Great Lakes Instructors Find New NITC Course Beneficial

GREAT LAKES, Ill. (NNS) -- The first graduating class of the new three-week Navy Instructor Training Course (NITC) completed training, Oct. 22, at Center for Personal and Professional Development (CPPD) Learning Site, Great Lakes, Ill.

NITC replaces the Journeyman Instructor Training (JIT) course and lengthens the time of instruction from two weeks to three weeks. The course is required for entry-level instructors who are taught the necessary entry-level instructor skills necessary to perform their instructional responsibilities effectively in any Navy training situation.

"The ultimate goal of this course revision is to provide the best possible instructor development process," said Chief Logistics Specialist DeShawn D. Wilson, CPPD site lead and leading chief petty officer.

"CPPD initiated this change in part because they were receiving feedback from the fleet on some of the skills they wanted the instructors to have," said Aviation Electronics Technician 1st Class Roger Paris, a course instructor. "Some of the feedback also was from students stating they wished they could have had more time practicing lessons in front of a group."

Wilson said the additional 40 contact hours in the course will develop a more qualified instructor to meet the demands of the instructor certification process at the gaining training activity.

"The change from JIT to NITC benefits instructors because the training includes a wide range of methods that support lifelong learning and continual development," Wilson said. "The additional week of training will develop skill sets of an entry-level instructor to directly support the instructor certification process and mission of Navy training programs. By incorporating these methods it will provide more competent and qualified instructors, which will improve fleet readiness."

CPPD realized the need for more basic instructor skills, instructor role modeling and student teach-back opportunities which are critical in building their skills and confidence.

Sailors assigned to instructor duty must complete this course, which trains Navy, Marine Corps and Defense Department personnel, as well as allied foreign nationals, in the application of principles of learning; instructional methods, strategies and techniques; and effective communications, oral questioning, and presentation techniques appropriate to Navy learning environments.

Chief Machinist's Mate Brian Sosa, student, believes that extra third week was instrumental in making the students comfortable standing in front of the class during demonstrations. It also helped him learn more about the different styles of teaching.

"The first week was definitely the hardest when standing in front of the classroom, Sosa said. "By that third week, you already know exactly what to do and it's just a different type of delivery method you need to learn in order to know how to do it. It was a little bit easier."

For Navy Counselor 1st Class Luz Bautista, it wasn't until she viewed a videotape of herself during a teaching demonstration that she was aware of particular phrase she kept repeating.

"I said 'you guys' over 30 times the first time I went up there and I ended up only doing it two or three times by the time I graduated," Bautista said. "I also didn't know I moved and paced around a lot. We're our own critiques. We get to look at ourselves and basically write down all the things we're doing wrong."

The majority of the Sailors who completed the NITC pilot were assigned to instructor duty, with two students who wanted to develop their instructional techniques and strategy skills, and enhance their public speaking capabilities.

"This course has helped me increase my public speaking and instructing skills while on a ship," said Hull Maintenance Technician 1st Class Michael Fisher, a student who completed the course. "I also wanted to come here and train a lot of Sailors coming out of boot camp, especially rate-specific stuff so when they get out to the Fleet they are even more able to do it."

"I've been on three ships and all ships are pretty much the same, just shaped differently," said Chief Engineman Antonio Thompson. "I worked outside my rate with EOD (Explosive Ordnance Disposal) and dive units so I figured this is the best way to give back to some of the students that are coming to the Navy by instructing and teaching what I know [and] what I learned in the Fleet, and giving it to them the curriculum that they need. The two go hand in hand. That's a recipe for greatness."

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