TEACHING TIP: The importance of POSITIVE INSTRUCTIONS vs. Negative Instructions……or DO vs. Don’t
Let’s do a little exercise…read each phrase then see what image comes into your brain:
Phrase #1: “Don’t drop the reins”!
Phrase #2: “Hold the reins like you’re holding a coffee mug in each hand”
What did phrase #1 make you see in your mind? You probably saw/ felt reins being dropped which is NOT what we want to do with our reins!
What did phrase #2 make you see in your mind? You probably saw/felt the reins staying in your hands which IS what we want to do with the reins.
Phrase #1 is an example of a NEGATIVE INSRUCTION or a “DON’T”. This type of instruction focuses on what we don’t want the outcome or action of our student to be.
Phrase #2 is an example of a POSITIVE INSTRUCTION or a “DO”. This type of instruction focuses on what we do want the outcome or action of our student to be.
Based off what each phrase above made you think about or “feel” in your mind, do you think positive instructions/DO or negative instructions/DON’T are more effective in our lessons?
Make the shift from DON’T to DO
Adaptive/therapeutic riding instructors should try to shift their instructions towards POSITIVE INSTRUCTIONS or DO’s as much as possible because our brains don’t process commands or instructions in the negative.1
Rewording from DON’T to DO enables more effective communication between the instructor and student and takes into consideration how brains process information. The DO type of phrasing also sets the student up for success by putting the outcome the instructor wants into their mind vs. what the instructor is trying to correct or avoid with the student.
Examples of how to shift from DON’T to DO
It can be difficult for instructors to automatically use positive instructions because they often think/see the negatives and/or automaticity say what they see happening without “transforming” it to the positive
The student is slouching- “Don’t slouch”!- The student is leaning- “Don’t/stop leaning”!
- The student’s heels are too high- “Don’t let those heels come up”!
- The student is pulling the reins too hard- “Don’t pull your reins so hard”
Instructors must train their brains to identify what needs fixed, pause and process the information, take the info and phrase it into a positive instruction that tells the student what they want to see them ultimately DO…..
The student is slouching-“Grow tall like a tree”- The student is leaning-️”Stay centered over your horse by keeping your bellybutton shining straight over your horse’s mane”
- The student’s heels are too high- “Heavy boots to the sand”
- The student is pulling the reins too hard-“Softly slide your rein open towards the fence”
Defaulting to using positive instruction vs. negative instruction is something that takes intentional practice and implementation by instructors.
Using positive instructions will eventually become habit and something you are “unconsciously competent” in doing….but after intentional practice in the “conscious incompetence” and “conscious competence” phases of learning.
INSTRUCTOR CHALLENGE:
Record your lessons (video or just audio) and then listen to them. Ask yourself:
- Do you tend to use more positive or negative instructions?
- Tip: Keep a tally of positives/do and negatives (don’t) as you hear them
- How could you rephrase the negative instructions into positive? What did you want your student to do, not fix, in that moment?
- Tip: Write out the negative instruction and it’s translation to a positive instruction on a piece of paper!)
- Now go practice!
Have you tried this technique? How has it worked for you? I’d love to hear in the comments below.
Want to learn more about topics mentioned in this post? Check out the Intuitive Instructor Content below:
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