By Harald Harb
Standards and Philosophy
Whether we are outcome or process driven, it is important to know what
principles and ideals drive the PMTS.org Instructor Accreditation. Attainable,
objective standards that demonstrate relevance in the ski teaching environment
are the expressed goals for PMTS.org teaching and accreditation.
It isn’t unusual to
hear questions raised about whether the exam requirements and standards
are the same across the nation. Drawing from my experience as an examiner
for PSIA Rocky Mountain and as an ex-Demo Team member, with many training
trips to the Central division, I can clearly state that they are not the
same. The idea here isn’t to point the finger at any single division or
their certification process, but to address the truth openly. The reality
of the issue is, how can a Rocky Mountain instructor possibly be compared
to a Central or Intermountain certified equivalent? The mountains are
different, the requirements of teaching terrain are different and the
time spent on snow by an instructor weighs heavily in favor of the full-time,
Rocky Mountain skier.
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Even within a division,
the quality and capability requirements for instructors differ in the
regions within the division. Rocky Mountain instructors who are certified
on the Front Range in the early season and instructors certified at Telluride
in the spring are often not required to demonstrate the same skill levels,
but end up with the same certification level. In addition, every examiner
has his/her idea of the standards for the conditions on a given day. You
may be much more comfortable at a full certification exam at Copper in
December on hard snow, with small bumps and limited terrain, than in the
black level bumps at Telluride after a full winter of snow. I understand
from instructors that picking the location and time can play a large role
in your success rate for certification. So, given these situations, the
instructor begins to feel that playing the exam time and location card
favorably will swing the odds in favor of succeeding. I have some difficulty
accepting and tolerating this kind of game playing. I envision a system
that establishes objective standards for training and examination, not
a system that leaves open so much room for ambiguity that the final decisions
are left to the biases of individual examiners in any given situation.
If it were possible to measure performance standards objectively in the
PSIA system there wouldn’t be a need to play the strategic "outguess the
examiner and exam schedule" game. Every exam should yield fair, consistent
results. In fact, if the standards were measurable you could know your
outcome before the exam. This can be done if training and examining were
provided and measured with the same criteria.
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When I was director
of training at Winter Park we had a one-hundred-percent pass rate at PSIA
exams. We simply did not send to exams instructors who didn’t meet the
training staff’s standards. Our standards at Winter Park to attend certification
had more objectives - measurable, efficient mechanics or movements - but
fit beautifully into the PSIA certification requirements. We were successful
because our training goals were to produce and improve our ski school,
not to pass exams. I favor a motivation that says "I want to be a better
instructor" and if achieving a higher level of certification goes with
that motivation, all the better. Importantly, can we with the PMTS.org
accreditation process encourage instructors to be motivated to become
better ski instructors, not just to achieve a certain level?
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When we designed the
PMTS Direct Parallel accreditation we were aware that certain inconsistencies
existed in the traditional certification process. We formulated the testing
process and requirements to minimize inconsistency between divisions,
regions, examiners, snow, and terrain. Perhaps more importantly, we also
wanted to change the philosophy of accreditation. We noticed how negative
and stressful the traditional certification experience had become, and
how instructors frustratedly pursued certification without clear improvements
in their ability to teach skiing. In an effort to create a completely
new exam philosophy with the PMTS Direct Parallel accreditation, we put
the emphasis on education by allowing the examiners to give feedback during
the process. This gives the examiner and candidate time to develop common
ground in knowing the standards for PMTS teaching and skiing. As well,
the accreditation then becomes a means by which the instructor improves
his/her teaching ability.
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We feel that teaching
ability, delivery skills, and understanding are more important than skiing
ability. PMTS accreditation is therefore seventy percent weighted toward
teaching, rather then valuing skiing above all. The response from candidates
about the format has been very positive. Regardless of how fair an accreditation
process is, failure to achieve the first or next level is always a disappointment.
With PMTS accreditation, even the unsuccessful candidates leave knowing
exactly where they stand in regard to their teaching and skiing. It is
evident to them where they have to improve to be successful the next time
out.
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Take Pride in PMTS
Accreditation
The PMTS Accreditation system is structured to encourage, motivate and
support instructors. It is designed to create substantial, attainable,
merit-worthy standards. PMTS Accredited instructors can take pride in
their professional level. They can be confident in their knowledge, to
the point where they can stand up in a polite, encouraging, yet unflappable
way when they have the opportunity to contribute valuable, substantive
information in the presence of any instructor or examiner, from any other
system in the world. Stand up and feel proud of your skiing knowledge.
Skiers will recognize you for your teaching ability and the new standard
of teaching you present. To the ski industry and other instructors, you
have demonstrated that you have made the extra effort to become more educated.
Your students will appreciate and recognize the difference a PMTS instructor
makes. You demonstrate a necessary and increased dedication to skiing
with your PMTS accreditation.
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Association of PMTS Direct Parallel™ Instructors, a nonprofit corporation.
"Direct Parallel" is a registered trademark of, and "PMTS",
"Primary Movements", "Primary Movements Teaching System",
and the Skier Logo are trademarks of, Harb Ski Systems, Inc., used with
permission by PMTS.org.
