Hiya. Just getting back to being me again.. and looking at running some courses. Have been looking at accreditation, who to try, costs, what support is given for the fee and what students think about accredited courses.
Would really appreciate anyones experiences of accreditation and taking accredited and non-accredited courses.
Also wondered if any students have done accredited and non-accredited (in house) courses and whether that
1) stopped them from taking a course
2) prevented them from being insured following taking a course.
I want to be responsible to any students if I do go back to teaching, but equally don't want to be throwing money away and charging it to students at a time when therapists are no cash rich.
Also - what is a reasonable rate these days for a one day CPD course - In my local area £150 is often charged and this seems quite extortionate to me.
Lots of questions in my head, but would appreciate anything.. Thanks for reading..
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Justine Justicia Health & Complementary Therapies
The largest fences we need to climb are those we've built within our minds
Practitioner of EFT, Advanced Freeway CER, NO HANDS Massage
I run a training school and all my courses are accredited. I feel that it offers credibility to your school and also reassures you learners that they are getting a good training and a qualification they will be able to use. Also having your courses accredited makes you stand out from the cowboys/girls who just set up a training school for the sake of it. I certainly would not attend a course if it wasn’t accredited
I’ve always found that an unaccredited course is not worth the paper it’s written on as most organisations/insurers will not accept and unaccredited course.
Make sure you look into teachers training as this is a requirement also along with teachers insurance. You need to make sure you’re teaching policy overs you for the right qualification you want to offer as well. A number of people just take the training extension on the insurance but if you look at the print it only allows you to give a certificate of attendance and nothing higher.
I've already been teaching for a number of years, and am an ITEC and AoR tutor.. and have a raft of courses I've written - and a few more I'm part way through. Not looking at running full practitioner courses though, want to focus on CPD and getting that side of things done. My insurance covers me already for teaching.
I'd be interested to know who you have accredited with, I'm finding that side of things confusing. At present, I'm looking to teach from my therapy room, which is in my home, if there is enough interest, I can hire the community centre locally or find another place to rent. Have looked at a full on school but it's too much of an undertaking on my own just now.
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Justine Justicia Health & Complementary Therapies
The largest fences we need to climb are those we've built within our minds
Practitioner of EFT, Advanced Freeway CER, NO HANDS Massage
All this CPD accreditation is a bit of a joke. I have to run accredited CPD courses to satisfy my students because of the idea that somehow it must be legit (but it meant me sticking the prices up). But I have in recent history banged out short courses to therapists without accreditation and they got insurance coverage (with one of the bigger players in the CAM insurance world) . The fact are they have a legit level 3 qualification gives them this coverage.
But there is no standard in CPD training & accreditation thoughout the industry, some organisations just what to see your certs, some want to see lesson plans and ethical statements, some just want to see the manual/handouts. All of course want your money!
I'm happy to go with the flow and do what I need to do, as CPD is important for all of us, but unfortunately it is becoming money for substandard skills set. Us tutors have to becareful what we put out, and students need to be careful what they choose and don't believe the hype. Always check with your PA and insurance company.
Hi Gussie, as for pricing, that's always a difficult one, how about one set price for 1 to 1 tuition (higher), a different price for 2 to 1 (medium), and another for 3 or more students (lower).
Just as an extra note: Some PA's and insurance companies can (if the course is OK of course) recognise non-accredited courses by sending them a copy of the handouts and course notes. There is no gaurentee(sp) this will work, but it often does, and shows that a non-accredited workshop may worth while doing.
Sorry to hijack......
Just reading this thread and was wondering what you have to do to make the move from therapist to tutor. Do you have to get teaching qualifications? And what is involved in getting your course accredited?
Depends what level you wish to teach at and what you are teaching. You need a teaching certificate which you can obtain from most local adult & further education centres/colleges. Training is usually in 3 parts. Very useful qualification to have, especially if you wish to work in the public sector. Here's a start: http://www.cityandguilds.com/45858.html
With many formal exam boards and awarding bodies may depend upon the amount of years you have been practising. That can be between 2 and 5 years of therapy experience.
Many professional associations will have accreditation facillities at different levels. Using Complementary Therapists Association as an example, they have several levels: Beginner workshops; Advanced Training; Post-Graduate; and Core-Therapy status. These different levels will have a different criteria in terms of assessment & evaluation, prerequisite of the student and so forth. www.ctha.com click on education.
There are many other organisations out there doing the same thing. Best to contact them to see want their criteria is. It varies quite a lot from filling out a simple form to having your training establishment visited and checking your mountain of paperwork!
Costs can be £50 to £500 or more.
It takes time and money to set up a training business, and not everyone is cut out to be a teacher, but if it's a direction that you have passion for, then it is worth while.
I was lucky in that I started out as an hourly-paid 'lecturer' in IT for an FE college and they expected me to do a p/t PGCE which was paid for by a Welsh Assembly Grant and my teaching experience was covered by my sessions. As a result I'm now being asked if I have any other 'subjects' I can offer (yes!!! Reiki!!!) - so the plan is I shall teach Reiki and a few other things through the college, I use their classrooms, facilities for producing resources etc. and get paid by the hour (okay probably not as much as if I were doing it privately) - sorted!
Thanks for the links. Like you say, teaching may not be for everyone, but I think it may be a useful qualification to have especially as people seem to ask if you can teach them something informally, then you slip into play teaching.....why not do it for real if you enjoy it!
just found this forum and would really appreciate your thoughts and advice. i am in the process of writing a course and wondered how i go about getting it accredited. as this is a therapy i have developed myself i also want to make sure i am able to maintain copyright as it's originator.
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