Professional BoatBuilder - February-March 2018

FEBRUARY/MARCH 2018 7

how best to provide it to adults. Organiza-

tions that hold themselves out as profes-

sional continuing education providers

would do well to do the same.

Virginia Harper

Co-Founder, Navtech Marine

Surveyor Training

Fort Meyers, Florida

politics in acquiring further and higher

education is defeated at the outset.

For 30 years we have been updating our

curriculum, teaching the basics, adding

innovative and revised study materials,

and providing immediate test results. As a

lifelong educator I am constantly seeking

higher certications myself, paying atten-

tion to the latest in what to provide and

way Mr. Group expects. Specic product

training is something each technician or

surveyor has to pursue on his own with

each product manufacturer. Learning and

developing are a personal journey that

takes a lot of hard work and dedication.

ABYC is there for those who are serious.

Scott F. Allen

Allen Marine Integration LLC

Norwich, Connecticut

To the Editor:

I read with piqued interest Mr. Group’s

Parting Shot about the current state of

certain certication courses and his less-

than-satisfying experience with volun-

tary continuing education “required” by

certain other certifying organizations.

As a lifelong educator, curriculum

writer, founder of a certifying organiza-

tion for marine surveyors, and always a

student, I understand exactly his peda-

gogical frustration. Not everyone can

teach, even with the best of curriculums.

e lack of a dyna mic teacher can pollute

what otherwise would have been a

superb learning experience whatever the

subject. His seven points are well-taken,

and all of them are pet peeves of mine

about organizations that think they can

oer the industry a good learning expe-

rience for the money they pay. Maybe con-

tinuing education courses should oer

teacher training for their instructors.

About 10 years ago, nonprot organiza-

tions saw “the prot” in oering continu-

ing education and selling these certica-

tions to other nonprots and certifying

organizations. Unfortunately, not all of

these organizations can oer an excellent

classroom experience, online or face-to-

face. Industry and vocational teaching is

vastly dierent than any other classroom

experience. Professional development

teachers are already dealing with a knowl-

edgeable and sophisticated specialized

vocation. Insulting your student can oen

be an unintended consequence of an inex-

perienced teacher who knows little about

handling the dynamics of continuing edu-

cation classrooms. Expertise does not a

good teacher guarantee. All it guarantees

is an ego. Students who do not get a review

of test results have wasted their time and

money on acquiring new knowledge. Any

student who does not stand up against

COMPLETESOLUTIONS?

WEGETIT...COLLABORATION

COMPLETESTHEPUZZLE.

Beingtheleadingcoresuppliertothecomposites

industryfordecadesisjustnotenough.

Ourconsistentcollaborationwithpreferred

industrysuppliersandtheirknowledgeofglass,resin,

kitcutting,panelmakinganddistributionseparates

usfromtherest.Andsparesyoutheburden.

Soputustotask.Askusforsolutions.We’ll

assembletheteamandmakesureallthe

piecesfitforsuperiorresults.That’showweoperate.

Contactusfordetails.

BALTEK®ANDAIREX®STRUCTURALCORES...

THEFITTINGPIECEFORALL

COMPOSITESENGINEERINGCHALLENGES.

http://www.airexbaltekbanova.com

NorthAmericaISouthAmerica

BaltekInc.IHighPoint,NC27261,USAT+13363981900IF+

[email protected]

EuropeIMiddleEastIIndiaIAfrica

AirexAGI5643Sins,SwitzerlandT+41417896600IF+

[email protected]

AsiaIAustraliaINewZealand

3AComposites(China)Ltd.I201201Shanghai,ChinaT+862158586006IF+

[email protected]

CoreMaterials

Letters171-ADFinal.indd 7 12/29/17 3:23 PM