Mr. Steve Long

I’m based in Snowdonia, North Wales, and our Headquarters for UIAA Training is in Bern, Switzerland. In 2010 I led a working group creating coaching qualifications for climbing activities. We already had a series of instructor qualifications but we realised that we needed to provide a broader pedagogical framework for the full spectrum of teaching-learning options, and guide the coach's behavioural decisions based on learners' needs. I was already familiar with Muska Mosston's work, as well as related work about leadership behaviour  (e.g. Tannenbaum and Scmidt), so we incorporated the spectrum approach into our coaching qualifications. Since then I have worked with numerous mountaineering federations worldwide to help them develop climbing qualifications, notably trainers for leaders, guides and coaches. We always encourage them to make conscious choices about who makes various decisions along the learning pathway, and to adapt their behaviour accordingly. We always start by reminding teachers that teaching is actually about the learning.  We have also produced a teachers' manual to accompany our Alpine Handbook, exploring some of these ideas among practical advice for teaching personal and leadership skills and knowledge for hiking,  however this is currently in digital format only and therefore has no ISBN number.