What constitutes professionalism?

[MXGratefulDiver]

I'm glad we agree. However, my expectations are not very high. I've been reading scubaboard since 2002 and every single thread that starts out with a question about something that's wrong in the industry ends in PADI bashing.

It's like an addiction some people have. They seem to have a deep *need* to blame someone for mistakes....

But I have also asked that there be no bashing ... I have the ability to either keep the subject on track, or ask a moderator to lock it.

I would agree with you that I wouldn't expect instructors showing the level of competence you described to be very good. I think you started out with a great question, "what constitutes professionalism in scuba training?"

It's just unfortunate that you gave us the answer too...

But I gave no answer ... I gave a series of questions for you and others to consider. Some have provided excellent answers. You seem to want to focus on parsing my words and telling me what's wrong with them.

I think that's unfortunate.

So what *do* you think is professionalism in diving instruction?

R..

That, at least, is a legitimate question. I held off providing my answer to give others a chance to chime in first.

Professionalism, to my concern, starts with knowledge. Not the knowledge to regurgitate a program as it's written in the standards and class materials, but rather to put context around what's being taught and the ability to explain to your students why it's important. A great deal of knowledge at this level comes from actually diving in a variety of different settings, such as you will expect your students to face once they've completed the class. In this respect, experience matters.

Then there's the ability to teach ... to impart knowledge in a manner that's not only easily received and parsed by the listener, but that gives it meaning in the context of the limited experience they will receive in the class. It's one thing to have knowledge ... it's another altogether to be able to pass that knowledge to others in a way that helps them understand the subject at the requisite level.

Then there's the ability to dive ... every agency requires what they call "demonstration quality skills". But what that term means seems to depend on the IE or CD who is evaluating the instructor. It must ... because I see instructors out there who are appallingly unskilled ... and not all of them are new instructors. Many have been teaching the same poor quality class for years. It's all they CAN teach, because they lack the fundamental diving skills to be able to do better. It's amazing how many certified divers I've run across who it never even occurred to that you CAN or SHOULD be able to clear your mask without first kneeling down on the bottom ... because that's all they ever saw their instructor do.

Finally there's the behavioral aspect that Lynne described so well ... scuba instruction is like a show that MUST go on. A professional instructor can deal with problem students in a positive, productive manner ... is prepared to deal with equipment problems ... manages class expectations and schedules predictably and effectively ... and perhaps most importantly of all, keeps the class FUN. After all, that's why people are taking it. And there's no reason why you can't set a high bar and do all of that ... the best instructors do.

Notice that nowhere in any of that have I mentioned money. Of course, a quality instructor should be compensated accordingly ... but there's no reason why any of us can't or shouldn't charge for our services what we believe they are worth. Not all of the renumeration will be financial ... I get a lot of satisfaction out of helping people learn to dive, and have developed a great many competent and reliable dive buddies in the process. That's worth a great deal to me ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[rob@diveinutila.com]

TSandM says it for me too - albeit with a few comments to through in!

For me "professionalism" is about fulfilling the moral and ethical obligations to your students, the profession and the public in general. I'm not going to start a list here but any instructor worth their salt will quickly realize it's a pretty big list.

As an instructor, if you can train someone better then surely you have a moral and ethical obligation to do so? I am assuming that a better diver = a safer diver. But we still have debate about how to achieve that (we see these debates regularly on the Board and I don't really want to start another one now!).

Just that statement about morals and ethics on it's own says a lot about how to train new divers, the instructors own training and continuing training, staying aware of scuba developments and changing standards, and a whole lot more.

TSandM also stated:
"It means taking responsibility for anything that goes wrong, even if it wasn't through your own actions, because the class is ostensibly under your control."

To an extent I agree with this as we have a duty of care to our students. But we also need to remember that there are risks involved in scuba that we really can not control and often have no way to anticipate.

So we also have a moral and ethical obligation to fully inform our students of the risks of diving. Besides, if a student signs a liability release without fully understanding what they are signing is it actually worth anything?

I quote from NAUI's Risk Management Handbook because I can't say it any better:

Accidents happen even to good divers. We can manage the risks when training and leading others and we must strive to have continuing influence on diver's behavior even after they have left our care. We must inform them of the risks of diving as well as we train them to dive.

