DIR Diver Specialty?

[Red Sea Shadow]

The reality is, PADI as an organisation doesn't give a rats ar$e about what you do or how you do it - if the course is safe, is "distinctive" (i.e. doesn't detract from existing courses) and generates them revenue and brand equity, then they will approve the course.

I've been toying with writing a PADI DIR specialty, just for the hell of it - it would probably take me about 2-3 weeks to do..... hell, PADI (not DSAT) have approved "full cave" distinctive specailties. I'd be willing to wager that they'd accept a team diver course.

I'm not a PADI instructor but I'm interested to know if these distinctive specialties come with a c-card from PADI. And what do you "write" to get PADI's approval? A course outline?

 

[AndyNZ]

I disagree with people who say you "can't teach gas management in OW within the PADI system" (or words to that effect). It is true I've been told NOT to teach "gas management" as I was taught in Fundies in an OW class because it is believed to be too much information at that level. (I still haven't quite decided how I feel about it but I'm quite willing to work with the restrictions.) HOWEVER, there is no prohibition from teaching a lot about "air supply management" within the PADI OW system (and I've written about this before). There is even a question on the final exam which goes to the core what every diver should know about "air supply management" so all OW students should be learning about the correlation of time/depth/consumption.

No surprise that you and I are of a like mind on this, Peter!

PADI standards not only allow for teaching gas management, but really require it! There are so many standards in the OW course that define what a student diver needs to know about how gas use varies with depth, how long a tank lasts etc.

As to whether it's too complex for an OW course, like you I am in two minds. I like the simplifications that the "DIR" approach promotes (e.g. minimum gas for 18m/30m dives) and think that they are appropriate for newer divers (e.g. leave the bottom with no less than...), but struggle with whether you can teach the simplification meaningfully without understanding the full approach before hand.

Anyway, I digress.

I can only speak from my experience. When my Instructor Examiner shook my hand at the end of the IE she said "You're now an Instructor, but I'm going to have nightmares about that long hose." I view these Instructor Examiners as representatives of the agency, not simply individuals.

This sounds like a lack of exposure to me, almost ignorance and/or fear of the unknown. One of my concerns with the larger training agencies is that they have now been around for long enough that divers who didn't understand why they learnt stuff at the beginning have now become instructors, instructor trainers and indeed instructor examiners. Not knowing the real intent of what is being taught, they instead cling to the specific words and approaches that they know.

I'm not a PADI instructor but I'm interested to know if these distinctive specialties come with a c-card from PADI. And what do you "write" to get PADI's approval? A course outline?

Yes, the student gets a card that's clearly labelled with the name of the course:

The value of the card is questionable - very few operators outside of New Zealand have heard of my self reliant diver course, so it might as well say Golfball Retrieval Diver on the card......!

Distinctives are unique to the person who writes them and in order to be able to teach them then you need to submit a course outline to PADI - depending on the course, this could be a few pages or it could be 30+. Both my distinctive specialties are very borderline in terms of being "acceptable" to PADI - self reliant, for example, could easily be interpreted as "solo", so the outline also includes sample classroom presentations etc, with notes that indicate the correct emphasis for the course. it is a lot of work, it took me over a year to get it right - but in terms of having the freedom to teach what you think is right makes it worthwhile.

I believe that both SDI and TDI also have the option to write similar instructor-authored outlines?

 

[Red Sea Shadow]

Yes, the student gets a card that's clearly labelled with the name of the course:

The value of the card is questionable - very few operators outside of New Zealand have heard of my self reliant diver course, so it might as well say Golfball Retrieval Diver on the card......!

Distinctives are unique to the person who writes them and in order to be able to teach them then you need to submit a course outline to PADI - depending on the course, this could be a few pages or it could be 30+. Both my distinctive specialties are very borderline in terms of being "acceptable" to PADI - self reliant, for example, could easily be interpreted as "solo", so the outline also includes sample classroom presentations etc, with notes that indicate the correct emphasis for the course. it is a lot of work, it took me over a year to get it right - but in terms of having the freedom to teach what you think is right makes it worthwhile.

I believe that both SDI and TDI also have the option to write similar instructor-authored outlines?

Nice card

Thanks for the info. Yes SDI has something similar. It's called unique specialty.

 

[rjack321]

BTW there are 3 now-existing DIR agencies. ISE is the third - Home - Inner Space Explorers

Yes another agency created by an ex-GUE instructor who was teaching at the GUE Tech2 level before he left. My point that spawned this thread still stands - Achim's credibility is not homespun out of his own DIRF & Tech1 courses and then translated into some sort of mutant DSAT (TDI, NAUI-tech etc) "DIR" course.

