Why is Mastery Important?
Is it really that important for students to be this capable of performing the necessary skills? Damn straight — and for two very important reasons:
- It’s the right thing to do.
- It’s the only thing that’s defensible.
The prevailing dive industry propaganda is largely correct: Diving is a relatively safe activity. Nevertheless, people do get hurt.
It’s not as though we are asking students to do bailouts, ditch-and-recovery exercises or swim countless laps. Most of the skills covered in entry-level diver training are there for a reason. Students need to be able to clear masks, recover and clear regulators, share air and control buoyancy in order to dive safely.
Can any of us, in good conscience, place a student in a situation where he or she might need a potentially life-saving skill unless that student could perform that skill confidently, correctly and when and where needed?
Even if we had no regard for the safety and well being of our students and customers, no one wants to be sued. And the fact is, nothing less than mastery of required skills is defensible in a court of law.
Put yourself in the situation described at the beginning of this article. Could you answer Yes to the following questions?
- Could little Mary Jane remove, replace and clear her mask of water whenever and wherever you asked her to?
- Could she do so without her mask still ending up half full of water?
- When clearing her mask, did Mary Jane seem comfortable and relaxed — or did she look as though she could bolt for the surface at any moment?
Before you sign off on any student, for any skill, imagine yourself being asked these very types of questions, by the plaintiff’s attorney, in front of a judge and jury — and the student’s family.
You most likely remember from your original instructor training the importance of not turning student record folders into evidence that can be used against you in court. About the worst thing you could do in this respect is to use any sort of a grading scale, other than Pass/Fail.
It doesn’t matter that a “3” or a “C” is technically a passing score. If inability to perform that skill results in a student’s injury or death, you’ll end up having to defend why it wasn’t a “5” or an “A.”
Your only defensible position is to insist on mastery of all required skills, and to document only the fact students can perform these skills adequately in all respects.
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