Alexander Technique Teacher Training course

Teacher Training Course

Pre-requirements

Minimum age 23.
Apply giving details of education, work experience, particular interests.
Admission is by interview with the Head of Training.

Timetable

The Teacher Training Course is a 3-year programme.
Classes are from 10 h. to 13 h., on five days a week.
The Course also includes extra individual lessons, and help with projects, as appropriate.
There are three eleven-week terms in the year.

Curriculum (practical and theoretical)

Theoretical :

Required reading includes
F. M. Alexander's four books
Explaining the Alexander Technique (Carrington and Carey)
Published lectures of Walter Carrington
Mind and Muscle (Langford) introduces basic anatomy and physiology in a way that links these subjects immediately to the ...

Practical part of the course:

Daily practical work to improve co-ordination leads into the experience of using oneself to convey improvement to pupils.
Trainees first learn to develop

the capacity to cease maladaptive reaction patterns;
the ability to prepare alternative, preferable patterns, and put them into execution;
a more accurate sensory appreciation of what they themselves are doing.

These basic skills must be brought together to form a high level of personal co-ordination that can be reliably maintained. The trainee can then learn to use manual guiding procedures devised by F.M. Alexander, for passing on to future pupils these acquired skills.

Such "hands-on" technique is necessarily supplemented by verbal explanation, so trainees are encouraged to develop good communication and clear voice production.

Special characteristics of the Teacher Training Course at Alexander Technique Centre

The school is kept small, with a high teacher-student ratio. Three levels of training are in progress simultaneously. We find that students are greatly helped by contact with teachers who are at different stages of their teaching career.

Classes are loosely structured, depending on individual needs and progress. Trainees are expected to be sufficiently mature to take advantage of the possibilities of observation and explanation that such a framework offers.

Classes are given in English, French and Dutch.

The group is multi-lingual.

Translation and correct use of words is an important element of regular discussion sessions.

Graduation

There is no formal examination, as qualification results from a process of continuous assessment over at least three years, by the Head of Training and Principal Assistant.
The Head of Training is a Trainer member of Alexander Technique Education Inc. (ATE) and has the privilege of proposing graduates for membership of ATE.
The diploma of our teacher training course is also recognized by the Belgian Association of Teachers of the F.M. Alexander Technique (AEFMAT). Qualified teachers of this school are therefore eligible to join AEFMAT and thus to be recognized by Alexander Technique Affiliated Societies (ATAS) worldwide.

Post-graduation

After graduation, newly qualified teachers are encouraged to remain for a post-graduate teaching term, to gain further teaching experience in the supportive environment of the Training Course.

To teachers newly qualified at the Alexander Technique Centre, there is no charge for this post-graduate term.

Teachers trained elsewhere pay normal fees for a post-graduate term.

Term dates 2011-2012

From 9 January 2012 till 30 March 2012
From 16 April 2012 till 29 June 2012
From 17 September 2012 till 14 December 2012

Fees :

2000 Euro per term, payable in advance.