Where to start technical diving

[wetb4igetinthewater]

Which meant the agency did the right thing. Their instructor candidate decided to defer and their customers got better trainers as a result.

We all want the same thing; good instructors make good students that make great customers for the dive shops and boats.

The agency didn't do anything here. It was just such a cluster, I decided to opt out.

However, there are instructors with even worse diving/teaching skills than me at that time who soldiered on.

And I've seen their students.

 

[Wibble]

But it's the same for students. It takes a long time to develop the skills. Of course there's some people who'll always be great at everything, but there's a normal distribution where some are great, some are bad and most people are in between.

Memories of doing a fun-dies class before I was ready. Very difficult, very hard work, but most of all it was very frustrating. The fantastic thing was that it set the standard to aim for, which took considerable practice to achieve. The end result of that investment is diving's so much easier.

 

[rjack321]

I believe NSS-CDS and the GUE requires internships.

UTD did at one time too. They have evaporated as an active agency in my area though so I can't speak to their current requirements.

 

[wetb4igetinthewater]

But it's the same for students. It takes a long time to develop the skills. Of course there's some people who'll always be great at everything, but there's a normal distribution where some are great, some are bad and most people are in between.

Memories of doing a fun-dies class before I was ready. Very difficult, very hard work, but most of all it was very frustrating. The fantastic thing was that it set the standard to aim for, which took considerable practice to achieve. The end result of that investment is diving's so much easier.

I've heard you and others refer to fundies as fun-dies often when it is overwhelming. Yes, it is a rough course with a lot to digest. It isn't easy for people (like me) who had ingrained bad habits that had to be broken.

Sometimes I think that having small workshops to prepare for fundies may be helpful. I.e., spend a day just working on weighting (amount and distribution) to get a diver to just float motionless in the water column at shallow depth (but deep enough to not use the bottom as a crutch).

No one considers hiring a fundies instructor for a day of informal training. I think this would go a long way as the instructor would tailor the training to the needs of the student.

Despite the frustrating experiences that many have with fundies, my recommendation for this course (or similar) will always stand.

 

[kensuf]

I wish agencies would require internship where instructors shadow/assist teaching courses, then must be signed off by an IT.

TDI makes this a requirement for some instructor levels, but not all. Examples I can cite, AN does not require candidates to shadow a course, but cavern instructor and air diluent instructor do. As an IT, I personally make it a requirement to shadow courses before doing an instructor institute and I also make it a requirement that they have some quality teaching experience prior to working on becoming a tech instructor.

 

[wetb4igetinthewater]

TDI makes this a requirement for some instructor levels, but not all. Examples I can cite, AN does not require candidates to shadow a course, but cavern instructor and air diluent instructor do. As an IT, I personally make it a requirement to shadow courses before doing an instructor institute and I also make it a requirement that they have some quality teaching experience prior to working on becoming a tech instructor.

Ken, cavern and air dil (we are talking about CCR mod 1, right) make sense.

Now TDI/SDI allow instructors/ITs to add to requirements. While I think you are doing the right thing, you are not required to do so by TDI. Is this correct?

 

[divezonescuba]

I don't disagree with the summary, but teaching is a skill and having the ability to teach is necessary at the levels being discussed.

I would *HATE* to see the student of a guy teaching an AN/DP level course (or CCR MOD1) that has no real world teaching experience, regardless of how much diving experiences he has.

If an instructor hasn't taught or can't properly teach recreational students, how are they going to be able to teach technical diving students?

But, IMHE recreational instructors frequently also make the worst technical diving students. Probably something to do with the Dunning-Kruger effect. Whenever I used take a technical diving course from another instructor or instructor trainer, I always kept that in mind.

 

[BlueTrin]

Another controversial question: are instructor trainers better instructors themselves on average?

 

[Lorenzoid]

Another controversial question: are instructor trainers better instructors themselves on average?

Maybe, the "best" instructor is the one the individual student connects with, based on personalities, teaching/learning style, etc.

 

[AJ]

Maybe, the "best" instructor is the one the individual student connects with, based on personalities, teaching/learning style, etc.

It depends a lot on the student I guess. Do you want to be taken by the instructor through the course or do you have your goals clear and the instructor is just there to guide you in the right direction.