The content of the 4th edition of Fire Officer: Principles and Practice rocks due to the efforts of the 24 members of the 4th edition focus group, 1 contributor and 82 reviewers. The book reads well and looks good due to the efforts of two editors and the production team at Jones and Bartlett Learning. I want to share some of the elements from this 24-month process.
New Warrior-Teachers Preparing the Next Wave of Fire Officers
Preparing for the fourth edition started with attending 19 national, regional and local fire training events from December 2017 through March 2019. I was looking to learn from the new warrior-teachers. They are experienced and on-the-job. They do deep dives into the literature and are critical thinkers about fire research and leadership. They are detail-oriented, hands-on and passionate. Many are veterans.
These warrior-teachers post on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. They sometimes have a dedicated website. You can follow many of them as they journey up the mountain from one of 10,000 righteous regional instructors to one of the 500 outstanding national-level instructors to one of the 50 keynote speakers.
Some brand new presenters I met gave raw presentations. Their information was important and their point of view valid. They will improve their delivery with more “sets and reps” on the stage and will become one of the 500 outstanding national-level instructors.
One of the biggest changes since the 3rd edition was written is the impact of social media on our profession. For example, 7 of the 19 training events I attended were announced and marketed exclusively online.
Some warrior-teachers have made it to FDIC. I found it hard to spend quality time with them at Indianapolis, where I am one of a dozen people wanting to talk to them. At the regional training event, I may be the 3rd person wanting to talk to them after they do their presentation. A much more relaxed environment for follow-up questions.
Also during this time, I reviewed about 35 fire service books that were published or updated since 2013, after the 3rd edition was sent to the printers. I also reviewed the position papers, programs and documents issued by our co-publishers, the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) and the International Association of Fire Chiefs (IAFC). For example, one of the conferences I attended covered the Vision 20/20 Community Risk Reduction initiatives.
Reader and Customer Feedback
If you contacted Jones and Bartlett with a concern about 3rd edition Fire Officer content, the publisher shared that issue with me. I had about a dozen notes on content from students, instructors, and program administrators. We considered all of them when updating the textbook.
The 24 members of the 4th edition focus group made it clear that the book needed to be divided into separate Fire Officer I and Fire Officer II sections. They provided feedback on the proposed table-of-contents and reviewed the proposed drafts of the new chapters on leadership. Their feedback supported using Professor Peter Northouse’s 8th edition textbook on leadership as well as including the U. S. Marine Corps leadership principles.
The Editing and Revision Process
The first draft of each chapter was reviewed by some of the 82 fire service reviewers along with a representative from the co-publishers, the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) and the International Association of Fire Chiefs (IAFC). That included assuring that the content is consistent with the 2020 version of NFPA Standard 1021: Standard for Fire Officer Professional Qualifications. That feedback, combined with the Jones and Barlett editor’s review, was returned to me for revision or rewrite.
The editing process also included feedback from one of the individuals who is writing assessment questions for the Navigate2 learning management system. This feedback kept us on track to use consistent terminology, unambiguous phrases, and clear writing. This should help those of you who will be using the textbook to prepare promotional exam questions as well as those studying for such exams.
Each successive edition closer aligns the reference sources with the knowledge items found in the text. There were a couple of carry-over references from the 3rd edition where the 2013 era internet-based reference had evaporated and we needed to find a new citation in order to use the quote or knowledge item.
I am quite biased and am proud of what our efforts produced. Take a look and let me know what you think.
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Order Fire Officer: Principles and Practice 4th edition from Jones and Bartlett: https://www.psglearning.com/fire/officer/productdetails/9781284172393
There is still time to register for the Journeyman Fire Conference in West Point, Virginia. January 18 – 21st. http://journeymanfire.com/
Ward, Michael (2019 April 1) 5 Ways Warrior-Instructors Are Moving the Fire Service Forward. CompanyCommander.com. Reston, VA: Gold Badge Enterprises LLC.
Ward, Michael (2018 October 15) Reflecting on the loss of an up-and-coming fire instructor. CompanyCommander.com. Reston, VA: Gold Badge Enterprises LLC.
Ward, Michael (2019 December 30) Finding an Up-to-Date Resource for Fire Officer Leadership. CompanyCommander.com. Reston, VA: Gold Badge Enterprises LLC.