Catrin Jones Student Number: 20061693

Critical Reflective Essay

Catrin Jones

Student number: 20061693

Module: OAEH01

Word count: 2429

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Catrin Jones Student Number: 20061693

Picture 1 - Man over board

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Picture 2 – Rescuing sailing boats

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Picture 3 Driving in the Waves

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Jarvis et al (2003) states that learning is as crucial as breathing, it is the process through

which we become the people we are, the process by which we internalise our experiences

of the world. As a part of my degree in outdoor education I was given the opportunity to

undertake an intensive professional development skills programme. Throughout this essay I

aim to critically analyse the learning that took place during my participation in a Royal

Yachting Association (RYA) Powerboating level 2 course. The course provides the knowledge

and skills needed to drive a powerboat, including teaching the skills of low speed handling,

man overboard and recovery, driving at plaining speed, launching and recovery, anchoring,

coming alongside, and securing to a buoy (RYA, 2017). The course was undertaken over four

days in four consecutive weeks, after each week I wrote a diary in order to reflect upon the

events of the day in the hope of learning from my experiences.

Sugerman (2000) states that one of the first people to argue the importance of reflection in

the learning process, in order to derive meaning from experiences was John Dewey. He

recognised that it was the careful selection of experiences, linked with commitment to

reflection upon these experiences that formed the basis for the acquisition of new

knowledge and learning. Moon (2004) agrees stating that reflective practice is one of the

key elements in experiential learning. In order to aid in my analysis of my reflection of each

session, excerpts of my diaries have been added to add context to the points which I have

made. Boyd and Fales (1983) states that reflection is the process of creating and clarifying

the meaning of experiences in terms of the self, this can be broken down into four different

aspects of learning physical, social, emotional and cognitive. My reflection will be

intertwined with photo-elicitation Loeffler (2005) explains that photographs act as memory

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Catrin Jones Student Number: 20061693

triggers allowing practitioner to recall the moment the photograph was taken, he suggests

that photographs are better at accurately conveying experiences capered to spoken or

written words. I have chosen three photographs which were taken over the course of the

sessions, each conveys one of the different aspects, with the exception of physical as I

believe that my physical learning was limited.

One common theme that I found throughout undertaking the powerboat course was that

my learning was affected by the people I was in contact with throughout the day.

Humberstone et al (2015) suggests that our learning is made up of connections within

ourselves and with others and the environment. Connections occur as a result of the

combination of stories from before, during and after an experience. He continues to explain

that we go into experiences with preconceptions and expectations, we generate new stories

through participation in the outdoors and our stories change and develop as we listen to the

stories of others. Carter (2007) explains that groups in the outdoors form intimate

friendships because of their shared experiences and struggles as well as the commonly

forced intimacy of outdoor groups. Over the duration of the degree so far we have built

strong connections with each other, and therefore we have a strong level of trust in one

another. Each day after we had come off the water we would naturally begin to talk to each

other and recount our most memorable stories of the day. Upon hearing what the others in

the group had experienced my perception of the experience changed.

Once we had packed everything away we headed back to the changing

rooms to get changed, As usual we were the last ones out because we had

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been too busy talking about what we had done and how the other boats had

gotten on -

However it was not only at the end of the day that others had an effect on my learning. I

also found that the people I was in the boat with impacted how and what I learnt. Berry and

Hodgson (2011) state that any adventure includes an element of risk, however while we

instinctively think of this risk as purely physical, this is not always the case, risk can also be

cognitive, social or emotional. They continue to state that one common social risk is the risk

of underperforming in front of others, particularly friends or peers. This was predominantly

evident when doing man over board and reversing manoeuvres. As can be seen in the first

photograph. I found that when I was in the boat with Kieran my focus was much more on

doing the manoeuvres correctly and not making any mistakes. Whereas when I was doing

the same manoeuvres only a few weeks later with Katie in the boat, my focus shifted and I

was able to relax more and therefore have a lot more fun with it.

Our second task was to do a man over board, after the fun of last week we

decided to name them, Katie’s was Barney while mine was called Charlie.

These went really well. We tried both types of rescue. I messed up the

drifting down version slightly but it still worked so overall I was really happy.

