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school programs & s***ty new divers
I have noticed something which seems to repeat itself in almost every commercial diving educational institution on the globe. Divers having finished their program are not capable enough in a real life environment. I think it was Shaun Flynn who started a similar discussion. I'd just like to know if there's anyone who could explain to me why schools don't organize their curriculum in a more practical way. Somebody on this site mentioned that the only useful thing divers get taught at school was how to get their gear on. Everything else was taught on the job. So once again what's the point? Is a more practical oriented education more expensive for the schools or do the schools just don't care?
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Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Ethan on
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I see where you're comming from but I dont know if the level of preparedness you speak of is possible in a training envoronment without upping the real life risks. For example when you conduct combat training with paintballs or simunition rounds vs an actual live fire excercise. The thought process changes from "i dont want to lose into i dont want to die"
So in my opinion two things need to change to get the full capabilities of diving typically learned on the job out of a school. 1. schools stop with the get rich and always have work propaganda. 2. open a school on a working rig or barge.
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Permalink Reply by Toby Dodd on
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the schools have to teach physics, phisiology, dive medicine, etc. you won't have time to learn that on the job. the school also give you a crash course in gearing up and getting in the water. it's pretty much like MOS school in the military. you get a crash course in the basics and you learn the rest and better yourself on the job. is it the best way? that's debatable. it's the supervisor's and LT's responsibility to take the new hires and train them the offshore way and the boat's way. when i was LT, i had most all of my new hires do nothing but choke hose and run chambers. i would tell them while they were choking hose to pay attention to the back deck and all that was going on and being said between the dive shack and me. the ones that would chomp at the bit to get a chance on the back deck got it. and if they proved to be descent and have potential they got more time on the back deck learning. the ones that didn't pay attention or didn't jump at the chance to prove themselves stayed on the hose and the chambers. the ones that didn't show any potential at all got run off. it was that simple. that might not be the same method on other boats or companies, but it worked for me and my crew. i always had someone to take my place when i wanted time off and could trust them because they learned from me. my boat was a 4 point construction boat and we were a productive, successful boat on the jobs. don't mean to sound like i'm bragging, but i'm very proud of the time i spent on that boat and the guys i worked with.
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Permalink Reply by Erik Golub on
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It's understandable to gain experience while working as a tender but in Europe as far as I know new divers don't tend. They 're supposed to be diving straight away. Inland diving is supposed to be a springboard to offshore but inland requires experience as well. If I'm wrong I'd like someone to correct me but I think the wh*** tending for a couple of years before jumping into the water story is practiced in the USA only.
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Permalink Reply by Daniel Kelly on
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schools don't care. ask anyone who graduates from Divers Academy International in NJ and whatever the name of the school is in Seattle as well. I haven't seen anything personally from them, and it could just be propaganda, but I hear they kill 1 or 2 students per year. They obviously don't care about their students enough to put them in a controlled environment before putting them in a real-life scenario, but again, this could just be propaganda. Also, I jumped the gun a bit when I said the schools don't care. I know for a fact that I have a few instructors who would free dive to 60' on a single breath to save my ass if they had to, but I know better than to sit on the bottom and wait for certain other "higher ups" in the faculty to save me if you get my drift. The big dogs call the shots and make a school what it is. The instructors are just doing their jobs the way they have to in order to keep them. If the big dogs don't care, the school doesn't either. its sad really. For those of us who love diving and want to learn more, in a much more practical environment, it's disappointing, but not disheartening. I can honestly tell you that everyone I study and dive with on a regular basis is passionate about diving, and if we have to learn on the job site, so be it. Whatever it takes to better ourselves as professionals.
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