What does certification REALLY mean?

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I just returned to this thread to add to it before I log off. The steam has stopped blowing out of my ears and I'm now cool, calm and collected.

I think the whole process of certification has been very much watered down over the past few decades. Certainly economics play a role since it brings in more income with each certification. However, in all fairness, the kind of course I took back in the 60's was not cheap. If I remember correctly, it was close to $400 (my employer paid for it so I may be off a bit). That was pretty close to my monthly take home salary at the time (although that does not include the room and board my employer provided). A comparable course today would undoubtedly be in the neighborhood of $1,500 in current dollars. Obviously such a price tag would eliminate many who wished to take up diving.
 
I find it interesting that so much talk on this topic is about instructors and comparing experienced divers to instructors with respect to skill. I don't think it's a reasonable comparison. Generally speaking, and I'm not talking about diving in particular, being certified as an instructor in some subject area does NOT mean you are a master in that subject area. Nor does it even mean that you are particularly skilled in whatever that subject area is. What it means, in general, in my opinion, is that you are trained in, and should have some measure of competence in, TEACHING someone something about that subject area. So, for example, in my view, having an instructor certification in diving does not mean that one is a magnificent diver. It merely means that one has been trained in how to train someone to dive. That's hardly the same thing as being an expert. It's also an entirely different skill than the skills gets in the process of becoming an experienced diver.

Looking at this in a different way - I once had a chemistry professor that of course had a PhD in chemistry - and no doubt was an absolute expert in his field of expertise. He was a brilliant, brilliant man. He did groundbreaking research in the field of chemistry. He had several patents. However - he couldn't TEACH chemistry worth a hill of beans. He SUCKED!!!! For all his expertise, he was unable to effectively transfer that knowledge to students. On the other hand - I had a high school chemistry teacher (before he got busted for feeling up girls in the high school dark room), who was probably so-so in terms of intelligence (and certainly in wisdom), and who probably did not know a huge amount of chemistry (esp. in relation to the PhD university professor), but he could TEACH something about chemistry to others. Presumably, this is as a result of his training in teaching over and above whatever formal training he may have had in chemistry. In other words, knowing something and being able to teach something are two entirely different things. Being certified as a teacher (or instructor) does not imply that one is an expert. So, it should come as no great surprise to people that an experienced diver may have superior diving skills to many instructors.

As for the OP's question - being certified in something doesn't even imply basic competence as far as I'm concerned. Consider: I may have received an "A" in high school trig, but it's not as if I remember much of it. If you were to give me the final exam from that class right now, I'm sure I would fail it miserably. And yet - I got an "A" - so what does that "A" really mean? Not much.

It's like having a university degree. What does it mean? Does it mean you're an expert in that field? Does it even mean you have basic knowledge of that field? No, not really. All it really means its you set a goal, you put in the time and effort to meet that goal, you stuck with it until the end, and you set out what you accomplished. It also indicates that you are "trainable". This is the real point. A lot of these aspects don't really apply to diving certifications though. No one is really likely to care that you put out the effort to complete an AOW class. Like a previous posted indicated - it provides a benchmark for someone to point to so that they can cover their ass. By requiring a certain cert, an operator can say, "well, hey, he has that cert, so he should have been able to handle the conditions."

Finally - I agree with the above comments about marketing. To some degree, certs appeal to one's vanity or ego, either directly or subconsciously. Also, some people (myself included) are "goal oriented". They have more fun with an activity if they are trying to achieve some goal. Giving people the opportunity to work toward some goal, while having fun, increases the fun and/or justification of the expense of a rather expensive hobby. Certs provide a sense of accomplishment, which can encourage people to keep diving or dive more often than they otherwise would. This is good for everyone - the diver, the operators, the manufacturers, shops, etc.

So, to boil down this ridiculously long-winded post:

  • Don't make the mistake of assuming being an instructor (in anything) equates to having skill or even should create an expectation that one has skill
  • Certs really don't mean much, beyond a shield for liability in one form or another
  • Certs provide incentives for people to dive, over and above the inherent incentives provided by underwater activities

So, there you go - just one dude's opinion :)

Cheers!
nd
 
NudeDiver:
Don't make the mistake of assuming being an instructor (in anything) equates to having skill or even should create an expectation that one has skill

I don't, but I should be able to do so.

