What makes a good instructor?

I have been reading seveal threads where there seams to be ongoing debate over inadequacies in instruction that generally fall back on the instructor rather than the certifying agency. So what does it take to be considered a good or even a great instructor?

I feel the instructors that taught my OW and AOW course were good. I say this because they took the time neccessary to make me feel comfortable and to work with me on the skills i had the most trouble with (mask clearing). I also appreciate that they were more down to earth than some seem to be. None of them pretended to be tech divers and some even stated that they were more than happy being a Carribean brat. I also consider them to be good becasue the the student/instructor ratio. There was no fewer than 1 instructor or dive master per 2 students which helped to put me at ease. Now I am sure there are areas they probably could have improved upon but overall it has been a very good experience diving and training with the staff.

"So what does it take to be considered a good or even a great instructor?"

Patience. Some folks get it right away, others don't. You must be able to teach them all.

Organization. You must be able to organize your class in a logical manner.

Experience. You need to have watched lots of divers with a critical eye. You need to know how things should be done as well as how they often are done poorly.

Confidence. You need to know you can handle things when they head south. You also need your students to believe in you.

Desire. You have to want to teach.

Open mind. Be willing to learn from everyone. You can learn from an idiot who is a terrible diver. You may be learning rescue techniques, but you'll still be learning.

Ability to say no. No, you didn't quite nail that skill, here's what you did wrong and here's how to fix it. No, you didn't buy a card, you bought instruction.

Willingness to go the extra mile. Be interested in your students. They may need extra help, give it to them.

Knowledge. You can't teach it if you never learned it.

Ability to teach. Most instructors don't understand how to teach.

"inadequacies in instruction that generally fall back on the instructor rather than the certifying agency."

If your agency leaves out skills and/or knowledge you can't teach it because you never learned it. Some go the extra mile and learn additional material and skills which they then teach to their students - most do not. The agency is a factor. An exceptional person can overcome a background based in an agency with low standards, but these folks are indeed rare. Most instructors are a product of their agency. Some agencies produce them with a cookie cutter.

For me, a good instructor possesses the following (not necessarily in the order presented):

1. Excellent communication skills.
2. Superior diving skills.
3. Comprehensive diving knowledge and/or the ability to find answers to difficult questions.
4. Experience
5. Patience
6. A love of teaching scuba and enthusiasm for the subject being taught.
7. Personal dedication to excellence.
8. Devotion to teaching superior divers.
9. Charisma.
10. Snappy scuba outfit with designer/neon colors. Ok, not really.

Well I don't have a ton of dives up my sleve but I think that with the training I had I know how to properly conduct a dive in a safe and enjoyable manner. It seemed that my instructor was concerned with my abilities and nagged on me for things that i was doing wrong and needed to correct.

A good instructor should answer any questions you have no matter how weird they sound even before your pool session. I think I made my instructor do a few eyerolls at first but he was pretty understanding with me and helped me through it.

There are probbaly many others on the board that can tell you what to look for in a competent instructor but, I needed to feel comfortable around my instructor and feel he was well versed in the procedures.

SD

1. Patience
2. Knowledge
3. Experience
4. Organization

A friend of mine took her Open water recently. The instructor was not a particularly experienced diver (for an instructor) and did not have a very good understanding of the science behind diving. The instructer was, however, very good at making the students feel comfortable and capable in the water.

This combination actually worked out quite well as my friend had no trouble understanding the theory (its not exactly rocket science, is it) but was nervous about diving.

Certainly not an ideal instructor (She would have struggled to teach someone who couldn't grasp the theory and she wouldn't be able to teach any advanced skills) but fortunately she had what it took to teach my friend.

the ability to listen

cstreu1026 once bubbled...
I have been reading seveal threads where there seams to be ongoing debate over inadequacies in instruction that generally fall back on the instructor rather than the certifying agency. So what does it take to be considered a good or even a great instructor?

I feel the instructors that taught my OW and AOW course were good. I say this because they took the time neccessary to make me feel comfortable and to work with me on the skills i had the most trouble with (mask clearing). I also appreciate that they were more down to earth than some seem to be. None of them pretended to be tech divers and some even stated that they were more than happy being a Carribean brat. I also consider them to be good becasue the the student/instructor ratio. There was no fewer than 1 instructor or dive master per 2 students which helped to put me at ease. Now I am sure there are areas they probably could have improved upon but overall it has been a very good experience diving and training with the staff.

Click to expand...

Openness

This indicates the willingness to share information, the knowledge (having something to share) and the ability to create an atmosphere in which questions and answers come easily. This also relates to the willingness to give you honest, direct and accurate feedback about how you're doing.

Excellent skills

Nothing undermines my confidence in an instructor more than seeing him/her struggle to answer questions or struggle to perform the things that are expected of you. Seeing an instructor get lost on a navigation dive, for example, is just about reason enough to ask for your money back

Demands excellence

The only way to get the best out of a student is to expect it. Standards in most diving courses are very easy to achieve, leaving many students wishing their instructor had been "harder" on them (I'm like this, I hate an easy ride). Getting it "right" must always take priority over getting it done "on time".

Commitment

If you're the student you want it to matter to the instructor if you learn the material and get out of the course what you came for. A good sign of commitment, imo, is when an instructor asks the students during the first lesson what their expections are and remembers what you said throughout the course.

Positive attitude

Arrogance, apathy, cynicism and pessimism have no place in a learning setting. Relaxed optimism is a major plus.

Fun

I'm a big believer in the saying "diving is fun". The courses should be made challenging but at the end of the day you should have the feeling that it was fun. Adding fun things to a diving course is not forbidden but many instructors seem to miss opportunities to use it. Playing underwater frisbee, for example, can be a fun way to reinforce (not teach but reinforce) buoyancy and swimming skills in a OWD course. What about doing giant stride entries from a low diving-board to reinforce staying vertical during the entry? Races from one end of the pool to the other to reinforce proper finning? You can think of a million such examples but in practice you hardly ever see them.

Follows standards

This might sound odd but I believe that an instructor who follows standards instills confidence. You know you've learned what you needed to learn (no compromises, nothing missing), that it prepared you for the next step. The standards can be seen as the absolute minimum and the more uncompromising you are about the minimum the better (relates to demands excellence).

R..

IN reading the above postings, I find that the you cover the requirements I would expect in a good instuctor.


The ability to teach, listen, have fun, excellent skills. observation, patience, cummunications etc are all requirements of a good instructor.

With these and foremost in my mind is uncompromising ethics and compliance to standards, and a commitment to the student to meet those standards.

Mike D

All great things thus far....and I would like to add this...

The instructor has to be passionate about diving themselves....if they're not interested in doing things the right way and don't love doing it, how are they going to teach someone else??