INSTRUCTOR TRAINING
Deliver Your Own Expert Training
INSTRUCTOR DEVELOPMENT
Professional level training, delivered with the diver in mind
Teaching diving means different things to people, and motivations and goals can vary between instructors. I became a dive instructor to share my passion, knowledge and love for diving. Over time, I gained more knowledge and experience, allowing me to consistently deliver high quality training to a variety of divers.
Driven by a passion for my own education and a desire to make a greater impact on the diving community, I became an Instructor Trainer. By working with future instructors, I can reach a wider audience and play a bigger role in the educational process for both divers and instructors.
My teaching philosophy is to deliver the most relevant and tailored training for all levels, and with instructors, I can help shape the future of diver training using my approach and experience to best prepare an instructor to deliver at their best.
You will learn how to deliver a course, work with students, setup and optimise equipment and gain real world experience of teaching what you love to do.
THE TRAINING PROCESS
My goal is to develop your ability to teach
COURSES & ELIGIBILITY
There are a few different cases that might apply if you are an existing,
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Divemaster for SDI or from a recognised agency. You can take an SDI Instructor Development Course (IDC) and also complete an Instructor Evaluation Course (IEC) to become an Open Water Scuba Instructor. You will also need to have current First Response (Adult and Child) and Oxygen Administration Provider (or equivalent) qualifications. The courses require a minimum of 100 hours of training and are usually run over several days.
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Instructor from a recognised agency. You can "cross over" to TDI/SDI after taking an orientation session covering several topics such as the agency, it's philosophies, instructor and diver materials, administrative forms, website usage and diver registration methods. You need to be in good standing with your existing agency, but you do not necessarily need to be active if there are no impediments to returning to active status with your agency. When you cross over, any equivalent ratings from other recognised agencies can also be applied for.
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Instructor with TDI/SDI and want to take SDI Speciality Instructor Training. You will need a suitable number (usually 10) of qualifying dives and undertake in water training dives. There is usually no exam, but you will need to demonstrate competency in the speciality, both in and out of the water.
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Instructor with TDI/SDI or a recognised agency, and you wish to become a TDI Instructor. Becoming a TDI Instructor has higher entry requirements and required knowledge and skill levels compared with a recreational instructor qualification. Courses will require classroom based theory sessions and graded presentations, both in water and on land. You will be expected to demonstrate proficiency in every course skill, as well as explain the answer to every question in a course exam. Additionally, you must be able to demonstrate that you can teach the course you are seeking the instructor rating for.
I focus primarily on TDI Instructor Courses, but I am very happy to work with anyone in any of the scenarios above.
TDI Instructor Training
You will have had a recreational Instructor Development Course and then taught a variety of courses to gain teaching experience. You also took some diver level Technical Courses and gained diver experience at those levels too. You are now embarking on your Technical Instructor Training and looking at how to do that.
I have run enough courses and issued enough certifications for me not to be chasing those as goals. I want to work with instructors who share my passion for the sport and love delivering the quality training students deserve.
TDI have very well documented standards for every course available - diver level and instructor level. These standards mandate minimum equipment required, minimum classroom & theory work as well as minimum in water skills and teaching presentations. These standards are communicated to everyone who joins me for training at any level. In addition to the TDI standards, I have my own standards that I want divers and instructors to reach. I will make the courses as fun and entertaining as practical, but these are serious courses and demand your best efforts. There is going to be some "dry" (pun intended) work to do, but I do not want that to overshadow the intention of the training - to help you become the best instructor in the time we have available.
If you are looking for the quickest, easiest or simplest way to become a Technical Dive Instructor, then this is not the option for you.
TDI Instructor Courses
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Sidemount Instructor
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Intro to Tech Instructor
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Nitrox Instructor
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Advanced Nitrox Instructor
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Decompression Procedures Instructor
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Cavern Instructor
SDI Instructor Courses
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Open Water Scuba Instructor
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Sidemount Instructor
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Solo Diver Instructor
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Deep Diver Instructor
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Dry Suit Diver Instructor
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All other Instructor Specialities
SEQUENCING OPTIONS
Depending on your experience level, you may prefer different ways to work for your Instructor rating.
