Winning Mind Training

  • Home
  • About
    • About Winning Mind
    • Testimonials
  • Blog
  • Courses Listing / Calendar
    • Training Schedule
    • Course Descriptions
      • Dare To Be Great Leadership: Strategies to Help Build and Sustain a Culture of Leading, Learning and Excellence
      • Dare to Be Great: Strategies for Creating a Culture of Leading
      • Dare To Be Great Leadership 2.0: Continuing the Journey of Building a Culture of Leading, Learning and Excellence
      • Dare To Be Great Leadership: Strategies to Help Build and Sustain a Culture of Leading, Learning and Excellence
      • Excellence In Training
      • Performance Enhancement Imagery
      • PPCT Threat Pattern Recognition Use of Force Instructor Course
      • Ground Fighting and A.C.E. Edged Weapons Defense Instructor Course
      • Lessons From Life’s Most Powerful Question
  • Resources
  • Contact Us

November 2, 2021 By Brian Willis

What can we learn from the apprenticeship model?

One of the things I consistently hear from people in law enforcement is that it takes three to four years for a new officer to develop into a solid street cop. If that is true, which I believe it is, the question then becomes, “What are you doing to in that first four years to ensure they develop into the solid officer you expect?”

Are you intentional about scheduling people for professional development training in those first four years? I am not talking about the mandatory in-service training they will attend along with everyone else; I am talking about professional development training. When I say professional development training I am talking about courses to enhance their investigative skills, their interviewing skills, their stress management skills and their leadership skills.  

In an webinar with Gordon Graham and Tony Kern PhD, the author of Going Pro, I heard Tony talk about applying the apprenticeship model to law enforcement training. It struck me as a topic bearing more discussion and exploration. 

Is there something we can learn from the trades where you are an apprentice for your first four years. Those years are a combination of on the job work experience and ongoing professional development training. That training is intentional and designed to continually increase people’s skills and abilities over time. The training is mandatory and not simply a matter of “If you can find time to fit it into your schedule it would be nice if you attended.”. Would this require some long term planning? Yes. Does it require a commitment on the part of the agency? Yes. Would it pay long-term benefits? Yes.  

This is not to say that at the end of four years the professional development stops. As a profession we need to find ways to continually deliver professional development training to our people over their entire careers. Frontloading all the training and then simply providing mandatory, check the box in-service training every year, with professional development training being optional, is not serving our profession very well. 

How could you apply the concepts from the apprenticeship model in your agency? 

Take care.

Brian Willis

Winning Mind Training –  Providing practical training to law enforcement professionals in the areas of instructor development, Performance Enhancement Imagery, leadership and mindset.  

EXCELLENCE in Training Academy Black

Filed Under: Uncategorized

Trackbacks

  1. What can you do when budgets are a barrier to providing professional development training? | Winning Mind Training says:
    November 9, 2021 at 2:08 am

    […] week I wrote about learning from the apprenticeship model and the importance of providing ongoing professional development training throughout […]

Subscribe To Our Blog

Sign up to the Winning Mind Training blog to receive new articles, tips and posts directly to your email inbox.

Excellence In Training Blog

  • Are you intentional and deliberate about this? January 24, 2023
  • Working through the dissonance; uncomfortable, but necessary. January 17, 2023
  • Do you think of yourself as a coach? January 10, 2023
  • Are you reaching up, down and across? January 2, 2023
  • The third element of evidence based – research informed. December 27, 2022

Contact Winning Mind Training

Address:
246 Stewart Green S.W., Suite #2486
Calgary AB. Canada. T3H 3C8

Phone: 403-279-5954

Email: winningmind@mac.com

Connect With Us

  • Email
  • LinkedIn
  • RSS
  • Twitter

Winning Mind Training is a proud member of the Calgary Chamber of Commerce. To get more information and to find out how you can become a member of the Chamber of Commerce go to www.calgarychamber.com

Events

  • Lessons From Life's Most Powerful Question - Closed Workshop
    • Thursday, Feb 02, 2023
  • Dare To Be Great Leadership: Strategies to Build and Sustain a Culture of Leading, Learning and Excellence - Madison, WI
    • Monday, Feb 06, 2023 - Tuesday, Feb 07, 2023
    • Madison
  • Excellence in Training Course - Madison, WI
    • Wednesday, Feb 08, 2023 - Friday, Feb 10, 2023
    • Madison
  • Copyright © 2023 · Winning Mind Training