Theresa McKeon, one of the TAGteach founders has been invited to speak at a high tech incubator, where the industry leaders of tomorrow come to learn and help each other grow. The host of this event, Habit Design is the largest national cooperative for sharing best practices in developing sustainable daily habits via Behavior-Change Psychology, Captology (Persuasive Technology), Game Mechanics & Techniques, Behavioral Economics, Sociology, etc.
Theresa will present a mini-workshop introducing TAGteach and how this fun and focused approach can benefit anyone who wants to build new habits in themselves or others. TAGteach is based on the science of learning and the findings of B.F. Skinner. Dr. Julie (Skinner) Vargas says of TAGteach "This is what my father would have wanted for his science". TAGteach provides a user- friendly way to apply the principles of behavioral science to any endeavor that involves human behavior change.
They say it’s good to move outside your comfort zone. Over the years, I’ve had a terrific time pushing that zone wider and wider. I’ve also found that when you team up with new people, the comfort zone is infinite.
Comfort Zone Expansion - Case History #1 Commercial Fishing Crew and Management
The world has gotten a sneak peek at commercial fishing operations through cable shows such as "Deadliest Catch". The drama on these shows is heightened with editing, but the dangers and difficulties of working in close contact and difficult conditions are real. Training is primarily for safety purposes and is often antiquated. Injuries and poor quality control can sink a ship, but employee training on dangerous onboard machinery is virtually zero. Tim Mientz, the former owner of “the Seafisher” describes his early attempts to bring productive training aboard his ship.
“I spent many thousands of dollars, got my crew together from around the world and brought in a professional suit-and-tie trainer. After two days, all I got from him was a suggestion that the guys take more time off and have some sort of Kumbaya picnic on an island somewhere. Are you kidding me?”
Tim realized his industry urgently needed specialized training and decided to get the ball rolling. Banding together with his safety regulations consultants, Amy Duz and Erika Seather (IWorkWise) the group did some research which led them to TAGteach International and Terry Ryan of (Legacy Canine and chicken training camps). Tim and Amy tasked us with creating a three day training program for crew and management, which would focus on the specific needs of commercial fishermen and processors. In some aspect or another, we were all about to go outside our comfort zones.
The TAG Team
The TAG Team, as we have come to be known has been around for 6 years and we have certainly broken the ‘suit and tie’ mold. The training looks something like this -
Fifteen to twenty men and women from every position on and off the ship arrive from points around the world. There are at least four native languages and some that don’t read or speak English. Graciousness is the first thing you notice. Everyone is on-time, sitting in seats, looking forward, and ready to go. After an introduction by Tim that includes attendees wining cold hard cash, the first eight hours is a crash course in clicker training chickens! Terry dives in and takes the group through the foundations of operant conditioning by teaching them to recognize and shape discrete behaviors in chickens. The group learns that trying to force a chicken to acquire a skill is frustrating and a waste of time. Using the knowledge of the science of behavior to identify and change both the behavior of the chicken and that of the teacher is the path to success. That lesson crops up throughout the entire three days.
Introducing TAGteach
On the second day of training, I introduce TAGteach. We make the transition from shaping chickens, to communicating and training people. The connection comes early, and the Aha! moments come in tidal waves.
It’s not about the life form of the student; it’s about the teacher providing information the student can consume.
Yelling won’t make someone understand, especially since many of the crew speak English as a second language.
Nagging is a waste of energy. Energy is a precious resource on the ship.
Creating clear criteria during skill acquisition and providing timely reinforcement is far more likely to result in success.
The day is full of finding ways to incorporate TAGteach tools, especially the focus funnel into training.
Application of Behavioral Principles to Commercial Fishing Issues
The third day is led by Tim, Amy and Erika and once more the focus is on transition. It’s a day of safe and open discussion about applying the information from the workshop to specific applications on the ship. The discussions can get heated, but they are tempered by shifting the focus back to problem solving instead of problem blaming.
