Safety
Protect the physical and emotional well-being of both students and instructors. Choose tasks, terrain and pacing that suit the situation.
Instructor Resources
Teaching Framework
We teach more than a skill.
We share a way to enjoy winter.
The studentGoals · Readiness · Experience · Growth
Technical skillsAccuracy · Observation · Analysis · Application
Teaching skillsGoals · Experience · Feedback · Adaptation
People skillsTrust · Communication · Understanding · Connection
Every decision and action an instructor takes starts with the student.
Built on years of hands-on teaching, the TXSNOW Teaching Framework draws on leading international systems, including Canada’s CSIA, CASI and PSIC, the United States’ PSIA-AASI, and New Zealand’s NZSIA. It brings these influences together into a teaching philosophy that guides lesson design, instructor training and teaching assessment.
01
Safety, trust, enjoyment & fun
The four outcomes we work towards
A positive, professional learning experience brings together four closely connected outcomes.
Trust
Students and instructors feel respected and understood. Students also begin to trust their own ability to succeed.
Enjoyment
Students are doing more than taking a lesson, and instructors are doing more than a job. Both enjoy the sport and the experience they share.
Fun
Both leave with a sense of curiosity, achievement and involvement. Students want to practise and look forward to coming back.
Fun means something different to everyone
- For some people, simply being active feels good.
- Others find enjoyment in a demanding challenge.
- Some value the chance to connect with other people.
- Others love trying something new.
- For some, learning and understanding are the most rewarding parts.
Why does fun matter?
When students feel safe and have fun, the conditions for learning are in place.
Safety+Fun=Learning
When instructors enjoy teaching, students are more likely to enjoy learning. Make sure you enjoy the experience of learning alongside them, too.
02
That “stoked” feeling
The moments that make people fall in love with the sport
That feeling of being “stoked” captures excitement, exhilaration, enthusiasm and pure joy. It is a big part of what keeps people coming back to skiing and snowboarding.
Your students may have experienced that feeling in another sport and hope to find it on snow. Or this may be their first taste of it: a truly memorable moment in their lives, with you there to help make it happen.
SafetyFunProgressStoked!
Remember: the more students experience those moments of joy, the more likely they are to fall in love with this remarkable sport. Helping create those moments is part of our job.
03
Put the guest experience first
You represent the mountain
For many people, an instructor shapes their first impression of the mountain. That experience can influence how they feel about the whole visit—and whether they want to return.
Guest service matters because instructors often spend more time with guests than anyone else at the resort. Each of us can positively influence how guests see the resort, the snow school, other departments and their staff.
Whether it is opening day or the last day of the season, it may be someone’s very first day on snow.
An instructor does more than deliver a lesson. Every interaction is a chance to shape a student’s relationship with skiing or snowboarding in a positive way.
Learning is a partnership
Teaching is not a one-way transfer of information. Meaningful communication builds trust and creates a partnership between instructor and student. That partnership depends on understanding the student’s needs and expectations, and encouraging them to take an active role in their learning.
Let the student guide the lesson
A supportive learning environment grows from a warm, encouraging and interactive relationship. Lesson design and pacing should respond to the student’s physical condition, emotions, readiness to learn and how they feel that day. A lesson plan should support those decisions, rather than become a rigid sequence students are expected to follow regardless of their needs.
Safety comes first
When students feel physically and emotionally safe, they have room to try, make mistakes and learn.
Connection opens the door
Feeling seen, understood and respected builds the trust that makes students receptive to feedback.
Growth is the outcome
The experience should lead to changes students can notice, repeat and continue to build on.
04
Three essential skills
Equally important. Stronger together.
Technical accuracy is essential, but it is not enough on its own. For students to put technique into practice, understand it and make their own decisions, instructors need people skills to build a connection and teaching skills to shape the learning process.
Building the connection
People skills
More than being a good conversationalist: these are the skills that connect you with students and make learning possible.
- Build relationships founded on trust.
- Communicate meaningfully in both directions.
- Recognize, understand and manage your own emotions and behaviour.
- Recognize and positively influence other people’s motivation, emotions and behaviour.
Turning experience into learning
Teaching skills
Success is measured by how much students learn, not how much the instructor teaches.
- Set long-term and short-term goals together.
- Manage information, activities, terrain selection and lesson pacing.
- Encourage play, experimentation and exploration.
- Help students reflect on their experiences and how they felt.
- Adapt to students’ changing needs.
- Manage physical and emotional risks.
Providing clear direction
Technical skills
Give students technically sound, clear guidance that is right for them at that moment.
- Understand, communicate and apply accurate technical information.
- Observe, assess and guide movement through movement analysis.
How do people skills and teaching skills differ?
Effective people skills build trust.
Effective teaching skills produce learning.
People skills: the art of connecting
People are less interested in how much you know until they can see how much you care. They quickly sense whether you are a “sage on the stage” or a “guide on the side”.
You do not need to change your personality to please everyone. What matters is whether your attitude, words, facial expressions and body language help students trust you, so learning can happen.
Are we both enjoying this?
Can I manage my emotions and behaviour? Do I recognize how my mood and energy affect others? Am I enjoying our time together? Does teaching give me a sense of fulfilment?
A learning partnership works both ways. Students are not the only ones who deserve fun and enjoyment.
Teaching skills: is learning actually happening?
Understanding
The student can explain why and what comes next.
Awareness
The student can recognize changes in their body, equipment and the snow surface.
Performance
There is an observable change in movement or decision-making.
Consistency
Success becomes repeatable, rather than happening only by chance.
Transfer
The student can apply what they have learned to a new task or environment.
Independence
The student can use what they have learned without the instructor present.
How to use this framework
This framework is the guiding philosophy behind TXSNOW’s teaching standards, program guides, instructor training, teaching SOPs, assessment tools and client communications. Specific requirements for safety, professional boundaries and operating procedures remain governed by the relevant policies and SOPs.
References
- PSIA-AASI, The Learning Connection & Discipline-Specific Fundamentals, 2023.
- NZSIA, Ski Manual, Section A: The Art of Teaching, including material on the learning environment, lesson structure, student relationships, checking understanding and feedback; with reference to related SBINZ teaching resources.
- CASI Reference Guide.
- CSIA Instructor Guide.