Problems with the Classroom Model in PMVA

by Gerard O'Dea and Prof. Chris Cushion

The ‘Classroom Model’ and ‘Skills First’ in Conflict Management and Physical Restraint is problematic.

The pedagogical landscape in conflict and physical intervention training is impoverished – with ‘how to teach’ rarely considered instead defaulting to a skills first teaching model, sometimes focussed on tick-box compliance, sometimes focussed on following a specific instructor-led curriculum and some (a few) focussed on outcomes for the learners. What can be considered a ‘traditional classroom model’, emphasises the performance of skills in a sterile setting? producing a linear or modular approach that positions technique or skills first resulting in ‘dis-integrated’ training requiring repeated repetitions of individual procedures before moving to the next step. However, in fields like conflict management and physical restraint training, research evidence on practice design and how people learn best suggests this model may not be the most effective. Instead, a broader conceptualization of pedagogy is required where training is concerned with the authentic, safe replication of the characteristics of the operational environment. This approach also encourages learner-centred training when tactics,?decision-making and?problem-solving?are?progressed together.? This suggests a scenario-based training model, which emphasizes the fluid nature of real-world conflict and decision-making, may be more suitable.

(The original video was subsequently removed from YouTube by the owner, possibly under request from a global, hedge-fund owned Crisis Intervention training provider)

Example video demonstrating the 'classroom model'*:

• we recognise that the training above _may_ progress to more realistic, context-based training however the elements presented represent the exact example of 'classroom model' training this article focuses on.

The Classroom Model: A Controlled Environment

One commonly held but erroneous reasoning for the traditional classroom model is that it promises a controlled environment for learners, where they can “grasp the basics” of skills and techniques without interference from other demands. This skills-first approach seems useful, particularly for beginners, who some instructors believe need to understand the foundational elements of a skill without all the messiness of making decisions, understanding context, talking to their subject, working with a team-mate and so on, before later-on applying it in-context with all the messy bits added in. In physical intervention training, for example, the traditional classroom model would have learners practice individual techniques end-on-end (one-by-one) in a safe, controlled environment, moving on to the next skill on the curriculum list once the skill is performed adequately enough for the instructor to consider it assessed on their skills matrix. This modality allows for a lot of control by the instructor, detailed feedback on technical details, minute correction of foot and hand placement, and reinforcement of skills, helping to solidify a technical foundation.

However, real incidents of conflict and violence happen in risky, non-linear, chaotic and intense circumstances where a significant number of decision-making components come together, at a moment where the learner’s cognitive functions may be overloaded or degraded by stress.

The Classroom Model: Drawbacks

The traditional classroom model has several significant disadvantages. First, that ‘isolation’ of parts to integrate them later or isolating the skill from the performance context, has met with criticism with regards to transfer. Indeed, research for over half a century has argued that skilled performers must be able to interpret environmental cues and the requirements of a situation to enable them to make the right decisions and carry out the necessary response. Framing isolated practices out of context at the beginning of training results in techniques being decoupled from decision-making and context. In other words, perception-action and task-environment are decoupled. However, this approach has been shown to be poor for learning because it often lacks the complexity and unpredictability of real-world situations. In conflict management, for example, real-world conflicts are rarely as straightforward as those presented (often as PowerPoint examples) in the classroom. Classroom training can lead to a powerful illusion of competence promoting a false sense of confidence, as learners may believe they are fully prepared for real-world situations (they can make the shape of a restraint technique) when they are not. This can potentially lead to disastrous consequences when they find themselves in actual conflict situations.

For an example of complexity, consider the issue of the 'compound assault'. A hair grab is often part of a series of actions, which for example may start with a verbal threat, then a shove, a hair grab and then pulling the person or pushing them the floor, which then enables the assailant to deliver blows or kicks to the target.

This ‘chain’ of attacks, compounding in sequence on one another, is more likely to be the real process of a violent assault than the static example which is designed-in to ‘classroom model’ training programmes where the staff member can execute a ‘one-and-done’ breakaway technique, for example.

A nurse describes a serious assault she experienced:

Secondly, the classroom model often neglects the importance of decision-making. In a real-world conflict, making the right decision at the right time may often be just as important, if not more so, than having the “correct” classroom-model skills. A scenario approach is a holistic training approach?that encourages learner-centred training where tactics,?decision making and?problem solving?are?developed together. Such an approach seeks to address transfer of technique and decision making into ‘real life’. Thus, it develops decision making under pressure as it builds into every practice attempt reading situations [people (self, colleagues, subject(s); variability (transitions, stages of escalation/ ratios); environment (stability/variability)]. It focuses on scenarios through a?conceptual approach,?using concepts,?tactics and strategies rather than through a basis of?skill.?Therefore, scenario-based training models are better at teaching this aspect of confrontation management because they provide a more realistic context for decision-making practice.

Instructor Deficits

For instructors, who may be certified on a course which emphasises a “classroom model” approach, there could be significant deficits in how their knowledge, understanding and skill are being developed. For instructors with a ‘traditional’ linear, trainer-centred, skills first focus, scenario-based training will require a fundamental shift in how they train. Indeed, the instructor’s role is notably different to traditional, instructor-focused models training. This requires in-depth knowledge of learner-centred learning methods that are often contrary to the model under which instructors were themselves trained (a shift to a more interactive, complex, and unpredictable learning environment). Instructors are repositioned in training to stand back, observe more, act as a facilitator being less directive, to live in the background, which is a difficult role to assume when the instructor is used to being the focus.

