BY BRIAN R. BRAUER
Solid, high-caliber initial training is the basis for a successful fire service career. However, not every recruit is suited to immediately excel in the crucible of recruit training. How your program manages and leads students who have difficulties in the early stages of their training can assist them in meeting the objectives of your program and better equip them to manage their learning experiences throughout their career. Below I offer a framework to identify and address student learning issues successfully.
The University of Illinois Fire Service Institute (IFSI) is the statutory state fire academy for Illinois. Since 1977, we have trained 58 classes of recruits at our facility. IFSI recruit training methods are discussed in “Recruit Training from the Ground Up,” by Brian R. Brauer, Fire Engineering, March 2003.
As you are already aware, not every student learns or processes information in the same manner. Especially in the recruit training environment, the students may have a broad range of ages, backgrounds, and educational and experience levels. They do not yet have the common skills or job foundation to which more experienced firefighters can relate their new experiences. Some recruits struggle in the initial phases of their training. How you manage these challenges and lead these students to success can impact their attitude toward training, their dedication to the job, and their career in general.
IDENTIFYING LEARNING DIFFICULTIES
An important first step is for the organization to identify problems that may occur in the course of a new firefighter’s training. Solutions should range from remediation to dismissal. A program that passes every student, even those who do not meet the program’s objectives, does a disservice to the public the new hires will be serving.
Identifying the potential problem recruits begins before the first day of training. A questionnaire or survey completed by students before they report for training can give you some basic demographic information about your incoming students. As you divide the class into shifts or squads, this information will enable you to spread individuals’ strengths and weaknesses across the ranks.
Some items that can be gathered from a student self-report include college classes taken and degrees conferred, EMS training and certification, hobbies, previous employment, jobs held and for how long, and military experience and the type of discharge. You can also assess students to rank their perceived skills as leaders, followers, problem solvers, and other abilities.
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Although educational levels are not necessarily an indicator of success in the fire service, they can give you a feel for what to expect for incoming students’ reading and comprehension levels. EMS, military, or law enforcement experience may provide clues relative to the individual’s experience with taking and following orders, working in an emergency environment, and making decisions under stress.
A second step to take before a class begins is to look at the program itself. Make sure the objectives are clear and are understood and shared by all students, staff, and instructors. Our program objectives are listed in Figure 1. Ensure that the methods used follow established adult learning guidelines. Examine the instructors, facilities, props, handouts, and drills to make sure that each component not only serves a purpose but also contributes to advancing the students toward attaining the program objectives.
During the program, gather information on how well students are meeting the objectives. At IFSI, we use several methods to measure student progress. They include direct observation of skills performance (individually and as part of a suppression team), daily quizzes, mid-term and final practical exams that measure skills progress individually, instructor feedback forms indicating student performance above or below expectations, and weekly surveys from students in which they review and evaluate their own performance. Additionally, at daily meetings, the program director and staff review each student’s performance for that day.
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Once we determine that a student is having trouble meeting the objectives, program coordinators and instructors help that student address his problem areas. First, we identify the problem area as precisely as possible. Is the student struggling with psychomotor, cognitive, or affective objectives? Isolated trouble meeting one objective in a given area can be addressed with remediation. Persistent difficulties in meeting the program’s objectives merit further investigation.
STUDENT LEARNING STYLES
One method to help students better understand material is to determine their preferred learning style: auditory (through hearing), visual (through seeing), or kinesthetic (through hands-on demonstration). Once this mode is identified, the instructor can offer remedial training using the student’s preferred style. To identify this style, the IFSI uses the tool contained in The Secrets of the Learning Universe by Chris Francisco, Western Illinois University, 1991 (Figure 2).
Although this may not be available for all subject areas, using a video or hands-on demonstration designed to reinforce how a skill should be performed could assist a struggling visual learner. Props or cut-away models to touch or handle could help a kinesthetic learner to relate to the information presented at a lecture or acquired during study. For example, a cut-away of a five-part hose coupling would enable such a student to see the orientation of swivels and gaskets.
The above methods are ways to modify student behavior to meet the program objectives. Remediation, additional practice or repetition, and additional study time all fall into this category. In addition to the above measures, make sure information is presented correctly. Analysis of quiz or exam questions can give the instructor a snapshot of what material students did not understand. Is just one student, several students, or the entire class having a problem? With an established program, the problem usually is not that information wasn’t presented effectively; but if the material, the objective, or the instructor is new, don’t rule out this possibility.
