Tips and advice on 4 students : 1 instructor

[johnreeves]

Hi guys,

I've travelled to many places to teach, but have always preferred one kite, two students, one instructor. However, the next school I'll be joining for the winter season, will teach 4 students on 2 kites, and one instructor - so can anybody share their advice / method of teaching for this setup?

Thanks so much.


Best, John

[evila]

Not sure about the number of students, but two kites one instructor sounds kinda risky!

[maurice_k]

Not sure about the number of students, but two kites one instructor sounds kinda risky!

Hi John,

It works great at our school. We do have 4 students on 2 kites with 1 Instructor. This can be done with Short-lines!

If you want you can use an assistant but normally it is not necessary with short lines.

Look at this if you doubt from the IKO. :http://ikointl.com/kiteboard-instructor-level-2

The short line technique will give your students minimal 'pull' and therefore it is safer with a direct handling of the kites as were they flying normal kites. How further they come with their progression how longer lines you attach ( with extensions) then when they are on water start, you can give them long lines but still not necessary. It will pull them out of the water anyway.

Make sure that your 2th person is holding the flying person in the back. Also try to put 1 good one with one slightly one who is struggling. Make sure you will in all times you take control if it is needed and your lesson schedule needs to be ' Tip-Top.

Hope this helps.

Summer is here www.seabreezekiteclub.com

[FLandOBX]

The only time I've taught 4 students by myself is during a land lesson with power kites. Multiple power kites on land with that many students is usually fine. However, I don't think a 4-to-1 ratio in any context is conducive to maximum learning -- i.e., the instructor is spread too thin.

In the water, 4-to-1 with multiple kites is too risky. I would never use more than 1 LEI kite with or without short lines, and I frequently teach on short lines (15 m) for the reasons given in the earlier post. But more than 1 LEI kite in the air means inexperienced students are going to be on their own, will inevitably become separated, and the instructor can only attend to 1 at a time. The only reason why a school would allow a 4-to-1 lesson is that the school owner wants to maximize income and minimize expense without regard to consequences. In this case, the increased risk of injury to students, damage to equipment, and liability for the school and instructor is too great.

PASA III Instructor - 7 years

[Kitehatteras]

FLandOBX is absolutely correct, bin teaching since 1998. Don't do it to make extra money, completely irresponsible in my opinion!

www.kitehatteras.net

[Laughingman]

Yah I agree. 0 years teaching but from a consumers point of view I would not pay for the pleasure or ever recommend a school which teaches 4:2:1
Tip. Find another school to work for. If they have this level of disregard for their students imagine how they will treat you.

[SENDIT!]

I agree with the last 3 posters. There is NOTHING that is going to be BETTER for the students by going 4/2/1. NOTHING. They are going to get less instruction and be put in danger. I got put in this situation once with a father and son that insisted on going at the same time with 2 kites on their 2nd lesson. That worked out terribly when they both ended up with the kites down and getting dragged into deep water. How exactly do you take care of 2 simultaneous bad situations? You don't. The only beneficiary in this scenario is the school.

I would tell you to go work somewhere else. It's not worth the danger and potential liability you're going to get saddled with. Good luck.

[Toby]

best lessons: 1 student : 1 instructor

to all schools who do it like that...this is QUALITY !

And quality has its price.

[Do-it]

Sounds like a kook factory.

[robertovillate]

I agree with FLandOBX and the others of similar opinion. I've taught in many places, with short lines, standard lines, etc...etc...I've been teacing for over 10 years independently and for other schools, some of whom wanted me to teach multiple students with one instructor. It is OK with the trainer kite segment, but as soon as you get to flying a full size kite in the water it is much more safe to limit it to 2 students-1 kite-1 instructor max. IMO It is only fair to the student to do it this way in terms of safety, attention from the instructor, opportunity for progression, courtesy to others on the beach. If you have a good assistant kite-boy/kite-girl who really knows whats up more than 2 students might be OK if the teaching environement is ideal

There have been some situations, e.g. when a group of 4 friends wants to do the lesson together...if I agree to that I make it clear that it will be a long day...adding 1-2 hrs for each additional students beyond my standard limit of 2. It's the only way to make sure everyone has a chance to do all the fundamental training. I often see that in large groups that the essentials of self rescue are completely glossed over, as are many other useful skills/knowledge. Unfortunately it takes time to cover that and do the practicals. You can only squeeze so much experience into a 3-4 hour lesson...and it's obvious that the more students per instructor the worse this is going to get. It always amazes me when I see someone sitting in the water and not showing any clue whatsoever of how to self rescue, even though they have the basics of riding sorted...or people lacking even the simplest beach and water safety/etiquette.

The other issue is that not everyone who wants to learn how to kitesurf has good "watermans" instincts. When you mix 4 individuals together you are going to see a wide range of athletic abilities, physical attributes, water skills, or lack thereof of all of these qualities. Again...it's not fair to the students to just mix them up randomly and expect that they get the most of the lesson. I look at each student very individually and try to tailor the lesson to them as much as I can. With more than 2 students this becomes very difficult regardless of time constraints.