The dismal paddling class part 2

Finally, the 2 star course was over last Sunday. I went for the class with the kids feeling less outraged because I am resigned to the fact that the school had already wasted money on the course, though the kids probably treasure the memories of the experience fondly all the same.

It really baffles me how hypocritical these coaches can be. In the past, they used to slime instructors on my side, taking the high ground and saying that their courses are safer and are of a higher standard. Yet, safety for them is really just an excuse for poor classroom management and plain laziness to allow full participation of the class (which will require their full attention to supervise.) Take their kayak-to-swimmer rescue practice for example, taught shoddily with a dismissive attitude for the value of the skill, neglecting to explain the basic principles in performing a rescue, and managed unsafely. Kids swim out in a row close together, and boats went to them in swarms weaving around the bobbing human heads. I asked the instructor why they weren't spread out a distance apart, and she said "I told them so, but they just don't listen", and went back to staring at them. They simply can't be bothered to make sure swimmer-kayaker paddle in 'lanes' safely without obstructing or colliding with others at all.

Time wasting is rampant as usual - new instructor who came in to take over another from last week asked the students if they had done rescue practice already, to which the students said yes. Still, she got them to do it one more round all the same, and wasted even more time by asking a pair to do demonstration first. And she barked at the kids to "shut up and just watch", and that's something no proper teacher would say.

They can't be bothered to coach too. Same coach wanted to demonstrated the bow rudder but turned her boat fully with a sweep stroke before putting in the rudder, which got a student to ask what the stroke is for (because she obviously didn't used that to achieve the effect). When I questioned her, she said, "Oh it's not important for them to learn the stroke now, they don't need to understand it fully. They only need to know show the stroke...". I paraphrased for her - "So they just need to go through the motion lah..." She got defensive and started telling me all about how it is only an introduction to the skill at this stage blah blah blah. My fellow colleague on the course feedbacked that to the club manager, who chose to defend his coach by saying the same thing. So they are either dishonest to their ethics as a coach or simply couldn't be bothered to be a good one.

Fed up with their unwillingness to teach, I went around the groups teaching and demonstrating where I can. The manager actually had the cheek to tell me during lunch break that the coaches complained that I have been interfering with their lessons, that I can add on to their teaching perhaps after the session, and that I am disrupting their lesson plans. Coincidentally, all learning stopped very soon after lunch because of the dark foul weather, making the coaches abandon their feeble attempts at instructing. Someone up there must have been listening to me.