the need to reform
police training in order to address the current crisis in policing. He emphasizes the importance of an evidence-informed approach and highlights the work of ALERRT in providing critical incident response training. Blair
identifies the shortcomings of the traditional model of police training, including the focus on ideal techniques and the lack of transferability to real-world situations. He advocates for a shift towards an ecological dynamics approach, which emphasizes self-organization, contextualization, and problem-solving.
Blair argues that training should focus on outcomes rather than specific techniques and should incorporate rich and variable environments to enhance transferability. The conversation explores the concept of self-organization in
training and how it can lead to more effective and efficient performance. The discussion includes the importance of setting clear intentions and understanding the intention structure in any given situation. They emphasize the need for trainers to guide learners towards exploring more optimal and effective solutions while still allowing for self-organization. The conversation also
touches on the role of attention and the shift from internal focus to goal-focused attention. Dr. Blair highlight the importance of understanding what learners will do in real-world situations and focusing on the desired
outcome rather than rigid techniques or formations.
Takeaways
The traditional model of police training is not effective in
enhancing the retention and transfer of critical performance skills.
Police training should adopt an evidence-informed approach and focus on outcomes rather than specific techniques.
Training should incorporate rich and variable environments to enhance transferability to real-world situations.
Self-organization is a key concept in training, where the
body organizes around the intended outcome to achieve it efficiently and effectively.
Contextualization and problem-solving should be emphasized in training to prepare officers for the complex and ever-changing environments they operate in. Setting clear intentions and understanding the intention
structure is crucial for self-organization in training.
Trainers should guide learners towards exploring more
optimal and effective solutions while still allowing for self-organization.
Attention should be goal-focused rather than internally
focused.
Understanding what learners will do in real-world situations is important for effective training.
Focusing on the desired outcome is more important than rigid techniques or formations.
1 hr 1 min
August 19, 2024 EP 36 “Scenario Training and the Pedagogical Shift” with Professor Chris Cushion
Professor Chris Cushion discusses the transformation of
police personal safety training using scenario-based training, emphasizing the need for a pedagogical shift and the integration of decision-making and skill
acquisition within tactical contexts. He addresses the challenges of implementing change and the disparity between traditional training models and the gold standard of scenario-based training.
The conversation delves into the importance of implicit learning, the flaws of front-loading skills, and the
need for contextualized practice. The role of instructors in coaching through scenarios and the limitations of traditional debriefs are also highlighted.
Professor Cushion discusses the transformation of police personal safety training using scenario-based training, highlighting the challenges, evidence, and impact of the new approach. Dr. Cushion also addresses the cultural and political dilemmas in implementing change and the adoption of the new training model by the College of Policing in England and Wales.
Takeaways:
The need for a pedagogical shift in police training towards
scenario-based training that integrates decision-making and skill acquisition
within tactical contexts.
The importance of implicit learning and the flaws of
front-loading skills in traditional training models.
The role of instructors in coaching through scenarios and
the limitations of traditional debriefs in police training.
The challenges of implementing change and the disparity
between traditional training models and the gold standard of scenario-based training. Scenario-based training offers a more effective approach to police personal safety training, focusing on performance versus learning and practice
design.
Cultural and political dilemmas present challenges in
implementing change in police training, requiring a shift in policy frameworks and police culture.
The College of Policing in England and Wales has adopted the scenario-based training model, with a focus on standardization and evidence-based impact assessment.
The transformation of police training involves re-culturing
trainers and learners, overcoming the influence of past experiences and embracing a new pedagogical approach.
The pending study comparing the linear technique-based model with the scenario-based model is expected to provide valuable insights into the
impact of the new training approach.
1 hr 11 min
August 12, 2024 EP35 "How We Learn to Move - Part 4" with Dr. Rob Gray
Welcome to Episode #35 of the Trainers Bullpen, the final edition in our ‘’How We Learn to Move” series with Dr. Rob Gray
Rob Gray is a psychology professor and research psychologist with a focus on perceptual-motor control in driving, aviation, and sports. He also hosts the
Perception & Action Podcast, is the author of two bestselling books on the acquisition of movement skills ‘How We Learn To Move’ and ‘Learning to Optimize
Movement’, and he serves as the Skill Acquisition Specialist for the Boston Red Sox.
