As for the question of which way - it's not alway's immediately obvious from visual references. The direction of spin is defined as the direction of yaw. the only true way of determining this is to check the turn needle. (Note not the turn co-ordinater as they don't always work). Someone has mentioned rudder to oppose the turn needle - the CFS technique mention ''foot into the empy space'' which means if the turn needle is to the left then it's a spin to the left. The instrument will have a big black space on the right side as the needle is stuck on the left stop and this is the side where you push the rudder. Simple, and it works. If spinnning regularly, the aircraft should have a turn and slip IMHO. A club I instructed at has the turn co-ordinators changed on the two PA28-140s as they were spun occasionally.
Thankfully, no one has has promoted the ''standard spin recovery'' - which does not exist. If you are flying a type cleared for spinning then you must know that type's recovery technique. They mostly similar (apart form a few oddities) but subtley different to have an effect if the wrong technique is applied. Some may delay the recovery slightly, but some may actually prevent recovery. The aforemention PARE is a form od standard recovery, but I wouldn't recommend it. Also, someone may mention the Beags-Muller technique which was designed as a standard emergency recovery. But again, this won't work on all types including a couple of common ones used for aerobatic training.
Also someone mention the film ''Spinning Modern Aircraft'' which although was made in the 60s and heavily features Jet Provosts and Gants, is still very relevant. this was updated in the 90s by ''The Spin Explained'' featuring the Tucano which is a fantastic film and explains everything you would need to know in 30 minutes. Both of these films are available to buy from SSVC, but are very expensive.