Month: November 2023

STL USA is delighted to announce that we are the only Instructor Qualification Training (IQT) qualified GWO training provider in North America. Not only are the STL USA team IQT qualified but we are also the only North American team that can train instructors in this standard.

What is IQT?

The GWO Instructor Qualification Training (IQT) framework focusses on ways to deliver higher numbers of qualified wind technician instructors. The piloting stage was carried out across four continents to capture the experience and assessments of as many instructors on how best to tackle the shortage of industry-ready instructors and to improve the overall quality of GWO tuition. 

Why is IQT important?

Pre-IQT no formal process existed for instructor qualification beyond the internal Participate>Observe>Co-deliver>Deliver under Observation process laid out in the requirements for training providers. This process is implemented by the training providers themselves and therefore lacks an objective framework to ensure instructor competence and ability. 

This has led many in wind to ask how do you know that instructors can deliver good training.

IQT aims to change this.

Quality and safety go hand in hand?

Averting a race to the bottom. Something that was on everyone’s minds at the recent GWO Training conference in Dallas. This is something that poses a real risk to training standards and the quality of delivery. Put simply as more training entities come into the US market how do we ensure that downward price pressure doesn’t also cause a decline in training quality? Well. it’s not a simple question to answer, IQT certainly addresses teaching quality however auditing also needs to shape up to ensure that GWO and the GWO Standards aren’t devalued. What’s positive is this is recognized and solutions are beginning to emerge. However, there is still a portion left up to the employer to identify who’s good and who’s not so good.

STL USA’s Brandon McKelvain took part in the recent IQT panel as one of the leading GWO instructors worldwide. Brandon has been heavily involved in IQT development as he is committed to training excellence as everyone is at STL USA.

The principles behind IQT

In a practical sense, IQT is more focussed on the actual teaching as opposed to the course content. Once IQT-qualified instructors still need time to learn course materials, practice delivery, and be signed off on individual courses. However, this can be done much faster than the usual 4-week process. This is great for a growing industry. 

I’m a training provider, how do i get IQT?

Currently, STL USA is the only training provider in North America qualified to deliver an IQTT ( IQT trainer training).

With this in mind, we are aiming to run our first open-enrollment course in February 2024. You can contact us below if you are interested in participating in this training.