We were right when we had said in the morning it would be a lot of fun with

the two of us. It was really relaxed and so we were able to have a lot more

fun with it.

Berry and Hodgson (2011) suggest that our performance is affected by how well we know

those we are with, stating it is clear that a group of people who know each other and have

experience working together will perform better than one who does not. However there is

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also a distinctive change depending on how well the participants know each other. This is

echoed by Ewert and Sibthorp (2014) who state that there are two factors which affect

relationships in a group, these are task motives, which focus on the completion of a skill or

exercise, and Social motives, which relate to the enjoyment of participants working

together. While I have known Kieran for over a year and worked with him numerous times

before I feel I haven’t gotten to know him as much as others on the course, therefore when

in the boat with him I felt a lot more pressure to not underperform and as such I was

primarily focused on the task. In comparison Katie is one of the people on the course I know

best, therefore I found there was a lot less pressure and as a result I was able to focus more

on the social motives, this meant we were both able to relax and have more fun with

practicing the manoeuvres. Stambor (2006) states that laughter and other forms of humour

can improve student performance because it reduces levels of anxiety and encourages

active participation while also improving motivation for the participants to learn the subject

at hand. When practicing man over board manoeuvres we decided to name the man over

boards, as we were laughing and enjoying coming up with new names each time I found

that I did not mind when I messed up an approach and had to try again.

Overall I have found that my learning is greatly affected by the people I am in contact with. I

feel more comfortable among those I know well and learn best in an environment where I

can enjoy the activity without focusing only on the task. It is the close friendships I have

formed during the course which have made it easier to ignore the social risks and make

mistakes and seek advice in order to learn and become a better practitioner. In the future I

hope to be able to form similar friendships with the people I work with and therefore create

a positive learning and working environment.

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My greatest challenge emotionally came on the last day, while I had experienced challenges

over the course of the other weeks my biggest challenge came when we were learning how

to rescue small sailing boats. Due to a mistake when attempting to bring the sailing boat to

the dock the sailing boat capsized and the mast got stuck under the pontoon.

Unfortunately as we pulled away as we had expected the boat started to tip

and as we were so close to the pontoon the mast ended up underneath it.

Now we had the extra challenge of working out how to move the boat away

before we could right it

While the rest of the day had gone well the stress I felt in the situation affected my

confidence and therefore my ability. Ewert and Sibthorp, (2014) states that stress is a

condition that occurs due to a persons’ anxiety or fear, the cause of this anxiety or fear is an

individual’s consideration that a particular task is beyond their capabilities. Although I had

done the same manoeuvres before, the new context and the added pressure of having

others watching, as well as needing to move the boat quickly in order to prevent damage,

caused me to feel out of my depth.

Mortiboys (2012) states that the capacity for recognising our own feelings as well as those

around us, and managing our emotions is known as emotional intelligence. TeamFME

(2017) further this explaining that emotional intelligence can be broken down into four

factors, self-awareness, social awareness self-management and relationship management.

While I was self-aware of my emotions, as I became more frustrated, my ability to manage

my emotions and recognise the emotions of the people around me decreased. Ryan (2012)

states that people act in accordance with their beliefs about their capabilities and the

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expected outcomes of actions. As my confidence in myself dropped and my frustration in

myself increased, I became short with the people that were trying to help me and where

offering me advice. I began to feel that, although I knew what I needed to do and

theoretically had the skills to be able to complete the task, in reality I was unable to do it in

practice.

I was getting more and more frustrated, Jake was trying to help by telling me

what needed to happen but I already knew what I needed to de I just wasn’t

sure how I was going to do it. Jake continued to try to help me but I really

just needed to think and work it out for myself which unfortunately mean I

was a bit rude to him, telling him to shut up for a minute.

Bandura (1988) describes through social cognitive theory that our behaviour is influenced by

and in turn influences our cognitive state as well as other personal factors. While I found

that my emotions changed my behaviour and my attitude to others, I also found that the

consequence of my behaviour in turn affected my emotions. After I had completed the task I

found myself annoyed with how I had reacted at the time and became more aware of the

way I had interacted with the people around me. In the future I need to become better at

managing my frustration in order for people to help me. I also need to become better at

reading the emotions of the people around me, especially when I am stressed or frustrated

as these are the times when I am most likely to inadvertently make an impact on the people

around me.