Finally a word to experienced vs inexperienced instructors. Personally, I have seen more bad experienced instructors than I have seen bad inexperienced instructors. Although I have seen both (of course).

I believe it goes right back to that attitude again. The moral and ethical obligations we have. An inexperienced instructor has a moral and ethical obligation to recognize their inexperience and act/train accordingly. If they can not recognize their own inexperience then they are already a bad instructor. I call this the superstar syndrome. New instructors who are full of themselves on completion of their instructor exams and think they are the bees knees of divers and fail to see that this is the start of their training, rather than thinking they are finished with their training.

Newer instructors tend to run their courses 100% by the standards, just as they should. A good new instructor will recognize the limits of their experience and train/work accordingly. A bad new instructor will not. Someone who has only dived in tropical waters, taken a divemaster course, gone quickly to their instructor training and then accepts a job to train student divers in cold water, potentially high current and limited visibility waters of, lets say, southern England is not a good instructor. This is way beyond their experience level. I hope that dive center would not employ that instructor in the first place.

I have often come across experienced instructors who believe they know better than the standards. Or experienced instructors who are literally burnt out with teaching and take short cuts to turn a buck quicker. Or no longer have the patience to train a difficult student well and turn out badly trained and unsafe divers simply because they can't face another CW session with a student that is having difficulties.

Well, another 2 cents thrown in!

 

[Code Monkey]

In my experience, professionalism is whatever you're not doing that the person using the word thinks you should.

 

[dwhthediver]

I have seen so many good posts in this thread, and it is heartening to see so many interseted in training better divers. I agree with the "coaching" aspect when training new divers, and even if standards go to a certain point about dive planning, and gas management, nowhere in the standards does it keep me from teaching beyond that Minimum that they have laid forth, I believe in some things I must teach beyond the minimum, like clearing a mask while swimming, or working hard on bouyancy rather than "you did a fin pivot", or classroom teaching how to do better dive plans beyond "watch your gauges and be at the surface with 500psi". Does that make me a professional? I only know it shows I care to train people to be quality divers, and really, when it is all said and done, that is all I want people to say about me

 

[Diver0001]

But I gave no answer ... I gave a series of questions for you and others to consider. Some have provided excellent answers. You seem to want to focus on parsing my words and telling me what's wrong with them.

I think that's unfortunate.

Hmmm.... that's not what I intended to do. I was actually under the impression that you were using those questions rhetorically. By saying "is an instructor who anchors his students to the bottom to do skills professional", I assumed you were trying to communicate that you believe they are not.

I'm sorry if I misunderstood that.

As for my being overly sensitive to this subject, I'll admit it. I'm a PADI instructor and i do really get tired of people painting a picture of all PADI instructors as if they're incompetent idiots.

I very often feel confronted by this attitude and I feel personally insulted by the PADI bashing that inevitably flows from any negative comment about scuba instructors.

I just get tired of it, Bob. I guess maybe I kicked your shins because of that, but it's certainly not personal. you know how much respect I have for you.

R..

 

[Walter]

*sigh*

Ok. I don't want to be held accountable for every moderating decision ever made and I REALLY don't want hijack Bob's thread with this crap but I'll answer your question, Wayne.

The thread is not gone. It's been made invisible for the moment because the moderator who locked it needs time to sift through it. it's going to be split so the useful discussion can continue while the PADI bashing gets moved into the Whine and Cheese section.

And she needs time. it's a big thread to wade though and it's not realistic to expect her to be able to do that in a few minutes.

R..

I'm patient and happy to wait for the thread's return and wouldn't have commented about the thread publicly except I have to take exception to your comment. I also know it's off topic, but I'm merely responding to your post in this thread.

I logged off the board at approximately 11:30 AM (EST) yesterday. When I logged back on in the evening the thread was gone. Unless the thread when down hill pretty quickly, there was no PADI bashing in that thread.

 

[DCBC]

As for my being overly sensitive to this subject, I'll admit it. I'm a PADI instructor and i do really get tired of people painting a picture of all PADI instructors as if they're incompetent idiots.

I very often feel confronted by this attitude and I feel personally insulted by the PADI bashing that inevitably flows from any negative comment about scuba instructors.

It is important to understand that a PADI instructor and the PADI organization are two completely separate things. If the organization takes a certain approach and someone takes them to task, they are not taking you personally to task, but the PADI organization. Perhaps some instructors identify themselves too much with the organization they teach through and have difficulty separating the two.

