THE QUICK READ
• Inclusion is defined as ‘the act or state
of including or of being included within a
group or structure’
• Consider whether your preferred
teaching style would work if a class
participant was unable to see, hear or
understand what you were doing or
saying
• Learning simple greetings and niceties,
such as ‘hello’, ‘thank you’ and ‘great
job!’ in the native tongues of some of
your participants is excellent for
increasing inclusivity and building
rapport
• Learning a few simple words or phrases
in Auslan, the Australian sign language,
will be greatly appreciated by hearing
impaired clients, and more considered
and clearly detailed cueing will help
visually impaired participants
• Incorporating elements of inclusion in
every class, regardless of whether it
specifically applies to participants on
that day, will make it second nature and
build your reputation as a dedicated and
inclusive instructor.
group or structure.’ From the perspective
of a Group Fitness Instructor, how can
we make our classes more inclusive,
particularly for those who, for various
reasons, might have trouble understanding
what is going on? Though this article is in
no way exhaustive, my hope is that it will
provoke thought and discussion about how
we can create a more inclusive environment
in our fitness facilities that results in more
people participating in exercise.
Adapting our teaching
As instructors, we all have a preferred style
of instructing, one that we like and are
comfortable with. For some, this might be
predominantly non-verbal, for others verbal,
and others still, highly structured, perhaps
introducing a move, a progression and
maybe even an explanation of the move.
Whichever style is your preference,
consider how it would work if a class
participant was unable to see, hear or
understand what you were doing or saying.
Adapting an instructing style to accommodate
different participant requirements, usually
at short notice, can push us outside of our
comfort zones. It can even feel like we are
learning how to instruct all over again. In
addition, we might have to be satisfied with
‘near enough’ for some movements, as long
as they are safe. For example, when a vision
impaired person attended one of my aqua
classes for the first time, I tried to explain
what a rocking horse was. In response, the
participant said ‘So it’s like a lunge?’ Perhaps
I could have tried explaining it in a different
way, but I also realised that that could
actually be more confusing, so I decided that
their interpretation in that instance was near
enough.
If we are seeking to be inclusive in our
classes, it may mean that whole parts of
our class plan will have to be altered – in
part or entirely. An example would be a
format that involves a lot of explaining as
opposed to direct demonstrating. How
might we communicate our expectations to
someone who is hearing impaired? Consider
also someone who speaks one of the many
languages spoken in Australia (in Melbourne
alone there are 251 documented languages)
but has limited English. Interestingly,
Australia has no ‘official’ language, but
English is obviously the common one, the
‘lingua franca’.
We may find ourselves on a learning curve,
even taking cues from our participants. For
example, the command ‘Extend your leg out’
may make sense if people can see, even if they
do not know what an extension is. A vision
impaired person, however, may ask ‘Which
way out?’ When we demonstrate in a tactile
manner it teaches us that, in future, a clearer
instruction would be ‘Straighten your leg
forwards’.
There will be disparity between teaching
a class at a textbook level of excellence and
one that is seeking to be inclusive of the needs
of all those in attendance. As mentioned, the
latter is likely to be uncomfortable initially,
and we may find ourselves sacrificing our
egos for it. With practice, however, it is
possible to become more accustomed
to it and grow as an instructor. As Carol
Syer, one of the co-founders of Enable,
has previously written with regards another
aspect of inclusion, ‘Learning to include
everyone in your workouts will improve
your communication skills and make you a
sought-after instructor.’
Inclusion in rapport building
Instructors are expected to build rapport
with their participants. As humans, we like
people like ourselves. Thus, it is natural for
us to gravitate to the people who are like
us – people who use the same language
and have the same customs and value
systems. Branching out of that can be
daunting and bring us into contact with
ideas and behaviours that we have never
even imagined. For example, a participant
from a vastly different culture to ours might
have a very different understanding of time,
or of family and kinship terms. They may
even speak a language that does not use
an alphabet, but rather an abugida, such as
in a number of South East Asian languages.
However, the rewards of exposing ourselves
to these differences can be priceless.
While we may plead language as a
barrier, most people from different countries
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