I've been sick the last couple of days, and here in Canada in the winter that means not much to do but shovel snow or surf the internet! So I've been doing a lot of reading on the boards, and a lot of researching of where to take my Instructor's course. I decided I was going to take my instructor's because I haven't as yet been hired on as a Divemaster. I really want to be a Divemaster: to teach others what I know and lead them to new and interesting places in their underwater lives. I know it doesn't pay a lot, but if it keeps me diving and keeps me fed and keeps a roof over my head, then I'm happy. I've always believed that doing what you love was far more important than having a lot of money. Many years in the radio industry taught me that. I've read so many posts of how Divemasters know nothing in reality: that it's only a "c" card without the experience to back it up. So I figured being an instructor would be better. 11 days, 40 dives, another round of exams, and I could instruct.
And that's when I realized that I don't want to instruct. I want to TEACH.
Merriam-Webster's dictionary defines the words teacher and instructor as interchangable: as one who instructs, or teaches. But to me there is a big difference. Instruction is the HOW teaching is the WHY: and the WHY is much, much more important. I learned to dive the "new and improved" way. E-learning and two days of pool and open water instructed me on my OW. A large book with a bunch of knowledge reviews and a few dives instructed me on my AOW. Ditto the rescue diver and the Divemaster certifications, both obtained in the same month. And in 11 days, I can be instructed on how to be an instructor. But I'll never learn to be a TEACHER.
Please don't misunderstand my instructors were incredibly talented people who knew their stuff in the water. I'd dive with them any day! But it was the times OUT of the water where I learned the most important things from my teachers why they love what they do, why it's so important to do things in a structured way every time, and WHY accidents happen, and how to avoid them. Sharing a ride with a Divemaster to a dive site can teach you more than you could ever learn in a pool session. Chatting with a master instructor over a coffee about the "old" days of horse collar diving can teach you how much you rely on technology today, and how important the basics really are when the technology fails. They were good instructors, but they were GREAT teachers.
25 years behind a microphone in a radio booth and I learned many things from people I worked with. Tips and tricks and ways to survive that made me the success I was, because I was TAUGHT by those who know the WHY as well as the HOW. I have passed on my knowledge to some equally talented people who are now successes as well: for that, I consider myself a TEACHER in that industry. So it should be with my next career in diving. I can instruct anyone can. It's rote memorization of applied theory and standards, and its reiteration in a classroom or pool setting. But I want to TEACH.
During my post retirement travel (I left the industry, sold my house and decided to re-invent my life) I had the opportunity to go diving with a DM named Mick from Shellharbour Scuba in Australia. Sometimes in a group, sometimes just the two of us, we explored the world underwater together. Mick took my training to the limits, but never without TEACHING me before and after: mostly in the truck during the 5 minute ride to and from the dive site. I learned of his passion for diving, and my passion grew daily as well. Back in the shop, I watched him fill the tanks and change batteries and o-rings and we talked of regulators and cameras and bad viz and good divers. Underwater I trusted him with my life: following him wherever he went, looking where he pointed, and seeing what he saw. Above the water I learned WHY he pointed and looked and saw. He never instructed me on anything, but he taught me so much. If I could go back there today as a DM and dive with Mick I would already be on the plane.
I know this is a business, this diving. It's an industry, and as such, it needs to make money and everyone in it needs to make money. So they instruct, and so can I. After all, I'm 42 years old: it's not like I have 20 years to float around the world seeing the sights and diving before I decide. I've already done that the past year, and it sure does eat up those savings! 11 days, 40 dives, two days of exams and I too can be an instructor, working in this industry.
But I want to TEACH. I want to MENTOR. I want to learn, and pass on all that I've learned so that others may feel the same passion I felt the first time I went underwater as a certified diver. I've decided that I'm holding off on my Instructor's, so I can learn what I need to learn to TEACH others, hopefully with a roof over my head and a meal in my belly.
Now to find that elusive Divemaster job...
And that's when I realized that I don't want to instruct. I want to TEACH.
Merriam-Webster's dictionary defines the words teacher and instructor as interchangable: as one who instructs, or teaches. But to me there is a big difference. Instruction is the HOW teaching is the WHY: and the WHY is much, much more important. I learned to dive the "new and improved" way. E-learning and two days of pool and open water instructed me on my OW. A large book with a bunch of knowledge reviews and a few dives instructed me on my AOW. Ditto the rescue diver and the Divemaster certifications, both obtained in the same month. And in 11 days, I can be instructed on how to be an instructor. But I'll never learn to be a TEACHER.
Please don't misunderstand my instructors were incredibly talented people who knew their stuff in the water. I'd dive with them any day! But it was the times OUT of the water where I learned the most important things from my teachers why they love what they do, why it's so important to do things in a structured way every time, and WHY accidents happen, and how to avoid them. Sharing a ride with a Divemaster to a dive site can teach you more than you could ever learn in a pool session. Chatting with a master instructor over a coffee about the "old" days of horse collar diving can teach you how much you rely on technology today, and how important the basics really are when the technology fails. They were good instructors, but they were GREAT teachers.
25 years behind a microphone in a radio booth and I learned many things from people I worked with. Tips and tricks and ways to survive that made me the success I was, because I was TAUGHT by those who know the WHY as well as the HOW. I have passed on my knowledge to some equally talented people who are now successes as well: for that, I consider myself a TEACHER in that industry. So it should be with my next career in diving. I can instruct anyone can. It's rote memorization of applied theory and standards, and its reiteration in a classroom or pool setting. But I want to TEACH.
During my post retirement travel (I left the industry, sold my house and decided to re-invent my life) I had the opportunity to go diving with a DM named Mick from Shellharbour Scuba in Australia. Sometimes in a group, sometimes just the two of us, we explored the world underwater together. Mick took my training to the limits, but never without TEACHING me before and after: mostly in the truck during the 5 minute ride to and from the dive site. I learned of his passion for diving, and my passion grew daily as well. Back in the shop, I watched him fill the tanks and change batteries and o-rings and we talked of regulators and cameras and bad viz and good divers. Underwater I trusted him with my life: following him wherever he went, looking where he pointed, and seeing what he saw. Above the water I learned WHY he pointed and looked and saw. He never instructed me on anything, but he taught me so much. If I could go back there today as a DM and dive with Mick I would already be on the plane.
I know this is a business, this diving. It's an industry, and as such, it needs to make money and everyone in it needs to make money. So they instruct, and so can I. After all, I'm 42 years old: it's not like I have 20 years to float around the world seeing the sights and diving before I decide. I've already done that the past year, and it sure does eat up those savings! 11 days, 40 dives, two days of exams and I too can be an instructor, working in this industry.
But I want to TEACH. I want to MENTOR. I want to learn, and pass on all that I've learned so that others may feel the same passion I felt the first time I went underwater as a certified diver. I've decided that I'm holding off on my Instructor's, so I can learn what I need to learn to TEACH others, hopefully with a roof over my head and a meal in my belly.
Now to find that elusive Divemaster job...
