Ah, but there is! It's called TALENT. Few have it, the rest just have to work harder.
Neil
Instructors?
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Ah, but there is! It's called TALENT. Few have it, the rest just have to work harder.
Neil
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I personally think that they don't have enough time or experience, as a general rule. Yes, there may bae the exceptions that practically live on a dive boat, but they are the exceptions and not the rule. I have a friend that became an instructor after 18 months. No, he wasn't PADI. 90% of his required 100 were done in a local quarry. After he had been instructing for a year, he freely admitted that he had gone too far to fast. He has gone on to become an excellent instructor in many areas, but it took over 2 years to do it.
Personally, I'd have some reservations about recommending someone that was that new unless I had a chance to have a long talk with them before hand.
Personally, I'd have some reservations about recommending someone that was that new unless I had a chance to have a long talk with them before hand.
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Have to go along with DSD on this one Neil.. Talent is needed but give me someone that has been there. I've known an instructor that had NO ocean experience. All of his dives had been in the local quarries or springs in Florida. Yet he only lived 3 hours from the ocean. Imagine some of the sea stories he told to his classes. Yep folks. I finally got that bluegill stared down. Everything was fine from there on out until that smallmouth bass started stalking us.
I think this is a thread that I should stay out of but when has that ever stopped me.
First some back ground. I became an instructor within two years of being certified. I did a fine job of teaching just as I was tought to teach. I started out teaching for the shop who originally certified me and they were happy with my work.
Now the confession... As I gained experience teaching and as I gained experience diving and continued my own training I came to be dissatisfied with the quality of the divers that I put out. It wasn't until I had more experience that I knew there was a problem never mind knowing what to do about it. Looking back I am ashamed of the work I did as a new instructor and have gone to great lengths to correct the situation.
What makes a good instructor? I know what agency standards are and then I have my own opinion. Any fool can present the material in the instructor manual after they have been tought to do so (that's what the instructor course teaches) and this can be done very quickly. The question is whether or not that's enough. IMO, many people could do the entire thing without an instructor if that's all the instructor is going to do. Aside from administering someone elses program what does an instructor bring to the table? I think the answer is experience. IMO, an instructor has to know what kind of problems divers have and how to avoid them. I think an instructor needs to know countless details that are NOT IN ANY dive text and how they relate to their students and the diving they might do. I'm not just talking about the diving they will do right after certification or just the diving they will do on their first vacation. IMO, the instructor should concider all the possible directions the student has to pick from and give them a good foundation to start from. I don't believe that is the norm in dive education today. Time itself, of course, is not the deciding factor but rather experience. Everyone has to start somewhere but I wouldn't recommend that you start the way I did or the way DiverBuoy did.
IMO, the big thing missing from dive training today is mentorship. Too many divers don't have mentors and FAR too many instructors don't have mentors. In this system we are mass producing instructors who are mass producing divers who are becomming instructors who mass produce other instructors. The end result is that we have a bunch of generations of the blind who were led by the blind.
First some back ground. I became an instructor within two years of being certified. I did a fine job of teaching just as I was tought to teach. I started out teaching for the shop who originally certified me and they were happy with my work.
Now the confession... As I gained experience teaching and as I gained experience diving and continued my own training I came to be dissatisfied with the quality of the divers that I put out. It wasn't until I had more experience that I knew there was a problem never mind knowing what to do about it. Looking back I am ashamed of the work I did as a new instructor and have gone to great lengths to correct the situation.
What makes a good instructor? I know what agency standards are and then I have my own opinion. Any fool can present the material in the instructor manual after they have been tought to do so (that's what the instructor course teaches) and this can be done very quickly. The question is whether or not that's enough. IMO, many people could do the entire thing without an instructor if that's all the instructor is going to do. Aside from administering someone elses program what does an instructor bring to the table? I think the answer is experience. IMO, an instructor has to know what kind of problems divers have and how to avoid them. I think an instructor needs to know countless details that are NOT IN ANY dive text and how they relate to their students and the diving they might do. I'm not just talking about the diving they will do right after certification or just the diving they will do on their first vacation. IMO, the instructor should concider all the possible directions the student has to pick from and give them a good foundation to start from. I don't believe that is the norm in dive education today. Time itself, of course, is not the deciding factor but rather experience. Everyone has to start somewhere but I wouldn't recommend that you start the way I did or the way DiverBuoy did.
