 Poster: A snowHead
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For BASI, it is clearly stated that certain minimum hours of teaching experience is required before taking the exams.
For PSIA, it is stated in between the exams, specified hours of teaching experience, teaching clinics, and written confirmation of having met these requirements by your ski school director are required.
However, for CSIA, it appears that there is no such requirement, for Level 2 you just need your Level 1, and for Level 3 you need your Level 2. I understood that in the old days you used to need a Ski School Director's sign off to take the exams, but they got rid of that. So, is CSIA more of a test of your skiing skill rather than your teaching ability?
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Crusader, don't know about CSIA but I assume it's no different to BASI or PSIA in that your teaching ability is assessed within the exams you must pass at each level. Ski school experience or logged teaching hours aren't assessed.
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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Rob, sure ski school experience or logged training hours aren't assessed, but they are pre-requisites for taking the relevant exams.
BASI clearly stated the following:
BASI Level 1 requires "35 Logged Hours Ski School Experience" as pre-requisites for Level 1.
BASI level 2 - "An additional 35 hours of shadow teaching is required between completion of the Alpine Level 1 Instructor course and application for the Alpine Level 2 Instructor course."
BASI Level 3, requires "200 logged teaching hours" as a pre-requisite.
and for BASI Level 4 "further 200 logged teaching hours" before the exam.
For PSIA, one will need written confirmation from the Ski School Director that you have certain hours of teaching experience.
But for CSIA, it appears that there is no such requirement. So, in theory, if you are technically good enough, you can take Level 1, then Level 2 and then Level 3 without ever work with a ski school. 
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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| Crusader wrote: |
| So, in theory, if you are technically good enough, you can take Level 1, then Level 2 and then Level 3 without ever work with a ski school. |
Yes, if those are the regulations then I guess that's correct. But I'm sure that teaching abilities will be assessed in CSIA exams, and if you have no experience of teaching you get found out pretty quickly, especially at the higher levels. L3 and L4 teaching assessments in BASI are demanding exams, and I'd guess it would be the same with CSIA.
BTW, ski school experience at L1 and L2 is a very broad concept: it could, for example, be shadowing just the same instructor all the time, or not even on the snow just handing out rental kit or taking ski school enquiries at a desk. If you want to improve as an instructor you will take the opportunity to have a varied shadowing experience because it can be invaluable (I still shadow selected instructors even though I have no need to log any more hours), but not everyone takes that opportunity.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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rob@rar's right. You can take your 2 or 3 with zero actual teaching experience, but good luck. 2 is do-able but it makes it much harder. As to the actual question, the exams are mainly focused on teaching - the skiing component is making sure you can demonstrate, and fundamentally understand what you're saying. If you can't demo it, you can't practise what you preach, so it makes demoing and explaining core skills/what you're actually hoping to fix with the client impossible. Don't be fooled by the short CSIA exams - after the level one, you have to prove a lot in a very short window.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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As rob@rar and DaveC have already outlined, whilst there is no teaching hours requirement prior to the exam, there is still a very large teaching element to the exam. In-fact, CSIA is renowned for putting a greater emphasis on teaching ability/techniques than 'skiing ability' when compared to many other schemes. Without having been in a school's internal training/CPD scheme, it is highly unlikely, as DaveC has said that you would be able to pull yourself up to CSIA III standard of teaching within the course itself.
Let's not forget of course, that experience may well aid with your delivery as a teacher, and naturally the art of analysis, but it certainly won't replace good training and a knack for the art. As the old saying goes, practice makes permanent, NOT perfect...
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This is possibly why the ESC did not recognise CSIA2 as a suitable exam to be recognised for teaching on plastic.
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