Not all Instructors are Equal

Be cautious with whom you take courses from.

General law enforcement and/or military experience does not make someone an instructor.

Being a high level competitor does not make someone an instructor.

NRA courses check a box for some organizations but does not make someone an instructor.

…but they have a cert that says instructor… if they think that’s all it takes, they have a lot of learning to do. There is a difference between someone who blindly parrots a curriculum who may have a title of instructor, and then we have those that understand the subjects on multiple levels who craft and customize their instruction according to the needs of the student.

There is an abundance of people who have just a title and those who live as educators. Most people flaunting NRA creds have a title and have not sought further training beyond that minimum the NRA provided. Going through an instructor course doesn’t grant grand insights, those important insights are earned through being a good student and lessons learned from being an instructor. If they claim to be an instructor and they aren’t a perpetual student, their relevance ended when they hung up their student hat.

People throw around the title of instructor like it gives instant cred. Those with a clue understand the work that goes into being a good teacher. Being a good teacher isn’t teaching outdated material and pushing it as current or teaching directly from an NRA manual.

The best instructors I know are perpetual students. They continue to hone their skills. They adjust their course content as needed and when appropriate. Their courses have structure and purpose. The best courses started with building blocks and led to culmination exercises that encompassed the course content. One great way to find the great instructors is to study after action reports on their courses and do some networking. See who has attended the courses and who knows them and go from there.