Posted by MHK on June 18, 2001 at 17:14:59:
In Reply to: Re: Teaching experience? posted by SLANG on June 18, 2001 at 16:48:57:
Posted by SLANG on June 18, 2001 at 16:48:57:
Just curious though, what exactly are you looking to stress in your continuing-ed? Are you planning on GUE type requirements or just the basics skills like buoyancy, finning, mask clearing, etc?
As you know, I'm not an instructor, but you've hit the nail on the head in terms of stressing the BASICS... I do NOT plan on uttering one syllable about technical diving the entire weekend, this is purely designed to highlight what I believe is getting lost in the watered down training..
I do want to stress, and I think it is important to keep saying since I don't want it to get lost in any cyber-space games of verbal gymnastics... I do NOT believe that students will leave OW class as technically sound and proficient diver's... However, I believe strongly that absent proper instruction they loose a valuable opportunity to learn any better... If an instructor doesn't show a student how to kick properly, how to reduce drag, or what is proper trim and/or bouyancy then how the hell will they learn it on there own????
I was terribly disappointed at what I saw this weekend which is what prompted this action.. Terry was right, we should have done this a year ago, my fault...
In my view there is a couple of ways to correct the problem.. As of last week, the entire list was suggesting that there really wasn't a problem.. I believed otherwise which is why Terry and I went to Casino Point this weekend.. Armed with physical observation I'm prepared to argue to the ends of the earth that the overall quality of training has declined and in my view is unacceptable.. Students can't be held accountable for that which they do not know and/or have not been shown, accordingly, I believe that the *professionals* need to be held accountable so I'm taking my case to the heart of the problem.. I'll challenge any instructor, that means ANY, to show up at Casino Point while we are there and explain how and/or why taking money for the kind of instruction I witnessed this weekend is for the better good of our diving community.. I'm all for inclusion, but not at the reduced price that is being allowed in today's training..
As to your question about the avergae student entering a dive shop, sorry that isn't my area of expertise, but I'd offer I don't care what the students attitude is... My attitude towards my Quantitiative Anaylsis class in undergrad almost cost me not to graduate, but I don't think he gave a sh*t about my attitude, all he cared about was that I could do what he was requiring I did...
Who's running the class the students or the instructor???? You do touch on a good point that the industry is unwilling to confront which is we are teaching people to exsist in an environment that will kill them if they screw up, why are we so lackadasical???? Would you walk into a parachuting class and expect that the parachuting instructor is worried about the students attitude????
Later