Women are one of the fastest-growing segments of the firearms industry and USCCA female instructors are helping lead the way! Here are the USCCA female instructors (who I know of) that are in the USCCA Community:
I pulled the names from the list of instructor badges already awarded in the Community, if you are an instructor and need your instructor badge, please message me. If I missed anyone due to username ambiguity, my apologies!
Do you think men and women teach differently or does every individual teach differently?
What questions do you have for female firearms instructors?
I know Men and Women teach differently. Everyone teaches differently. But I know that for me, I learn from women better than men.
I know there are great male instructors, the one I use to train most regularly with is a man. But I have been training with him and trust him for a long time.
To many times to count, I have had a male instructor and it almost immediately becomes this toxic testosterone session where all of his sentences are I based. I would then just leave . I know me, and I donāt need that sort of stress.
Where as the women I have trained with tend to work to build consensus, tend to be more organized, and are less prone to make you feel less like an idiot if you ask a question.
As a matter of fact these are of Instructors I would like to have train me. They are in no particular order.
The gender of the instructor has never been a big factor for me. I am more interested in the approaches the instructor brings to accomplish the training goal.
One question, I would ask, preferably in private. Was what got them started on their Journey in self defense and how do they deal with the know it all?
Doesnāt matter for me. As long as Instructor or teacher is knowledgeable. Every individual teach differently. Gender has nothing to do with it.
Actually Iād prefer to be taught by experienced woman than rookie man.
The same as for male firearms instructor. Only deference would be using āmaāamā not āsirā
I stumbled into the self-defense world. I needed something for my twin sons to do part-time over summer to blow off steam when I had my own business. I signed them up for Tae Kwon Do (with my daughter cause she was going to need to be able to defend herself from the boys). When they went back to school I took class during the day so I could catch up to them. It was something we could do together and it opened my eyes to how many dangers are out there, no matter what the weapon.
And I have always loved firearms and teaching - it all came together as if it was meant to be.
Iāve taken a couple of different approaches to the know-it-alls (some of those approaches you may have seen throughout the Community). Validate peopleās knowledge, encourage appropriate interactions, share the best knowledge I have, and a huge dash of finesse. I firmly believe you can learn from everyone - no matter their experience level or their attitude - thereās always a lesson to learn.
Well, I did learn that I like it, but NOT with Ranch dressing so much. I also learned that when it turns yellow, treat it like yellow snow. Donāt eat it. Of course, I donāt eat snow no matter the colorā¦
Cindy and I team teach most of the time but she does women only classes when requested. The team approach works for us and allows us more time to spend with the individual students.
I have to say Cindy enhanced my teaching abilities tremendously after spending 30 years as a instructor of adults from white collar professionals to power company line crews.
Iāll share
When I was about 18 and married to my first husband our house was burglarized. My then hubby was a pretty tough scrapper and not easily rattled, but the idea that we might have been home when they broke in scared the heck out of me. We went and bought a shotgun.
I really hadnāt done any shooting before thatā¦ my dadās military and would have taught me but the whole topic would send my mother into hysterical fits and weeping so that didnāt happen. I had a lot of fear (probably my momās, second hand) so it was a big deal.
We went to the sporting goods store and said āneed a home defense shotgunāā¦ my hubby asked to look at the 12 gauges. The very nice gentleman asked āis she going to shoot it?ā when we said yes, he looked me in the eye and said āA 20 gauge is a much better gun for a girl.ā And that settled it. I bought the 12 gauge. Magnum.
Ok he was trying to do the right thing there, and he was probably right that it would have been a better gun to learn on, but hey. I was 116 pounds of ādonāt treat me like Iām just a girl.ā
At any rate thatās what got me startedā¦ having my house burgled.
Dealing with the know it allā¦
set rules for when people can ask questionsā¦ know-it-alls like to butt in, itās a power thing. Always reminds me of a dog having to go āmarkā a spot that another dogās already marked. If Iāve got that going on, Iāll make everyone hold their questions to the end of a section. Itās my class and students will not relax if I canāt hold the teacher territory with confidence.
acknowledge what they know, and treat their questions and additions with respect, if they are respectfully presented.
Often the know-it-all wants to drag the topic off to their view, their opinion, their rabbit trail. I use a lot of āYes, andā¦ā to avoid arguing with them and still redirect the topic where I want it to go. Iāve found when I do that consistently, it tends to quell the behavior fairly quicklyā¦ they have a game in mind, maybe show themselves to be smarter than the teacher, or maybe itās a power and control thing, or maybe they arenāt really there to learn but to show off. If Iām not playing their game, and not going to give them a public arm wrestling match, they typically either get frustrated and bail, or give up. Maybe then I get to actually teach them
If none of that works, I"ll approach them on the break and call it for what it is and address it with them directly.
thank you 
