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Walter & Group...
[GH] From Guy Manning :
"What would you mean, if you stated, 'the candidate was well prepared for the CI test' ”
Gordy,
My motivation for asking the question was two-fold.
First; I needed a reality check on my own Casting Instructors Workshop curriculum. I wanted to see if my original assumptions of what an instructor should know held true. From the responses to the thread, they do, and I don’t seem to be unreasonable in my expectations.
Second; As you noted I did have some concerns regarding the ability of an instructor to diagnose and cure casting faults. So I had hoped the question might bring about some consensus about this. I didn’t really see that in the responses.
The main question then becomes, as Kat has alluded to, is the CI a license to teach or a license to learn. To begin with we need to remember that you DO NOT need a certification to teach casting, at least in this country (that varies in others). So there is no reason a CI can’t have gained teaching experience. Even if they only teach club members, they will learn what works and what doesn’t.
If we go back to Mel Krieger’s original intent of the program, we see that the problem he was attempting to solve was the proliferation of poor instruction based upon a lack of skill and understanding of the casting process. Or, to create a program that would identify competent Instructors to the public. To me, a competent instructor would have certain abilities:
1. To be able to discuss casting mechanics with other instructors at a basic level. This DOES NOT include an engineer’s level of knowledge and the use of rarified or stylistic terminology that seems to be the vogue on some internet forums. I don’t even expect that of MCI’s, and for some people to push for that type of familiarity with the physics is taking an extraordinarily narrow view of human nature, teaching and learning. Keep in mind that we are aiming the CICP at instructing beginners and intermediate, non-casting-geek students.
2. The CI should have the ability to help a student solve the most common casting problems through a structured presentation of knowledge both intellectual and physical. By that I mean the student needs to be learning not only simple information about mechanics but needs to be learning physical motion and muscle memory. The second of these should be taught in a manner that allows the student to self-asses and self-correct their own mistakes when the instructor isn’t around, thereby insuring they are learning. Otherwise it is wasted effort on the part of both the instructor and the student.
3. Following this, the CI should have the skills to identify the physical motions causing the faults in the caster. This means the instructor needs to have diagnostic skills beyond simply reading the loop.
If the student is tailing, the instructor needs to determine what motion, on the part of the student, is causing the tail. Ultimately, it doesn’t matter that the tip is describing a concave path, but it does matter that the instructor recognizes what motion is the cause of the tip path and what cure is necessary for that particular motion, since each motion has its own cure. Because there are numerous motions and cures the instructor should have the ability to diagnose, describe and cure more than just 2 or 3.
4. Have the skills to demonstrate both correct and incorrect casting in a relaxed manner and in a way that the cast is apparent to the student.
5. Ultimately, to have sufficient skill where I would be comfortable having the instructor teach a member of my family how to cast.
Regarding the comments in the thread, most seem to reflect the written expectations on the website. Some go beyond these stated expectations and reflect reasonable and , in some cases, what I perceive as unreasonable expectations of the CI. If we follow one detailed response I should never have taken the MCI test let alone the CI test.
To expect one to have read all of the items on the “suggested reading list” is somewhat ludicrous considering the availability and cost of many of the books, as has already been discussed. I personally have read little of the material on the list related to casting save the articles by Richards and Kyte and a few videos. My education in casting was from the talent at the Long Beach Casting Club and tournament casting. I familiarized myself with the main teachers by thumbing through their books in the stores, but unless the book offered a lot of new information I wouldn’t purchase them. Instead I spent my time and money reading books on fishing techniques etc.
One thing I see as being sorely needed in the CICP is a document for examiners. It should contain statements as to the original purpose of each task, including what primary and secondary skills are being tested, as well as what is and isn’t acceptable in follow up questioning, and performance targets. This goes beyond the notes and expectations that we will hopefully see included in the new test versions.
I also strongly believe that there should be a separate forum for MCI discussion that is closed to CIs and candidates. This would allow the BOG and committees to poll the MCI population when deciding policies and practices to prevent some of the affects some past decisions have created. It would also allow the MCI population to share testing techniques, and allow a targeted forum for passing along newly discovered knowledge that could then be disseminated to the CIs and candidates. This is easily done using a user group forum like a Yahoo Groups or some such. The communications would be kept private and not searchable on the internet while membership could be controlled by the data base on the FFF website. I had tried to set this up back in 2002 but only 3 or 4 signed up. I think it would meet more success now.
BTW, I have a page on my new website where those books that are available on Amazon (whatever the price) can be linked to. That page is http://castflys.com/certreading.html and before I get accused of shameless commercialization it should be known that I get nothing from Amazon for purchases through the links on my website, thanks to a new California tax decision.
Guy Manning
FFF Certified, Master Casting Instructor
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[GH] Guy,
Well said !
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