The sea kayak Program Development Committee is pleased to announce the latest version of the Sea Kayak Program Manual (version 17.00). All instructors are encouraged to download and review it as there are numerous changes throughout.
Waterfront Kayak
The biggest new addition to the manual is a brand new program! We would like to welcome Waterfront Kayak Skills and Waterfront Kayak Instructor to our growing family of kayak training courses.
Aimed specifically for day or residential summer camps, the Waterfront Kayak programs were designed to ensure high-quality training for camp waterfront staff as well as offer a super fun kayak skills program for kids.
The good news is that these programs are available to all current instructors and Instructor Trainers respectively but because they are intended to be delivered to children and youth, the presentation and learning outcomes are quite different than our other programs which are aimed at adults. In the coming weeks we will be scheduling training sessions via conference calls to walk through the program’s finer details and answer any questions you may have.
Policy changes
We also want to highlight four new policies that are now in effect:
1. All instructor courses must now have a minimum of three students enrolled. This also includes any skills course where a mentorship is taking place. This change is to ensure that instructor candidates experience an appropriate level of group dynamics and able to demonstrate competence in managing those dynamics.
If you have less than three participants registered for an instructor course, candidates can gain certification via mentorship. See page 58 of the manual for more details.
2. Apprenticeships can no longer be offered on sanctioned courses where certification from another paddling organization is also being offered. Eg. Paddle Canada and British Canoe Union.
This is to maintain the integrity of Paddle Canada course material and program goals. See page 63 of the manual for more details.
3. Instructor trainers must, upon certification at each level, teach a minimum of one (1) course prior to accepting apprentice instructors.
The idea is that you need experience teaching the program yourself before you can take on an apprentice and demonstrate to them how it should properly run. See page 63 of the manual for details.
4. To ensure sufficient experience and judgement, a minimum amount of time between mentorships shall be three (3) months. Apprentices must also teach a minimum of three (3) Paddle Canada sanctioned courses with at least one at the prerequisite certification level for the mentorship.
For example, the prerequisite for sea kayak Level-1 Instructor Trainer is Level-2 Instructor and thus the candidate must teach at least one Level-2 skills course as part of the three courses required. See page 63 of the manual for more details.
Please note that there are other changes to the manual which are all highlighted in the changelog on page 6.
French Manual
We are putting the final touches on a french version of the Sea Kayak Program Manual. We hope to have it available mid-March.
New Facebook Group
Did you know that the Sea Kayak Program Development Committee now has a Facebook Group? It’s intended to be a community of Paddle Canada sea kayak instructors and a place to network and share teaching tips or best practices.
Come join the conversation at www.facebook.com/groups/pc.sea.kayak.instructors
