I’ve had a few people ask me about becoming instructors, what to look for, and what to expect from an instructor training class. So I thought I would write this to give people my opinion of what an instructor training course should be like. I am not a Course Director (CD) or Instructor Trainer (IT). I am a PADI IDC Staff instructor, that allows me to teach Assistant Instructors (AI) and assist with the instructor development courses (IDC) for PADI. I really have no desire to become an IT/CD.

First, let me start off by giving my history of instructor level courses. I first became a PADI instructor by going through a full 7 day IDC. I crossed over to TDI by applying to be a Nitrox only instructor. That got my foot in the door at TDI. I then took a few TDI special instructor level courses and then the Advanced Nitrox and Decompression Procedures instructor courses. Finally, I did a SDI crossover course to teach for SDI. Of all the instructor level courses, the only one that came remotely close to teaching me how to teach, was the PADI IDC. However, it has it shortcomings.

- PADI’s way of teaching instructor candidates how to teach is by having the instructor candidate do micro-teaching presentations. Micro-teaching, you let the student read the material at home. Then you go over the knowledge reviews/quiz answers and remediate only what they missed. The argument is that you don’t need to teach people what they already learned by reading the manual. So, during the IDC, instructor candidates are taught to create this micro lesson plans that only cover one question out of the book or quiz. In the water, the CDs do teach how to control students, how to position yourself and assistants to have control over the class, etc. This is good, except that multiple techniques were taught and we were told to pick the one that best suited us. There was no discussion on which method would work best in what situation. There was no discussion on how to create presentations for entire sections of the entire course. I don’t like the idea of only reviewing the questions the students missed and only having minimal lectures. I have a ton of knowledge in my head that I want to share with my students. So the class should have prepared me to create presentations that would maximize student learning.

- The SDI crossover I would rank as the number 2 course I took that was beneficial in terms of teaching how to teach. SDI has moved their crossover to an online version, which was nice as I could do it in my PJs at midnight. However, I didn’t have to prove that I can actually teach and that I knew the material. It was assumed that because I was already and instructor for PADI, I knew how to teach. I would think that they would want 100% proof that I was a good enough instructor to join their ranks. I, at a minimum, should have taught a course or section of a course.

- The TDI tech instructor I would rank as the worst in terms of teaching me how to teach. It basically consisted of me giving two classroom presentation, demonstrating a couple skills, and that was it. There was no time set aside to actually teach me how to be a tech instructor, how to control students, how to create presentations, how to evaluate student performance, how to position myself to remain in control of the class, or even if I knew any of the material. It was more of a, watch and do things like me type of class. I wasn’t even asked about how I would evaluate the students in the class I was “interning” for. In hindsight, my PADI IDC was more thorough than this ITC.

What an Instructor Training Course Should Look Like

It is my opinion, that any instructor course should teach the instructor candidate how to teach the material in which the class they are wanting to teach. If we look at my PADI IDC, I should have taught a complete program (i.e. full OW class) instead of small portions of sections of the class. To best judge who will be a good instructor, you have to see how they teach all of the material and if they know more than what is listed in the book. This is the thing, many instructor candidates do not have advanced level knowledge of the material they are wanting to teach. For example, Nitrox instructors should have a basic understanding of the Oxygen Window. Even though they may never teach that to their Nitrox students. However, by having an advanced understanding of topics in this area, it helps them explain to their students the benefits of diving on Nitrox. Get my point? By having a higher understanding of things, instructors can effectively come up with better answers to student questions than just reading, verbatim, from the instructor guide.

For tech instructor candidates, they should be teaching the entire course, both classroom and in-water sessions, under the direct supervision of an IT. There should be sessions where the IT and the instructor candidate(s) sit down and review the instructor candidate’s performance, knowledge, etc outside of the class that instructor candidates are “interning” with. Technical diving is an activity that can have disastrous results if not done properly. Tech instructors should go through an extremely rigorous program to ensure they know the material and can effectively teach the class. Having had discussions with people like Steve Lewis and Andrew Georgitsis, it is clear that instructor training courses should focus solely on making sure the instructor candidate can teach effectively. Tech instructor classes should be divided up into two sections. One where the IT teaches the instructor candidate how to teach, confirms the candidate knows the material, etc. Then another one where the instructor candidate puts into practice what he/she was taught and teaches a real class, under the direct supervision of the IT.

Any person wishing to become a scuba instructor should do their homework and interview potential CDs or ITs to see what they teach and how they teach it. The potential instructor should also be diligent and get the advanced level know of the topics they are wishing to teach.

Overall, teaching diving has been one of the best things in my life. I love doing it just as much as I love diving. It has made me appreciate the diving that I do. However, I wished I would have had more thorough instructor training courses. It would have saved me a lot of time, money and effort, that was spent on trying to come up with a program that works. Ultimately, I was able to create programs that I feel maximizes student learning, but it was all due to my own hard work. Of all the instructor classes I’ve taken, none have become what I call a “Glorious Class”. I still smile though. With all the agencies and ITCs out there, there must be one up to the task.

I welcome your questions and comments.

Dive Safe,
Duane Johnson
Precision Diving