Make sure instructors are presenting the same information and uniformly demonstrating the appropriate skills to the students. With an experienced staff and established program, this should not be a problem. However, ensure that new staff members are familiar with the established lecture content and related in-class skill demonstrations on which they will evaluate students. All staff must be clear on the methods used to evaluate students’ skills and performance.
For example, how does your program teach students to dismount a ladder onto a flat roof? Does each firefighter sound the roof, or just the first one off the ladder? Should the firefighter step up to the roof from the rung below, or should he step to the rung above and then step down? Having all of your staff present and demonstrate skills uniformly helps these sessions run smoothly and more professionally.
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ADAPTING TRAINING METHODS
Our central tenet for helping students succeed is, Do not alter program objectives. Your agency, state, or department has determined the content of your program. The departments for which you train recruits expect a certain caliber of firefighter to be turned out after successfully completing your program. At the IFSI Academy, instructors are empowered to do whatever it takes to help the students succeed. However, this does not include any behaviors or techniques that lower the program’s standards. The objectives don’t change, but the instructors may alter and enhance delivery methods to expedite the students’ learning.
Below are some examples of how training methods can be adapted to help students meet course objectives.
H. is a recruit who had difficulty completing the sequenced steps in a task. He was unable to dress a hydrant, extend a line, or climb a ladder with tools without omitting steps or tools. Initially, the instructors had him practice the above tasks more often than other students to assist him in learning. He received time outside of class with the staff to hone his skills.
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Using the Self Assessment of Learning Modality Strengths tool to identify his preferred learning style, we discovered he scored highest as a visual learner. In reviewing his background, we learned that he had artistic hobbies and his work history included sculpting and painting. By combining increased repetition and ensuring that he had a chance to observe skills performed correctly, he overcame his challenges and graduated at the top of the class.
G., 18 years old, failed every quiz he took. A passing score is 75 percent; his scores ranged between 40 and 55 percent on the first 10 quizzes. Only with intense remediation did he pass the retake quizzes. He could discuss what he had learned in a lecture but could not coherently relate information he had read in his textbook. G. had been assessed in high school for learning disabilities but was found to have none.
To address his struggles, we required him to complete the workbook chapter that corresponded to his assigned reading prior to coming to the lecture. Our instructors created handouts to accompany lecture materials G. could use to reinforce what he saw on the slides and overheads. We set clear expectations of improvement for the student to remain in the program. By the end of the third week of the program, using these methods to reinforce what he read, he was still struggling academically, but his scores had improved. By the fourth week, he was passing his quizzes on the first try. By having G. immediately apply what he had read in exercises to increase his comprehension, he achieved success.
W. was a 34-year-old new hire in a fire department, with two years active duty in the military six years before. When donning his SCBA, after performing exercises for less than five minutes, he complained of shortness of breath, saying he was “not getting enough air” from his mask. He repeatedly pulled his mask off during smoke drills and abandoned his company during suppression evolutions on several occasions. He quickly blamed the SCBA his department sent him.
We offered him additional practice in his SCBA, worked with him to control his breathing, and tried other maneuvers to get him accustomed to working in SCBA. We even went so far as to flow test his SCBA in front of him to show him it was working correctly. He refused to consider claustrophobia or any other intrinsic cause, denying any other explanation except faulty equipment. After increased repetition and wearing his SCBA while performing routine tasks, he continued to have problems.
Having ruled out faulty equipment, we confronted him with proof that the problem was with his use of the device, not the device itself. Despite our interventions and offers of further assistance, the student continued to abandon his company and exit drills prematurely. As in the above cases, we presented the agreed-to, clear, written expectations he was required to meet to continue in the program. There was no improvement in the student’s performance, and he withdrew from the program. He continued to maintain that he had faulty equipment.
A recruit’s experiences in his initial training will shape the rest of his career. A program with clear objectives; appropriate staff; and a plan to identify, address, and mitigate student challenges as they arise will make these experiences more positive throughout the program and set a positive tone for students’ ongoing training. Although not everyone who wants to be a firefighter possesses the requisite skills, knowledge, and abilities to do so, it is our role as instructors to help those willing and able to make the sacrifices to join our profession to succeed in their training.
BRIAN R. BRAUER is the firefighting program director at the University of Illinois Fire Service Institute, where he manages the certified firefighter II academy and annual fire college. He is a captain and an 11-year member of the Edge-Scott Fire Protection District in Urbana and an Illinois certified firefighter III and instructor III. Brauer has a bachelor of science in nursing from the University of Illinois-Chicago and is pursuing a master’s degree in education.