To be qualified to teach diving, you need two requirements. 1. You must be an expert in diving. 2. You must know how to teach. Most SCUBA Instructors fall short on both.
 
............NudeDiver.......

So, if you do not need to be a master of diving to teach it.....how does one teach it? Do they fall to the bottom smashing into and breaking off huge chunks of coral and them tell a student that their buoyancy is not good enough to pass? Do they panic when they have to retrieve their lost reg and then tell the student they failed because they were not fluent enough in reg retrieval?

Of course you need to be a master in that of which you can teach. The intstructor certification SHOULD mean an absolute minimum of two things......you are a master AND you know what the cirriculum is for the agency which you teach.
 
I am VERY newly (9/22 & 9/27) OW & AOW (respectively) certified. Myself and my buddy (husband) took the classes together and are yet to dive "on our own." We started out for the OW and actually didn't intend to go onto the AOW initially, but it was offered to us on the 2nd day of our dives. So we went for it. We had already talked about not being completely comfortable with just the 4 OW dives for certification. We pretty much took the AOW for a few reasons...
#1-it was offered, I won't lie there.
#2-instructor-led experience... which has turned out to be priceless and I have taken away experience that I will use in my diving career (for lack of better term).
#3- we were interested in the prospect of going deeper than 60 ft. just to give us more opportunities.
#4- the specialties that we picked (peak performance bouyancy, wreck & search & recovery) are all things that we feel we will use and wanted an intro to these things.

I speak for myself (and I'm pretty sure my husband) that with 5 more dives under my belt with an instructor critique/led environment, I feel a heck of alot more comfortable in the water. I honestly want to take more classes with THAT particular instructor in the future... and not for the "badges!"
 
I have had some wonderfully skilled instructors over the years, but have also had some that fell short of expectations. Quite honestly, I question how they past their written PADI exams in Physics, Physiology, and the RDP. When I studied for my DM exams, I could not believe the amount of knowledge required, especially given some of the DM's I've come across over the years. My understanding is that only a PADI Course Director can certify PADI OW Instructors. How do some of these instructors make it through the IE's? Doesn't PADI keep tight controls over that level of certification? I had one instructor who had difficulty with the RDP. What am I missing?
 
When I did my IE in 1997, I was certified by instructor examiners,(I believe they came in from Florida). The local course director taught the IDC. Have they changed that?
 
As funny as it may sound I have heard of shops saying that they could not sell air to a person because he did not have his C-Card. Another diver would come in and say I will fill it for you (Right in front of the sales man) and show his card. The person at the counter would know that it was for the one who did not have his card yet still filled it.

Now one would have to ask. I can buy all the gear I want just have another carded diver get the air for me. What in that respect good would a card provide.

On a side note I can understand to some extent why the initial c-card is so valuable as I could only imagine 6 people on the back of a boat never having dove before and jumping off with no idea how to inflate the BCD. Sinking like a boat anchor to the bottom. May not go over to well :)
 
I do understand your logic. However, I just cannot get my brain around the idea of personally endangering someone's life (which providing all of the gear and air to an untrained diver COULD be) just for a couple of bucks. Perhaps this is why I know I would not be able to run a dive shop. My better judgement would kick in and I would send that person on his way. It is just me, but I could not do it even though I know that some divers out there (uncertified) are better than many certified divers. I personally would not sleep at night. The certification proves to me that the bearer has at the very least completed and plassed the basic skills required with an instructor present. I know this means only a little but it at least means something. Just me.


As funny as it may sound I have heard of shops saying that they could not sell air to a person because he did not have his C-Card. Another diver would come in and say I will fill it for you (Right in front of the sales man) and show his card. The person at the counter would know that it was for the one who did not have his card yet still filled it.

Now one would have to ask. I can buy all the gear I want just have another carded diver get the air for me. What in that respect good would a card provide.

On a side note I can understand to some extent why the initial c-card is so valuable as I could only imagine 6 people on the back of a boat never having dove before and jumping off with no idea how to inflate the BCD. Sinking like a boat anchor to the bottom. May not go over to well :)
 
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