In colder, lower-viz locales one tends to become much more conservative when training. When the standards call for direct supervision, that means being able to get to & put your hands on a student quickly, not just watch them from a greater distance simply because the vis allows you to do so.
For example: Instructor-student ratios. Standards indicate that you may have 8 students to one Instructor in OW. However, the reality of temperate diving is that ratio is not really a good idea unless you have a CA or another Instructor with you.
Likewise compass training. In cold water where you may not be able to see very far, this part of the OW course may be stressed and practiced more than if the course was taught in warmer waters where the visibility is much better.
IOW, instructional methodologies DO differ because where the Instructor is trained DOES make a difference.
We will just have to agree to disagree. In my own classes, I never am out of reaching distance of my (very few in a single class) students.
Regardless of the water clarity.
It has absolutely nothing to do with instructional methodology.
In my own classes, I conduct navigation training in places where students cannot just look and go. This has to do with how individual instructors conduct their courses.
Regardless of water temperature.
It has absolutely nothing to do with instructional methodology.
You seem to be under the impression that either the dive population in Canada is very small or that the season is extremely short. I can assure that neither is the case.
In the area where the OP lives as well as the neighbouring province of Ontario, there is a large diving population.
As to how long the dive season lasts, even if one does not do ice diving, one can almost dive year round. All it takes is becoming a drysuit diver.
Furthermore, becoming a good DM is not a matter of how quickly one "goes through" the course, but more a matter of setting your own pace and learning all you can along the way.
Oh, I know that there's a significant diving population in that part of Canada. Many of my own customers come from Montreal and Toronto and environs. I also know how often most of them dive, and among the instructors and DMs I know in the area, the vast majority have "day jobs," meaning that their principal occupations are not scuba-related whereas most DMs and instructors in places like where I work are full-time scuba professionals. Nothing wrong with either option, but it is something for the OP to consider when she's making her own decision.
It's not so much a question of
pacing oneself but rather
intensity. Depending on the learner and his/her learning style, a more relaxed rhythm might be indicated or a more intensive one. Again, there's nothing wrong with either one, but it
is something for the OP to consider.
I've got no dog in this fight--she's not thinking of coming to
me for her training, and I don't live in either place nor feel any need to defend either place. Rather than trying to sway her towards one option or away from another (as you are doing), I am just giving her food for thought.
