Teaching communication for safety in selected water based recreational disciplines

This paper describes the concept of didactic communication and verifies the course of teaching selected disciplines of water based recreation, i.e. swimming (at the standard technique level), handling a sailing boat whilst undertaking simple manoeuvres, and the basics of diving. At the same time, research in the area of experiments conducted in the field of teaching methods of these disciplines was reviewed in terms of teaching effectiveness, as well as the health and safety of the participants, and ways of communicating while in, on and under the water. Communication between an instructor and a student in any environment which is different from the norm, is difficult owing to its specificity. Additionally, teaching skills on, in or under water requires strict observance of safety rules. Lack of student’s readiness to act in a different water environment, be that based on anxiety or fear, may interfere with or, even prevent didactic communication. Consequently, the effectiveness of teaching decreases. The aim of this work is to search for innovative forms of information transfer that will enable a permanent change in the student’s behaviour, especially when acting in a difficult environment – on the water, in the water and under the water. There are premises to believe that immediate verbal instruction and emphasising the metalinguistic function in it should improve the quality and effectiveness of the process of teaching activities in various water based environments.