Canoeing Ireland Instructor Developer (ID) and Instructor Training Panel Membership

How to become a Canoeing Ireland Instructor Developer or Instructor Training Panel Member

NB: Instructor Developer was previously known as Tutor

Instructor Training Panels 

To maintain the highest standard of its training courses and assessments Canoeing Ireland utilises members of Course Trainer and Assessor Panels to ensure all courses and assessments are delivered in a consistent and standardised format.

There are two different and distinct types of panels:

  • Trainer Panels (tasked with the delivery of instructor courses/skills courses)
  • Assessor Panels (tasked with assessing on instructor assessments/skills assessments)

There are five Course Panels under Adventure Sports Framework

Level 1 Kayak Instructor Panel

Level 2 Kayak Instructor Panel

Level 3 Kayak Instructor Panel

Level 2 Canoe Instructor Panel

Level 3 Canoe Instructor Panel

Level 3 Sea Kayak Instructor Panel

There are two Course Panels under the Performance Coaching Framework

  • Level 1 Coach Panel
  • Level 2 Coach Panel

Course Directors

The course director will be appointed by Canoeing Ireland and be responsible for the course preparatory work. They will also engage with the current pool of Instructor or Coach Developers and the training panel members to identify the course assistant or second developer. The course director will also be responsible for implementing a system of evaluation at the end of every course which is then sent to Canoeing Ireland.

All Canoeing Ireland Instructor courses under the Adventure Sports Framework and Coach training under the Performance Coaching Framework must have at least one Instructor/Coach developer delivering said course and one other panel member or developer. Canoeing Ireland stipulate that each instructor or coach training course must have two members of the respective training panel present, with one of those two being a appropriately qualified Instructor or Coach Developer who has completed all Canoeing Ireland requirements such as ID/CD Facilitation and Assessment.

Assessor Panels

Only those on the Assessment Panels below can assess for the following awards and qualifications:

  • Levels 1 to Level 5 Kayak, Canoe and Sea Instructor Awards
  • All Level 4 and Level 5 Skills awards

It is required to become a member of a Training Panel for a specified award or qualification before seeking to become a member of the Assessor Panel for that award or qualification.

Panel Membership Procedure

For those wishing to become a member of either a Trainer Panel or an Assessor Panel there is a procedure to follow which is outlined below.

Firstly identify the type of course you would like to train or assess for and then follow these three steps.

  1. Attend as an observer on one training course or assessment given by a current Instructor or Coach Developer or assessment panel member who signs the panel application confirming your attendance.
  1. Attend as an assistant on one training course or assessment given by a current Coach or Instructor Developer or assessment panel member who determines whether to recommend you for panel membership. The ID/CD or assessment organiser may recommend that you gain further experience before recommending you for panel membership. If you are applying for Instructor or Coach panel membership and you have not yet completed Sport Ireland Coaching Instructor/Coach Developer training you will be shortlisted for the next available training course. 
  1. Forward the Panel application for consideration to the Training and Development Unit (TDU).  Following successful consideration, an applicant will be registered on the panel database and informed of the decision.

Note: You must first become a member of a Training Panel for a specified award before seeking membership of the Assessor Panel for that award.

Pathway to becoming a Canoeing Ireland Instructor Developer/Coach Developer

Instructors who wish to be nominated for Instructor/Coach Developer training must fulfil the following criteria:

  1. Have an instructor or coach qualification at intermediate level – Minimum Level 3 Instructor or Level 2 Coach
  2. Be an active Instructor or Coach for a minimum of 6 years
  3. Have completed Instructor or Coach Training Panel registration criteria (see above)
  4. Complete the Instructor Developer/Coach Developer Nomination form
  5. Be nominated by Canoeing Ireland

If instructors or coaches do not meet these criteria but the NGB would still like to recommend them for ID/CD Training, the NGB must explain their reasons for nominating the Developers in the NGB section of the ID/CD Developer’s nomination form.

Some of the additional criteria which may be considered in nominating Developers includes extensive coaching experience at national level without NGB qualification, exceptional international performance at world championships or Olympic games, degrees in sports science, sports psychology, nutrition and other sports related degrees, degrees or higher diplomas in education.  The ID/CD training applicant will need to prove any of the above.

File pic:
Coaching Ireland Tutor Training Summary

Maintaining Panel Membership

In order to maintain a consistent and up-to-date standard of delivery the panels are reviewed every three years.  Panel members need to remain active and keep in touch with new developments. To maintain panel membership the following criteria was agreed by the Training & Development Committee.

  1. Only currently registered Instructors and coaches with Canoeing Ireland are eligible for panel membership.  Instructors and coaches who are not registered will not be recognised as members of panels. Instructors whose registration is not maintained over a three-year period will be deleted from the panel lists.
  1. Panel members are expected to assist on at least one course or take part in at least one assessment at their highest level within the three-year period.
  1. Panel membership is conditional on compliance with Canoeing Ireland/Irish Canoe Union Safety Guidelines.

Organising Training Courses and Assessments

To ensure that all panel courses /assessments are carried out according to agreed Canoeing Ireland guidelines prior permission needs to be obtained from Canoeing Ireland by the course or assessment organiser. This is done by notifying the Canoeing Ireland office and completing the relevant course or assessment approval form and returning it to the office prior to that event taking place.  This will provide a record of panel members’ participation on panel courses/assessments. Failure to get prior approval may invalidate that course/assessment. 

The following training courses and assessments must be registered with and validated by Canoeing Ireland

  • All Skills assessments above Level 3 in all disciplines.
  • All Instructor and Coach training and assessments.

Canoeing Ireland Criteria for becoming an Instructor Developer Assessor

Understanding that the position of Instructor Developer Assessor is a position with substantial responsibility where in-depth experience is required both from a theory delivery perspective and from a hard-skills technical proficiency perspective, the following criteria has been agreed for any potential member to be recommended by the NGB (National Governing Body) for assessor training with Sport Ireland Coaching.

The reasons behind this criteria is not to create unnecessary barriers or to make it unachievable, it is more to do with maintaining the highest standard necessary that compliments such a position.

The three key components to this criteria are as follows.

  1. Be a L5 skills holder and a minimum L3 instructor (Hard Skills technical proficiency and know-how)
  2. Be a current Instructor Developer with experience of working at minimum on L3 KI Training courses level (experienced theory delivery)
  3. Be recommended to the NGB by an active or current Instructor Developer

At present, the Canoeing Ireland is not short of ID assessors and has a large pool of assessors compared to other sport NGB’s. When Canoeing Ireland deem that more assessors are needed then and only then will this process be started.