Joining a Course
If you have not worked with an existing instructor at the level you are aiming for, then you should strongly consider taking part in the diver level course you are intending to teach. I run various training courses throughout the year and for instructor candidates I offer them to work with me as I deliver the diver level course. I will work with you to assess your comfort level and have you vary between active and passive roles during the diver level course. If you are comfortable demonstrating a skill or explaining some part of the theory, then great - off you go, with me at the side making sure what we deliver is correct and suitable for the divers. If you are not yet comfortable, no problem, that will happen over time.
Joining a diver level course will give you a chance to observe and take in the course from a new perspective. You will watch me prepare and deliver the sessions, paying close attention to the sequencing, briefings, my interaction with the divers, my in water behaviour (demeanour, positioning, demonstrations, problem solving etc), and see how I provide video based debriefs - and what homework I may assign to different divers depending on their needs. You will be encouraged to join as many courses as needed to get comfortable.
An Instructor Course
If you meet all the prerequisites and feel ready, then we can begin with the Instructor Training. You will have the course standards, so you will know what is involved and what you are aiming for. There will be the classroom work covering relevant theory as well as preparing the knowledge presentations you will be required to deliver.
When we do the water work, I will be working with you. My goal is to help you, not to make things unduly hard or punish you in any way. I will be pushing, and I will be probing your knowledge as we go. I will introduce typical diver level problems and even some surprises. We will work together to understand how you are doing, and I will give you as much help and information as I can - my goal is simply to build you up and not judge you for what you don't yet know or can't yet do. You will typically have a diver level exam to take, and you will be expected to explain the answers to every question - I have no problem playing dumb!
Delivering a Course
Once you are certified, by me or another trainer, you may like to co-teach your first course. This is a great way to get more hands on and really get stuck into the subject and gain real world teaching experience. You can bring your own students, or you can join mine - and together we can run the course. I will encourage you to be as active as possible, and you can be sure that I will work with you to ensure that the divers get the best training, and together we cover everything.
You don't need to join me for your first course - co-teaching is a great way to deliver a course, and you will pick up invaluable tips from every other instructor you work with - I still do it and won't change that.
Sidemount Instructor Training
Sidemount diving continues to gain popularity and the level of knowledge and skill is increasing across the dive industry. However, sidemount diving does have some unique equipment and skill requirements, and this specialised knowledge is not always available to every sidemount instructor.
I have been specialising in sidemount diving for over ten years and have a particular passion for the equipment configuration as it suits my technical and engineering background. I am part of the instructor team at sidemounting.com where we create sidemount specific training materials that are unique in the industry and I want to help other instructors teach sidemount diving to the highest level.
SDI Sidemount Instructor
This is the entry level sidemount diver course. You can see the course content and standards here.
The course is usually far harder for the instructor, as they have to introduce a lot of new ideas for equipment and also procedures. You will have to be familiar with a variety of sidemount systems, be able to correctly set up a harness, cylinders and regulators as well as explain these to your students. The required knowledge can be somewhat overwhelming, as there is typically more to know to deliver this speciality.
With Sidemount Instructor training, the goal is to ensure that you are adequately prepared and knowledgeable to deliver everything needed to train competent and knowledgeable sidemount divers.
TDI Sidemount Instructor
This is the technical level sidemount diver course. You can see the course content and standards here.
This course builds upon an existing sidemount and/or technical level for a diver and will look at the required equipment and procedures for making technical dives in a sidemount configuration.
One important aspect of the technical sidemount configuration is the setup and usage of additional cylinders (stage or decompression). Learning how to rig a sidemount specific stage cylinder and use it effectively takes time and practice - knowing how to teach someone to effectively do that takes even more work.
The goal is to expand your sidemount skills and knowledge and ensure you are able to deliver first class technical sidemount training.