Instructors as role models

[Vayu]

Pass the course, pay an annual fee, retain the qualification. Sad, but true.

Fortunately this practice can be avoided by choosing your agency wisely. Not all of them pump out instructors in this manner.

 

[Dive-aholic]

actually his only task/role/responsibility is teaching people how to dive and how not to dive, being responsible for a group of less experienced divers, etc. etc. etc. ...

That should be the responsibility, but often it isn't. Many instructors see their only roles as one of issuing certifications. They don't actually teach people how to dive. They teach them the skills outlined in the coursework and sign the application. It doesn't take much to become an instructor. Enroll in the course, complete the work, pass the exam. Diving is not a part of the instructor course. It's all about teaching.

One from a business point of view it would be a poor way to gain new customers not to act responsibly.

You're right...as an independent instructor. I feel exactly the same way. However, most instructors are affiliated with a shop and just sign up to teach classes. They don't have to gain new customers. That's the shop's responsibility. They just need to show up on time.

I think that some agencies prohibit using BP/W during class

I don't think any agencies prohibit it. However, LDSs do because it's not what they sell. The standards I'm familiar with only indicate that a buoyancy device needs to be used. They don't indicate what kind. I believe what Lynne is referring to here is attitude, not adhering to agency or LDS desires. I follow agency standards when teaching. I dive safely all the time.

 

[divingjd]

There are several different aspects to this. First, as others have observed, whether or not you like it or think it is right, many divers will treat instructors as role models. They will model their own behavior on the behavior they observe in instructors. As far as I am concerned, this means I had better be on my best behavior. I would feel pretty bad if someone copied something I did and suffered as a result. I am generally aware of this and, while I can't claim to be perfect, I try to set a good example. This is really what I think of as being a role model. You can't turn it on and turn it off, and it is not restricted to instructors. Anyone who is a good, safe, confident diver will almost inevitably become a role model for other divers. It is pretty natural to emulate those you see as experts. The behavior TS & M described is unacceptable for any diver and even more unacceptable (if that's possible) for an instructor. When I took my instructor course, we were taught that we were going to be role models, like it or not.

Second, when some people are talking about role models, they seem to be talking about adopting an active instructional role. This is something you can turn on and off. Sometimes you are teaching and sometimes you are not. As a general rule, an instructor should avoid taking an active instructional role when not conducting a class. I generally would not do it outside of a class, unless I saw someone doing something really dangerous that needed to be corrected. If someone asked me for help or advice, I would probably give it. Instructors do need to be careful about liability issues and it is relevant whether you are actually teaching. If there is an emergency and an instructor is around, the instructor will most likely be held to a higher standard of care than another diver. But if you are actually teaching, you have a specific duty to the student that you do not have when you are not teaching. This is why the survivors of accident victims try to put any instructor present at the accident in a teaching role - it helps them make the case by showing that the instructor owed a duty to the victim.

A few other people seem to be talking about instructors butting into someone else's business, offering unsolicited advice. This is not being a role model, it's just bad form and something instructors should not do, unless the other diver is doing something really dangerous. You probably need to butt in if someone is using unsafe diving practices, such as doing decompression dives without proper training and equipment, but not to discuss the finer points of finning technique or trim. Unfortunately, it's hard not to say anything when you see someone who could use a pointer, so I suspect instructors (including me) butt in more than they ought to.

 

[Melicertes]

Well, the thread came up as a result of the instructor who accompanied a group of divers without any advanced training on a bounce dive to 200 feet.

The instructor we were unhappy with had mocked us for doing a pre-dive equipment check, and had boasted of falsifying information on a dive log required by the ship.

All of these are behaviors I think are unprofessional. I'm sure people can come up with more. But I guess I'm getting at instructors who demonstrate behaviors when not teaching that they would find unacceptable if shown by their students.

I think there are many instructors who view their "badge" as the sole reason for having followed the training trail to their certification. I know some who became instructors because of the ego boost and the potential interest from "chicks." I'm not surprised that this guy was mocking other responsible divers for being safety conscious - he obviously couldn't have given a flying rat about the very idea of diving responsibly with that 200ft bounce dive of his. Deliberately providing fraudulent information information to the operator, well that's not too surprising either given the kind of character you're describing. It's an "I'm an instructor and I can fly under (or over for that matter) the radar!" Somehow I can just hear Boris from Jame's Bond's GoldenEye yelling: "I'm invincible!" Well, Boris certainly got what was coming to him in the end, and unfortunately it happens too often that scuba instructors find out that, like Boris, they are not so invincible as they thought they were. Tragic consequences await those who entertain this attitude. :shakehead

How often do we find that if we look at our own behavior patterns in a critical way, that these behaviors, philosophies, decisions often stem from someone else's views, philosohies, actions - someone who we may have regarded as some kind of authority or role model? We just assimilated their philosophies without even consciously thinking about it just because we probably respect that person on some level (whether that respect was justified or not is a whole other story though.)

