Instructor certification

Jaeimseu

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What kind of instructor certification do you instructors have, if any?

If you went through a program or course, what was involved? What were the costs?
Do you feel it was useful/essential/necessary? Would you require instructors under you to obtain the same or similar certification?

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Daniel Sullivan

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When I trained under GM Kim, he was a sixth dan (that was four years ago and he had been sixth dan for at least five years before that, so I have no idea if he's still that grade). No idea on whether he took any instructor courses. We had an instructor at one point who had been to a taekwondo university in Korea. The rest of the TKD instructors were 1st through 4th dan taekwondoin. Overall, the classes were pretty decent when I was there. Very few people from our school were out competing, so I don't know how he stacked up in that regard, but for what most of the students were there for (lifestyle/fitness), it was fine.
 

granfire

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The old ITA expected you to put in 250 'hours' (classes) assisting teaching.
CPR certification, attending a seminar or two, tournament or two, plus a filling out a collection of lesson planners.

To get to this point, you paid a fee for the privilege to demonstrate your knowledge of all the forms up to your rank (testing fee, at around 120 bucks, not too bad), then you had to attend a national tourney to test again and receive your certification.

Rater time involved, but I actually liked it, since it gave you somewhat of an idea of what to do when in front of a class (Ok, it did not help me one bit when I had a large class, from green to black belt when I filled in for a friend who was in dire straights when neither she or her normal instructors could make it one day....and shortly before grading, too. I still have that T-Shirt tho! :))
 

Earl Weiss

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I think you have hit on a critical issue. Been thru about a dozen "Instructor cert. coutses. They were all heavy on material for the system with virtualy no info on how to teach. I know of one system that has courses for students, courses for instructors and courses for "Instructor Trainer" I don't know the material, but theconcept is good vis a vis teaching people how to teach. One resource I got years ago was a book by NAPMA whcih included how to teach material like how to deal with ADD kids. It may have alos had materail on different types of learners - Visual, auditory, and tactile and how to teach them. Then of course their are nuts and bolts issues of how to teach the physical motions.
 

granfire

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I think you have hit on a critical issue. Been thru about a dozen "Instructor cert. coutses. They were all heavy on material for the system with virtualy no info on how to teach. I know of one system that has courses for students, courses for instructors and courses for "Instructor Trainer" I don't know the material, but theconcept is good vis a vis teaching people how to teach. One resource I got years ago was a book by NAPMA whcih included how to teach material like how to deal with ADD kids. It may have alos had materail on different types of learners - Visual, auditory, and tactile and how to teach them. Then of course their are nuts and bolts issues of how to teach the physical motions.

That was one problem I saw. While the approach works well for 'normal' kids, you run in one with a different need and you are on your own. (But the bigger problem was having to find out the special needs on your own, in a class of 15-30 kids...so much fun)
 

msmitht

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The kkw fic does not address how to teach. It describes different methods of learning and teaching but does not really go over specifics. Trial and error was how my sabumnim did it. Never hired instructors from outside
He sent us to NAPMA courses and made all new instructors take child development/ psychology courses at the local cc.
 
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Jaeimseu

Jaeimseu

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The kkw fic does not address how to teach. It describes different methods of learning and teaching but does not really go over specifics. Trial and error was how my sabumnim did it. Never hired instructors from outside
He sent us to NAPMA courses and made all new instructors take child development/ psychology courses at the local cc.

That was my experience, as well. They didn't get into a lot of teaching methodology. Lots of other topics were covered. During our physical training segments the instructors did go over bits about good drills to teach certain skills. I think there is an assumption that attendees are already teaching, so the focus is on making sure what they are teaching is correct.

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sfs982000

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The ATA has an instructor certification program and how it's run in my school is that you "apply for the program" and it's an addtional cost and they have seperate classes that accompany them. There is are different tests they have to take along with additional certifications (CPR, judging, etc....) that they have to complete. They also wear different colored trim on their collars to designate them as instructor trainees and the colors change depending on what level they're on in the trainee program. Personally I don't necessarily think it makes you a better teacher it just fills blocks to say that you completed a "training course", some people in my opinion are just natural teachers and it just clicks with them.
 

Balrog

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ATA has three levels of certification. For each one, the trainee has to have a minimum of 100 hours of supervised teaching experience, plus know the curriculum and all the "book" work for that level. Once we make black collar and are fully certified, we have to recertify no less than every three years.
 

