Building a Successful Band ART Training Scheme Module 2F – From Rounds to Plain Hunt Module 2C – From Rounds to Change Ringing June 2019 (T) © ART Charity No 1156971 2f2

It’s important to plan your practices The 5 P’s rule Prior Planning Prevents Poor Performance Planning ringing practices is not always easy. For example it may not be known who is going to attend. But the Teacher should have in his or her head long term goals for the band and the individual ringer and the short term goals which will be used to gain them “Failing to plan is planning to fail” Abraham Lincoln 2c2

Managing practice sessions Plan Practise Emphasise the need to plan and review practices. It may be easy for you to think of a practice as a hamburger. Without the bread roll on either side of the meaty burger the hamburger is not complete. Review and modify 2c2

And equally important to review your practices What went right? Did you achieve what you wanted? What went wrong? How could the next practice be better? After each practice the Teacher should review The things which went well, The things which did not work out Due to insufficient time Lack of suitable helpers Misjudgement The Teacher should then think about how he can improve on the planning for the next practice. 2f2

Setting the right atmosphere Place ringer development first For success place emphasis on Personal effort Striving to succeed Skill development Mistakes are not failures. They provide opportunity for feedback and are essential to the learning process This approach will produce better performance with greater consistency Teachers and coaches set in place the environment in which learning takes place. By adopting certain attitudes and by putting into place certain behaviours a teacher can alter the atmosphere within the tower to encourage a desire for achievement and to establish a higher level of commitment from individual learners. With no understanding of how to create the right atmosphere a ringing teacher may, without realising it, create a learning environment which will lead to stagnation of ambition, boredom and infrequent attendance. 2f3

Organisation and planning Running effective practices Time keeping Attendance Enjoyment Progress Goals Where am I taking my ringers in the long run? What goals will I use along the way as stepping stones? What skills do I need to build in my ringers to get to the long term goal? Needs to have a goal for the team/practice. What goals do people have for their tower? Goals for each practice should support the overall goal or direction. 2f2

Plan individual practices – use time effectively Use every moment of the practice What are your aims for this practice & longer term? What skills are needed to achieve these? What do you hope to achieve with each touch? Who do you want in the touch? Who don’t you want in the touch? Don’t stop to chat – save it for the pub, but don’t neglect the enjoyment factor! Planning your practice is vitally important. Initially in ART Module you will be asked to fill in Lesson Plans. This is to help you focus on planning each training session. However, when you become an experienced teacher the planning may be just jotted down on a scrap of paper or prepared mentally. Give examples of good and poor management of touches and practices. 2c2

Placing the band Who is the touch designed for (whose “prime ring”)? Which ringers will enable the learner to ring the best ? Which ringers do I not want inside? Would a particular ringer be ok on the treble? the tenor? Placing the band is a skill. It may take time to learn to do this easily. Planning several touches in advance may make this easier. If you don’t want Joe Hacker in the touch of Bob Minor you are setting up for your learner to ring, Give Joe a touch of what he would like to ring the previous time. He can then happily sit on the bench through the Bob Minor. Or before you place the band for Bob Minor, give Joe a job that doesn’t involve him in the touch (ask him to revise something he might ring, plan something … anything that you can think of!) Becoming adept at placing a band is a leadership skill which some tower captains and teachers never master. It is highly recommended that as a new teacher you work on this aspect of running a good practice. All the top teams place Bands! 2f2

Keeping everyone happy New ringers need more than one go at what they are trying to learn Advanced ringers need to ring methods that are more challenging and that they find fun Learning to call can provide challenges and variety Learners will not be able to build skills unless they have sufficient practise. One attempt will just not be sufficient. The earlier on someone is in the learning curve the more important this is. Keeping every one happy is a skill which as a new teacher you will develop over time. Encouraging and developing team spirit and team work will help. 2c2

Motivating and enthusing A desire to learn Cannot be forced upon anyone. It needs to be first stimulated and then carefully nurtured A need for achievement Without achievement, enthusiasm will not be maintained A sense of direction New ringers need to know where they are and what comes next Confidence Makes participation fun and is critical to motivation Enjoyment is important – practice should be FUN! It is easy to presume that the new learner will be really well motivated. However maintaining that motivation week after week is a difficult task. Good coaching will improve confidence. Experiencing success will generate confidence. Pushing learners to attempt things they do not feel comfortable with will undermine their self confidence if they are not successful. Before attempting something new ensure that the learner has the appropriate skill in place to be successful. 2c2

Experiencing success – improves learning Achievement more effort success Increasing/decreasing MOTIVATION This is the circle of achievement a tutor should attempt to keep the learner on. This is the pathway which will keep him happy and keep him ringing. motivation praise enthusiasm enjoyment confidence 2c2 10

Repeated failure – slows learning Lack of achievement reduced attendance no praise This is the circle a tutor should attempt to avoid for his learner. frustration less effort loss of confidence reduced motivation fear of failure 2c2 11

It’s important to feel good at the end of a practice The teacher is the one that can make it happen Hope the teacher feels good too – don’t beat yourself up! 2c2 12

Building & maintaining a band Leadership Being a good leader does not mean you have to do everything yourself 2f2

Opportunity to get several tower members involved Jobs to be undertaken The band Running the ringing Teaching Recruitment Social side Outings PR & social media Maintaining relationships with church and community Maintaining the bells and fitments Opportunity to get several tower members involved Everyone has a skill or a strength – delegate to use these opportunities and make people feel part of the team. 2f2

