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Le 28 Jan 97 @ 7:55, RatDiver =E9criv=EEt sur "Configs & the Student
Diver":
....
> A recurring theme from the professionals on these lists is that they
> have to re-educate and (obviously) re-configure every diver who
> comes to them for advanced activities. Granted this is a
> combination of poor basic instructing and incorrect equipment at the
> intro level.
>
> John is a conscientious dive instructor. He wants to teach diving
> full time, and make a living at it (no joke.) He's done his due
> diligence; his
....
> None of his students will have any equipment of their own. He will
> maintain his own stock of training equipment for his students to
> ensure
....
> How should he stock his training system department? I apologize if
> this
....
> Whatever the conclusion, I'm interested in the reasoning.
Well, when you take a hard, sober look at it, you see several
contradictory factors.
1- It is obvious that teaching diving is a one-shot deal. Whatever
learned remains learned. That is, once someone is basically
certified, that's it, (in ideal circumstances) there is no more basic
certifying.
So, if one wants to make a living out of teaching diving,
1a- One must either teach a *LOT* of divers (for example, taking
almost anybody, regardless of ability, in their classes), or
1b- keep teaching them all the time (for example, by telling them
stuff a tiny bit at a time, and making them pay for all bits).
1c- do both a & b at the same time.
2- There is far more money to be made by selling gear than by
teaching people.
2a- So, diveshops being bottom-line oriented, they will also teach
diving courses.
2b- Naturally, the instructors there will try to sell as much gear as
possible to students, if only to please their bosses (heaven forbid
the instructors be on commission).
3- If the optimal gear configuration (a.k.a. "Hogarthian") is
minimal, simplistic and performing, well, one can obviously see who
will be the loser, here. Fortunately, for this time, it ain't the
knowledgeable diver here.
3a- But if knowledgeable divers won't buy the crap pushed by diveshop
instructors, diveshops have no incentive whatsoever in giving quality
formation. Instead, their interest lies with keeping the average Joe
Doe (or is it "Joe Dough", or "Joe Blow"?) uninformed, or rather,
disinformed.
4- So, it turns out that the dive shops (at least in North America)
are in the classic American business position, that is of letting the
fox guard the henhouse.
5- If this is the situation, why in hell dive clubs aren't jockeying
hard to provide proper dive training, like it is done in Europe? Why
people in north america aren't enjoined to join dive clubs (as a
matter of course, a marketing organization by a dive shop can hardly
qualify as a dive club).
-- -------------- Pour la Republique Francaise du Quebec -------------- --
While everybody is busy saying that "Government is the biggest threat
to individual liberties", they don't notice that free speech is being
hacked and slashed by big corporations with unlimited legal budgets.
~~ Last real dive: Still the almost fully frozen canal Soulanges, 5mfw ~~
Marc Dufour -- [\] ACUC6 31874 - TDI CD-0197 -- http://www.accent.net/emdx
--
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