IMO, the big thing missing from dive training today is mentorship. Too many divers don't have mentors and FAR too many instructors don't have mentors. In this system we are mass producing instructors who are mass producing divers who are becomming instructors who mass produce other instructors. The end result is that we have a bunch of generations of the blind who were led by the blind.
I had (still have) a number of mentors. I was heavily influenced by a couple of local tech shops and several Course Directors who took me under their wings. But life experience comes to bear on things too. It might be different if you put my scenario into an 18 year old's body. As teachers we call on our life experience for illustrations, comparisons, and understanding. It affects our ability to speak confidently in a public setting and to be in control of a group.
"When in danger or in doubt, run in circles, scream n' shout!"
Talent is a blessing no doubt; however, without the experience to back it up, the song is sweet, but lacking in substance.
Perhaps the real test of this argument lies not in the calm waters of normal procedures, but in the frenzied, adrenelin-soaked anxiety of a real diving emergency. Who is better prepared for these eventualities: the seasoned veteran, battle-hardened from years in the trenches, or the glossy, newly-minted talking head with the knock-em-down power-point presentation?
The experienced diver has one other key advantage going into a leadership role & that is a hard-won, deep & humbling respect for the u/w environment. Further, the long journey required to develop this respect knocks all of the bluff & pretense from the individual, fostering within them an attitude of conservatism so necessary in setting the proper tone for the emerging hatchlings.
Talent is vital in Hollywood...experience leads the way down under.
God Bless,
D.S.D.
Talent is a blessing no doubt; however, without the experience to back it up, the song is sweet, but lacking in substance.
Perhaps the real test of this argument lies not in the calm waters of normal procedures, but in the frenzied, adrenelin-soaked anxiety of a real diving emergency. Who is better prepared for these eventualities: the seasoned veteran, battle-hardened from years in the trenches, or the glossy, newly-minted talking head with the knock-em-down power-point presentation?
The experienced diver has one other key advantage going into a leadership role & that is a hard-won, deep & humbling respect for the u/w environment. Further, the long journey required to develop this respect knocks all of the bluff & pretense from the individual, fostering within them an attitude of conservatism so necessary in setting the proper tone for the emerging hatchlings.
Talent is vital in Hollywood...experience leads the way down under.
God Bless,
D.S.D.
DeepSeaDan,
Excellent points.
I remember years ago, getting better and better till I was damned good and could do no wrong. That was the day I almost died. Now I know better.
In my opinion, we are never prepared enough. We have never considered all the possibilities. We are certainly never good enough.
With that in mind, why would anyone be in a hurry?
Why hurry to finish your OW course? Take your time.
Why hurry to be a DM? Take your time.
Why hurry to be an instructor? Take your time.
I never debate such issues with myself. If I have any doubts, I take more time. Is this student ready for a card? If there's a question, I take more time.
Excellent points.
I remember years ago, getting better and better till I was damned good and could do no wrong. That was the day I almost died. Now I know better.
In my opinion, we are never prepared enough. We have never considered all the possibilities. We are certainly never good enough.
With that in mind, why would anyone be in a hurry?
Why hurry to finish your OW course? Take your time.
Why hurry to be a DM? Take your time.
Why hurry to be an instructor? Take your time.
I never debate such issues with myself. If I have any doubts, I take more time. Is this student ready for a card? If there's a question, I take more time.
New istructors are alwais not as good as experienced ones, regardless of how long they'v been diving.
"New istructors are alwais not as good as experienced ones, regardless of how long they'v been diving."
There are a ton of incompetent, experienced instructors out there. I've trained instructors who were better than a large portion of active instructors before I finished training them. They were far superior when their training was complete.
There are a ton of incompetent, experienced instructors out there. I've trained instructors who were better than a large portion of active instructors before I finished training them. They were far superior when their training was complete.
If you're an experienced terrible instructor and practice terrible training and techniques repeatedly...this means you believe in these techniques...why else would you teach them...
I'm not an instructor..but have seen a few I wouldn't want on my boat if I were the DM.
I'm not an instructor..but have seen a few I wouldn't want on my boat if I were the DM.
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