Likewise, when other divers look at an instructor they often subconsciously watch his/her actions/behaviors/decisions carefully and they emulate them without giving it a second thought. Knowing this, I think that being an instructor brings with it a very serious and important responsibility: to be sure that I do not at any time negatively influence those who dive with me by presenting a bad example that could encourage them to start diving less safely if they were to emulate me. With authority, which being an instructor certainly does include, it's IMHO of paramount importance to set a good example by always discouraging irresponsible behavior, unsafe diving practices, and promoting honesty.

This guy should have been reported to his cert agency if you ask me. If any of my students were to witness this guy's behavior I'd probably use him as an example to show that some instructors are idjits too and that just being an instructor doesn't make you a safe diver. I'd also make a very clear mental note to myself and advise my students not to dive with him - ever.

 

[pir8]

I at least try not to do stupid things andtry to set a good example. I can't say that I am always there, who is. After all I do some Solo diving, but also caution that I am trained in it. Also somebody has to so the hook can be pulled. 200 ft bounce dives are not a good idea any time. Narcosis ya know.

 

[Steve_Dives]

Ignoring the diving aspect for a moment, rule breaking can say a lot. If this person had more or less been by the books and suddenly started engaging in deviant behavior, I'd look for some significant events in the person's recent life and try to guide them to a professional. If I didn't know them and witnessed this behavior, I'd have to give the benefit of the doubt and assume a high level of stress. If this is recurring behavior, there's a problem more systematic than this individual.

As a newbie, I'm evaluating what I'm learning from an instructor. I'm trying to validate my lessons here on SB, but also with NOAA's manual and other references. (Yes I'm a book worm!) That behaviour would cause me to look for other instructors, but it doesn't end there.

The shop or their partners (boat for example) also become questionable. Those rental regs, am I going to trust them more or less now? Would I want that person to service my equipment? Would I trust their affiliate to service my gear? What sort of air fill system are they using? How well maintained is their own gear? If the people around this individual (the shop, boat operator) are permitting the behaviour, they may be uninformed, unaware, or just as cavalier. None of those is a good situtation.

200 feet, no gear check, and untrained divers. Yeah there's risk there. Falsifying a log and boasting about it. Dangerous, more so for what it implies. Boasting about rule breaking tends to lead to more severe violations in the near future. I'd look for some sort of intervention.

 

[TSandM]

BTW, the two incidents involved totally different instructors. The one who went to 200 feet is NOT the one who made fun of our equipment check.

I think if an instructor is diving in a completely anonymous setting -- He and his buddy are on a boat in Maui and nobody knows them -- it probably doesn't matter as much what they do . . . Although, if they BELIEVED what they taught, one would think they would DO what they taught. But certainly when diving in front of their own students and DMs, I would think they would be very aware of being an example to others. And where real safety issues are concerned, I would think an instructor would be an instructor no matter what -- In other words, would not sit by and allow someone to do something with a high probability of an accident without at least trying to help.

At least that's how I would comport myself, I'm pretty sure.

 

[Steve_Dives]

BTW, the two incidents involved totally different instructors. The one who went to 200 feet is NOT the one who made fun of our equipment check.

OK. So which has the habit of boasting about creatively editting the log?

And is your equipment check funny? Does it involve a number of clowns and a small car? (My equipment check involves one clown, me, and a small car, my Corolla.)

 

[Dive-aholic]

You'll make a great instructor, Lynne!

 

[Cacia]

The one who went to 200 feet

...I am really not comfortable reporting people...for scuba crimes.

We had a similiar issue recently. A friend of mine (and probably one of the best instructors I know, very consiencious) allowed her son to go very deep (165) on a dive off the north shore of Molakai, on a wall. I would not have done it with my child...and I was a bit surprised. Still, I was a little shocked at the way people felt justified in reporting this. I worry about where you draw the line, like do it easy.

I don't want people reporting me for things they don't agree with. I understand it, I just am most comfortable when people mind their own business.

I think he was very rude.