SUCCESSFUL Tower Captains The successful Tower Captain Have vision Share goals Communicate effectively SUCCESSFUL Tower Captains Encourage teamwork Believe in people Some people are born natural leaders, people are drawn to them. However, everyone can become a leader by thinking about the attributes needed for the job and working to develop them. Leadership is setting up a vision and developing plans to work towards the vision. To be successful a leader must inspire others to follow his or her ideas. Without that vision and the ability to communicate it, people will just start doing their own thing Set an example Take responsibility Inspire and motivate 2c3

Planning in advance An overall sense of where the band is going Quarters Peals Certain methods From week to week What to learn for next week From touch to touch What will the next touch be? And the following one? Give people warning so they can prepare Planning can be long term or short term. The short term aims or goals can be used to keep everyone interested on a weekly basis whilst building skills toward the larger long term goal. 2c2

Communication Good leaders listen Good leaders empathise When people are listened to trust is developed Good leaders empathise Everyone wants to feel valued and be understood By actively listening to people a leader start to understand how individuals feel about things. By listening and understanding people a leader can start to sense the needs and the emotions of people. A leader can begin to get a feel for when to approach a person When a little more guidance and nurturing is needed to enable the person to become more effective. When a pat on the back is needed for work well done. A simple and genuine acknowledgment of other efforts goes a long way to building rapport, respect, and responsibility with followers. 2c3

I’m not really sure what to do Communication I’m not really sure what to do Work with people Put each individual ringer at the centre of their development plan Remember everyone will be different Be an active listener Keep the ringing jargon at the appropriate stage for each ringer Use questions to check understanding Give plenty of encouragement Acknowledge progress Remember the non-verbal feedback - a quick thumbs up or a smile With good communication comes better understanding of people. When people feel understood they start to trust their coach. Once people trust you they will be willing to attempt harder things [take risks] for you The whole of your feedback should be given with a view to maintaining and increasing motivation 2f2

Set the example Lead by example Dedication Work ethic Responsibility A good leader understands their own strengths and weaknesses and seeks assistance in areas where they are weak. 2c3

Believe in people Be encouraging Build confidence in others Make people feel empowered to share ideas if they feel believed in To motivate people you need to understand them Good leaders motivate people to set high attainable standards that result in a successful outcome. 2c3

Team building – team work Get to know the individual members of the group as much as possible Recognise the importance of each individual within the group and what they can contribute to the group as a whole Add an extra dimension – lectures, courses, demonstrations Clarify goals – set achievement targets in consultation with group members Good team work will follow in the wake of a good team spirit. It is putting the team spirit into action, the band members working co-operatively together. It is the coach who can help build this. Some important factors are: It is important for a coach to have empathy with all his learners. He should have plenty of patience with the slower learner. He should let the faster learner go on ahead or risk boredom setting in. 2f3

Team building – team spirit Facilitate team communication Provide regular opportunities for members of the group to meet together. Going down the pub after practice? Increase team ‘togetherness’ Organise social events and outings. Visit new places, venues. Have a separate social organiser within the group. Enhance the collective sense of team identity Use of logos, badges, team clothing? Team spirit is the feeling the members of the band get which makes them want to co-operate as a group. If a band has good team spirit it is much more likely that your band will work together well. These are a few ideas on how to build team spirit in your band. It is the coach or tower captain that can make this happen. 2f3

Creating the right atmosphere Create a positive atmosphere Social side Be enthusiastic Develop team work Acknowledge achievements Ringers must feel you respect them Remember the importance of outings, tours, going down the pub, barbeques etc. Make sure ringers are enjoying the practices Progress of both individual ringers and the band as a whole will all depend on their motivation, their keenness to progress. The atmosphere in the tower will affect motivation. A Motivational Climate should be what you are attempting to create 2f2

Good coaching can change motivation Motivation is the key “It is often the ability of the coach to motivate which separates the excellent coaches from the others” Weingberg and Gould 2003 It all comes back to the relationships between coach and their students and the trust that exists between them” Jones et al 2004 Good coaching can change motivation 2f2

Burn-out Reasons why we lose people Reaching goals and not having new ones set - stagnation of talent Not reaching expectations - goals need to be realistic Too much pressure Lack of variety in practice These are some considerations we as teachers should pay attention to if we want to increase the chance of keeping our ringers. We loose many ringers. Every teacher should constantly review his or her teaching practice to ensure that the individual ringers are treated in the way which is best for them. Too much pressure for one person may be just right for another for example. This slide emphasises the need for a flexible and learner centred approach to teaching. 2f3

Good luck with developing and maintaining a good strong band! 2f2

Communicate effectively Effective communication gets the message over accurately to everyone A good leader is an effective two way communicator with both verbal and non-verbal reasoning Effective communication leaves no room for interpretation, gossip or conjecture. Giving different messages, concerning the same topic to various receivers will lead to mistrust and discontent. 2c3

Non-verbal communication is important For effective communication Make consistent eye contact Maintain a body posture which appears to be open to the message being received 2c3

Why do people continue? “It is often the ability of the coach to motivate which separates the excellent coaches from the others” Weinberg and Gould 2003 “It all comes back to the relationships between coach and their students and the trust that exists between them ” Jones et al 2004 2f2