We seemed to all agree that the instructor makes the course. If you like your instructor it does not matter the agency. However i noticed something this weekend while completing my AOW. There were 4 of us total in the class which was great but it appeared that i was getting a lot more out of the class than the others. It was the same instructor that i loved from OW class so i decided to use him again for the AOW. After all of our dives it appeared that the instuctor had no impact on 2 of the other divers. So my question is does the instructor really make the class or is it the student and what he takes out of it??
Agency vs Instructor
- Thread starter scottyroz
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scottyroz:
No, we don't. While a good instructor can teach a good course with any agency and a bad instructor can pull down any agency's course, it's much more common for the agency to set the tone. It's rare to find a PADI instructor who doesn't teach the exact same PADI course you'll find a thousand miles away. Good or bad, PADI made the course. Other agencies may be more flexible, but they still set standards and set examples. The agency is much more important than you seem to believe.
To answer your question, it may be one of a number of things. The other students might not have applied themselves and therefore got less from the opportunity. The other students may be more discriminating and you didn't realize your instructor should have done more. It may have been a personality issue. There's no way to tell without more information.
I wasn't there, of course, but maybe the instructor didn't have the skill or experience to better engage the other two. There's almost always a way to get students involved, IME.
And of course there's always the nonchalance or apathy of the students to contend with. Sometimes you just can't win with people.
Neil
And of course there's always the nonchalance or apathy of the students to contend with. Sometimes you just can't win with people.
Neil
Matthew
Contributor
Walter:
I think this is very true. I was just discussing with an instructor my options for a DM course. It was clear that I would have an easier time with one agency's course, and that the other agency's course will take longer and has tougher requirements. He has the option to certify me through either agency, but he recommends that I go with the 2nd because I will receive more thorough training (and costs less too).
With regards to scottyroz's question, I think one factor also is that students of different skill or experience levels will benefit from a course in varying degrees.
What a student takes from a course has a lot to do with what he brings to the course. Asking questions and really paying attention to the information that is imparted is part of the students responsibilities. To many students go through the motions of doing the skills or answering the test questions without truly learning the material or understanding why certain skills were done. Part of this is the instructors resposibility to engage the student but the students must also come to learn not just collect a card.
Many of my students from other shops are amazed that we fail students- they had never heard of that in scuba training. We had a student in our last Master Class come to me and say "Who this class is hard, I'm really being challenged!" I had to answer thats why at the end you get a card that says Master Scuba Diver if you pass. She then decided to apply her self did a few dives over and passed and is coming back to do her Divemaster with us because she finally realized you pay for training not a card and she was getting training.
Many of my students from other shops are amazed that we fail students- they had never heard of that in scuba training. We had a student in our last Master Class come to me and say "Who this class is hard, I'm really being challenged!" I had to answer thats why at the end you get a card that says Master Scuba Diver if you pass. She then decided to apply her self did a few dives over and passed and is coming back to do her Divemaster with us because she finally realized you pay for training not a card and she was getting training.
Yup
Have to agree with Jpn diver. I'd also add that even wiht the same curriculum, certain instructors' styles connect with certain students better. I teach for a living (though not scuba) and am amazed how I can teach the same "lesson" a number of times some classes really get it, others have to have major supplementation before it clicks.
I'd have to agree wiht Neil that a certain amount of instructor empathy is necessary to sense when people are getting it and what might be needed to aid them.
JAG
Have to agree with Jpn diver. I'd also add that even wiht the same curriculum, certain instructors' styles connect with certain students better. I teach for a living (though not scuba) and am amazed how I can teach the same "lesson" a number of times some classes really get it, others have to have major supplementation before it clicks.
I'd have to agree wiht Neil that a certain amount of instructor empathy is necessary to sense when people are getting it and what might be needed to aid them.
JAG
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