New Prospective Instructor Students

[Engineer Bill]

FYI: The NRA now requires prospective Instructor students to have taken the NRA Basic Class prior to taking the NRA Basic Instructor Class. Proof will be providing the NRA Certificate for the Basic Student Class. No exceptions.

Sincerely,
Bill

[xxxamishxxx]

I saw that.. makes sense that you should have taken the class before you can teach it.

[JustaShooter]

I saw that.. makes sense that you should have taken the class before you can teach it.

For new and inexperienced instructors I would agree. But since you go through the entire course material during the instructor certification class, an instructor that is already experienced in that discipline wouldn't derive much, if any, benefit from taking the student class first.

I did take the NRA Basic Pistol class before taking the instructor certification class and the only things I learned during the student class were 1: that some people are not good instructors (I felt like taking the class over on a couple of occasions) and 2: the NRA material was very dated.

On a related note, I was stunned at how hard people found the instructor shooting qualification - these are *Instructor Candidates* who should have a minimum level of proficiency and even with expensive target pistols struggled to meet the standard. A pistol instructor ought to be able to pick up just about any handgun and after a few practice shots to get a feel for the gun should be able to meet the NRA instructor shooting standard.

[willbird]

I saw that.. makes sense that you should have taken the class before you can teach it.

For new and inexperienced instructors I would agree. But since you go through the entire course material during the instructor certification class, an instructor that is already experienced in that discipline wouldn't derive much, if any, benefit from taking the student class first.

I did take the NRA Basic Pistol class before taking the instructor certification class and the only things I learned during the student class were 1: that some people are not good instructors (I felt like taking the class over on a couple of occasions) and 2: the NRA material was very dated.

On a related note, I was stunned at how hard people found the instructor shooting qualification - these are *Instructor Candidates* who should have a minimum level of proficiency and even with expensive target pistols struggled to meet the standard. A pistol instructor ought to be able to pick up just about any handgun and after a few practice shots to get a feel for the gun should be able to meet the NRA instructor shooting standard.

I took Basic Pistol before I became a Certified Instructor. I had also taken Basic Rifle a LONG time ago as a teenager. My wife also took Basic Pistol with me and I helped her with some practice before she took the class because she was apprehensive about shooting well enough to pass the class.

All of those things IMHO give the prospective Instructor some perspectives that will benefit them. Seeing first hand students who had never fired a gun before end up exactly where Basic Pistol is designed to take them is a good thing. IMHO the first time we see that maybe should not be when WE are the Instructor .

Seeing the class dynamic from the student point of view is something that the Instructor class is not going to provide.

Overall I think adding that requirement is a very good idea.

Bill

[Mr. Glock]

Just out of curiosity, what is the Pistol Instructor shooting qualification (that some found hard to meet)?

[JustaShooter]

Just out of curiosity, what is the Pistol Instructor shooting qualification (that some found hard to meet)?

This is the qualification standard for when I took my instructor class, I don't know if it has changed or not:
Any handgun, any caliber, any sights/optics, shot from a two-handed unsupported standing position.
20 shots, either two groups of 10 shots or 4 groups of 5 shots.
Blank 9" round target at 15 yards.
To score, hits must be within a 1/2" border from the edge of the target (hits that break the 1/2" border count) and must be within a 6" extreme spread measured from outside edge to outside edge of the hits.
Passing is 16 out of 20.