Don't like the idea of being an old-timer .... but I got my PPL (the first time) in 1966. Yes, spins were part of the syllabus, then, we used C150's (one of which I recently saw a picture of in Today's Pilot, still flying!).
Doing your first solo spin was a very nerve-wracking event. Mine ended up in the predictable spiral dive, as I was too windy to do the manoeuvre properly. Finally managed two real spins on my own, though. The C150 will recover itself pretty easily, just by centralising the controls. You have to hold it in the spin to get several rotations.
However, some time later, during some refresher flying (following a year's absence), we tried a spin, and the instructor went white faced and shoved the nose down, saying I had nearly put us into an inverted spin, which was not recoverable. A sobering thought, and I still don't understand the difference - maybe someone here will enlighten me?.
I regained the PPL only recently, spin and stall training was part of the conditions. No instructor was prepared to do spins though - something which surprised me greatly.
Bottom line ... find an instructor who knows what he's doing, and learn them properly. They are not difficult and can be fun - however if you don't do them right, they can get you into trouble.