One IKO certified Instructor's perspective

[PiaKite]

Wow! I’ve read a lot of IKO bashing on this board lately, and some of the heat has been directed at IKO certified instructors as a group and I gotta tell you that I resent some of the things that have been generalized about US. Whether you like or despise IKO or PASA, or any of the other certifying bodies, don’t paint all of us with the same brush. Perhaps not all, but MOST certified instructors are very interested in creating safe, competent kiteboarders. Why wouldn’t we be? Many of the comments on this forum are from people who are completely uninformed of what is involved in becoming certified by IKO or any other certifying organization.

The negative comments on this forum directed at IKO instructors come from people who don’t know their a$$hole from apple butter, and don’t have a clue as far as what it takes to become a certified, and SUCCESSFUL instructor. For example, to qualify for the Instructor Training Course (ITC) course, a rider must be able to make transitions, jump, and do rotations. Although these are not the greatest of hurdles, they are beyond most beginners. Then, he must be certified by the Red Cross, in both basic first aid and CPR. If his teaching location requires, he must also obtain a 6-pack boat captain’s license. It is a commitment not only of time, but also of finances even before he attends the 5-day ITC – (it cost $600 in the U.S when I took it). Oh yeah, the shop where I teach also required that I shadow qualified instructors for 21 hours, and then teach sand-only training kite lessons for another 30 hours that were observed and critiqued by level 2 instructors before I was allowed to attend the IKO instructors course. So at least, at my shop, you don’t just get off the pickle boat and become IKO certified – I had either observed or taught 51 hours before attending the certification class. One other thing, the money gained teaching isn’t that great. Whether you want to believe it or not, most of us are in it more because of our love for the sport and the lifestyle, rather than for the monetary rewards. In my previous job, I made right about 25 times as much in a year as I do teaching kiteboarding.

As far as IKO itself, it is far from perfect. But, instructors understand that IKO is trying to create safe, independent kiteboarders by using standard teaching methods. One of its goals is to introduce a standard learning curriculum that can pretty much be taught at any location in any language, with some local nuances added. For example, I wrote the Intro lesson plan for our shop. It is divided in to 6 parts. Part 1 covers wind – direction, strength, quality, the wind window, power zone, obstacles, basic safety considerations, etc. Part two introduces the student to the trainer kite on the sand, and includes a large number of exercises to improve trainer kite skills that will translate to the traction kite. Part 3 teaches the student how to rig the inflatable kite and stresses the safety features of a 4, or 5-line kite. Part 4 moves the student into waist deep water and the student learns how to transfer the skills learned from the trainer kite to the larger inflatable kite and how to relaunch. Part 5 teaches the student how to body drag upwind (to be able to retrieve his board without wearing a leash), and how to body drag downwind. Part 6 teaches the student how to self rescue in deep water and while doing so, how to wrap the bar so that his lines are not tangled in the process. In all, the lesson is 3 hours and covers 74 different skills/topics. I believe that this is just a tad more comprehensive than you would be getting from one of your buddies who has not formalized his lesson plan. And the same thing goes for water-start and riding lessons. There’s a lot more to it than just putting your buddy on a kite and saying, “have at it”. Finally, once we put the student on a large inflatable kite, we teach ONLY in deep water - away from crowds, using boats. We also use radio helmets so that we can maintain contact with the student at all times. Every one of our instructors is certified whether it is PASA or IKO to insure that the instructor is trained and qualified to teach.

As a Level 2 instructor, my only requirement for continuing education is to take one (1) course that provides one (1) credit because I have 9 credits by virtue of my teaching experience. That one course will cost me ten ($10) dollars. My 2 year renewal charge is about $70. So, I’m in it for about $80 over two years. Sorry, but that’s just not a lot of money - and who knows, I might even learn something that I didn’t know before I took the course.

I’m not here to defend IKO. They’re big boys and they can do it themselves. But I do take exception to some of the inaccurate CRAP that has been said about certified instructors spewed forth from people who have anecdotal evidence for their comments. Someone who actually works in the sport had to call them out and that would be me. My purpose is to defend the really good and conscientious instructors who are both coworkers and friendly competitors (whether they are IKO, PASA or whatever) who help to make this sport grow and help new riders gain skills. It is just as much fun for an instructor when their student gets that first water-start, or transition, or jump as it is for the student. We hoot and holler just as loud when they get it as they do. Give us a break and don’t paint all of us with the same brush. We became certified because we wanted to help, not hinder this great sport.

[Diego K]

You are right, they are putting as all in the same bag!

[Toby]

thx for the info pia, good to hear your voice as well.

I am sure the majority of instructors think, work, instruct and ride as mentioned by you.
For sure there are few around not being like that.
The IKO or any organization has to make sure they learn more or get stopped, so discussions like this will not come up again.

And I like the way your shop is making sure they only have experienced instructors by not directly putting them onto the students with full power...maybe a good suggestion to the organizations to find a standard for this?

[Jbrook]

Id have to say that the mail from above is a huge minority when it comes to schools and instructors. Most just want your money and will teach in any conditions. Can you imagine a shop owner saying I do not have anyone to give you a lesson they need more time training?? Wouldnt happen.

