Perceptions can be a way of understanding or interpret something when it must do with other people or the environment where an action is taking place. When a person uses their ability to perceive it may influence how they coach another based on their basic needs, the five senses, goals and values, self-concept, orientation, motivation, previous experiences, and readiness to learn as recognized in another. As a rider education coach, it becomes necessary to not only have excellent perceptive skills but also understand how others perceive you as a coach, to ensure a proper learning transaction is taking place. The perception skill is discussed in rider education when identifying hazards while riding. In this case, though, we will be covering it as a human factor in conjunction with the core adult learning principles as discussed by Knowles, Holton, and Swanson (2015).
As previously discussed in Part X of the series, Maslow’s (1970) Hierarchy of Needs can be a road map for understanding the needs of another. Basic needs help everyone maintain and better its core self to preserve their wellbeing. All perceptions are affected by these needs, whether it be the coach or the student. Basic needs can help to form perceptual barriers that protect an individual from uncomfortable feelings and their psychological threats. When the student-teacher transaction is in its infancy, it then becomes necessary to assist by helping students to develop better perceptions despite their defense mechanisms. If the student feels defensive, a coach must perceive the resistance or denial and work through or around the issues to teach effectively.
Perception of a student’s abilities to potentially ride a motorcycle relates to at least three of the five senses. To engage in the activity of riding a student must be able to see, hear, touch/feel, and on occasion smell and taste can also be helpful. Students who have a distortion of the major three could have difficulties in learning to ride. An excellent example would be a former student that could not balance the motorcycle. Immediately upon lifting her feet up, she would start leaning to the left and be unable to keep upright. There was a disconnect between her vision and proprioceptive system that also showed during use on a bicycle and a full motion simulator. Whenever a student displays a deficit of this nature (ensuring it is not a perceived deficit) it becomes necessary to counsel the student on the issue to alleviate the possibilities of injury to the individual or others.
Everyone is different, just like everyone else! People assemble every experience and sensation of their past as input for individual belief and value systems, coloring perceptions of how they look at every situation. Perceptions rely on one’s goals and values. Every instruction given during rider education can be interpreted differently by a student’s goals and values, so it is important to understand a student’s motivations. By doing so, a coach can begin to predict how a student will interpret the experience. Motivations that are of intrinsic value, providing a personal payoff for the student are most cherished and pursued. Disregarded are those with less importance (Knowles et al., 2015).
A dominant element of learning is how students picture their self. This item is referenced as the self-concept of the learner and relates to whether a student is insecure or confident in the topic which has a huge influence on the perceptual process. Confidence in learning leads to a willingness to pursue knowledge, typically in a manner that is self-directed and autonomous to the environment. A student who may feel insecure about learning or a negative self-image may inhibit the learning process by putting up psychological barriers that prevent perception. Even worse, students who have a negative concept may not be able to perceive the value of education and will not correctly implement the material presented. Learners who have a positive attitude about themselves tend to be less defensive can gain from their experiences by consuming the information and demonstrations offered within a course.
A person’s orientation to learning allows for a more accurate perception if the information is in a context already known through experience and solves a problem for the learner. The context that relates to previous experiences and possible uses of the information allows the student to situate the information in an appropriate place of memory for reuse. Likewise, if the information helps to be problem-centered, meaning providing a needed solution, then it is more likely to be remembered for future use. Students that are required to attend a course with no reason or context will struggle to understand the content; their orientation will be toward forgetting the information as they walk away from the encounter. It is part of the job of the coach to assist in helping the student perceive the information as meaningful.
Motivation to learn is a driving force of student focus that ensures a student sees value in the learning process and a payoff for the effort gained in the attempt. The topic itself could be a complete article on how either positive or negative forces can drive a student’s desire to attend and learn from a rider’s education course. Briefly, though, we have all been in situations where there is no desire to learn because the foreseen outcome is not relevant and will not provide intrinsic value in our lives. Rider coaches are quite often in a situation where students are in the course because of a directed regulatory requirement, or the student is there at the request of someone else’s desire. Perceiving these situations, and or changing the perception of the students can be the difference between creating a better outcome or someone going through the motions for no gain.
Previous experiences generates mental models of where the new information relates to old and provides a link to understand new ideas. A student that compares material presented in a class and can perceive similarities to something already known will accelerate the learning process and better understand the information. Since most students already have experience driving a car, a coach recognizing difficulties by the student can provide informative links to resources already available in the student’s mind to connect the two.
Finally, it is integral the learning process that a student and the coach have a readiness to learn. Some also call this willingness to learn, which can be the one core adult education principle that sets the stage for learning. Someone who has strict notions about a topic and who are not open to new information and knowledge will have difficulty growing beyond their current position. A readiness to learn shows in a willingness to listen and reflect on information to analyze relationships with other related information. The perception that the material is 1) life-related and 2) a developmental task, adds to the motivation to accept new data as plausible. Perception is predominantly the difference between students who listen to listen and those who listen to hear. Perhaps even more importantly, coaches who do not have a continual desire to seek new learning can inhibit growth in their students. Students can perceive coaches without a readiness to learn, which can invoke barriers to their personal development.
Thanks for taking the time to read article! Next time we will discuss some coach characteristics and responsibilities.
References:
Knowles, M. S., Holton, E. F. III, Swanson, R. A. (2015). The adult learner: the definitive classic in adult education and human resource development. New York, NY: Routledge.
Maslow, A (1970). Motivation and personality (2nd ed.). New York: Harper and Row.
