The Fun of teaching a PADI Instructor course

Well done to our new PADI Instructors

Another PADI Instructor course has just finished. The group was successful and I can say, an absolute pleasure to teach. Having been teaching PADI Instructor courses for over 9 years I would honestly be lying if I said that every course was a pleasure. It’s simply not true and I don’t care what the “amazing’ “multi-award winning’ Course director says, it is simply not true. You can turn it around and say that some are just “more challenging” which, yes, yes I could say that. But teaching a PADI instructor program is hard.

Putting everything in

I don’ t think candidates realize quite how much blood, sweat and tears the good course directors put into the programs. Why? Because we care. We actually give a crap about how you do. We want you to be a good instructor and be an Ocean Ambassador. To see you doing well is what we want!

The majority of candidates want to do well. They have invested time and money into getting to this point and we will work with them as much as we can to make them successful good instructors.

Then there is the other candidate…

This is where it can get hard and draining. When you get the person that either doesn’t care, or expects everything to go there way. It’s sad but true that there are these students that come into the program. Maybe someone else is paying, maybe money isn’t an object. But they just do the bare minimum to scrape by. They don’t take it seriously the idea, of becoming a PADI instructor. That’s not saying people who have someone else pay never take it seriously, some do. But I have seen over the past few years, candidates just blaze through it seeming to not care to much. It’s frustrating for us as instructors especially when you know they have the potential to do really well and it just doesn’t register.

The other, who gets upset when they don’t score perfect. They want to argue every point. For some strange reason they feel they know more than the seasoned course director. “But it should be this way”, “why not?”. As I always say, there is method behind my madness and there is.

I have even had a grown adult in their 40s fein emotional distress every-time you give them feedback. Unless it’s “fantastic job” they look like they’re going to breakdown. Now having seen this person over a period of a month of so you know it is over dramatized and unnecessary. You give constructive criticism to help them hone their skills and instead you are an evil nasty witch. Awesome.

It’s not just you they affect

The problem, is, it doesn’t just affect you and that person it affects the group. Nobody wants to speak up, everybody feel like they are walking on eggshells which is sad and puts a dampener on the group.

Previously I would’ve been walking on eggshells too but instead now, basically you will be told to get over it a grow up no matter your age. Get some thicker skin. It’s not fair on anyone else and certainly not you either.

So to the amazing group..

So back to our group that have just gone through. They were an absolute delight to teach. Took constructive criticism on the chin and worked amazingly hard. They will be great instructors and I am extremely proud.

If you are looking at completing your PADI Instructor program in the future, make sure you are doing it for the right reasons and work hard and have fun. Yes you can do both and it is extremely rewarding when you get there!

Good luck.