Certificate Programs Overview
Among the three programs now offered by IDM, the Certificate Program is the oldest and best validated pedagogically. It is also the most generic and most sought after since it teaches applied developmental theory to a broad range of professionals including coaches, management consultants, psychologists, psychiatrists, social workers, mediators, facilitators, even lawyers.
For this reason, IDM has introduced Professional Development programs designed specifically for coaches — the Dialectics in Coaching and the Critical Practice Program — based on the same foundations as the Certificate Program. The difference in these new programs is that they mix self-study and live teleclasses, whereas Certification courses are all live (although Gateway is available for self-study even to Certification track students).
Program Structure & Course Flow
Certificates & ICF CEUs
Program I
- Students who successfully complete Program I (Gateway through Module D case study) will receive the IDM Certificate of Developmental Assessment
- The total number of course hours yields 80 CEUs (Continuing Education Units) for the International Coach Federation (ICF) Portfolio Track
Program II
- Students who successfully complete Program II (Gateway through Module D case study) will receive the IDM Certificate of Developmental Assessment
- The total number of course hours yields 80 CEUs (Continuing Education Units) for the International Coach Federation (ICF) Portfolio Track
Positioning & Approach
The focal need IDM programs are set up to serve is learning from nearly forty years of research in adult development in order to boost one's professional standing. The programs concern applied developmental theory, a framework making use of adult developmental research in applied fields such as coaching, leadership development, succession planning, psychotherapy, social work, and management consulting generally. This theory is embodied in the methodology taught at IDM, referred as Constructive Developmental Framework (CDF).
In all of the fields mentioned, the central concern is to understand individuals and/or teams more deeply in terms of their potential, by distinguishing between their development as adults and their behavior, competence, and learning all of which are ultimately strongly dependent on developmental level. By integrating adult learning and adult development, IDM Programs position themselves at the very forefront of present human resources endeavors.
It is a hallmark of IDM programs that they go beyond present thinking in adult development in not simply paying lip service to the development of individuals’ thinking, but in providing actual tools both for assessing and boosting adult cognition. This is achieved by incorporating into the training the tradition of dialectical philosophy stemming from Hegel and the Frankfurt School. As a result, IDM programs synthesize Kohlberg School and Frankfurt School insights and are “critical” in the sense of Critical Theory. Practically, this leads to courses in which dialectical thought forms are used in understanding all three dimensions of adult life and work: social-emotional, cognitive, and behavioral.
A Shift in Coaching
After years of acceptance of ICF guidelines, the coaching community is turning more critical. There is now an increasing awareness that coaching without knowledge of adult development is not coaching at its best. This view has been taken by IDM since 2000, even before the “evidence based coaching” craze took hold in the US and Australia.
In recognition of this shift in perception of the coaching profession, our two recently introduced Dialectics in Coaching and Critical Practice Program are very timely. Briefly, the first is a course of study in which what is taught live in the Certification track can be acquired by self study followed by shorter live classes, without an emphasis on assessment but rather practical application in coaching. The Critical Practice Program is even more pragmatic. It invites behavioral coaches of whatever persuasion to submit a 30-minute recorded coaching session. In class, this recording is listened to and critiqued from an adult-developmental point of view, and the coach learns what s(he) could do better if s(he) were to adopt developmental thinking. In this way, a behavioral coach can gradually immerse herself in developmental thinking and listening.
Benefits of IDM's Certification Track for Coaches
Considering that two hands-on pragmatic coaching programs exist at IDM, why would a coach want to enter the certification track where developmental theory is taught in depth? Aside from the fact that learning in this track is done entirely in live classes with Otto Laske, the greatest benefit lies in acquiring knowledge of applied developmental theory in depth through case studies of one’s own in which one can prove that one has made thus developmental theory [in the form of CDF] thoroughly one’s own.
Especially for coaches working with higher-echelon executives and staff including CEOs, the benefit lies in that they learn:
- Developmental interviewing
- Evaluating/scoring their own and others’ developmental interviews, both social-emotional and cognitive [Modules A and B]
- Assessing volunteers and, later, clients, in their psychological disposition in the work place [Module C: Need/Press Questionnaire]
- Integrating developmental with behavioral and psychological information about a volunteer or client [Module D].
- Writing an assessment report based on which concise developmental feedback to clients can be given and coaching plans aiming to boost potential can be negotiated with a client [Module D]
- Doing case study research in Program II, by writing three further case studies, whether in coaching or other research.
- To prepare themselves for writing a Ph.D. thesis through Program III through affiliation with an accredited college or university.
From Program One to Program Two and Program Three
As will be clear by now, the basic IDM Program is Program One in which all required theory for doing developmental case studies is taught and learned in live classes and at great depth. Gateway, live or self study, is taken first, and is followed by taking Modules A (social-emotional development), B (cognitive development), and C (psychological disposition). In the Program One case study [Module D], these three very different perspectives are brought together with focus on a single individual, by employing dialectical thinking. Outside of work in the Module D cohort, mentoring and peer support is available through our Internet-based collaboration system.
Once Program One has been completed (in approximately 10-11 months), one can enter Program Two for another 3 months, in order to write three further case studies. In our experience, this additional work enables the learner to make the CDF methodology entirely their own, making its use “second nature.”
In addition to Module D[2], Program Two also comprises Modules E and F, each with three additional case studies. The focus of Modules E and F differ, as do the requirements. In Module E, the goal is to acquire a Certificate of Developmental Interviewing and Supervision (exclusive of Module C). By contrast, Module F is specialized for teaching Integrative Thinking in Management and requires, over and above three case studies (F1), a Case Report in which developmental thinking is exercised on a practical management case (F2). For further details, see Module E and Module F, respectively.
Working on a Ph.D. Degree in Program Three
The CDF methodology can also be used to write a Ph.D. thesis when affiliating with a accredited college or university. In this case, Program Two is entered “in passing”, on the way to incorporating the three additional case studies in a Ph.D. thesis on a topic of one’s own choosing. For this purpose, the student affiliates with a degree granting college or university. The IDM Director of Education serves as liaison between the academic institution and IDM. Practically, he becomes a member of the doctoral committee or serves as an outside reader of the dissertation.
Tuition
IDM prefers advance tuition payments for an entire program, in contrast to purchasing single courses. Such payments facilitate planning of needed peer support and program overhead as well as scheduling. A table of tuition payments required for obtaining IDM certification is shown below:
PROGRAM |
MODULES |
CERTIFICATE |
TUITION |
Optional developmental assessment |
[recommended before or during training] |
|
1,250 |
Program One |
Gateway [live], A, B, C |
Developmental Coaching/Consulting |
2,100 |
|
D [case study] |
Developmental Assessment |
1,650 |
Program One, Total |
|
|
3,750 |
Program Two |
E [3 additional case studies] |
Master Developmental Coach/Consultant |
1,995 |
|
F [3 additional case studies] |
Developmental Interviewing and Supervision |
1,995 |
|
G [3 additional case studies & Case Report] |
Integral Thinking in Management |
2,575 |
Program Three |
Ph.D. thesis |
In affiliation with a doctoral program in the social sciences |
Negotiable; depends on degree of involvement of IDM Director of Education |
Benefit of Obtaining a Developmental Assessment
The benefit of obtaining a developmental assessment is at least twofold:
- One learns about one’s present social-emotional meaning making and cognitive sense making and is alerted to one’s developmental potential.
- One can henceforth better “stand in the shoes” of an individual one is assessing, whether it be a volunteer during a case study or a client after certification.
Another benefit is that one experiences the CDF methodology at work during one’s assessment, and thus obtains a model for how to do professional assessments.