The third photograph represents my cognitive learning. Sugerman (2000) states that in

order to increase a participants’ ability to reflect upon experience, there is a need for

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greater knowledge of how individuals process and manage information. During the level two

powerboating course there was a lot of cognitive learning. With each new manoeuvre came

new information and procedures as well as new experiences. Over the course of the four

days I became more aware of the way that I Iearnt and absorbed the information I was

presented with, otherwise known as my learning style. Pritchard (2005) explains that a

learning style is an individuals preferred way of learning; for example, using pictures instead

of text; working in groups as opposed to working alone; or reading rather than listening to

information. One way of categorising learning styles is by using the VAK learning model.

Bold (2004) explains that the VAK model is based on the six pathways through which we can

learn: by what we see, what we hear, what we taste, what we touch, what we smell and

what we do. The VAK model categorises these pathways into three learning styles based on

the main ways in which we learn, visually, auditory and kinaesthetically, which is comprised

of the combination of taste, touch, smell and actions. Throughout the powerboat course I

found I responded best to a multimodal approach, which combines the three learning styles

together. I found that while I could understand concepts that were given to me visually or

auditory it wasn’t until I was given the opportunity to try it myself that I was able to fully

understand what I was being taught and the task I was being set.

However I also found that when learning a new manoeuver, rather than just listening to the

instructions given and trying it straight away, I preferred to watch someone else do it first.

This is explained by Ryan (2012) who states that in social learning theory, learning occurs

one of two ways; inactively, by physically doing it, and vicariously, through watching

someone else. He continues to state that learning through observation can be broken down

into four components: attention, retention, production and motivation. I found that by

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paying attention to how others completed the task set, I felt better prepared and therefore

able to transfer the knowledge from an abstract concept into an understanding of exactly

what I was meant to do.

After watching Kieran I decided that it was better to take it slow although I

could have probably approached slightly faster. Although as Mark had said it

is easier to add speed than to take it away.

Luckner and Nadler (1997) describes this via active learning theory. This theory states that

learning is not accomplished through static acquisition of information, via visual or auditory

instruction alone, but by learners actively making connections between new material and

previous knowledge and experience. While the visual and auditory information may inform

participants of the principle of how to do a manoeuvre it is through connecting that

knowledge to past and present experience that individuals are able to learn.

Emma told us the safe way to drive in the waves this involved speeding up up

the waves, before reducing the power at the peak and returning the power

for the next wave. Anna drove us out and was really good at judging the

waves and knowing when to put on the power and when to take it off. I

however was not. I found it really difficult to determine when to put on the

power and when to take it off as well as what angle to approach the waves

and as such within a few minutes we were all soaked. After a few minutes

and some advice from Fiona and Anna I had gotten a little bit better.

I found that only by doing it myself did I understand what worked and what didn’t. Although

I made a lot of mistakes along the way, which unfortunately resulted in everyone getting

quite wet, it was only through the past experience of getting it wrong that I was able to

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understand the further instruction given to me by the others in the boat. Luckner and

Nadler (1997) echo this stating that the meaning of new information for individuals is based

on what they have already learned through past experiences and is integrated by

participants being actively involved with the information by means of experience.

Overall I have found that I work best when combing the three VAK learning styles. I have

discovered that I feel more confident after watching someone else demonstrate the skill or

task I am learning to perform. It is by reflecting on the observation and my past experiences

that I was fully able to understand the advice I was given and through experiencing it myself

and practice that I am able to continue to improve.

The aim of this essay was to use three photographs to aid in the analysis of the social,

emotional and cognitive aspects of my learning while participating in a RYA level two

powerboating course. Throughout this reflection I have learnt a lot about myself and have

identified ways in which I need to improve my practice in the future in order to become a

more successful practitioner. I have discovered the differences in how I learn compared to

the people around me and have found that I am greatly influenced by them, and it is

through the people who surround me that I am able to learn and improve

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References

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