The PADI Instructor Development Course (IDC) is the heart of the PADI Instructor training process. During the IDC you'll apply your diving skills and knowledge to learning to teach the PADI System in the classroom, confined water (pool) and open water. All IDC's are conducted by PADI Course Directors, each a highly experienced instructor trainer who has met strict educational proficiency requirements.

The PADI IDC stresses development. As a result you can relax while learning, knowing that mistakes are part of the process. Although there are performance requirements for successfully completing the course there are no time limitations, so you may continue to progress under Course Director SF Chong's guidance. Chong's goal is to create a low-stress environment in which you can learn to function as a PADI Instructor. This makes the IDC a challenging yet enjoyable learning experience.

Bali IDC's curriculum for the PADI IDC runs over an extended period of 12 days. Each element of the course is supported by the Instructor Candidate Workbook and other educational materials, including the latest PADI videos. Topics include: teaching the PADI Open-water course; continuing education courses; Discover experiences; the Recreational Dive Planner, lesson planning and presentation; conducting confined and open water sessions; legal responsibility and risk management; and marketing your PADI courses.

During the IDC course, the modules that are covered are as follows:

Course Orientation:
The Orientation section will set the tone for the IDC. It will help reduce instructor candidate anxiety and answer any questions candidates may have about the IDC/IE process.

Learning, Instruction and the PADI System:
This presentation examines how people learn, when they learn best, and the Systems approach to diver training.

Developing Knowledge Development Presentations:
During the IDC and IE, the instructor candidate may make presentations based on topics from the open water, advanced open water, adventure diver, rescue diver or divemaster courses. This will ensure the candidate's familiarity with the knowledge development portions of these classes, and make them a more prepared Instructor after the IE.

Teaching the Project AWARE and Peak Performance Buoyancy Specialties:
During this section of the IDC, the candidate will become aware of these program's goals, standards and marketing. The information-rich content of the Project AWARE Specialty instills a desire for action on the part of the participant. Peak Performance Buoyancy is the answer for divers who have buoyancy control issues and need additional assistance.

PADI Discover Scuba and Snorkeling Programs:
The discussion in this section of the IDC relates to the DIVE TODAY Philosophy that PADI has embraced over the past few years. We examine all the "Discover" programs that are offered, including Discover Scuba Diving, Discover Snorkeling, and Skin Diver.

Teaching in Confined Water:
This session will introduce important considerations for conducting confined water dives that allow for customization based on student diver needs. It will give candidates the recipe for preparing your open water teaching presentations.

Conducting Open Water Training Dives:
Like the confined water section, these presentations will give the candidate a solid foundation on how to organize, schedule and conduct open water training dives.

Dive Industry Overview:
In this presentation, the candidates will know where the dive industry is going, and determine it's potential for growth. We'll also examine the appeal of diving, and look at future trends in the industry.

General Standards and Procedures:
Why do we have standards? What are various PADI Standards? How do we determine Mastery? What is Quality Management? Besides answering these questions, we'll delve into procedures to make the Instructor become more professional.

How to Organize and Conduct the PADI Advanced Open Water, Emergency First Response, Rescue Diver, Divemaster, Experience and Specialty Diver Programs:
These presentation will give the candidate the goals, philosophy, and benefits to the student of each of the listed diver courses. Each course will be covered in detail, along with marketing and promotion suggestions for each.

Legal Responsibility and Risk Management:
This presentation provides a starting point for the PADI professional in the area of common law as it relates to scuba instruction.

How to Teach The Recreational Dive Planner:
This presentation gives the instructor candidate the basis for a sound foundation in how to teach the use of either version of the RDP to Open Water students, as well as continuing education students.

The Role of Media and Prescriptive Teaching:
This session gives the instructor candidate the foundation for preparing Prescriptive teaching presentations. We'll examine the various media in the PADI system and how independent learning is the wave of the future when it comes to diver instruction.

Adaptive Teaching:
The future divers are our children. We'll look at how children differ in their approach to scuba training, and also how the instructor should modify their teaching techniques for younger divers. During this topic, we will also be covering teaching of older adults and people with special challenges.

Next: How best to prepare your PADI IDC