Dealing with over-enthusiastic parents and spectators - The Parent's Perspective

[vkalia]

I also make it clear from day one who the instructor is and at any time if that is forgotten I reserve the right to end the instruction.

^^^ That. I like the way you teach

 

[Kingpatzer]

The problem I see is not the parent spectator but the parent student who is having a much harder time than their kids. They assume that their kids must be struggling as well even if it is obvious that they are not, and try to "help" which extends their stress level and if not stopped can become disruptive to the whole class.

 

[vkalia]

^^ Actually, the times I've taught a class with parents and kids in it, there has been no particular issue. The parents are very careful buddies, but they have never been disruptive. They all are on an even footing, and that helps. If they are over-protective, it is relatively easy to manage.

V.

 

[fjpatrum]

No. Not during a class. If you think the instructor doesnt know what s/he is doing, get a different instructor or do some additional teaching to your child later. Otherwise, let him or her teach and dont stick your nose in correcting them on this and that.



Oh please. You are stretching just to try to make a point. Reading a few books on diving gives you the knowledge and ability to disagree and correct the instructor? Yeesh.

If I am teaching a course, I am responsible for the student's safety - I take it very seriously and I wouldnt be too thrilled if someone with a handful of dives decides he knows more than me b/c he's read a few books. In my experience, the "certified diver" family member is far more likely to be wrong than the instructor.

Now this is where you bring in the strawman argument of a completely incompetent instructor who would have been a safety hazard were it not for your intervention.



As I said - if you want to add to the content, do so outside the course. Dont interrupt and disrupt the class. You (I mean this generally, not specifically you) are FAR more likely to be mistaken than the instructor, assuming that s/he is competent.

I've seen it before. For example, when I teach, I have a progression in how I provide information - sometimes, I provide only the basic facts and flesh it out later. I have certain points where I let students make mistakes first and try to self-correct before I step in. I have had well-meaning friends and family jump the gun, and start providing too much information, overloading the student - or confusing them with conflicting information, etc. This throws off my teaching progression and makes it worse for the students.

If you think the instructor is not teaching properly, get a new instructor. Otherwise, let them teach and fill in whatever you think is relevant later.

V.

I like the way you express your teaching method. The fact remains, however, that not all instructors, even competent ones are going to be 100% perfect and correct in what they say. They will also teach in a way that some people just don't get it. Expressing that in class is the only way the student is going to make it clear they need further help. This attitude of "instructor knows best" is simply ego talking. You are clearly a diligent instructor who plans carefully but the best planning doesn't prepare you for every student. Some simply will need a different set of skills (of you) to be taught. Maybe that is a different subject than what you're discussing, but it's part of what I mean.

Blind faith in ANYONE for any reason is foolish, especially in a situation like SCUBA where it's potentially life-threatening. No instructor should be just allowed to push through on a subject until all students either understand it correctly or have arranged for further side instruction in private. If that means interrupting the instructor's plan, then so be it.

 

[Connor McB]

I like the way you express your teaching method. The fact remains, however, that not all instructors, even competent ones are going to be 100% perfect and correct in what they say. They will also teach in a way that some people just don't get it. Expressing that in class is the only way the student is going to make it clear they need further help. This attitude of "instructor knows best" is simply ego talking. You are clearly a diligent instructor who plans carefully but the best planning doesn't prepare you for every student. Some simply will need a different set of skills (of you) to be taught. Maybe that is a different subject than what you're discussing, but it's part of what I mean.

Blind faith in ANYONE for any reason is foolish, especially in a situation like SCUBA where it's potentially life-threatening. No instructor should be just allowed to push through on a subject until all students either understand it correctly or have arranged for further side instruction in private. If that means interrupting the instructor's plan, then so be it.

I understand what your saying, but personally I think that it is very unprofessional to actually jump into anybody's briefing or teaching. Maybe that is not exactly what you mean by your post, so sorry if I have misread... but in my view it is much better to take the person to one side and talk to them, ask 'what about this? why didn't you say that?'... if the instructor is doing their job properly and knows what they are doing, they should be able to give a good answer to those questions. If not, then it's time to get a new instructor.

You have to understand that pulling up somebody who is talking to a class/boat/audience or whatever, can completely undermine confidence in a speaker... not exactly what you want when your about to be taken underwater.

The thing that is difficult with this topic is that a lot of non-professional divers believe that what they are saying is correct and so are meaning well by jumping in and trying to explain things or telling their children to do things. When realistically this isn't the case... if it was, they would be teaching the class!

Now I'm not saying that all instructors know best, nobody is perfect. However, to become an instructor you have to have at least met a minimum standard of skill, knowledge and experience that far exceeds that of a beginner diver... for obvious reason.

It's great that the parents or other family members are so enthusiastic about diving and helping to promote it to the younger generations. However, it can be very counter productive too.
I myself have had family members that seem to think that they know better than the instructor and start telling the student what to do, and sometimes it's genuinely dangerous...