 

[PfcAJ]

I see at least one instructor on that site that was at one time a fundamentals intern. Interesting....

 

[Red Sea Shadow]

I don't know the guy but obviously for whatever reason he just decided to establish his own agency. As DIR is not an exclusive approach, anyone can do like him. Since there's no council regulating who teaches what, anybody can do whatever he wants.

I was not impressed by their site but that's not enough to judge.

 

[AndyNZ]

Yes another agency created by an ex-GUE instructor who was teaching at the GUE Tech2 level before he left. My point that spawned this thread still stands - Achim's credibility is not homespun out of his own DIRF & Tech1 courses and then translated into some sort of mutant DSAT (TDI, NAUI-tech etc) "DIR" course.

The whole issue of "ownership" and intent is a very interesting one.

I was always under the impression that GUE was a reluctant training agency, in much the same way that Halcyon was a reluctant manufacturer.... people saw the WKPP way of doing things and "wanted the training", which at the time wasn't really training at all.

As GUE came into being and evolved (and I admit, this is mostly second hand so I could well be wrong) it has always been pushing for higher training standards and has had the intention of influencing other scuba training and simply raising the bar.

So, to be blunt, who cares if it is DIR, labelled as DIR or just better training that has cherry picked the odd good bit from the "DIR agencies", provided that people are doing something better than they used to, then surely that has to be a good thing? It doesn't matter whether it's TDI, DSAT, PADI, SDI, NAUI or SSI... as long as it's good.

It must be really frustrating for the GUE training council to see people trying, who then get shot down for their so-called "mutant" courses.... it's hardly incentivising instructors from other agencies to be influenced, it it?

Of course, I could be wrong about the intent to influence scuba training.... in which case lack of support/encouragement would fit right in.

 

[RJP]

Any agency can set up any specialty class they want. But as for offering a DIR class, it boils down to the question ... "who's going to teach it"?

You can't teach a DIR class unless you have DIR skills. Very few mainstream agency instructors do.

(Grateful Diver)

That's possibly less of a problem than it appears to be on the surface (no pun intended.)

Why?

• Because anyone who's knowledgeable enough to be SEEKING such training is probably going to have enough knowledge/sense to be evaluating instructors based on personal knowledge of their skills and/or recommendations from other people they know/trust.
  
• The vast majority of instructors who are not qualified to teach a DIR class will probably simply not offer it.

In short, I'd not be worried that you'll see banners saying "Learn to Dive DIR Today!" hanging in the windows of every PADI shop.

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

That's possibly less of a problem than it appears to be on the surface (no pun intended.)

Why?

• Because anyone who's knowledgeable enough to be SEEKING such training is probably going to have enough knowledge/sense to be evaluating instructors based on personal knowledge of their skills and/or recommendations from other people they know/trust.
  
• The vast majority of instructors who are not qualified to teach a DIR class will probably simply not offer it.

In short, I'd not be worried that you'll see banners saying "Learn to Dive DIR Today!" hanging in the windows of every PADI shop.

I'm not either ... but I see instructors out there "teaching" classes they're not qualified for from time to time. I know of one local instructor who's so inept she has to ask her DM to help her put on her fins.

Some instructors are in it strictly for the money. If there was money to be made by it, some of them would figure out a way to sell their students a "DIR" specialty ... it just wouldn't be the DIR you're accustomed to ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[RJP]

I'm not either ... but I see instructors out there "teaching" classes they're not qualified for from time to time.

You only see that "from time to time"??



Of course you're highlighting the larger "quality of instruction" issue that runs across the overall industry.

I'm a big believer in the "it's not the agency, it's the instructor" idea overall, though recognizing that for agencies like GUE or UTD "the agency IS the instructor" metaphorically speaking, so by chosing that agency you don't really have to worry about between-instructor variability.

I'm very lucky in that the PADI 5-Star shop I've trained with since OW here in NJ is a very tech/wreck/cave oriented shop. (The Scuba Connection) I would put the quality and rigor of the tech training (DSAT Tech Level 1 and Tech Deep) and mentoring I've had with Wayne and Jason - and the entire teaching/DM staff - at TSC up against comparable levels at any "DIR-specific" agency.

My frame of reference for this claim is the fact that whenever I've had the chance to dive with folks who were "DIR-Agency" trained (including a GUE instructor) they've all been pleasantly surprised to see that not every "Jersey wreck guy" shows up dragging his knuckles - along with a sledge hammer and crowbar - on the ground.



Yes, the folks at The Scuba Connection are "the exception to the rule" that you can't get DIR-rigor outside a DIR agency, but that merely proves that "the rule" doesn't really exist.