This time, I was visiting High Hopes with a purpose: namely, to participate in a PATH Intl. Evaluator Training given by Kitty Stalsburg, who is a Master Level Instructor, Lead Evaluator, Executive Director of High Hopes and a mentor who has had a major influence on my own teaching. I've wanted to do the Evaluator Training for a couple of years now and have completed several prerequisites, including becoming an Advanced Riding Instructor and attending the PATH Intl. Mentor Training. Now, having also completed Evaluator Training, I am officially an Apprentice Evaluator. I will need to apprentice at two Registered Level On-site Workshops and Certifications (OSWC) and receive the recommendation of both Lead Evaluators to achieve Associate Evaluator status. Associate Evaluators can serve as faculty at PATH Intl. Registered Level workshops and they can also evaluate candidates for certification in riding and teaching.
Sounds complicated and it is... a little. It's also awesome to be part of a field and membership organization that takes therapeutic horsemanship practices and instructor training so seriously. One important take away message from Evaluator Training is how crucial the evaluator role is to establishing our still growing profession and to serving as a face of PATH Intl. at workshops and training/ testing events.
A second important point was the vital difference between being a mentor (which might be loosely defined as "an extra-invested teacher-trainer") and an evaluator (where one's key responsibility is measuring an instructor candidate's performance against professional criterion, as objectively and fairly as possible). Evaluating is an advanced and challenging role: one's decisions influence a candidate's professional future, perhaps their livelihood, and definitely the manifestation of months or years of hard work and deeply instilled dreams. (No pressure.) Evaluating requires focus, attention to detail and the ability to let go of all kinds of personal biases and preferences one may have about teaching style or approach. When mentoring one is developing a teacher (one of my personal passions!); when evaluating, one is - however fairly - assessing a teacher. A big difference.
Certainly, there is some overlap... Being a good mentor for PATH Intl. Instructors in Training absolutely means having a proficient working knowledge of the Instructor Criteria. Of course, serving as an evaluator mandates that one stay current and well-versed in said criteria and this can only help one become a better mentor. Likewise, mentoring skills are an important component of the evaluator role, especially given that evaluators are faculty for the workshop portion of the On-Site. By mentoring regularly, an evaluator also practices the teaching and leadership skills necessary to effectively and supportively inform Instructor Candidates of the results of their testing (pass or fail) in a face-to-face interview. (Again, no pressure.)
The training emphasized for me how important not only well-trained evaluators, but also the Instructor Candidates themselves are to the EAAT field. Instructors in Training bring new ideas and energy and often unique qualifications to our field. They also help EAAT expand, necessary if we hope to come close to meeting the potential need for our services around the globe. It’s exciting to think that as an evaluator, I will help to welcome newly certified professionals to the field and to set a fair, consistent and professional standard for certification.
I so enjoyed spending the day thinking, learning and talking about instructor training within the field of therapeutic horsemanship and look forward to investing more deeply in the process of becoming an evaluator. My goal is to attend an On-site the fall as an apprentice and then hopefully another in the spring, which is something I so look forward to although I know it will be an intense process. Teaching is learning... it always comes back to this!
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