Instructors should take some advanced training as well. Yea or Nay? Does it matter?

[Jim Lapenta]

On the subject of required con ed. SEI also requires instructors to have so many hours of con ed training per year. Similar to NAUI this can be diving, business, educational, or other training that translates into skills and knowledge for the instructor. The aforementioned diabetes and exercise seminar I'm waiting for qualifies for this. As does researching and contributing articles for our quarterly journal.

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[Redshift]

The goal is to see how important it is to new and newer divers, as well as not so new ones, for their instructors to keep up their own education.

I think an instructor should be certified to dive at a higher level than what he/she can teach. But that's not enough, it should be an active diver in the type of diving he/she's teaching.
I have known of "quarry instructors" who have never set fin in the sea. How can that be? They are limited in their knowledge and in the information they pass on to their students.
And then there are instructors who are actively diving, but mainly teaching. They should dive on their own, do normal proper dives not just with students.

Besides the instructor's experience and training, another related question is how should a prospecting student be aware of how knowledgeable and experienced the instructors are.

I recently learned that many people here have no idea how to operate an i3 BCD, and that IMHO is inexcusable.

Like it or not, they are gaining popularity,and people are buying and using them, so it behooves you to know how it works

A what? Should an instructor need to know the names of every type of diving gear and how they work, even if they don't use it, don't teach it and don't have it available for their students? I had no idea what the i3 was, but come on, is it rocket science? It's not even anything new, Cressi have had the Flight Control system for years, Mares has the Airtrim... all the same thing and if an instructor cannot figure out how they work when they see them, then they are not suitable to be instructors...

 

[tstormdiver]

Jim, I'm a little late coming into this, but yes, I think it is absolutely only for the better, for instructors to keep expanding their knowledge as they are instructing. It allows them to bring more information to, & to better close gaps in understanding of the students. As for a time limit to get CE,... not so sure. I spent nearly a year learning on & acquiring my Air Diluent diving on my rebreather. Sometimes when doing CE, I take my time (sometimes over months or a couple years), perfect things over time, in order to master it. I have always taken the position that when i stop learning about diving (whether personally or through CE- not likely to happen anytime soon), will be the day I hang my fins up for the last time.

 

[Jim Lapenta]

I think an instructor should be certified to dive at a higher level than what he/she can teach. But that's not enough, it should be an active diver in the type of diving he/she's teaching.
I have known of "quarry instructors" who have never set fin in the sea. How can that be? They are limited in their knowledge and in the information they pass on to their students.
And then there are instructors who are actively diving, but mainly teaching. They should dive on their own, do normal proper dives not just with students.

Besides the instructor's experience and training, another related question is how should a prospecting student be aware of how knowledgeable and experienced the instructors are.



A what? Should an instructor need to know the names of every type of diving gear and how they work, even if they don't use it, don't teach it and don't have it available for their students? I had no idea what the i3 was, but come on, is it rocket science? It's not even anything new, Cressi have had the Flight Control system for years, Mares has the Airtrim... all the same thing and if an instructor cannot figure out how they work when they see them, then they are not suitable to be instructors...

Instructors should be able to quickly ascertain how a piece of gear works. No debate with that. But when a type of gear is not locally available or is not common it can easily be overlooked in a class setting. Do I talk about the uncommon types of items in my classes? Yes. But without one to actually show and demo I don't dwell on it.
Being aware of gear and being operationally familiar with it are con ed types of issues. But you can't be really operationally familiar with it if you can't lay hands on it. I know that in all the diving I have done in the US, Canada, and the Caribbean I have never seen one of these in person. Most likely my students will not either.

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[MXGratefulDiver]

... I had one of my students show me her i3. I don't much care what equipment my students use, as long as it fits properly and it doesn't hold them back from achieving their diving goals. But I think it's silly to expect an instructor to be familiar with every piece of equipment out there ... there's way more important things I think an instructor should be spending their time learning and teaching. If you're going to be diving with someone ... student or otherwise ... who uses this gear, then it's important to understand how it works and where the "controls" are, but other than that who really cares ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[abnfrog]

Personally, I insist on taking at least one course a year. It usually ends up being 3 or 4...but 1 is the minimum. I've even re-taken courses that I am already qualified to teach.
It's not just about gaining more information relevant to areas you currently teach, although this is a large part of it. It is also just about learning other teaching methods. Not all students learn the same, and not all instructors teach the same, the more I know about both sides the better for me and my students.

personally i think you have an obligation to improve yourself every year as an instructor , in the military we say if your not moving forward your slipping back ......

 

[kelemvor]

Sorry, off topic-- What kind of retraining are FL teachers required to do? Courses, or just inservices?

Here's the details. I was wrong, it's ever 5 years. Chapter 1012 Section 56 - 2013 Florida Statutes - The Florida Senate

From what I gather, they must complete 6 credit hours or 150 "inservice points" to qualify. I don't know what an inservice point is, but in FL generally 6 credit hours is going to be two college courses (Maybe that's the same everywhere?). Two courses every 5 years ain't so bad.

 

[Kharon]

I see the value of an instructor having the full breadth of experience with all courses because so much is cross-applicable. I do think that every instructor owes his students to be as fully versed in all aspects of the sport as possible. Certified teachers (public & private 1-12) almost everywhere are required to do additional training throughout their career. Any teacher that just gets the minimum qualification and stagnates isn't much of a teacher in my book.

 

[Capt Jim Wyatt]

I agree that instructors should take classes.

When I started learning to dive my rEvo I took a class to get certified as a diver on it. Then I took a class to train me how to dive it in caves, then I mentored to be able to teach folks how to dive CCR's in caves.

Later I took a class teaching me how to dive trimix on the rebreather, then I mentored to be able to teach folks how to dive trimix on their CCR's.

I got several things out of being a student again other than the obvious.

It helped me remember what it is like being a student, remembering that the learning curve can be steep and that patience and rote and often, if not always an integral part of learning. This alone was worth the price of admission for me.

It definitely helped me become a better teacher.

 

[mathauck0814]

I'd like to see an open circuit, open water diving instructor trained to the maximum available level as a diver before they're allowed to teach. Same goes for Cave or CCR instructors. Unless you understand how what you're teaching could be misapplied later, should your fledgling student pursue the sport that far, you don't know what you don't know and are likely installing habits that someone else will have to remedy down the road.

That's not to say that instructors can simply stop learning just because they've collected up all their cards. At some point lectures, symposiums, conferences, papers, etc all become the replacement for traditional agency content.

Imagine how different our sport would be if instructors were operating at that level? How would it change the experience for new divers? For the implied pay scale of instructors? For the stickiness of the sport? Etc...