[nomorebikinis]

Sounds good. I am a student. Let's see, tell me:
1. when someone wants to take (a) lesson(s) what is the time scheduled for the average student for:
- the stage of waterstart;
- try to keep hight
- to understand the theoretical part.
2. does he get lesson with the same person everytime, and what if he does not progress with this person. what if he gets hurt during the lesson. are there instructors who can tell you in how much time you are able to comply with your expectations or have a scheme for you.
3. when you booked lessons and there is no wind, do you always have to call or is there an online service so you can check out by the hour? students hate it if they can't reach the school because the phone is always busy. do your students fill in a form how they experienced the lessons with the teacher, quality perhaps? unpleasant things. What does your school does with unpleasant stories, can you give an example. Does the school have a website where you can post your remarks in the open. What do you tell your students about stages of learning? is this registered in the chapters as well

[ian c]

"The negative comments on this forum directed at IKO instructors come from people who don’t know their a$$hole from apple butter, and don’t have a clue as far as what it takes to become a certified, and SUCCESSFUL instructor."

How did you get to this conclusion?

[kitesurfingcumbuco]

"The negative comments on this forum directed at IKO instructors come from people who don’t know their a$$hole from apple butter, and don’t have a clue as far as what it takes to become a certified, and SUCCESSFUL instructor."

How did you get to this conclusion?

Dear Sir

Dont talk trash about people that are complaining about something
If they had this experience with a IKO teacher or annother than they have a right to speak on this forum simple annother guy also complained about IKO being in cabarete four blocks from the beach and they cannot controle or keep there standards on there own beach .
I think he has a point we have to see were we can go and what is best for the kitesport in our countrys and in fact for your kiting at your homespot !!!

I think in my country safety, insurance,in some cases helped by goverment will be better !!!

Second i dont like it if people just make a new topic just stick with the first its really simple because its damm hard to follow now ...the topic was never about kite-instructor not doing there job it just came by and you decided to make annother topic about it .
Now i have to follow allready three topics thanks alot


Third i just want to point out the problem again that IKO has some problems and was looking for some answers.

Discused on this kite forum was :

-What is the best a local or international organ (safety ,intructor courses,reopening of beaches for kiting)?

-and what if local organ can exist ( like in france) ...what would be better ?

-and warn people doing an instructorcourse before they spend a fortune on an IKO course that is not wurth nothing on the international surfbeaches

-and are you secure incase of an accident because in many country you need a workingpermit
this to protect the instructors

[PiaKite]

Nomoore:

1. Generally at the shop where I teach, the lessons are 3-hours in length and the clock doesn’t start until the student’s kite is in the air.

The first 3-hour lesson is an Intro lesson that was outlined above. The second 3-hour lesson is devoted to teaching the waterstart, and getting the student riding. Many of the students are able to waterstart and ride in both directions at the end of the second lesson. Some are not. Most are not able to stay upwind or make transitions at this stage and that is not unusual.

Theory, demonstrations, and student practice are all integrated in to every lesson. Some people learn faster by seeing the demo, some by hearing the theory. All of them usually need both, and a lot of practice.

It’s difficult to put a specific timeframe on mastering these skills as each person (and instructor) is different. A lot depends on the student’s focus and willingness to learn, as well as their physical abilities. And a lot depends on the experience and expertise of the instructor.

2. If I can, I like to stay with a specific student at least until I get them up and riding. If they’re going to continue their lesson plan, I also like to stay with them because it’s great to see them progress. Sometimes that’s not always possible if the shop is really busy and other students have reserved my time. But when this happens, I have no problem passing a student on to one of our other instructors.

At our shop, you can request whomever you like for an instructor. If you want to make a change, you can – you’re the customer!

Before I teach any lesson, the student and I sit down and discuss the objectives and their goals for the lesson. And at the end of the lesson, we review what we wanted to accomplish and compare it to what actually happened.

If you’re concerned with the quality of instruction, I’d recommend that you ask your instructor for references from his former students. I keep the phone numbers and Email addresses of all of my former students. It’s easy for a new student to get a reference from one my former students.

3. My students get the shop business card, and my business card. My card has my cell phone number and my Email addresses. For a morning lesson, I ask the student to call me around 9 AM for a wind check. The student can also call the shop or look up the current wind speed on an on line service that covers our area. Even in our busiest times, it is not a problem contacting either the shop or me.

Our students provide feedback to the shop owner, to IKO, and to me. The feedback can cover positive and negative aspects of the lesson. If there is negative feedback, we would try to learn from it.

Our shop does have a website and a forum where people can post messages – much like this forum.

Good luck to you.

[gazxtreme]

Nomoore:

1. Generally at the shop where I teach, the lessons are 3-hours in length and the clock doesn’t start until the student’s kite is in the air.

The first 3-hour lesson is an Intro lesson that was outlined above. The second 3-hour lesson is devoted to teaching the waterstart, and getting the student riding. Many of the students are able to waterstart and ride in both directions at the end of the second lesson. Some are not. Most are not able to stay upwind or make transitions at this stage and that is not unusual.

WTF?? 6 hours to reach boardstarts, this just backs up peoples perception that many instructors do not follow the syllabus they should be adhering to. But then again as most miss out the self rescue and pack down this must save about 1.5 hours. To reach a good L1 skill level it takes the first day or 5-6 hours and level 1 takes you normally as far as some down wind body dragging and possibly one handed body dragging. Board starts in 6 hours means there is a lot of course content missing. These are the students I must keep getting once back in England that need to fill in many missing skills even though they reached board starts and got a shiny IKO card maked up to level 2.

[PiaKite]

gazxtreme:

Try some reading comprehension skills.

I said, "Many of the students are able to waterstart and ride in both directions at the end of the second lesson. Some are not."

Oh yeah, the first 3 hour lesson covers self rescue and pack down as I indicated in my earlier post.

Kind of seems like whatever I say I'm going to get slagged from one direction or another. So I'm signing off. My students know my qualifications and that's good enough for me!