The standard was instantly set pretty high with the question, “What certification have you earned that was meaningful?”  I have a lot of certificates.  I have ZERO hanging on my wall including my college degrees and that says it all to me.  Those pieces of paper are typically less valuable once the ink has dried.  Yes, I need one of those certificates so that I’m insured, I might need another to make the state happy, but few of those certs had value to my students and this applies equally to when I was in the school house or now that I’m on the range.  Plain and simple instructor development courses are a joke.

I have worked hard to extend my professionalism in the area of continuing education, but for the most part I have been relegated to nugget hunting.  Spending hours and hours in courses to find that one piece of information that made it “worth my while.”  As time has progressed, I have found fewer and fewer nuggets and I have a harder time spending energy away from my family and my business squandering resources for little benefit.

The question, “What certification have you earned that was meaningful?”  had a pretty strong implicit meaning for me.  The meaning was simple, THIS COURSE  isn’t about the piece of paper, it is about making you a better instructor.  Refreshing right,  off the bat.

0280 - I.C.E. Training Defensive Firearms Coach Instructor Development Course [ 28:11 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (690)

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