In this interview, Dr. Gray discusses the key aspects from chapters 7 and 8 of How We Learn to Move. Rob provides insights on how coaches and trainers can consider
the Constraints Led Approach of a new way forward in facilitating the development of adaptability and decision making in our officers.
Further, Rob discusses the importance of understanding the kinetic chain and how that relates to the manner in which we set up movement drills and also how the
conditions of the original learning environment are so important for creating resilience and ‘stickiness’ of our performer’s skills.
Additional topics covered in this interview are the importance of destabilization, self-exploration and self-organization, how to amplify information in order to
invite affordances for action, structured variability as a critical aspect for motor learning and the critical need for ‘perturbances’ during learning – which is a concept pretty much completely at odds with current law enforcement
training.
This interview contains practical insights on how trainers should understand and apply aspects of the Constraints Led Approach to help our officers develop the
critical cognitive and physical skills they need on the street!
49 min
July 18, 2024 EP 34 "How We Learn to Move - Part 3" with Dr. Rob Gray
Rob Gray is a psychology professor and research psychologist with a focus on perceptual-motor control in driving, aviation, and sports. He also hosts the Perception & Action Podcast, is the author of two bestselling books on the acquisition of movement skills ‘How We Learn To Move’ and ‘Learning to Optimize Movement’, and he serves as the Skill Acquisition Specialist for the Boston Red Sox.
In this interview, Dr. Gray discusses the key aspects from chapters 5 and 6 of How We Learn to Move. Rob provides insights on how coaches and trainers can embrace a motor learning environment that is a nonlinear, self-organizational model of movement. Also mentioned is how the perception of the world is embodied and how affordances shape the way we perceive opportunities for action. Dr. Gray introduces the important concept of ‘invariance’ and why it matters in performance and coaching.
Additional topics covered in this interview are embodied perception, Gibson’s Affordances and his theory in conflict with traditionalist views, body & action capacity scaling, the importance of variability, intrinsic dynamics and how they relate to movement variability, and how the ‘law of attraction’ relates to movement variability and invariance.
This interview contains practical insights on how trainers should embrace the ecological, nonlinear, self-organizational model of instruction, modify constraints to cause learners to self-organize movements, and understand the application of affordances and the laws of attraction to design effective training environments.
Find Dr. Gray's exceptional 'Perception / Action Podcast' here: https://perceptionaction.com/
1 hr 12 min
June 09, 2024 EP33 ' How We Learn To Move Series Part 2' With Dr. Rob Gray
Welcome to Episode # 33 of the Trainers Bullpen, the ‘’How We Learn to Move series– Part 2"
Rob Gray is a psychology professor and research
psychologist with a focus on perceptual-motor control in driving, aviation, and sports. He also hosts the Perception & Action Podcast, is the author of two books, including two bestsellers on the acquisition of movement skills ‘How We Learn To Move’ and ‘Learning to Optimize Movement’, and he serves as the Skill Acquisition Specialist for the Boston Red Sox.
In this interview, Dr. Gray addresses key concepts from chapters 3 and 4 of ‘How We Learn To Move’ and he delves into the importance of movement variability and
the degrees of freedom of movement, which sets the foundation for the entire training design and coaching and the instructional model that follows. Rob explains the two predominant schools of thought on this issue - the information processing model and the self-organization model - and illustrates their differences using examples from sports domains.
Topics discussed in this interview include information processing model, self-organization model, explanation of ‘Freedom Through Constraints’, Newell’s alternative view of how to execute and learn motor skills, why actions are not caused by constraints, and the three types of constraints in the self-organization system.
This interview contains practical insights on how trainers should design and apply training based on research from ecological dynamics and constraints-led approach to enhance movement variability, promote self-organization, and create conditions for better perception, decision making, and performance in learners.
Listeners are strongly encouraged to read chapters 3 and 4 of How We Learn To Move to bolster your understanding of these important motor learning principles.
