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

[rhwestfall]

Thank you NAUI..... (from Jeff's post)

As a licensed professional engineer, I am required to obtain 36 hours/3-year registration period of certified continuing professional development hours (PDH's). My wife is mandated to obtain specific yearly amounts of continuing legal education (CLE's).

I see no reason that keeping current or expanding horizons for any professional is not a compulsory item.

 

[boulderjohn]

... 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 ...

This is especially true if you are talking about one system used by one company, and especially when you are an instructor working for a shop that does not sell that product. When that system first came out, I was working for a shop that sold it. I tried it in the pool. No big deal--it took seconds to figure out how to use it. Since that day a number of years ago, I have never seen a single diver using one. Maybe it is getting popular in some areas, but if so, those are apparently areas I have never visited.

But at about the same time as my pool experience with that system, I was practicing some technical skills in that same pool. The shop's buyer came by and asked me about my equipment. I explained the BP/W system, which she had never seen before. I explained why we used a long hose and bungeed alternate, which she had also never seen before. I work for a different shop now, and I look forward to the day (supposedly in a month or so) when I can go over the same thing with that shop's staff, none of whom have ever seen it in use, except for those who have seen me working with the advanced students. That system is not unique to one brand, and it is much more in demand world wide than the i3 system. If a student asks about it and the instructor or retail staff don't have a clue, the student is rightfully gong to have some concerns.

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

This is especially true if you are talking about one system used by one company, and especially when you are an instructor working for a shop that does not sell that product. When that system first came out, I was working for a shop that sold it. I tried it in the pool. No big deal--it took seconds to figure out how to use it. Since that day a number of years ago, I have never seen a single diver using one. Maybe it is getting popular in some areas, but if so, those are apparently areas I have never visited.

I don't doubt that's the case. Come to the PNW and you'll see an awful lot of people in BP/W rigs. These aren't necessarily people associated with a shop that sells them, or who ascribe to a particular style of diving. They just like them because we have to wear a lot of weight here to sink our exposure suits, and the BP/W works well to help remove some of that weight from your hips. There are other reasons why people like them, but that's one reason why you'll find divers who don't ascribe to a particular diving style using them.

Go to most vacation locales and you'll rarely see one.

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[TSandM]

I think that may be changing, Bob! The last two warm water trips I've made (one to the Philippines, and one to the Socorros) the guides were all using backplates. On the liveaboard in Mexico, over half the guests were using them (and Peter and I were the only ones in our group).

 

[Hawkwood]

I will use that same logic. On my last two dives in Hawaii last month there were five divers on the boat including me. No backplates but two i3's. Can I draw a conclusion from that?

 

[TMHeimer]

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.

******************


Agree an instructor should be an active diver in what he'she teaches--pretty obvious. Not sure about having a higher cert.--The OWSI I had 9 years ago is still OWSI--I have DMd for her and still think she does a fine job.
Quarry instructors having never dived the ocean--Maybe (like with courses), the $ for travelling 1,500 miles isn't there? Maybe other reasons? Since knowledge about currents, tides is either mentioned in OW manuals or findable elsewhere (internet, etc.) and talked about in class, I'm not sure what real benefit comes from the instructor having dived in the sea. I guess there is some benefit, in that he has faced different and maybe more difficult situations. I'm not really sure one way or another on this. But if I were learning in a quarry my biggest concern would be that he has tons of experience there. It's akin to the old question of warm water vs. cold. If you never teach in cold water and your students never dive there, how beneficial is experience there?

 

[kr2y5]

It has always been my personal philosophy and practice to take some kind of training every year for myself.

I applaud your wise decision. The best course I could imagine is one, in which I tell the instructor "we have X hours together... please fix me", and then we proceed to discover and repair all the bad habits, deficiencies, and things I may need to learn to do the sorts of diving I want to do... The more experienced, well-rounded, and versatile the instructor, the better for me, so that I can get a quality personalized mentoring rather than wasting time following a fixed routine. Of all things, the label on the C-card is maybe the least important.

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

I think that may be changing, Bob! The last two warm water trips I've made (one to the Philippines, and one to the Socorros) the guides were all using backplates. On the liveaboard in Mexico, over half the guests were using them (and Peter and I were the only ones in our group).

... as was the director of diving at KBR when we were in Lembeh Straits last September. Remember in 2008 when we went there and the resort manager asked me if I knew you? It was because the last time she'd seen a backplate was when you and Peter had been there a year and a half earlier ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[sunnyboy]

I think an instructor should definitely be a "life long learner", constantly striving to improve themselves and their diving.

I do NOT thing that automatically translates into "taking courses". We bemoan the endless c-card revenue stream from some agencies then propose the same path for ourselves? How utterly silly.

I too am an Engineer and must take X hours of professional development per year. However, the requirements are tremendously flexible as to what form the PD can take. Same could be done with SCUBA.

I do agree that if you want to take courses, don't restrict yourself to just more SCUBA certs. Take an art class. Take a con/ed class from the local college. If you want to feel what it is to be a student again, you can do that in a myriad of ways.

But mostly just keep the mind open and continue to learn.

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

I will use that same logic. On my last two dives in Hawaii last month there were five divers on the boat including me. No backplates but two i3's. Can I draw a conclusion from that?

I can think of several, depending on information not provided ...

- if they were affiliated with the dive op that runs the boat, a possible conclusion would be that the dive op sells i3's
- if they were paying customers from elsewhere it might be that they frequent a shop at home that sells them
- if they were related (e.g. spouses) it might be that like a lot of people they see some advantage to both owning the same type of equipment

... Bob (Grateful Diver)