Mark Nessel: Training the Next Generation of IMPACT Suited Instructors

 

Mark with his kids Sam and Sofie

The IMPACT core class is such a complicated and multi layered thing that the training and certification period for new instructors, which frequently seems unnecessarily long to people that are unfamiliar with the details of the class, is a one of the foundational elements of the success of the program.  The necessary skills can't really be put into practice in a laboratory environment, it's simply impossible to simulate all the possible permutations of what might happen in a class.  The only real way to effectively train staff is to utilize an apprenticeship model where staff in training are working in a class with real students under close supervision of senior certified instructors.

     There are no throw-away moments in the IMPACT core program.  Every interplay with the class or individual students is an opportunity to either enhance or diminish their learning.  IMPACT instructors are always "on", from the moment the first student arrives before the class until the moment the last one leaves.  Every interaction needs to be intentional.  The only way to learn this is from practice and the experience of the senior staff.

     While I'm no longer able to be in the suit, I'm grateful for the opportunity to share my experience with the next generation of suited IMPACT instructors.  We need this course and this organization now more than ever before.  Highly trained professional instructors are critical to the IMPACT program's survival and advancement of our mission of reducing and eliminating predatory violence against women.  I'm thrilled to be able to contribute to the mission through training new instructors.

Mark Nessel, IMPACT Chicago Instructor Trainer 

For more about Mark as a Suited Instructor, check out  "It's Time to Hang Up My Helmet."