Previous episodes on the Trainer's Bullpen contain research papers relating to these concepts that you can access and download for *free* at www.trainersbullpen.com
56 min
May 21, 2024 EP 32 'How We Learn to Move - Part 1' with Dr. Rob Gray
Rob Gray is a psychology professor and research psychologist with a focus on perceptual-motor control in driving, aviation, and sports. He also hosts the
Perception & Action Podcast, is the author of two books, including a bestseller on learning movement skills, and serves as the Skill Acquisition Specialist for the Boston Red Sox.
In this interview, Rob Gray discusses key aspects from chapters 1 and 2 of his best-selling book: ‘How We Learn to Move’. Dr. Gray provides valuable insights for trainers
looking improve their motor learning design and reduce the risk of injury. He challenges the traditional approach to motor skill training and emphasizes the importance of embracing contextual variability in the training environment.
Topics covered in this podcast include Dr. Gray’s background that led to the conceptualization and success of his book, The ‘Myth’ of the One Correct Repeatable Technique, the importance of variability in movement for skilled performance, how constraints impact movement variability, and the relationship between variability and adaptability.
This interview contains practical insights on how trainers should rethink traditional ‘technique-based’ motor skill training methods and embrace a nonlinear ecological methodology to improve their training design, enhance learning, retention and transfer, and reduce the risk of injury.
1 hr 5 min
May 20, 2024 EP31 'Motor Learning Feedback' with Dr. Tim Lee
Welcome to Episode 31 of the Trainer’s Bullpen, ‘Motor Learning Feedback’ with Dr. Tim Lee.
The type of feedback that a trainer or coach gives their students and the manner in which that feedback is provided is of critical importance to the effective of how well motor skills are acquired, retained and transferred.
The most common type of feedback that is often applied in the law enforcement motor skill learning environment is described as ‘quick and corrective’. That is, the trainer views mistakes and errors as enemies and therefore is very quick to step in and provide feedback when the student is struggling. In addition, the feedback that is usually provided is highly corrective ‘this is what you are
doing wrong, this is what you need to do to correct it, now do that’.
Ironically, while most prevalent, this type of feedback has been demonstrated to result in the worst retention and transfer of movement skills to the ‘real world’.
In this interview, Motor Learning expert, researcher, accomplished author and coach for the Titleist Performance Institute, Dr. Tim Lee will discuss the impact of feedback and the methods of feedback that trainers should consider in order to optimize the learning potential of their students.
In this interview we discuss:
·      The different types of feedback – Inherent and Augmented
·      Using knowledge of results rather than knowledge of performance feedback
·      The importance of student motivation and how feedback can either bolster, or impair, student motivation
·      The relationship between feedback types and the students focus of attention
·      The danger of creating students who are ‘feedback dependent’ and how to avoid this from happening
·      The use of video as a feedback tool
·      The timing of feedback – hint – delayed feedback is usually optimal
·      Bandwidth feedback – what it is and how to apply it to really maximize your feedback potential for motor learning.
Have your pen and paper ready. This interview contains very important information to help you advance your tradecraft as a trainer!
As a reminder, all resources, documents and links are available to you at www.trainersbullpen.com
Dr. Tim Lee can be contacted at [email protected]
1 hr 9 min
April 13, 2024 EP 30 "Bullpen “Lost in Transition: The Effects of Transitioning Between Firearms and Electronic Control Devices on Perception-Response Times.” with Dr. Paul Taylor
In this episode, we welcome back to the show, Dr. Paul Taylor. Paul is a Professor at University of Colorado Denver where he studies decision-making, human factors, and system safety in the context of police interactions with the public. He has over ten years of practical law enforcement experience including time as a department
training manager, patrol sergeant, and use-of-force instructor. Paul is the founder of the Association of Force Investigators and has delivered law enforcement related instruction for academy, field training, and advanced in-service audiences as well as graduate and
undergraduate level courses. Paul is actively engaged in law enforcement research and training across the United States and internationally.
In this interview you will learn about a fascinating study with important training implications that was conducted on the ability, or more accurately, the lack of ability, of
officers to effectively and efficiently transition between their sidearm and the Taser or between their Taser and their sidearm under time compressed events.
