Many new instructors like new divers only know what they have been tought. When their instructor sells them on a DM class or an instructor class they believe they are ready because they have been told they are.
PADI Inadequacies
- Thread starter ScubaDon
- Start date
Please register or login
Welcome to ScubaBoard, the world's largest scuba diving community. Registration is not required to read the forums, but we encourage you to join. Joining has its benefits and enables you to participate in the discussions.
Benefits of registering include
- Ability to post and comment on topics and discussions.
- A Free photo gallery to share your dive photos with the world.
- You can make this box go away
The issue to notice is the 60 dives rule. Do 10 dives a month for 6 months and you can start your instructor course. 
This was talked about on another thread and a very blunt fact is..it all comes down to the individual. Some people would make excellent instructors having only 60 dives under their belt while others with 1000 dives plus could make horrible instructors. You need to remember that some individuals pick up on this SCUBA stuff pretty quickly and have excellent teaching skills, while others couldn't explain how to draw a stick figure and really aren't that great in the water..even after tons of dives.
Ofcourse, what makes a good/bad instructor all comes down to the individual opinion, but putting a time table on when to become an instructor doesn't make much sense.
Some people have bashed people who think that having 100 dives is enough to become an instructor..100 is just a number, just like your telephone number...its the quality behind that number that matters, just like the quality of the person picking up the number.
This was talked about on another thread and a very blunt fact is..it all comes down to the individual. Some people would make excellent instructors having only 60 dives under their belt while others with 1000 dives plus could make horrible instructors. You need to remember that some individuals pick up on this SCUBA stuff pretty quickly and have excellent teaching skills, while others couldn't explain how to draw a stick figure and really aren't that great in the water..even after tons of dives.
Ofcourse, what makes a good/bad instructor all comes down to the individual opinion, but putting a time table on when to become an instructor doesn't make much sense.
Some people have bashed people who think that having 100 dives is enough to become an instructor..100 is just a number, just like your telephone number...its the quality behind that number that matters, just like the quality of the person picking up the number.
- Messages
- 3,138
- Reaction score
- 4
Mike, are you saying that the 12 month/100 dive requirement to attend the IE has recently been changed? If so, then I missed that update.
What is your understanding of the experience requirements for 5 Star Career Development Center candidates? That course is only six weeks long. Do you suppose that someone who has never dived before can go to one of these centers and in six weeks sit for the IE? Or does one have to have a certain amount of experience and training before taking one of these courses?
SA
Popeye
Contributor
Instructing tech diving? Sure.
Instructing OW?
It's just not that complicated.
Yes the 12 month requirement has been changed to 6 months. As far as I know there is no way around that but I have seen the adds. I do know that these schools somehow get the candidate their 25 student certs they need to get their MSDT.
The reason for the reduction in time requirements is to be consistant with the theory that it is skill mastery that is important rather than time. However, some are very good at taking max advantage of the minimum requirements to make money. I sure didn't see much in the way of mastery of anything in the instructor I mentioned above. He wasn't very interested in hanging around and learning to teach either. After all he holds a card that says (in theory) that he is an experienced instructor.
- Messages
- 3,138
- Reaction score
- 4
Nah...that's just crazy talk. Sorry.
SA
I stand corrected Apparantly there are some exceptions made for students of 5 star career development centers as Stephen pointed out but I'm not clear about wether the exceptions are for IDC (instructor development course) entry or IE (instructor examination).
In any case the proof is in the pudding so to speak. They sure wouldn't want to use the guy I mentioned as testimony to the validity of their methods as he was unable to brief a confined water skill.
In any case the proof is in the pudding so to speak. They sure wouldn't want to use the guy I mentioned as testimony to the validity of their methods as he was unable to brief a confined water skill.
norcaldiver
Guest
I don't know, but I'm going to guess. At my LDS, new instructors are teamed up with STAFF instrucotrs, and in about 80% of the time are Master Instructors - and all are guided by a local CD. Now, the MI could do all the classwork and pool work and the new Instr. cold take them to the ocean to do the check out dives. Whoever does the check out dive gets credit for the cert. That way the new guy has never done a class, but did 25 check out dives and get MSDT.
Here it's not like that. Yes, check out diver gets the cert, but the MIs and CD doesn't let the new guys off that easy. For the 1st couple of months, the MI sits in the back and critiques each classroom and pool session the new guy does- control of students, presentation, standards, etc. If something is done wrong or the new guy just isn't cutting it, the CD himself steps in and actually gives write ups. 1st you are given the chance to correct the problem on your own, 2nd, you get remidial training by the MI and CD, 3rd time, you're gone.
So, to get back to Don's problem, go ahead and write to PADI, but if you want to really make sure something gets done/corrected, find the CD that's responsable for your area and complain to him. Chances are that you're going to see more positive results faster thru him/her.
- Messages
- 3,138
- Reaction score
- 4
Yes, by all means, let us all keep an open mind. Let's not assume that we have heard the entire story. Maybe ScubaDon was let down by his instructor or by PADI's course. But maybe things weren't as bad as we have been led to believe.
This is from PADI's General Standards and Proceedures p.9:
( I think that it is up to date. But, obviously, I am having trouble keeping up with all of the recent changes.)
"For training purposes, an open water dive is a dive during which a student diver spends the majority of time at a depth of at least 15 feet and:
a. breathes at least 50 cubic feet of compressed gas
OR
b. remains submerged for at least 20 minutes."
SA
Popeye
Contributor
That's why I suggested going back through his manual.
Sometimes you forget the little things you were taught.
PADI is the biggest, and they consequently take the most hits.
But as far as standards go, they're all relatively equal.
Similar threads