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

It is important to understand that a PADI instructor and the PADI organization are two completely separate things. If the organization takes a certain approach and someone takes them to task, they are not taking you personally to task, but the PADI organization. Perhaps some instructors identify themselves too much with the organization they teach through and have difficulty separating the two.

This is true ... however, I ask again that we leave PADI, and all the other agencies, out of this thread. I really, REALLY don't want this topic to be about agencies ... because it isn't agencies who teach people to be divers. It's instructors ... and there are good and bad ones in every agency.

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[Kingpatzer]

edit: Gah, just re-read this (it was written rather quickly) and realized the punctuation is absolutely horrific. Please ignore it where possible and give it the best spin where not. I'm not a professional web forum author, and real work is going to take precedence today over fixing this mess.


I believe it is a mistake to contend that professionalism has anything to do with depth of experience of the person beyond the level of entry.

By way of example I'm going to move away from the specific topic of scuba instruction and look at general education.

When I taught as part of my graduate fellowship, I not only considered myself to be professional but was repeatedly commended for my professionalism. While I was certainly very well educated in my field, my depth of experience was certainly minuscule compared to others, and even within my own department and subject specialty I was not the most well educated individual, and was frequently learning from others.

So then what is the measure of professionalism?

It is how one comports oneself with respect to one's students and peers. It is treating everyone with proper respect, adequate compassion, and a level of humility. It is about recognizing your dedication and service to the individuals and to the vocation. it is also about dedicating one's self to the learning process.

It is how one respects the subject and one's own level of knowledge. Regardless of one's level of training, education and experience, do you continue to learn? Do you recognize what you don't know? Do you understand the various ways of viewing a subject and give them due respect? Do you understand on most issues rational people can have significant disagreements? Do you understand the difference between objective facts and personal interpretation? Do you show due respect to the breadth and depth of the subject? Are you willing to admit what you don't know and then do the work to learn those answers -- particularly when in discussion with students?

It is being able to present the information in a variety of ways and to respect how students learn. It is knowing what you do know well enough to deal with the off-the-wall questions and bring the students to understanding the material. It is staying on topic and on track. It is making sure the students are getting value and enjoyment from the experience.

It is how one presents themselves? Do you recognize your role is public and that respect is earned starting from the moment of another's first impression? Do you dress well? Are you clean? Do you present yourself with the best possible posture? Are you well spoken and articulate. Do you take the time to make sure people presume you to be professional from the first moment they meet you? Do you ever bring your personal problems to the class room? Do you ever show up with anything less than a smile on your face? Do you ever do anything less than your best?

In the business world, it is how you represent yourself and your organization to your customers (related to my example when I did freelance tutoring). Do you have a clear, concise and easily understood pricing structure for services? Are you willing to tell your customer "No" when that is the right answer? Do you ever equivocate? Are you confident without being condescending?

It is being on time and respecting other's time. It is making sure no one has to wait on you. It is doing what you say you will do when you say you will do it. It is establishing and meeting expectations.

All the experience in the world will not make one a professional if one does not conform to the above to the highest degree possible (recognizing that everyone has strengths and weaknesses and falls short from time to time of course). And if one does the above, then one is is a professional. Experience be damned.

 

[TSandM]

What do you do, or how do you classify the instructor who took all the classes he could, went through his IDC with motivation and effort, and teaches precisely as he was taught?

Had I not encountered Bob when I did, I would have been one of those instructors. Given how long it's taken me to achieve what I would consider acceptable diving skills, I'm quite certain that mine, as an instructor with a year and a half or so of diving experience, would have sucked. And I would almost certainly have taught people on their knees, known nothing about trim, and had no idea that it was possible to dive without stirring up silt. I wouldn't have known those things because nobody around me knew or talked about those things, and they weren't in my classes, and I had no clue that there WERE any other classes or any other worthwhile things to learn. But I would have done my very best job of meeting the criteria in my other post, in teaching the things I knew and the way I had been taught to teach.

I think professionalism and diving skill are two circles in a Venn diagram, with an area of intersection, but neither subsumes the other. And I wonder how many of those instructors who are "incompetent divers" have any idea that there is a higher level of skill available -- and reasonable -- to attain? (Not everybody spends their spare time on ScubaBoard )