The ability for officers to have the requisite motor skill to be able to conduct these transitions is very important for officer and public safety. This study identifies
significant gaps in performance and helps further our understanding of how to improve our training design and delivery to ensure we enable our officers to develop
these essential skills.
As a reminder, the research paper referenced in this interview is appended to the show notes and free to download over at the Trainers Bullpen website at www.trainersbullpen.com
1 hr 2 min
March 28, 2024 EP 29 ‘Deriving Expert Knowledge of Situational Awareness in Law Enforcement’ with Dr. Juha-Matti Huhta and Dr. Paula Di Nota
Law enforcement trainers frequently stress the importance of Situational Awareness or 'SA'. But what even is it? If you ask a room full of trainers, you will get as
many varied answers as there are people in the room! And yet, situational awareness in other domains has been found to be the hallmark of expert performance. Experts have developed ways of rapidly assessing an unfolding, often ambiguous event, and knowing what to anticipate, where to scan, how to understand what they are seeing, and are then able to make the most effective
decisions to solve the problem.
In this interview, Dr’s Huhta and Di Nota will discuss the research they conducted on expert performers and their situational awareness patterns in law enforcement.
The paper which serves as the foundation for this discussion is titled “Deriving Expert Knowledge of Situational Awareness in Policing: a Mixed-Methods Study” and was published in the Journal of Police and Criminal Psychology in 2023.
In this interview, we explore:
·      The importance of situational
awareness,
·      The definition of situational
awareness – what does it mean?
·      How experts actually attend to and
process unfolding incidents,
·      Differences between how experts and
novices scan and assess a scene,
·      The 7 themes of expert situational
awareness,
·      Considerations for structuring a
learning environment to assist students with the skill of developing situational
awareness expertise,
·      Accelerating ‘game intelligence’ in
training by applying the principles of the 7 S/A themes.
As a reminder, the publication we are speaking about in this interview is available for download over at the Trainers Bullpen website at www.trainersbullpen.com
1 hr 19 min
March 15, 2024 EP 28 ‘Stress and Policing: Understanding the Training, Policy, and Leadership Implications’ with Dr. Mariana Kaiseler.
According to a national survey of police mental health, a
staggering 90% of police officers affected by stress reported stigma as a barrier to seeking mental health support.
In this very important interview, Senior Lecturer,
Department of Sport and Exercise Sciences at Manchester Metropolitan University, Dr. Mariana Kaiseler, discusses the research that she and colleagues
have published specifically pertaining to the stress of police work and the many training, policy and leadership
implications that need to be considered in order to help advance police officer mental health and resilience.
Two research papers used as the foundation for this interview are Ambulatory Assessment of Psychophysiological Stress among Police Officers
published in the journal of Occupational Health, and Transitioning from Recruit to Officer: An Investigation of how Stress Appraisal and Coping Influence Work
Engagement.
In this interview, we discuss:
·      Why stress is, or ought to be, such a concern
for police trainers and agency leadership,
·      Chronic vs acute stress and the relationship between them.
·      The shocking reality that it is actually not the
acute stress of incidents that officer encounter that put them at greatest risk of harm to their mental wellness, but organizational stress.
·       The deficiencies of organizational supports that
are critical to help keep officers resilient and mentally healthy.
·      How the policing ‘culture’ causes officers to be
reluctant to seek out help and will actually avoid critical social supports.
·      How poor officer wellness negatively impacts police / community trust.
·      The importance of intentional stress-management
routines and how police trainers should understand their role as an essential component of helping their students develop intentional mental health strategies.
Please note, if you or any officer you know is experiencing
the negative and possibility debilitating effects of stress, please be courageous and seek out life-changing help. The week that this interview was conducted, several police officers in the US and Canada took their lives by
their own hand. Also, this same week, a report was released by the National Police Federation indicating that mental wellness amongst RCMP officers was at a
point of crisis and still plummeting. This is a clarion call to action for police leadership.
If you need assistance or know of someone who does, in
Canada, please consider contacting Canada Beyond The Blue (www.canadabeyondtheblue.com )a
volunteer organization committed to providing a community of essential support
to law enforcement members and their families. In the United States, contact
COPLINE at www.copline.org or call their
crisis line at 1-800-COPLINE.
1 hr