Instructors: Are you proven in what you teach
Robert Carlson
Police Officer, IADLEST Nationally Certified Instructor specialized in Active Shooter, Firearms, Counter Ambush, and Tactical Emergency Casualty Care (TECC) Instruction
So, you are a certified instructor with experience in a field; great, but what you are teaching is useless if the lineage hasn’t been proven. Would you pay to go learn from “Uncle Jim’s Ninja School”? Why not? He has a ninja instructor certification from “Scooter Steve Ninja Academy”. Anybody can print a certificate with anything on it, and Uncle Jim is in fact a certified Ninja Instructor, but that certification is very likely useless because there is no lineage in the training.
While not as extreme as the ninja example, tactical instructors do this all the time and if you are suddenly feeling offended, then I’m more than likely talking about you. If what you are teaching has never actually been proven in the real world, then it is theory, at best. Several years ago I came across a company claiming to be the only certified “insert cool SOF term here Instructors” outside the military. Small problem, the military doesn’t have a “insert cool SOF term here Instructor” Course. Another private company does though. So are these instructors “cool SOF term” certified, I’m sure they are; Is that certification useless, I’m certain it is.
Students trust that when they are learning from an instructor, not only is the instructor qualified and experienced, but the material is relevant and proven in actual applications. So if you are offended over the idea that instructors are teaching BS material, good, you should be. We should demand the best of ourselves. If you are offended because YOU are teaching BS material, good, because your students deserve better.
Risk | Security | Crisis Management >CEO at JTFSecurity Group Inc. >Deputy Fire Chief, Operations >Founder, RootsDojo
3 年Always an interesting topic. Being good at a discipline doesn’t make one a good teacher or instructor. Plenty of skilled fighters- martial arts or combatives, but that doesn’t make them good at imparting and sharing knowledge. So when you mix poor curricula with poor instruction, the results are terrible at best. It is interesting to watch a wrestling or gymnastic coach. These guys typically couldn’t compete- but they can teach- or can they? Does a tactical shooting instructor need to have been in multiple gun fights before being considered an “ experienced” operator and therefore be qualified to teach? I’ve seen terrible displays of attitude and ego that make for terrible instruction- regardless of the experience below the belt. Typically, the more one knows, the more humble one becomes. Fascinating topic. Thanks for sharing.
Police Officer, IADLEST Nationally Certified Instructor specialized in Active Shooter, Firearms, Counter Ambush, and Tactical Emergency Casualty Care (TECC) Instruction
3 年My 4th Article on this topic series. "Are you an expert in what you teach" https://www.dhirubhai.net/pulse/instructors-you-expert-what-teach-robert-carlson
Founder at PGC Training Group
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President | Dedicated Threat Solutions, LLC
3 年Excellent post!