This October, I’m heading to Western Australia to work with Perth Scuba on a PADI Instructor Development Course (IDC). As a PADI Course Director, I help experienced divers make the transition from performing skills themselves to teaching other people.
That connects closely with my work as a high risk work assessor, WHS trainer and first aid trainer at FACT Adelaide. The environments and qualifications differ, but the responsibility has something in common: people need to understand what they are doing, recognise the risks and demonstrate the required skills safely.
Knowing the task is only the beginning
A capable diver, scaffolder or plant operator may make a task look straightforward. Teaching it requires another set of skills.
You need to explain the purpose, demonstrate the important steps and recognise what a learner has misunderstood. You also need to give feedback that helps them improve.
During an IDC, candidates develop that approach through teaching presentations, practical demonstrations and feedback. My role is to help them think like instructors: looking beyond their own performance and paying attention to the person learning from them.
What my high risk assessor work brings to the process
As a high risk work assessor, I need evidence that a candidate meets the required standard. Confidence, experience and a convincing explanation cannot replace demonstrated competence.
I bring that same attention to instructor development. Can the candidate explain a skill clearly? Can they recognise a problem? Does their feedback give the student a useful next step?
The assessment requirements remain specific to each qualification. What transfers between my roles is the discipline of observing carefully, checking understanding and making decisions against a clear standard.
Turning theory into practical understanding
A classroom explanation is a starting point. Practical activities help reveal whether someone understands how to apply it.
Working with equipment, explaining a process and demonstrating a task give the instructor opportunities to observe. Where does the learner hesitate? What have they missed? Can they explain why a step matters?
That matters across my work. In diving, equipment and the underwater environment shape the task. In high risk work, the plant, work area and operating conditions shape it. In first aid, the scenario asks learners to recognise a situation and apply the skills they have practised.
The details change. The need for clear instruction and meaningful practice remains.
Why Perth Scuba is part of that story
Working with Perth Scuba connects classroom learning with the practical responsibilities of teaching diving.
An instructor needs more than a polished presentation. They need to organise learning, communicate clearly, manage the training environment and respond to the students in front of them.
That is what makes developing instructors rewarding. You are helping someone become responsible for another person’s learning—not just complete their own training.
How it connects with FACT Adelaide
At FACT, those teaching habits apply across our courses.
In White Card training, I want students to understand a hazard and explain how a control reduces the risk.
In Working at Heights, practical equipment use needs to connect with planning, the work environment and the task being undertaken.
In first aid, learners need opportunities to practise, receive feedback and demonstrate the required response.
Across these settings, my approach is consistent:
Explain why it matters. Demonstrate clearly. Let the learner practise. Observe their performance. Give useful feedback. Assess against the required standard.
A supportive learning environment and an honest assessment belong together. Helping someone improve does not mean lowering the standard.
Helping people take the next step
One of the best parts of teaching is seeing people progress: from uncertainty to understanding, and from practising a skill to demonstrating it competently.
My October work with Perth Scuba is another opportunity to develop instructors while continuing to examine my own teaching.
Working across diving, high risk work, WHS and first aid keeps me focused on the same question: has the person understood—and can they put that understanding into practice?
That is the approach I bring to FACT Adelaide.
Allan Bartlett — PADI Course Director, high risk work assessor and trainer at FACT Adelaide, RTO 45473.