What Makes A Good Instructor? 

Kevin Ryan 

The quest for learning never ends. The sources available are endless. There is a never-ending stream of books (audible included), videos and podcasts from some of the best hazmatters in the business. A technician can learn at their pace and convenience as a result of technology.  

One of my primary roles for the Baltimore City FD (BCFD) Hazmat is as an instructor. In an effort to expand my own learning, I began to look at instructors from other disciplines and interests in my life. Fitness and golf are activities where I used instructors for improvement. Each instructor I encountered had developed their own teaching style in order to reach their students. The best instructors all have common traits regardless of their discipline. The traits common to these instructors are safety, experience and student success. The most important of these three are the instructor having a genuine interest in the improvement of the student. Let’s look at each of these individually.  

Safety in training can mean many things. Students in the fire and hazmat service must feel as though all safety precautions have been taken to prioritize learning. A student that is afraid of injury is definitely not focused on the objectives for learning. Live fire and chemical agent training are an absolute must for the success of students. NFPA and OSHA standards must be strictly adhered to when any live training is conducted.  

What does safety look like for fitness instruction? Your first impression is that all forms of exercise are not life threatening, so how does safety matter? Safety in these methods means injury prevention. A fitness instructor must teach proper form for maximum development without risking injuries. The best fitness instructors will always tell you form over failure. Less weight on the bar and emphasizing proper form not only protects the student but leads to the most gains. A really good fitness pro will use alternate methods when working with injuries.  

Experience in an instructor is invaluable in the learning process. Instructors that have gone through the struggles of learning know all too well the frustration. The experienced instructor can be thought of as providing a foundation for better student comprehension. A student’s skill level and ability to learn can be quickly assessed by the instructor.  

A golf instructor that has many hours of teaching and learning will quickly diagnose swing flaws in as little as 5 to 10 swings. Experienced golf pros will look at the ball flight to begin. They will then work backwards to determine the swing path and club face direction in a swing. A sliced golf shot will always have an out to in swing path and open club face at impact. Experienced golf instructors will then offer swing drills to teach the student to correct these flaws.  

Fire\Hazmat instructors can work in the same manner to improve student performance. Flaws or errors that are recognized can be corrected relatively quickly. Once corrections are made, repeated practice can ingrain the skill to a level of mastery. The key for an experienced instructor is to not get caught up in instruction that does not move the needle. Staying focused on the outcome avoids common pitfalls that inexperienced instructors do not recognize.  

I saved the most important trait to be discussed last. An instructor that is genuinely interested in student success is one that will be most effective. The student’s learning must be placed above all other priorities. The experienced instructor will quickly connect with students to find out their why. Why is the student here? What does the student hope to learn? A few well directed questions by the instructor will allow them to understand motivations. Knowing how to motivate a student is one of the single most powerful pieces of knowledge an instructor can gain. A student that has chosen to be in your class is easier to reach than one that is told to be there. I see this every time I take mandatory EMT refresher with other suppression members. Members would much rather spend 4 days involved in other aspects of our job. BCFD EMS Academy instructors deserve a lot of credit for their dedication despite knowing most of us would rather not be there.  

The recent Florida Hazmat Symposium gave me an opportunity to be a presenter. My class covered a lot of the topics you see me write about in this magazine. I opened the class by introducing myself then asking the audience various questions. Questions like where are you from? What is your rank? Questions like this help me figure out where the conversation goes. My slide presentation is nothing more than information to provoke conversation. A successful presentation is where the audience is engaged in the discussion. The single most powerful tool an instructor has is to learn from the audience. A teacher that can become a student in their own class will be far more effective at delivering the message. Ultimately, a good instructor encourages the student to take ownership of their learning. You want the student to process the information, make it their own and apply it to their decision-making process.  

I will close with this quote from Bruce Lee to sum up information from a good instructor. “Absorb what is useful, discard what is not, add what is uniquely your own”.

Kevin Ryan

Kevin Ryan leads the Baltimore City FD Hazmat Operations Office. A 31-year veteran of the fire service with 26 years of experience in the world of hazmat response. He is a Level III instructor and adjunct at the BCFD Fire Academy.