The three days are intense, but peppered with time for brain rest, smoke breaks, meal times and communication opportunities for the crew. We use real poker chips from the local casino to inspire participation and fun. The poker chips can be used at the casino after training or turned in for cash. We’ve seen real success stories as crew and management have used the class as an opportunity to tackle issues of the past and set up for success in the future.
Way Out of Our Comfort Zone
The commercial fishermen came into a classroom full of chickens and thought, “Way out of my comfort zone”. But after proper introduction, they were cooing and petting the chickens as if they were family dogs. At the end of the workshop they were still in conversation about potential applications of TAGteach. “We can use this here.” “I can see that will help there”. They had successfully increased the comfort zone.
I came into a classroom full of commercial fishermen and thought, “Way out of my comfort zone.” But I was soon talking behavior and audible markers with the captain of the ship as we created training plans together. Together with Tim, Terry, Amy and Erika, I had kicked the edges of my comfort zone.
What’s next and who wants to go with me?
I was at a clinic with Alexandra Kurland (I had been clicker training horses for many years) when she mentioned that since I taught kids as well as adults, I should try TAGteach. When I asked what that was, she used the following example, "you ask them to keep their position around a 20 meter circle and if they do, then click them and they can go jump the cross rail". I think my jaw dropped. What a brilliant idea. I remember saying that I could have left the clinic right then and there and I would have gotten my money's worth (but I'm glad I didn't because there was more great stuff to come). My mind went wild with the possibilities. I couldn't wait to get home and try it. Kids love to jump - they don't like to work on position so much. There was a perfect way to work them together.
Back at the farm, I put it to work. My first efforts have thankfully blurred in my memory but at the time, I thought I was doing great and the kids were happy. Being an education junkie (I love to learn), I found a TAGteach seminar "only" 6 hours away and signed up. Both Theresa and Joan were there and expanded my enthusiasm further. As a riding instructor, I felt that if I wasn't talking constantly, I wasn't earning my money. In that first seminar, I had the HARDEST time trying to shut up and let the learners learn. During one of the exercises, I repeatedly talked too much rather than letting the clicker work its magic. When I rolled my eyes in disgust at myself, Theresa said, "tag point is, lips sealed." Bingo. That was all it took- the power of a tag point right there for me. I could give my instructions and my tag point and then focus on "lips sealed". And I did it!
At that time, I had a challenging student (competitive adult) who criticized herself constantly. The TAGteach seminar group took on my challenge and helped me brainstorm ways to help this individual. I remember going to her next lesson and pulling a piece of surveyor's tape off a nearby post to tie in her horse's mane where I wanted her to place her hands over a jump. Tag point is: hands to tape. She continued being hard on herself, but I was able to ignore it and focus on that tag point. This helped her be successful so that I could walk away from that lesson and know that rather than just soothing her, I had made a concrete improvement in the way she was riding which would have lasting effects.
Yesterday I asked a current student what TAGteach meant to her. I have tagged her for management skills, handling skills and riding skills. Her response:
"Knowing I can break any problem into "tag" moments gives me hope that I can actually fix anything, or learn anything, that I need to."
Jane is a Level 2 TAGteacher with many years of experience training horses and teaching riders both children and adults. Jane will share some her insights and techniques for using TAGteach to help make learning more fun and efficient in a webinar on June 5, 2013. We are grateful to Jane for doing a terrific job of moderating the TAGteach Yahoo group and for finding and sharing new and inventive ways of teaching.
Click here to register for a webinar with Jane for tips and ideas about using TAGteach for riding instruction ($9.97 for members; $19.97 for non-members)
In a prologue to the next TAGteach webinar (May 13, 2013) Say More and Talk Less, this post looks at the possibility that when a teacher talks less, they are also giving the student the chance to say more – to themselves!
