Unacceptable Instructor Behaviors...

[Adam Grose]

Yes....

In my own case, during my original OW training (disclaimer... this is more an equipment issue that instructor behavior). My (shop owned) regulator did not feel quite right. It had a bit of wiggle to it. I ignored what my instincts were telling me and proceeded with the dive.Well at about 40 feet or so, I realized I was pulling water in with each inhalation. i signaled the DM that was with us that I had a problem with my primary regulator, and would be switching to my octo. I switched over, and we ascended. On the surface, we figured out that one of the cable ties holding the mouthpiece to the body of the regulators had broken and fallen off somewhere.This was allowing water to be pulled in to the regulator. I knew that something was wrong, but I chose to ignore it. Fortunately, it turned out ok, but could have been MUCH worse.

 

[The Chairman]

Under "Safety", I would add that the student ABSOLUTELY has the right to call off a dive if they feel that there is something that could endanger their health or safety.

I actually empasize my Rule #2 to my students before we get into the water:

The Rule of Fun: You can call a dive at any time, for any reason, with no questions asked and no repercussions.
If you're not having fun, stop and figure out why! ​

This includes training in the pool as well as OW.

The list has been updated once again, to add a few items suggested and a couple I just thought of.

 

[drbill]

Sigh, gone are the days when your ex-Marine instructor could tell you to drop and then kick you in the ass.

Casino Point Dive Park on Catalina is a location many mainland shops use to conduct training. For the most part I've seen nothing but highly professional behavior by instructors. I did see one former instructor, a local, loudly berate a student for failing to perform a skill. That instructor didn't last long.

 

[Olariuas]

I think it can be interesting to have a souvenir a picture of our first achievement.
Kinda think it doesn't cost much to share a picture even if it is digital and it might means a lot for the newborn OWDiver.

In social media (Facebook/Instagram) few instructors do share their instruction days that someone important for someone is in progress (and followers do know who are trained) with a picture at the end of the training. I found that kinda interesting specially when the instructor are popular and recognized. Both parties are happy and share a mutual interest. Instructor introduce someone he trained and the trainer is 'recognized' in some way.

Even if a card is a card I think that in some case having a known instructor name on it might be interesting. But we maybe do talk about technical diving in this case.

 

[The Chairman]

I think it can be interesting to have a souvenir a picture of our first achievement.

Most agencies disallow instructors from carrying cameras, lest they lose focus on their students' safety. I agree with that. A friend or a DM can do this, but they aren't always a part of the class.

 

[2airishuman]

I am fortunate that the five instructors who have taught the various classes I've taken have all been OK on the very basic respect and safety behaviors enumerated upthread.

There's a range of human behaviors involved in determining and maintaining a social hierarchy that range from mild hubris and teasing at one end to hazing, bullying, and outright criminal behavior at the other. I see this in instructors, classes, and groups of divers occasionally. Sometimes I see it in myself. Beyond a healthy self confidence, it is unproductive and out of place in instructional relationships even though some students tolerate or expect it.

One form it can take is unrealistically high expectations of students in the mistaken belief that higher standards and more demanding instructors inherently produce safer divers.

 

[The Chairman]

One form it can take is unrealistically high expectations of students in the mistaken belief that higher standards and more demanding instructors inherently produce safer divers.

I have not really seen this. I have seen the opposite where instructors mock other instructors for doing things differently. Many years ago, (many, many now) I shared that I didn't let my students kneel in class anymore. I was called a liar by a few, mocked as an 'uber instructor' by a few more and challenged as they did not think this was possible. "How do you do it?" "I just don't allow them to kneel, lie or stand." "But HOW??? Answer the question!!!" How do you answer a negative? You-just-don't-kneel. The concept was so foreign to them, that simply not kneeling made no sense to them. Ironically, a number of them now don't allow kneeling in their classes and are pretty vocal about it.

For me, not allowing my students to kneel streamlines the learning process. Once they are stable and in control, the easier it is to focus on learning. Ergo, that's the second skill I focus on and then let them perfect it through the whole class. I didn't mention this in my OP, but in further discussion, it was obvious that the lady in question felt out of control. It's hard to accomplish even a simple skill if you feel like you're falling. The result is that my classes are that much longer and often even shorter because of my process. I don't set the bar higher: I set it more neutral!

 

[northernone]

I like the student to know the learning objectives and the scope of the training.

A significant flaw in instructors can be the desire to make the student feel special. "Limit is 132ft, but you're so comfortable in the water and such an amazing student (and tipping me well I hope) so let's go to 156ft instead." The stretching of boundaries and going beyond what the student is prepared for. Cavern dive: "just you and I, let's go on the gold line for 5 minutes, the others aren't ready, but you did so well on your dsd class and I'm a cavern instructor, did I mention I'm a MDST as well..." those sort of panderings, and softer examples as well. (One I experienced, the other I witnessed)

Inflating the student's ego and overselling their own competencies can be a fatal behaviour all too common in instructors.

Cameron

 

[johndiver999]

Instructors shall engage in a business practice that provides unlimited patience and unlimited time expenditure to attain satisfactory student achievement. The student is completely within his rights to demand fun the entire time and can suspend training temporarily at any time for any reason - and the instructor must allow, even promote, this behavior and resume training only when the student is ready for some more fun.

Not a difficult concept to grasp.

 

[The Chairman]

Cavern dive: "just you and I, let's go on the gold line for 5 minutes, the others aren't ready, but you did so well on your dsd class and I'm a cavern instructor, did I mention I'm a MDST as well..."

As a caveat: Full Cave instructors can and often do this after the cavern class is over. They can take you "one step" beyond your current training, but only one step.