Abstract
Years of working onboard vessels as marine officers to teaching in maritime schools as full-time instructors entail a big transition and a sharp turn of events in a seafarer’s role and way of life. Translating expertise in the field into a flexible classroom discourse using appropriate pedagogical methods to ensure efficient and effective delivery of instruction is a far cry from supervising and training a team of ship’s crew in a structured, hierarchical environment onboard. This descriptive study aims to measure the level of commitment of seafarers-turned-maritime instructors on their roles as educators as well as to determine their level of competence as based on their self-assessment in reference to Lloyd’s list of key attributes for maritime educators, namely, subject knowledge and technical skills, communication skills, pedagogy, and soft skills. Data that were taken from a survey with 58 deck and engine instructors revealed that the seafarers-turned-teachers have a promising potential as mentors as they help mold future seafarers. The commitment to teaching is there, and the competence to transfer to knowledge and skills is also in place. However, to be able to maximize their teaching skills, they need to constantly be abreast of the continuing developments in the maritime industry to be able to provide up-to-date inputs and to make the teaching and learning process become more realistic and relevant. As maritime instructors, they should possess the passion to perform their multifaceted roles not just to deliver the goods but to deliver them well to inspire and to create a positive attitude among their students. This study was also able to identify the challenges that seafarer teachers experience in their transition from being marine officers into maritime educators. A customized set of training courses for professional deck and engine instructors was proposed as an offshoot of this study to address the gaps that have been identified.
Highlights
In maritime higher education institutions, sea experience can provide for the question of what to deliver to students through instruction
The STCW Code requires that maritime instructors have to be ‘appropriately qualified,' have an ‘appropriate level of knowledge and understanding’ and have received ‘proper training in instructional techniques, and training and assessment methods.' This goes to say that professional seafarers who sign a teaching contract with maritime institutions and training centers are expected to meet the standards befitting of the task that may be assigned to them
A good maritime educator needs to acquire a whole new set of skills to complement all the nautical skills he has established at sea
Summary
In maritime higher education institutions, sea experience can provide for the question of what to deliver to students through instruction. The STCW Code requires that maritime instructors have to be ‘appropriately qualified,' have an ‘appropriate level of knowledge and understanding’ and have received ‘proper training in instructional techniques, and training and assessment methods.' This goes to say that professional seafarers who sign a teaching contract with maritime institutions and training centers are expected to meet the standards befitting of the task that may be assigned to them Even if they unquestionably possess the knowledge of the profession, they have to be equipped with the skills needed to be able to deliver the knowledge of the technical content of the field to the intended recipients of this knowledge who are their students/trainees.
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