Someone who knows a lot and can convey that knowledge to a student is a good teacher.
Someone who thinks he knows everything and can only bask in his own self-proclaimed radiance is not.
It’s a temptation that strikes down too many instructors. A few students start to look up to them and suddenly they start to believe their own press. A guy who knows a bit about shooting suddenly thinks he’s qualified to teach Olympic athletes or a SWAT team. But the worst part is when he stops learning and stops wanting to learn.
The best instructors are the ones who freely admit they still have something to learn, the ones who are more than willing to discuss and debate and compare without having their egos get in the way. New ideas, new equipment, new approaches to old problems are being discovered every day. A good instructor seeks out new things. The egomaniacal instructor fears change.
A good instructor compares notes with his peers. The egomaniacal instructor cannot tolerate different ideas. He’ll argue about the smallest detail, insist on doing things his own unwavering way under all circumstances. Question anything, and he will often spin out into an endless diatribe about his own superiority … but never actually address the question posed.
A good instructor can discuss many different solutions to a problem, many different ways to perform a task. The egomaniacal instructor is best at telling you why his way, and only his way, could ever possibly work. He’s most expert at telling students why other instructors are bad, dangerous, or just frighteningly different.
So never be afraid to try new things. Don’t be intimidated by different opinions. Look upon other firearms instructors as sources of knowledge, as peers, as a sounding board to discuss your thoughts and beliefs. Seek out constructive criticism. When I teach, one thing I always do at the end of any class is insist on recommendations from the students. Not just a critique, but genuine suggestions about ways they think I could do things better. No matter how happy students are, if you give them the opportunity to give honest feedback without fear of reprisal they will always have some good ideas.
Remember, teaching isn’t about the teacher. It’s about the students. There is no grey area.
Train hard & stay safe! ToddG