July 16, 2009
Training tips for teachers of SIA security courses
Five top tips for teachers of the Security Industry Authority (SIA) security courses for Door Supervisors, Security Guards, Close Protection, CCTV
1. Get qualified to teach. Make sure you have the correct teaching qualifications as recognised by SIA. In most cases this will mean getting both the PTLLS and also the 2886 Certificate for Deliverers of Conflict Management Training but both of these can be taken together on the combined course. If you are not properly qualified to teach then you simply won’t be allowed to train people on these courses – it is a strict requirement enforced by both the SIA and the various exam boards / awarding bodies involved such as Edexcel, City and Guilds, NOCN, Skills for Security
2. Plan your courses properly. Most of the SIA recognised qualifications are formed of two separate units which the candidates have to pass both to get qualified. For example Door Supervisors have to do “Roles and Responsibilities of the Door Supervisor” which mainly relates to their legal responsibilities and “Conflict Management” which is dealing with customers. These units have separate exams, so it would be sensible for you to plan your course in two separate sections and cover these topics wholly separately.
3. Get proper course material. Ensuring that your candidates have good material to learn from is vital. It is good practice to source any material you refer to from a reputable source so that you can be sure that it is correct. You also need to be sure that you can justify what you have provided if challenged, for example this might happen if a candidate fails the exam and blames you. Even though some exam boards do not seem to check their questions properly or refer to proper sources, you should make sure that you do.
4. Use a variety of teaching methods. This is particularly important for the more theory related parts of the course, for example dealing with the licensing laws, rights of entry and health and safety. These areas of security training are often very badly taught with candidates bored by a tutor talking endlessly or suffering “death by PowerPoint”. Plan group-work, quizzes, tests and other fun events to make it interactive.
5. Check you candidates are learning. You might think that all your candidates are doing well and heading for any easy pass at their exam, however you really do need to check that all your security trainees are getting to grips with the course. Use mock tests, question and answer sessions, group discussions and quickfire rounds to find out if people have managed to keep up and understand your lessons.
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