Why ICP? Singapore ICP Examiner & Program Host Perspective

The Examiner-Mike Tang (Singapore)

Thank you Sam Ting for hosting the ICP in Singapore this past week for your very first time. I believe we all had a wonderful experience. 

This course was unique in that it took place during the week Monday, September 16-Wednesday September 18th, 2019  and not on the weekend as most are traditionally scheduled.  For those whith full times jobs in skating, this is a perfect time as the weekend are usually packed with lessons.  However,  for those who work a traditional schedule of 9-5pm, it was quite a commitment to take leave away from work to be able to attend the program. Most of the candidates  were in the 19-20 year age range and have been teaching for 1 year. Many skated as children but were not exposed to, or had any experience with, the ICP methodology. 

The program was full of active participation from start to finish. The candidates were challeged to think deeply using the method of "guided discovery" to explore the possibilities of how to break down a skill.  As always, the  2^nd day was intense for all as there is a lot of practice on teaching and sharing of the individual skating skills. The candidates were pretty anxious and spent even some "free time" practicing to better prepar themselves for the practical skating and teaching examination. It was rewarding to feel that I was able to assist in their development as instructors and they were involved in the experience with open minds.  By the end of which was a VERY long day,  they  began to understand, synthesis and incorporate the theory into their teaching. This is exactly what an examiner hopes to see at the end of day two so they are ready to apply the ICP teaching methodology for final day exams on day 3.

 The final day was a surprise to me as it was evident that they really worked hard the evening before   to have their lessons planned  and organized so that all aspects of skill break down and class handling were evident. They went through the practical teaching exam like professional instructors. As if they were teaching for years!

To conclude the experience with this batch of candidates, they are not shy of asking questions and sharing what they learned. It was beautiful to watch the entire metamorphosis from Monday to Wedneday. There are those candidates at different level and different stages but the process is very clear to me, the growth is there and there was significant improvement across the board.. There are more beautiful butterflies (instructors) now. As the examiner and lead for the program, I am so glad and honoured to see this transformation during the program. Until the next program, likely later in the 4th quarter or early in 2020, I will do what I can to prepare more candidates to enter the skating industry as instructors.

Thank you ICP for making this beautiful process possible every time for every program.

I Love the ICP.

The Host- ICP Certified Instructor Sam Ting (Singapore)- Alpha Skates

My experience hosting ICP program has been a fruitful one. It allowed me to meet skaters from all walks of life; from student to working adults.  I always enjoy interacting with other instructors to understand why they teach.

I have always been a firm believer of ICP. I took my ICP 3 years ago and I have benefited tremendously ever since. Every time I read the manual, I managed to learn something new. Even after 3 years, I still get the "a-ha" moment.

Therefore, whenever we bring in a new instructor into our school, we base our training with ICP.  Our instructors at Alpha Skates are trained to teach closely with ICP methodologies which has proven to improve students proficiency. This must be why the instructor candidates that we had take this program were so well prepared! 

Because I take pride in being an ICP Certified instructor, I also hope my instructors can feel the sense of pride in being one too. For this course, we had 4 of our instructors officially trained. I am proud to say that they all made it through on their own merit but also because of the high bar we set at Alpha Skates.

Being a skate school with internationally recognised ICP instructors raises our standards in this field of skating and provides assurance to students that they are in good hands. Hence, we can be seen as a market leader and a quality skate school!

Looking forward to hosting more ICP programs in the near future.