Teach spiral dives as they are most likely to occur. They are usually taught by allowing the nose to drop during a steep turn. Most often they actually occur during a loss of horizon situation- inadvertently entering cloud, during a sudden heavy rain or snow, or during a misty night flight.
I set the flight up in a climb and simulate entering cloud. At this point a pilot’s anxiety takes over, they might start looking around for the ground, may pull back slightly or roll to one side. As the aircraft rolls or slows without rudder control, it will start into a spiral dive. If you do this right, the student will not feel a thing until the aircraft starts turn rate start to tighten. The recovery can start.
You can also have the student close his/her eyes and from cruise, roll slowly into a turn and gently enter a descent. Start with a power setting low enough that you don’t overspeed the aircraft before the student recognizes the spiral and recovers
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