Question Near incident. What should I have done?

[boulderjohn]

One more comparison to making changes in existing instruction....

About 50 years ago an educational researcher named John Goodlad wanted to do a comparison study to see which instructional programs were most effective. Different schools had adapted different programs and trained their teachers to follow those programs, so you would think that all he had to do was compare the results. Goodlad went a step further, though, and went into the classrooms. He found that whatever program the teachers had been trained to use really didn't matter. Once they were in the classroom on their own, they reverted to what they had always done, which was basically a repeat of how they themselves had been taught when they were students.

 

[Kendall Raine]

That's what it really takes, too.

Or the certifying agency to require that method of instruction... 14 years is a long time. Would guess a lot of new instructors have been minted/old instructors retired in that time. Back to training agency economics/incentives/ethos, I guess. Is the agency's business education (setting standards/best practices) or a simply marketing/publishing with education franchised out to the (dues paying) lowest common denominator.

Anyway, thanks guys for your thoughts and apologies to the OP for the hijack.

 

[The Chairman]

Or the certifying agency to require that method of instruction

That would be RAID and NASE at this point.

 

[SlugLife]

My question is why does on the knees persist?

I think we're getting rather far off topic. I'm certain if such a thread was started it would have a lot of activity.

 

[steinbil]

Once they were in the classroom on their own, they reverted to what they had always done, which was basically a repeat of how they themselves had been taught when they were students.

Being a teacher myself, my purely anecdotal analysis is that fear plays a part. It can be frightening to be responsible for other peoples' learning, and also to be on display showing your knowledge and skills, warts and all. I think one of the driving forces behind the inertia among teachers is lack of confidence and a fear of showing weakness. Sticking to what you have done before, gives some semblance of control and makes it easier to hide own shortcomings. It also goes along with the law of primacy and defaulting to what you learn first, especially in a stressful scenario.

ETA:
Personally I have found showing weakness in front of my own students to be very liberating and powerful. I am very knowledgeable about the subjects I teach, and I do think that's important, but saying "I don't know" or showcasing my own mistakes makes me more human and relatable to the students, which facilitates learning. It also teaches them not to be afraid of mistakes or failure, and that really is a prerequisite to be able to learn.

 

[happy-diver]

Yeah they have been telling us to say "I don't know" for all the decades that I've been involved
but how many are listening, and which ones don't you want anything you've said in their vault

 

[boulderjohn]

Personally I have found showing weakness in front of my own students to be very liberating and powerful. I am very knowledgeable about the subjects I teach, and I do think that's important, but saying "I don't know" or showcasing my own mistakes makes me more human and relatable to the students, which facilitates learning. It also teaches them not to be afraid of mistakes or failure, and that really is a prerequisite to be able to learn.

Research shows that teachers who have limited content knowledge of their subject tend to focus instruction on memorization of facts. Teachers who have a wealth of knowledge tend to focus instruction on using thinking skills to use those facts to solve problems (etc.). The theory is that the ones with limited knowledge do not realize how limited their knowledge is and mistake what they know as being fairly close to the totality, and they are afraid of being exposed for not knowing something they supposedly should know. Teachers with vast knowledge have had a better glimpse of the totality, know how very far they and their students are from it, and are not afraid when student inquiries lead them to unexplored territories.

 

[SlugLife]

Relating this back to what started the topic, the same person was an instructor and guide for the entire live-a-board. This implies the owner only hired one guy to do both jobs. To be fair to the instructor/guide, it's possible he was put in that situation and had little choice but to either do that or quit. It's also possible he is also the owner or fully complicit in the idea of pulling double duty.

 

[Kendall Raine]

Relating this back to what started the topic, the same person was an instructor and guide for the entire live-a-board. This implies the owner only hired one guy to do both jobs. To be fair to the instructor/guide, it's possible he was put in that situation and had little choice but to either do that or quit. It's also possible he is also the owner or fully complicit in the idea of pulling double duty.

Thank you for bringing this thread back around.

Regardless of the facts surrounding the instructor/guide's arrangement (employee, owner, whatever) the plan was seriously flawed (as has been outlined by many others in this thread) and the instructor/guide was out of line for getting upset with the OP (for making the best call his limited experience allowed) when the flaws in the plan appeared.

For me the best takeaway from this experience is we all need to watch out for flawed (however well intended), or at least overly/inappropriately complex, dive plans, considering the conditions/participants of the plan. The same plan may be fine for one set of divers but not for another. As a traveling tourist diver it's sometimes difficult to assess that, particularly if one has a very low number of dives (like the OP) upon which to base judgement. By definition tourist divers are frequently part of "pick up" (as opposed to team) dives so are inherently reliant on the guide/boat crew to do our thinking for us (before and during the dive). While part of the structure, it needn't preclude a degree of skepticism/critical thinking on the participants' part. There's nothing wrong with voicing that (politely) if there is a question about the group's ability to execute the plan-the group is only as strong as it's weakest member. The more challenging the conditions the more important this skepticism (and honest assessment of one's own skills and comfort) becomes. Bonaire ain't Cozumel ain't Komodo and at the end of the day we're all responsible for our own safety.

 

[lermontov]

Research shows that teachers who have limited content knowledge of their subject tend to focus instruction on memorization of facts. Teachers who have a wealth of knowledge tend to focus instruction on using thinking skills to use those facts to solve problems (etc.). The theory is that the ones with limited knowledge do not realize how limited their knowledge is and mistake what they know as being fairly close to the totality, and they are afraid of being exposed for not knowing something they supposedly should know. Teachers with vast knowledge have had a better glimpse of the totality, know how very far they and their students are from it, and are not afraid when student inquiries lead them to unexplored territories.

excellent observation and comment - this applies to many areas of teaching/life in general