Course Overview
The PADI Instructor Development Course (PADI IDC) is made up up three parts: the Assistant Instructor (AI) Course, the Emergency First Response Instructor Course (EFRI) and the Open Water Scuba Instructor (OWSI) programme.
Most candidates enrol in the entire PADI IDC before immediately attending the PADI Instructor Exam (IE). This is the final step to earning the PADI Open Water Scuba Instructor certification.
To conduct the IE, PADI send dedicated examiners to the island. These IE’s are, therefore, big events which are scheduled for certain times of the year.
There are four IE’s in Tenerife every year; usually in February, May, September and November. The four annual PADI IDC in Tenerife are scheduled to coincide with these IE’s.
"Mike was and is one of the best mentors to have! Not only for the IDC, but aswell for the following course I took with him, he made it so easy to learn, adapt and use what you‘ve learned, but still it was a tough time and very motivating to see everybody growing. We’re now all more than prepared to not only teach, but to enjoy it aswell." - Christine Bauer
"I found the IDC with Mike the most valuable and highly enjoyable experience. The course content was excellent with a good balance between theory and practical application, which I think was a great way to learn." - Mateusz Pawlak
"The whole IDC experience running by Mike was on highest professional level, which not only preparing you for I.E. but also for teaching in real life situations, thank you Mike for your patience." - Lukasz Szymanski
What’s involved?
The fun part of completing the PADI IDC in Tenerife is interacting with your fellow candidates. You’ll be likely to forge friendships that will last long after the course has finished.
The challenging part of the PADI IDC is the commitment you personally make to your training and development. All PADI IDC candidates will have daily homework assignments, preparing teaching presentations which will be delivered to the class the following day.
The PADI IDC is a combination of:
Confined Water training
You will be evaluated on your ‘demonstration-quality’ presentation of the 24 basic dive skills. Candidates must score no lower than 3 (out of 5) for any skill, and earn a combined to total of at least 82 points.
You will participate in the ‘Teaching in Confined Water’ workshop.
Lastly, you will present multiple confined water teaching presentations, and must score 3.4 (out of 5) on at least one.
Open Water training
You will participate in the ‘Conducting Skills in Open Water’ workshop.
All candidates must also score a minimum of 3.4 on at least one open water teaching presentation.
Classroom
There are several classroom presentations which you will attend. Amongs other things, candidates will learn how to deliver prescriptive teaching presentations and will be scored on performance. A minimum score of 3.5 is required.
You must also score at least 75% on all sections of the dive theory and PADI Standards exams.
Workshops
The PADI IDC Includes many workshops – both in and out of the water – aimed at teaching you how to integrate certain skills, tools or philosophies into your teaching. These workshops include:
How to use your Instructor Manual
Adventures in Diving
Rescue Diver skills
“The 4 E’s”
The Instructor Exam
The PADI IDC culminates in a two day PADI Instructor Exam (IE). Special representatives from PADI will come to Tenerife to assess your readiness to take on the role of a PADI Open Water Scuba Instructor.
This is a tense couple of days, but you may rest assured that you will enter into the exam completely prepared and ready for the challenges ahead. Aside from the evaluations it is an excellent opportunity to network with other professionals in PADI and the local dive industry.
Following the exam you’ll have the opportunity to participate in Specialty Instructor training, allowing you to immediately increase your prospects of finding work once the training is all finished.