PADI instructor status question

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Rhone Man - the most challenging courses to teach are, indeed, often the beginner classes. Generally speaking.

But there are a lot of variables. Teaching OW to a student who has the right approach, is studious, pays attention, etc., actually can be quite easy, but not everybody gets it, a lot of folk are very nervous, and that's often where the hard work comes in - actually getting results, not the simple act of teaching. Any instructor can rattle through minimum standards, just like any maths teacher can work through algebra but getting people to understand and apply that learning makes the difference between an instructor and a great instructor (or math teacher) - finding the psychological block to learning and removing it is the art of teaching.

If the modular system of training is well taught and adhered to by the diver, then yes, technically, teaching more advanced courses should be easier, but given that I have seen potential instructor candidates arrive at my former school with only rudimentary buoyancy control and a complete lack of expertise in dive theory, sadly it's not always the case.

One of the most challenging teaching experiences of my career has been teaching DM physics. initially this was because I thought: "this is so simple, why don't YOU get it?" but I quickly adapted to the fact that not everybody enjoyed maths at school as much as I did (geek) and developed techniques to assist those who weren't so hot with solving equations.

Creativity, patience, a dab of amateur psychology and a sound knowledge of diving and dive theory, all required to be a good instructor. An attitude that something is beneath you smacks of arrogance, and above all, a lack of PASSION, which is a requirement to be a *really* good instructor.

DSDs - or specifically what we call the "Intro Dive" are often extremely challenging, because the customer has very little interest in learning to dive or get certified, but they want to try it out because it's available. For many it's a once in a lifetime experience, because they broke the bank coming on holiday in the first place, and will probably never be able to afford to learn to dive and take it up as a hobby. It has taken me hours to get people comfortable enough in the water that they can be hauled around the reef whilst I look after their buoyancy control, monitor their air, and even swim for them half the time... but the look of sheer delight on their faces after they come out of the water is worth the effort.

If an instructor considers that "beneath" them - well - hand them a spatula and send them off to McDonald's, because for sure they don't belong in the dive business.

Apologies for the long winded babble,

C.
 
DSDs - or specifically what we call the "Intro Dive" are often extremely challenging, because the customer has very little interest in learning to dive or get certified, but they want to try it out because it's available. For many it's a once in a lifetime experience, because they broke the bank coming on holiday in the first place, and will probably never be able to afford to learn to dive and take it up as a hobby. It has taken me hours to get people comfortable enough in the water that they can be hauled around the reef whilst I look after their buoyancy control, monitor their air, and even swim for them half the time... but the look of sheer delight on their faces after they come out of the water is worth the effort.

If an instructor considers that "beneath" them - well - hand them a spatula and send them off to McDonald's, because for sure they don't belong in the dive business.

Apologies for the long winded babble,

C.

It seems I have to go to McDonalds.:D

I agree with your whole posting, except the last part. And in that part I would not name the DSD together with the Intro Dive. For me DSD is the first step into diver training and therefore I consider it as same important as any following course. Because as a diving instructor, teaching people diving is my job and it’s what I want to do, no matter on what level. (Ok, if it’s not only OWD it’s quite nice from time to time.:D)

Regarding Intro Dives I have a completely different approach. I guess in Egypt it’s not much different than in Turkey, so as I see it, Intro Dives mean to “carry” (often enough literal) John Doe for 20 minutes to half an hour trough the water, with as much as no training (except a short explanation of equalization and breathing compressed air from a regulator). Often enough John Doe would do better to choose another activity than diving and usually it will be their first and last time in their life to be under water. And that is simply because they never intended to dive in their life. They just do it, because there is a gap somewhere between tennis, wakeboard, banana boat, horse riding or whatever and exactly than someone sold it to them. And that is simply boring and nerving to me.

Not to get me for wrong, everybody who is interested in the marine environment and who is interested in learning diving is welcome to me, even if it is just for a try dive, because he first wants to check out if diving is something for him and if it is what he expected it to be. But I hate it to dive with these guys who just do it because they had nothing else to do at that time.:coffee:
 
I've been teaching courses from basic open water diver to trimix diver and in my opinon it's more chalanging to teach basic courses. It's more about getting your students to relax and introduce diving to them in the way that they get confidence and progress with further training.

Thats also the best way to prevent burnout.

Randy
 
for the record - we conduct the intro according to DSD confined water standards... but still hold on to the diver :D
 
If an instructor doesn't want to teach Discover Scuba Diving, then he might lose his customer base over time. I was always curious about scuba diving but was concerned about my swimming ability and being able to handle the weight. I took a 2 hour DSD class in the pool while in Mombasa, Kenya and lost all my fears/concerns.

It was that DSD class that got me hooked to look into taking the OWC class when I got back from vacation. I expect that it is that way for many new trainees. In order for a business to maintain a client base, they will probably need to continue offering the DSD class.
 
In our shop, we all teach whatever needs to be taught to keep things going. You might have a master instructor teaching a Discover Snorkel class. Some of those classes require great teaching skill. What's the difference? Teaching is teaching.

You see the same prejudices happening in high school instruction, my area of professional expertise. I am convinced that one of the most important reasons for educational problems in America is that the critical years of grades 9-10 are usually taught by inexperienced or poor teachers who have not been generally successful over the years, because the elite teachers see those classes as below them and teach only the classes with the top students who could "survive" with even poor teaching.
 
Beneath him/her??? Ah well, I'll take those students.
DSD is extremely rewarding even if this is the clients only time underwater.
Seeing the look of joy, and the sense of accomplishment make it worthwhile in and of itself to me.
 
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