Instructional Development

Do you remember your first day of Outdoor Emergency Care class?  Wondering how you were ever going to learn, let alone master, the knowledge and skills covered in the 1264 page book?

Or how about looking down at the steep mogul run as you stood in the horns of a toboggan, thinking, “Holy Cow!  How will I ever get a patient down this?”  

Yet, with the help of a cadre of NSP instructors, you learned to assess the situation then correctly apply the knowledge and skills to get it done.  These dedicated instructors volunteered their time so you could be successful at every step of the training.  To continue this  legacy, NSP is always looking for talented patrollers to “Pay It Forward” as instructors.

There are many benefits to becoming an NSP instructor:  

1. You will take your knowledge and skills to the next level.  You must master the material before you can really teach it well.  Your abilities will continue to grow as long as you are teaching others.  

2. You will learn principles of adult education that are applicable to any setting.  You will become a more effective instructor any time you teach, to include at other volunteer activities or even work.  

3. You develop communication and mentoring skills that make you a better leader.

4. The NSP instructor course, called Instructor Development, counts as an elective towards Senior certification. 

So, how do you become an NSP instructor?   The first step in becoming an instructor in any NSP discipline is to complete the Instructor Development (ID) course.  This course will help you understand how adults learn so you can tailor your teaching and optimize training.  You will also learn how to efficiently develop a lesson plan, called a “Six-Pack.”   

The second step in becoming an instructor in is to complete the Instructor Mentoring Program.  In this step, you will work with an NSP certified instructor to learn the NSP curriculum, develop effective lesson plans, and practice your instructional methods.  Both steps are reviewed in more detail in the document “Roadmap to Becoming An NSP Instructor.”

For more information about the ID program, or if you would like an ID course offered to your patrol, please contact the ID Advisors for your Region linked below.