Swim Lessons: A Swim Lesson Philosophy for Dealing with Scared Swimmers

Frances Andersen Bicknell, Psychology Major, Spanish Major, '19

My goal of this learning contract was to provide steps for a swim instructor to aid in Jack’s* development of swimming. This contract will offer suggestions for balancing Jack along with the other swimmers in Jack’s class as well as possible ways to keep him busy while the instructor is with working with the other children. It will also help Jack, as well as all of the other children in the class to have fun during swim lessons rather than one filled with commands and reprimands. I chose this work from during the year because I think it is a very applicable subject, and is something that often is overlooked. It is also something that almost everyone who learned to swim has dealt with in their life. In addition it provides evidence for the ability of Erikson's psychosocial model to be applied over a broad spectrum of subjects and not just confined to one aspect in a child's life. 

Source: Source: https://www.verywellmind.com/erik-
eriksons-stages-of-psychosocial-development-2795740

Jack is a seven year old boy in the process of learning how to swim. He is not able to swim on his own and can barely do doggy paddle to the wall. He sometimes has trouble coordinating his movements and understanding the body movement in swimming which I believe frustrates him leading him to a “learned helplessness” state. Learned helplessness is the belief that the person cannot achieve anything, or specific task so they begin to believe and act on the belief that nothing they do will change that. He previously had trouble holding onto the kick board and would tend to lose his kick board which promptly led to him sinking - his eyes were huge as he realized he couldn’t float. This was a couple of weeks ago, but Jack still remembers this and it is evident in the way he acts during his lessons. So he needs a new way of attacking swim lessons instead of him and the instructor struggling through a 30 minutes of swim lessons. 

An example of the progression of learning to swim according to:https://acac.com/app/uploads/2015/11/2015_swim_lesson_level_acac.pdf

After I needed to jump in to grab him, he’s been much more hesitant to get in the water and will cling onto the instructor whereas the other children are relaxed enough to let go of the teacher and try to float on their back, or doggy paddle to the wall. In the beginning of class Jack is reluctant to get in the water often running away from the edge of the pool. So after he is finally in the water, he will cling to the edge of the pool refusing to do head bobs, or blow bubbles. This makes it difficult for the other children because the teacher will start to do one-on-ones which leaves the other students waiting for their turn. If he is with the instructor he will not let go to do back floats or kick. This shows me that he is afraid of the water, and is scared to start drowning again. I see Jack’s development in swimming as starting from the first level of Erik Erikson’s psychosocial model and being applicable through the fourth step. 

The first step is trust v. mistrust. In order to change this fear of the water Jack first needs to trust his instructor. Previously the instructor was busy with other children and assumed Jack was more advanced than he was so when he let go of his kick board there was no one initially to scoop him back onto the board. Because of this he now uncertain of what will happen in the water and doesn’t trust that it will be safe. Therefore, he does not want to leave the wall or even get in because the pool seems to be dangerous to him. To change this mistrust there are a couple of parts. The first is to have one water instructor consistently his teacher every time. This builds a relationship between Jack and the instructor encouraging more trust on Jack’s behalf. Show him how water can be fun, and even though it’s deep (the shallow end is still too deep for him to stand) noodles, kick boards and jumps can be lots of fun. Explain why we have certain rules. Give him 3 things that he can count on his hand, so before each lesson him and the instructor can go over them. This will establish consistency which then also leads to reliability and more trust.

The second is autonomy v. shame which is the growing understanding of independence and finding limits in a safe space to fail. Jack does not have the self esteem to take that independence and explore the bounds of his capability. The instructor needs to help find the balance between independence and assistance in order for Jack to feel safe, but able to take on a challenge. The problem with the pool at Kenyon is the shallow end is too deep to stand. So there is less of an ability to fail safely without completely going under. That said, making sure the instructor is an arms length away and ready to grab him should he go under would ensure a safer place to fail. If other children in the lesson are commenting “that was easy” then Jack may feel defeated before he even starts, leading him to believe that he cannot measure up. So reminding Jack, and showing him the instructor is there if he needs it is very important in developing the relationship as well as trust within the lesson. Without the previous foundational steps it will be much harder to advance. So, this will continue to build on the first step of Erikson’s model and help ensure Jack is having fun. 

From there, the third is initiative v. guilt. This is extends from the second stage because it predicts Jack will be more assertive in the lesson, for example asking to do more back floats or jumps off the wall. Currently Jack is reluctant to do back floats and requires much coaxing in order to get through the lesson. After reaching this stage he will be more excited to participate, getting more involved and his intrinsic value of swim lessons will increase. This is because he will be challenged at an appropriate level for him which sets him up for a challenging yet rewarding path to success rather than setting him up for failure. The instructor can help this stage by getting Jack excited about new things, talking about how fun the challenges are and let it be known that Jack can do these challenges. This way of teaching would be more encouraging than repeatedly kicking, blowing bubbles and not challenging Jack and his peers. With Jack’s energy and short attention span the instructor would need to make sure there is always something for Jack to be doing, something to be working on in the water. This would give Jack something to do rather than mess around ultimately waiting to be given attention, usually in the form of a reprimand.

The fourth is industry v. inferiority. In the context of swim lessons this would look something like the following: Jack asking to learn to dive into the pool, or wanting to show off his skills of being able to swim across the length of the pool by himself. He wants his actions to be validated which in turn helps him to feel competent in his swimming. In this stage, the instructor would perhaps see how far each child could swim, and then challenging each of them to go a couple feet further. He or she could suggest some tips for swimming faster such as kicking harder, or keeping their ear close to their arm to make breaths easier and more efficient. Jack’s self esteem would be growing in this stage and in addition to being more confident in the water he would be excited to swim instead of being driven by extrinsic motivation or punishments from his parents, he would actually be excited to be there and enjoy his time in the water. 


*This name was changed to protect anonymity.