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The last twenty years have seen a transformation in education. Teaching at all levels has to confront a paradigm shift in the way content is delivered. The scuba industry is no different. In the past we conducted courses over weeks and part of the job of a scuba professional was to lecture on topics ranging from equipment use to physics and physiology. Today, the majority of content deliver is done in an online course and the students work with the instructors mainly for the practical skills.

While many dislike the approach, the future waits for no one, we must adapt to provide quality scuba education for our students and ensure that they are able to dive safely. One way to embrace this change is to view ourselves not as a lecturer, but as a coach.

I have been teaching for more than 20 years and I like to lecture. I enjoy presenting material and leading students to make discoveries. I also like to lay traps for them and see if I can get them to walk down the primrose path until they get to the edge of the cliff without realizing it. Then I would point out where their assumptions went wrong and how to look out for problems while they are thinking about a topic. It is fun to take students from ignorance to knowledge in the classroom setting. Not only did I get to show off my knowledge, but I also got to enjoy their learning.

The online class takes that away from me. Now I don’t get to spend the time flexing my education, vocabulary, and cleverly laid traps in the classroom (even if I record my lectures, I don’t get to see their reaction and get the dopamine hit). Now my interaction with the student is after they have gone through the material. I end up being a FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) page rather than the expert at the front of the classroom. It does not feel as good as the before.

As scuba professionals, however, we still have to have personal interaction with divers. People have claimed “You cannot learn to dive on the computer” and while that is true, you cannot learn how to dive in a classroom either. You can learn about diving in a classroom and on a computer, but to learn how to dive you have to get in the water.

Just like you can’t learn how to play football on the computer or classroom, you must get on the field and do it. You can learn the rules in the classroom. You can learn plays and strategy in the classroom. Execution of a play is very different from knowing what you are supposed to do on a play. The same is true in scuba diving.

Knowing why you never hold your breath while scuba diving is not the same as breathing properly while scuba diving. Knowing how to assembly your equipment is not the same as assembling the equipment. Knowing what to do to become neutrally buoyant is not the same as becoming neutrally buoyant in the water.

A coach calls the plays and helps players perform the skills they need to perform. The coach makes sure the players know the rules and the plays. He demonstrates techniques and helps the players get better. He tells them when they need to improve and when they have done well. Scuba professionals should view their role in a similar manner.

For students who are new to diving, you will be introducing the equipment and helping them become familiar. Take time with this. They did not learn everything in the classroom when you were lecturing and they did not learn everything online either. In a classroom or online they learned theory, now you will help them learn practically.

Make sure you don’t shortcut the practical time. Let the students feel the equipment. Let them make mistakes and correct them. Let the students try again. When they get it right, let them show others. Just like football teams run plays in practice over and over, let students practice the skills over and over. Let them practice by themselves and with other students. Let them practice with you also.

Make sure it is ok to mess up, and to not be perfect with new skills, especially at first. That means you will have to make sure the environment is safe and failing to perform a skill is not dangerous. But more than that, make sure the students feel safe to say to you, I messed that up. They must be able to trust that you are not there to fail them, but to guide them to success. As a coach you are working with them for their success. You won’t put them “in the game” if they are not ready, but you will work with them to make them ready to be in the game. While this applies at all levels of training, it especially applies to divers seeking to become Open Water certified.

I tell new divers that their Open Water certification is like a “learner’s permit” to drive a car. It is your permission to practice. Especially in the minimum standards environment of the scuba industry, we must view the role of the dive professional as a coach to make better divers. Let students know that you are there for them to succeed and that success is a “safe” dive, not just a dive where you did not get hurt.

As a coach hold the highest standards. Also know that minimum standards, are just that, the minimum. Don’t allow someone to complete a certification who has not met the minimum standards, but don’t aim for the minimum either.

As an IDEA instructor, after introducing the skills, my students know that they should not touch the bottom again. In three feet of water or thirty feet of water, they are expected to stay off the bottom and strive for neutral buoyancy. Surprisingly, many do not touch the bottom again after the first few lessons in confined water. At least they do not touch the bottom much. They will mess up. They will struggle to remain neutrally buoyant. Some will have to touch on a platform to fix an issue or recover a dropped weight. But the expectations are high. Be the coach that lets them struggle to figure it out (safely), helps them when they need it, and corrects them for the next play.

Embrace the role as coach and let the lecturer role go. You may get to be a lecturer from time to time, but as a coach you will get to enjoy the process of your students learning by doing; practicing, failing, and succeeding. In reality, good scuba professionals have always been coaches. But now we don’t have to we don’t have to spend as much time in the lecture hall and get to focus on the water.