Should you pay to become a BSAC instructor?

[DaveC]

I did the IFC last weekend, paid for it myself.
At £75 it's good value.

What becomes obvious very quickly is that teaching skills are different to diving skills.

[vid]

"The point was that we used to be able to use DLs and ADs to help with the OW instructing of Novices and SDs and now we can not. Effectively about 1/3 of the most active and experienced divers were slashed from the instructor pool which has caused a bottle neck in OW training. "


I agree that this has caused a bit of a bottle neck - but anyone who's completed the IFC (even those at SD level) can instruct with adequate NI supervision. Surely we can motivate most DLs and ADs to at least take the IFC?


If any BSAC club is having problems with lack of instructors, ask the regional coach for help (or even BSAC instructors on this forum). There are lots of instructors in the regions who will happily come along to help out on club nights. At a previous club in Cheshire, where we lost all but one of our instructors (I know - very careless), we had some guys from Wales and Yorkshire come and help out.

[Ian@1904]

I am due to be on the IFC course in Feb, however at present there are not enough people booked on to the course.......

For me the £75 cost was no big deal, however my club DO has reminded me to claim the full amount back from the dive club, so a bit of a bonus there. I am also Treasurer so time will tell wheteher I write a cheque to myself.

We are a small club-being "managed" under the BSAC marketing initiative and are desperate for more instructors-one of the many reasons for me doing the IFC. Five were trying to complete the DL course-one has moved away, one has a PFO, one is currently on "nights" and the instructor is also a busy chap. So meeting to finish the course and practicals is not going well. Personally I would happily pay just to get this course out of the way so that I can progress my skills.

I am also using the course to develop my presentation skills- I know they are extremely weak. If you are there at the IFC I will be the quiet person sitting in the corner. Cos I'm shy, really I am.

[nigelH]

Originally Posted by Ian@1904

I am due to be on the IFC course in Feb, however at present there are not enough people booked on to the course.....

12th & 13th February at Rochester in Kent?
They were posting stuff on the SE region mailing list for that. Trying to drum up more support.

nigelH

[gobfish1]

my club pays for all the course and the exam if you pass,


Steve G

[Paul Beal]

MattS, assuming you live in Emsworth near Southampton, I have just counted 9 PIEs through the year which are being held at Horsea, near Porstmouth. Admittedly some of these are combined events but there is therefore plenty to choose from.

Originally Posted by vid

"The point was that we used to be able to use DLs and ADs to help with the OW instructing of Novices and SDs and now we can not. Effectively about 1/3 of the most active and experienced divers were slashed from the instructor pool which has caused a bottle neck in OW training. "


I agree that this has caused a bit of a bottle neck - but anyone who's completed the IFC (even those at SD level) can instruct with adequate NI supervision. Surely we can motivate most DLs and ADs to at least take the IFC?

I think you mean NQI - Nationally Qualified Instructor, rather than NI - National Instructor (the highest instructor qualification only reached by about 6 people per year) - TLAs, who needs them!! But yes, I completely agree with your point. In fact, my personal view (and I will probably be slated for it) is that if someone has got all the way up to advanced diver in a BSAC club and has not done an ITC/IFC then someone needs to kick them up the ar*e to get on with it. This can only happen in the largest clubs surely? In smaller clubs the most experienced people are always the ones who are leaned on to get an instructor qualification

Paul

[beanie]

Originally Posted by Paul Beal

I think you mean NQI - Nationally Qualified Instructor, rather than NI - National Instructor (the highest instructor qualification only reached by about 6 people per year) - TLAs, who needs them!!

My personal view (and I will probably be slated for it) is that if someone has got all the way up to advanced diver in a BSAC club and has not done an ITC/IFC then someone needs to kick them up the ar*e to get on with it. This can only happen in the largest clubs surely? In smaller clubs the most experienced people are always the ones who are leaned on to get an instructor qualification

Paul

why ?

some of us aren't cut out to teach
and put our bit back in other ways

it takes more than instructors to keep a successful club going

[Paul Beal]

Originally Posted by beanie

why ?

some of us aren't cut out to teach
and put our bit back in other ways

it takes more than instructors to keep a successful club going

Yes, very true, there is a lot more to a club that teaching. Although many people who think they are not cut out for teaching get themselves on an IFC and enjoy every minute of it.

Paul

[Ian B]

Originally Posted by tiewrapdiver

Teaching instructors in house sounds like a huge opening for quality to go right out the window, you hear a lot of moaning off people about crap instructors without removing the one constant quality factor, that they all have to go thru the region, and the ITS staff are supposed to be very best of BSAC instructors

Tim

That's a good point. On my IFC, TIE, OWIC and PIE there was at least one national instructor who was there to ensure the quality of teaching was of national and uniform standard, rather than a possible myopic view of an individual branch.

[Allan Carr]

I did my instructor course so long ago (1969) that I can't even remember what it cost although I'm pretty sure that I paid for it. The cost of the courses is very reasonable and I believe that most instructors are prepared to carry the cost themselves in order to put someting back into the club, though many clubs now subsidise the cost. I gave up active instructing some years ago due to the pressure of work and the difficulty of keeping up to date with all the changes.

I have to confess that I was also getting a bit fed up with a constant string of trainees who had no intention of becoming part of the club in the longer term and simply wanted qualifications so that they could dive abroad. In this situation, I think it is reasonable to charge trainees more and to subsidise instructor training since there is not the same feeling of paying back for what you have received.