The Sound of Silence
By Theresa McKeon
A teacher has just delivered a lecture detailing the “when, where, how and why” of a particular skill to a group of students. Next, the teacher consciously reduces the amount of language, crafting clear instructions and well-defined criteria for success. The students seem eager to try the skill and the teacher gives the all clear. There is a moment of silence as the teacher cedes control to the student. A battle ensues. The battle is not with the student, but with the silence. Silence right before student performance is teacher Kryptonite. It weakens our resolve and claws at our confidence. We race through a mental inventory. “Did I tell them everything?” “What will I do if they fail?” “Should I explain this in greater detail?” “Should I add some last minute encouragement?” The itch is too great to bear and in our last gasp, we add, “don’t forget…” along with the always beneficial, “remember what we talked about” and finish with a combination smile/thumbs up gesture. Teachers, you can save your breath. If you've been delivering your information using a focus funnel and a focus/tag point, your students are far from flailing in the momentary silence. The silence is merely an indication that your student has steely focus on what they are about to do and the criteria needed for success. They have transitioned to talking to themselves. This transition is essential if the student is ever to perform the skills solo. During new skill acquisition, last gasp instructions can disrupt the very focus you and your student worked so hard to create. Savor the silence as a job well done. When you talk less, you are giving your students the OK to say more – to themselves.
Click here to register for the webinar on May 13, 2013: Say More, Talk Less
Are you kidding? Aren’t teachers the superheroes of self-control? Every day they control the desire to use unacceptable phrases like, “No, you screwed it up again” and “Wow! I can’t believe you still don’t have this!” Teachers even are required to become proficient at restraining external signs of annoyance and frustration such as eye rolls, heavy sighs and throwing their hands up in the air in a gesture of “I give up.”
So where does a good teacher possibly need more impulse control? It may seem counterintuitive but teachers could benefit by limiting the amount of information they deliver at certain times, mainly in the moments immediately preceding a student’s attempt to perform.
Several conditions lead us to believe our students will be more successful if we toss them a last minute “don’t forget…,” “remember to…” or maybe the most distracting, “You can do it! I have faith in you!” While these phrases certainly have their place, the moment prior to performing a newly developing behavior is not one of them. So why is it so hard to control our impulse to disrupt the student’s focus?
1.Passion talking—
As a rule, teachers are passionate about delivering information to others. We have worked hard at gathering vast amounts of knowledge and can feel strangled when we have to stop conveying it, even if it is to let the learner have a go.
2.Our desire to be reinforced—
We are reinforced by our student’s success. When it appears our last minute advice has facilitated achievement, a superstitious conclusion may arise. “Last time I quickly listed everything I wanted him to remember right before the performance and it seemed that reminding him at the last minute worked.”
3.Worries about how we are regarded—
It is possible that we are afraid that coworkers or even outside observers might assume that our silence reflects a lack of proficiency in our observation skills. “If I don’t say something to the student, the other coaches will think I didn't see the error.”
Properly timed moments of silence are the mark of an attentive teacher; one who is consciously allowing the student to be part of the learning process and not just a vessel into which information is deposited at will. Learning to resist the impulse to repeat last minute bits of coaching, feedback or even cheer leading may actually speed up the time to your student’s fluency and ultimately, their ability to achieve independence.
Recorded Webinar
Click here to register for a recorded webinar with Theresa McKeon: Leave It! Impulse Control for the Teacher
The short answer is no. You don't have to give an actual treat after each tag. However, the tag must be a conditioned reinforcer in order to work effectively. The tag sound (or touch, light, or other predetermined stimuli) itself is initially meaningless. It begins to have reinforcing power only after it becomes associated with something that is already reinforcing to the learner.
With very young learners, reluctant learners or learners with cognitive delays, it may be initially necessary to follow the tag with a tangible reinforcer (a piece of popcorn, a sip of soda a sticker or a bead etc.). With adult learners and teens or children who are motivated to learn because they wish to improve or to succeed at a chosen activity, it is not necessary to give a tangible reinforcer. The tag itself becomes conditioned as a reinforcer because it is associated with that most powerful motivator, success! The tag means success and it tells the learner "yes, that was right!".
TAGteaching is much more fluent and efficient once the tag becomes a conditioned reinforcer. Here is a video that illustrates the importance of the conditioned reinforcer in circumstances where a food treat may not work for the teacher or the student for any substantial length of time and is indeed distracting to the learning process. The tangible reinforcer as suggested by the learner in the video is a glazed donut.
