Level 1 & 2 São Paulo, Brazil March/April 2018

By ICP Examiner Asha Kirkby

It was great to be back in my winter "home" of Brazil over the last few month. Some time with family and friends, as well as some rest and relaxation was definitely in order when I arrived in early January.

Between January and March I had the opportunity to balance betweem taking care of myself with yoga and working on my online courses. By the beginning of March I was making my way from Rio to São Paulo for the ICP programs.

This is the first year that we held both a Level 1 & Level 2 course in the same month in Sao Paulo.
The ICP Level 1 course took place March 16-18th. We had candidates from around Brazil and even one who came from Argentina!

Level 1 Hard Work=Big Rewards!

No matter where I am in the world examining, Level 1 always proves to be a challenge. The learning curve is so steep for most people that it often takes until the middle of second day before the candidates begin to truly understand and begin to consistently apply the teaching theory. 

Even though the above was true here in São Paulo as well, the group was enthusiastic, open to learning and ready to take what they learned and do their best to apply it.  It was a pleasure to work with the instructor candidates and to see them progress as skater and teachers as the weekend unfolded. Being a part of the learning process and watching their skating and teaching skills evolve through honing and applying the fundementals of the the program is always a rewarding experience. 

Thank you for all your hard work and congratulations to all Level 1 candidates!

Level 2 Delving Deeper

While the Level 1 course has it's challenges, the Level 2 course, in my opinion, is even more challenging but at the same time more a bit more intellectually stimulating given the more complex skill set and varied experiences of the candidates. I remember when I took ICP Level 2 as a candidate and found myself fascinated by the more complex teaching progressions with more advanced level skills like crossovers, backward skating and transitions.

The Level 2 course is designed for Instructors who want to deepen their understanding of Intermediate level skills and develop their teaching so they can serve more skaters.

This course in Sao Paulo had 2 skaters who travelled from Argentina to attend while the others came from Sao Paulo state. Several were 'ICP Brothers and Sisters' meaning they did their Level 1 courses together and were reunited here for Level 2. Doing the Level 2 course over the Easter weekend was a good plan because the park was a lot less hectic with fewer skaters and therefore more space for us. The weather was also kind with very little rain and agreeable temperatures (not too hot!).

We focussed on creating smooth exercise progressions that actively help students to acquire the new skills needed. We also looked at how to give corrections in more meaningful ways by searching for the cause of a mistake (and not just vocalising the mistake to the student). For example if a student is spinning while trying to perform a T-Stop, the instructor can tell them they are spinning and even offer a corrective arm position to help. But what if the problem persists? If as teachers we ask "what is the cause of the spin" we may discover that a spinning T-Stop is caused not by the rotating arm but by the sliding skate being too heavy. The best solution to recommend to the student could be to put more weight on their support leg so the sliding skate is lighter. This is not always an easy path to follow (as it's easier to just say what you see happening) but this line of investigation will allow you to help the students much more positively.

We had many interesting discussions on this course from sharing participants' experiences of teaching in their schools and projects. It's important for active ICP instructors to keep in touch with their Level 1 colleagues in order to swap stories and support each other with similar issues.

So few Level 1 instructors go on to take Level 2 that all these candidates deserve a high five. They showed up, worked hard , learned, had fun and hopefully went home much better instructors. I hope Level 2 motivates instructors to keep getting better and investigate new ways of doing things so we can serve out students to the highest level.

Congratulations to all who took part in both the Level 1 & Level 2 programs. Well done!