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Pervasive "Going Pro" Theme in New Divers
- Thread starter mathauck0814
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Standards are standards. If the Instructor to be meets the standards to be trained/groomed/certified as an instructor then i have no problem with it......however judging by some of the Instructors i have seen, minimum requirements seem to get gundecked at times. I'm nopt saying its right, but it happens. The Zero to Hero mentality should be squashed IMHO, and divers should be encouraged to dive ALOT in many different environments before even considering an ITC. But thats my opinion, some folks on here will surely disagree.(Not naming names).
The question is "what's A LOT?" To us newbs 100-200 dives IS a lot. People with that many dives are "old pros". With less than 20 dives I have more variance to my dives than all the instabuddies I have had except one and he only has 20 or so more dives than I do. Everyone else has had significantly more "experience" with the same type of dives but absolutely no variance to the type of dive. Which of us is more qualified? The one with more dives or the one with more variance? (My argument would be neither... at this point)
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Reminds me of this fellow, Sparky, I know. Back when he was first certified he sent me an email asking me if I'd take him diving. Sure ... let's go. I did his first two post OW dives with him that week-end. Dude was incredibly fun and downright spastic-enthusiastic. About three weeks later he calls me from Florida. He's doing his first boat dive ... and excitedly tells me he's the most experienced diver on the boat.
"Uh ... Sparky ... ya got, like, eight dives" ...
... Bob (Grateful Diver)
OP
Because I started out talking about other sports, I'll answer your question with my opinions as it relates to other sports. I went and got certified by PSIA, ISIA and USSA after a long career of racing when my own competitiveness started to wane and I found I was working with up and coming athletes whose competitiveness was just starting to gain traction.
I have always sort of kept this in the back of my mind with diving - at some point, if those around me are suddenly benefiting from my "experience" and I see that I am positively affecting the diving of others, I'll probably go and take the steps necessary to become an instructor. 1,100 dives on five continents later I'm not there yet. But I might be getting closer... who knows... maybe someday.
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I think some folks can be competent to teach with 100 dives ... although they are few and far between. Most candidates should do quite a bit more diving than that. And I don't think number of dives is the dominant metric, because people learn at different rates, and some push themselves hard toward a high standard of excellence while others are content to just do the minimum that's required. As has been said on ScubaBoard in the past, 100 dives in varied environments and challenging conditions does not equate to 100 dives in mostly similar conditions and environments.
There are a lot of metrics that should be factored into whether someone is ready to turn pro ... many of them are subjective. Skill and experience certainly matter ... but so do maturity, an ability to teach, a patient personality, the ability to accommodate and improvise, a desire to continually improve your own abilities, and a great deal more go into the makings of a quality dive instructor.
Think about the instructors you've had that you thought were special ... what made them that way? It's difficult to put metrics on sometimes.
I like NAUI's way of measuring, which is to say "would you trust this person to train someone you love" ... it's a pretty subjective standard, but think about that someone as a son or daughter and you get the idea. It makes you consider way more than just how many dives this person has had, or how good he or she is at presenting material in a classroom.
... Bob (Grateful Diver)
FPDocMatt
Contributor
I don't want to be an instructor particularly, but PADI has 2 educational ladders after Rescue Diver. One of the paths has one item on it, and the other has 3. Since I want to continue to learn, the longer path looks more interesting.
OP
My point was that in my opinion you'll know when it's time to turn pro because people will start treating you like one based on your expertise and the fact that you're modeling behaviors of the type of <skier/diver/golfer/etc> that they want to be.
OP
I wonder - if PADI's graphics were different, would that change the way that you feel? Because honestly, there are a lot more places that you can go from the level of "rescue diver" than they represent in their copy.
Here's another agency's take on things: IANTD Course Flowchart
I think that these posts illustrate the problem. If people are enthusiastic and wants to get better at something, they take classes. If there are only a couple of classes offered, you take them. If you want to get very good in scuba, the only thing you see is DM. I believe this is a natural outgrowth of the way scuba instruction began. To oversimplify it, there used to be two levels of certification: diver and instructor. Then the diver course was broken down into a few separate classes, and that's essentially the way it has been for nearly half a century.
I am personally working to change that in my area. I have created a Distinctive Specialty (Diver Planning) that is very inclusive of more advanced skills. I have created a first draft of another course that will teach other advanced skills. I am preparing to offer them through a dive shop that has previously offered only the same basic recreational route. At the same time that we implement this advanced recreational program (perhaps called "techreational"), we will begin offering technical diving instruction. We will set up a continuum that offers a way to become an excellent diver without having to become a professional.
Reading this thread and its comparisons to other sports has also given me another idea. Like a lot of people, I started two other sports (skiing and golf) many years ago with minimal instruction. I then tried to correct all the bad techniques I developed through classes. When I signed up for classes, I just signed up for classes. In each case, the instructor would look at me and evaluate what I needed to work on most. I would pay for those classes by the amount of time I spent in them.
Why doesn't scuba do that as well? Why does every lesson have to have a new certification level attached to it? Why can't a diver come to me and sign up for a dive experience with me for a reasonable fee? I am giving this some serious thought right now.
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