There have been some good ideas so far and I appreciate the response.
I have a few thoughts with hopes it won’t derail the brainstorming.
1. The club way does have some positives but instructors who do not get paid eliminate a career choice. I am a full time instructor and love it. I would hate to have that taken away if all training was to done by me for free.
2. Adding items to the OW such as nitrox, while it seems like a good idea, has a couple of flaws from POV. The first is that nitrox is not available everywhere so now people in remote locations can’t teach it unless you offer a waiver. Also, the OWC is packed full of info and adding more may not be the best for the student. However, making it an “add-on” for the advanced I can see working.
3. The DM and Instructor courses and certifications. The DM course could have more in it. Now the focus is on the skill circuit with little focus on guiding divers. Yes there is some but not near enough imo.
We can’t say you have to have warm and cold water experience to be an instructor. If you grew up in a place with only one and have no desire to leave or dive other environments, why would you need both? It is a limiting factor that would eliminate some wonderful instructors.
I do feel instructors should be certified and diving levels above what they teach. But to require all instructors to be tech divers is unrealistic. Some places do not allow tech diving. No dives below 30 and NO deco! So it you lived there or wanted to do an IDC there, you could not. It also takes that income from the instructor courses away from the centers.
I will say that I am a recreational instructor and have found the skills and knowledge I have gained from my tech courses on OC and CCR to be invaluable.
Back to the instructors and DMs for a minute, I feel both should be certified as nitrox and deep divers. Now I understand why, in some agencies, it is not required. Just as I stated above, due to availability of gases and depth, it would mean many centers could no longer teach these courses. So how do we find a way to be better without being exclusionary?
Finally, I do not feel that the less divers the better. Just as I don’t feel dive training will never change. It is, like all things, impermanent. It is constantly changing. Sometimes for the good and other times for the worst but it still changes.
Please keep the comments coming and I will add one I feel is key.
I would like to see certain levels of diving, be it diver or instructor level, be based on skills acquired rather than on a dive or certification count that can mean very little. I have seen divers with 1000 dives that are trained tech divers but I will not let near me in the water. I have also seen instructors who should not be teaching anyone anything. Being a cave diver and tech instructor does not mean you are good at what you do.
Evaluate skills first and foremost and yes, more QC on pros.
I have a few thoughts with hopes it won’t derail the brainstorming.
1. The club way does have some positives but instructors who do not get paid eliminate a career choice. I am a full time instructor and love it. I would hate to have that taken away if all training was to done by me for free.
2. Adding items to the OW such as nitrox, while it seems like a good idea, has a couple of flaws from POV. The first is that nitrox is not available everywhere so now people in remote locations can’t teach it unless you offer a waiver. Also, the OWC is packed full of info and adding more may not be the best for the student. However, making it an “add-on” for the advanced I can see working.
3. The DM and Instructor courses and certifications. The DM course could have more in it. Now the focus is on the skill circuit with little focus on guiding divers. Yes there is some but not near enough imo.
We can’t say you have to have warm and cold water experience to be an instructor. If you grew up in a place with only one and have no desire to leave or dive other environments, why would you need both? It is a limiting factor that would eliminate some wonderful instructors.
I do feel instructors should be certified and diving levels above what they teach. But to require all instructors to be tech divers is unrealistic. Some places do not allow tech diving. No dives below 30 and NO deco! So it you lived there or wanted to do an IDC there, you could not. It also takes that income from the instructor courses away from the centers.
I will say that I am a recreational instructor and have found the skills and knowledge I have gained from my tech courses on OC and CCR to be invaluable.
Back to the instructors and DMs for a minute, I feel both should be certified as nitrox and deep divers. Now I understand why, in some agencies, it is not required. Just as I stated above, due to availability of gases and depth, it would mean many centers could no longer teach these courses. So how do we find a way to be better without being exclusionary?
Finally, I do not feel that the less divers the better. Just as I don’t feel dive training will never change. It is, like all things, impermanent. It is constantly changing. Sometimes for the good and other times for the worst but it still changes.
Please keep the comments coming and I will add one I feel is key.
I would like to see certain levels of diving, be it diver or instructor level, be based on skills acquired rather than on a dive or certification count that can mean very little. I have seen divers with 1000 dives that are trained tech divers but I will not let near me in the water. I have also seen instructors who should not be teaching anyone anything. Being a cave diver and tech instructor does not mean you are good at what you do.
Evaluate skills first and foremost and yes, more QC on pros.