Unacceptable Instructor Behaviors...

[lowviz]

@MargaritaMike, Wow. In light of your post, I need to amend my previous statement:

...//... Expectations:

You have the right to assume that your instructor is competent AND ETHICAL. ...

@The Chairman, you misread my intent. The student should enter their agreement with clear expectations. I just walked in off the street as clueless about dive instruction as a newbie could be.

 

[The Chairman]

I just walked in off the street as clueless about dive instruction as a newbie could be.

This thread will be of no use to them. It's designed for people doing research on diving.

 

[lowviz]

Ah!

Such was not the least bit clear from the OP. Nevermind...

 

[The Chairman]

Ah!

Such was not the least bit clear from the OP. Nevermind...

By default, everything posted on SB can only help those willing to do the research by coming here in the first place. We can't help those who don't put in at least a little effort.

 

[emoreira]

Of course that I agree with the concepts firstly mentioned in this thread, but things are not so absolute.
Some thoughts from a newbie instructor.
1) Not everything is for everyone.
Cert agencies are proposing that diving is for everyone, so the base is bigger and more people could start diving. I do not agree with this. I see frequently students that come to a basic diving class and they have panic to the water or panic to be in a pool and their feet not touching the bottom. It's quite hard to start from that point. What are you doing here if you are panicking in the water ? Peer pressure ?
2) Time is money. Money is scarce.
Many of us work in this industry for our own pleasure and as a hobby.
You should advocate time to a student that has problems to learn a skill, but where is the limit ? a full pool session, a day, a week, a month ? Pool time is expensive.
I've seen many times students that start a course, finish it and does not pass the pool exam, just because they cannot do the skills. And they just judge that those skills are not important to dive. We correct the skills one, two, three times, but no answer, no better. It seems that what we say goes from one ear to the other without staying in between.
3) Classroom sessions
We always say read the book and watch the videos. The book is part of the student's materials and part of the course cost, the videos are free in Youtube. Only a few read part of the book. Even less watch the videos.
When I started my OWD course I read the full book the first day and read it several times.
Today every thing should came light, with minimal effort. Otherwise "this is not for me" is the typical phrase.
I see students that try a skill, they cannot do it, for a million reasons, all classical, and they quit. "This is not for me", "Today is not my day". Some even get out of the pool, take they things and leave, without a word. Sometimes this could have a reason, but the tendency is everyday more and more.

We always say that diving is a risky sport. The sea gives no second chance. The sea does not ask who you are and where you learnt. Diving is very safe, but things can go wrong and the diver should be ready to face the situation. The skills learnt not only are for safe diving but also to cope with problematic situations. At OWD level, only soft problems. This makes no difference.

And of course that I see students that are very good, and students that are normal and they learn at the correct pace.
Teaching/learning to dive is a two person relationship. Both are responsible for learning.

 

[boulderjohn]

Upon my digging a little I found out the instructor kept adjusting her BCD as a excuse to grope her. She wouldn't tell me where it happened or who the instructor was for fear I would punch them out. She was probably correct.

When I first came aboard SB I was almost run off because I proposed some sort of instructor review to aid instructors maintain a high level of competency. I soon realized that instructors don't want someone "judging" them and agencies don't care as long as the instructors keep selling C-cards.

If you report behavior to an agency, then they pretty much have to be checked out. I know of two cases in two different Caribbean areas in which instructors were reported for the kind of behavior you describe. In both cases they were expelled from their agencies.

I am sure that people don't like being judged for their performances on an annual basis. Not many people enjoy that sort of thing. The problem with doing it for something like scuba is that doing a good job is incredibly expensive. As a former school teacher and school administrator, I can assure you that the cost in terms of administrator time for teacher performance reviews is enormous. Would you respond that the very high quality of American teachers shows that putting this much time, effort and money into the process shows that it works?

 

[islanddream]

People have big ears. If an instructor is talking to his/her friend about last night's frivolity which included drinking (booze) and coming in at the wee hours of the morning, this obviously sets the wrong example. Newbies might think this is A-OK diver behavior. Care needs to be taken when talking about personal situations outside of the "office."

 

[boulderjohn]

You have to remember that many and perhaps most instructors are ineed reviewed regularly. If they work for a dive operation, their employer should be reviewing them to make sure they are up to snuff. If they aren't they can destroy that employer's business.

 

[MargaritaMike]

No. No, they certainly don't

I am sure that people don't like being judged for their performances on an annual basis. Not many people enjoy that sort of thing. The problem with doing it for something like scuba is that doing a good job is incredibly expensive. As a former school teacher and school administrator, I can assure you that the cost in terms of administrator time for teacher performance reviews is enormous. Would you respond that the very high quality of American teachers shows that putting this much time, effort and money into the process shows that it works?

If I were working as a DM in the teaching environment, the instructor would (I hope) observe my performance and interaction with the students. If my performance overall was satisfactory, I would continue to be asked to participate. But let's say for sake of argument that my overall performance was good, but I had a couple of little nuances that could be smoothed out when working with students. I would hope the instructor (or whoever observed me) would discuss it with me in order that I would be a better DM. The same with instructors. The problem is that no one does it. I'm not saying "kick 'em out", but rather improve through counseling. And while I said pilots and policemen are reviewed annually, I did not say that instructors should be "judged for their performances on an annual basis". Just about every working stiff in this country gets an annual performance review. If you don't measure up, you don't get a pay raise or even might get to go home. The only "safe" people that I know of are the college and university professors that have tenure. What a load of Cr@p that is.

@The Chairman - I realize that you have no room for improvement, therefore no one would have to observe you. There are a few more that fall into that category.

Cheer -

 

[MargaritaMike]

I don't think this is being productive in the New Divers section so will a mod please move my above post to somewhere in I2I or somewhere else.

Thanks -