As an organisation’s trusted advisor, the level of understanding and knowledge required to design, develop and execute on violence-reduction programmes goes far beyond being able to read the training company’s “classroom model” scripts. Essentially ‘parroting’ a script, where each “instructor” says the same words to describe exactly the same response to static physical-contact situations may develop a surface-level ability to ‘teach’ a response to a specific contact. However, without the context:

• in what service is this interaction happening?
• in what kind of physical environment is this interaction occurring?
• within the scope of what policy or professional duties is the disengagement appropriate?
• who is the person grabbing the staff member and why are they doing so?
• what verbal de-escalation was happening before the contact?
• what verbal de-escalation is happening after the disengagement?
• what appropriate action should the staff take when they achieve disengagement?
• what justification can the staff use for their disengagement?

…then the simple technique in focus is stale, isolated, lacking context and therefore somewhat meaningless to the learner who needs it.

Simple questions could help to enhance this training experience:?What happened before the contact? What will happen after the contact? Why don’t we practice those elements?

Until the training can bring operational interactions to life, linking clearly to the context in which they will need to transfer into, then its effectiveness in terms of learning & development will be limited.

"Transfer" in the context of learning refers to the ability of a learner to apply the knowledge or skills acquired in one situation to a different situation. This can involve applying what is learned in a training environment to real-world situations, or using knowledge gained in one area to enhance understanding in another. It's a critical aspect of effective learning and training, as it ensures that the learning is not just theoretical but can also be practically applied.

For instructors inducted into their teaching practice using a simplified classroom-model approach, it could be said that they are being robbed of the opportunity to create transformational training experiences for their learners and to develop true value for their organisations in their training function.

Scenario-Based Training: A More Realistic Approach

There is a growing body of evidence that supports the effectiveness of scenario-based training models in the wider context of learning and occupational competence. Studies have found that scenario-based training and its related disciplines resulted in better decision-making skills among police officers compared to traditional classroom training – with scenario-based training declared the ‘gold standard’ for training . Studies have found similar results in the context of medical training. These findings highlight the potential of scenario-based training in enhancing the practical application of skills and decision-making abilities. The evidence is such that the UK College of Policing has comprehensively adopted Scenario-Based Training for officer safety training and the World Health Organisation has supported the widespread use of simulation in nursing and midwifery training programmes.

Scenario-based training is a?conceptual approach,?based on concepts,?tactics and strategies rather than skills.?The pedagogical focus switching to increasingly complex ‘whole’ scenarios/situations (i.e., initial call to event resolution) and in the context of PMVA presents situations that closely mimic real-world conflicts on wards, in clinics and in the community. Thus providing a more realistic and complex behavioural environments for learners to develop their skills and decision-making abilities. They can be exposed to the nuances and unpredictability of real-life situations, in simplified and modified forms initially, while retaining the integrity or ‘realism’ of the practice conditions. allowing them to better understand and manage the dynamics of conflict.

But then, how does the novice find a moment of calm within realistic training to focus on technical details, hand and foot and body placement, specific verbal formula, and to get the significant number of repetitions needed to properly install a new psychomotor skill in their body-mind system? Well, there is room within a scenario driven model for different practice types, and a properly skilled coach-educator will recognise moments where reality or scenario fidelity will have to be dialled-down in order to create space for focussed practice. Isolated skill?development?is utilized but not isolated or front loaded before taking part in a scenario. Instead, the scenario retains ‘perception and decision making’ so the learner understands when and why the skill is needed. Building confidence and competence in these practice moments becomes, then, a part of the training, instead of the focus of the training.

Chris Cushion talking about the deficits in police officer safety training, circa. 2017:

Scenario-Based Training: Challenges

However, scenario-based training also has its challenges. It requires highly skilled facilitators and wherever possible, realistic training environments (props, scenery and safety equipment are desirable for higher fidelity). Considerable inertia can exist in maintaining the status-quo for outdated and less-effective methods of training which require less effort, considering the “same old” approaches. Strong views about how people learn and what is ‘good’ for them persist based on established ‘traditional’ pedagogy and this sets limits to what is regarded as useful in the profession. Trainers who are wedded to end-on-end EDIP simplifications, or NLP-based instructional practices, ‘Learning Styles’ or other pseudo-science or scientifically empty concepts may resist change. Therefore, traditional training approaches are the frameworks where practice and practitioners become dogmatic and resistant to criticism from within and without. Indeed, training is characterized by an insular and defensive culture that seeks to maintain the status quo, positioning training in a traditional, technical framework where learning is at best trivialized, at worst, never evaluated, taken-for-granted and is bound up in notions of liability and control.

Undoubtedly, scenario-based training can increase the level of professional and personal risk for learners, as it places them in situations that closely mimic real-world conflicts (even when practiced at slow speed and at low intensity). Learners who have past trauma related to interpersonal conflict or whose disposition limits their effectiveness in real-world conflict encounters are exposed by the training. Organisations must take a view as to when they wish to learn about the true competencies of their teams – in the training room, or in the operational environment? Where staff suffer adverse outcomes in conflict encounters – would it be better to have discovered and supported weaknesses in staff skills before (in scenario training) or after an event?

A scenario-based model may be more effective for teaching conflict management and physical restraint. It provides a more realistic and complex environment for learners to develop their skills and decision-making abilities.

Progressive Conflict and Physical Intervention trainers are finding the benefits of a scenario-driven approach and the specific evidence-based, research-informed methodology taught on the SCENA Instructor CPD course, taught by Professor Chris Cushion from Loughborough University and Gerard O'Dea , Training Director at Dynamis.

Learn more: https://www.dynamis.training/trainers/scena/