TKDTony2179

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When I went for my instructor strip I taught like 6 months I believe under a certified instructor. It was my instructor assistant. I went in from of my instructor at a testing and any form at random that he wanted me to do. Plus any one-steps that he wanted me to do. I wore a .75 black strip for a year before going to a national seminar and went through 6 class on how to teach, how to judge at tournaments, how to operate a business as an instructor and what issue you may have with different students. Like kids with Autism. I am still trying to get use that. Even though I did have twins in the class as I was first learning how to teach with autism, it was hard and still is.

After I left the seminar I had to turn in a 3 page report of 100 questions about Taekwondo and naming at least 5 instructors in my org. Once completed I was told by my instructor to put a 1.75 inch strip on my collar. I have been teaching every since. I do believe that we are suppose to recertifiy every 3 yrs. I think my time may be up.
 

dancingalone

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One of the best instructors I have ever seen works for me part-time. She is a stay at home mom and she relates very, very well to children. They respond to her and they always try their best when she is around because she is such a positive person with fantastic motivation and communication skills. Guess what? She has no instructor certification/training and she only has a few credit hours at the local community college.

I'm inclined to think that like any other endeavor, there must be talent first if you're going to be anything more than mediocre. Sure, teaching courses can help, and it's always a good idea to learn as much as you can technically if you teach a certain style, but I'm not going to get too wrapped up in the idea of certification in martial arts instructors. I'd hire more people like this lady any day of the week.
 

Daniel Sullivan

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ATA has three levels of certification. For each one, the trainee has to have a minimum of 100 hours of supervised teaching experience, plus know the curriculum and all the "book" work for that level. Once we make black collar and are fully certified, we have to recertify no less than every three years.

Sounds like a thorough system. An off topic question: I was curious; what does the black collar represent? In KKW, yudanja can wear a uniform with a black collar, but it doesn't represent a separate grade or certification.
 
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Jaeimseu

Jaeimseu

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I used to belong to an org that was an ATA offshoot. Red collars denoted an instructor trainee, a thin black collar indicated a certified instructor, and a wider black collar was for school/club owners/head instructors.

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andyjeffries

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What kind of instructor certification do you instructors have, if any?

If you went through a program or course, what was involved? What were the costs?
Do you feel it was useful/essential/necessary? Would you require instructors under you to obtain the same or similar certification?

You already know I sat the Kukkiwon Foreigner's Taekwondo Master Training Course, because I did it with you a month ago. Overall I thought it was really useful. I think they could have gone in to more detail on how to teach rather than how to do, but there were enough people who couldn't do that it was more important they learn that. Maybe in the future it will transition to a teaching-methodology based course.

Aside from that I also have a British Taekwondo Registered Instructor certificate, which involved going on a 1 day course that was mostly legal-how-to-cover-yourself stuff.

I've also done a first aid course.

I would recommend my assistant instructors (and in future, branch instructors) to do all three, although the Kukkiwon course may not happen immediately (the BT one is an insurance requirement, the other two are useful).

I also wrote a PDF on how we teach Taekwondo at our dojang (that really I should take another look at and make sure it's still up-to-date/accurate) that I give to Assistant Instructors.
 
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Jaeimseu

Jaeimseu

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You already know I sat the Kukkiwon Foreigner's Taekwondo Master Training Course, because I did it with you a month ago. Overall I thought it was really useful. I think they could have gone in to more detail on how to teach rather than how to do, but there were enough people who couldn't do that it was more important they learn that. Maybe in the future it will transition to a teaching-methodology based course.

Aside from that I also have a British Taekwondo Registered Instructor certificate, which involved going on a 1 day course that was mostly legal-how-to-cover-yourself stuff.

I've also done a first aid course.

I would recommend my assistant instructors (and in future, branch instructors) to do all three, although the Kukkiwon course may not happen immediately (the BT one is an insurance requirement, the other two are useful).

I also wrote a PDF on how we teach Taekwondo at our dojang (that really I should take another look at and make sure it's still up-to-date/accurate) that I give to Assistant Instructors.

I agree with you about the Kukkiwon FIC. I got a lot out of it, and I think I will continue to get a lot out of it. I think I may have seen your PDF before, too.

I would also recommend instructors to attend the FIC at KKW, though it's difficult and costly to attend in Korea (unless you live there like me). I would put my own instructors through a training program myself even if they attended the KKW course.

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Jaeimseu

Jaeimseu

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One of the best instructors I have ever seen works for me part-time. She is a stay at home mom and she relates very, very well to children. They respond to her and they always try their best when she is around because she is such a positive person with fantastic motivation and communication skills. Guess what? She has no instructor certification/training and she only has a few credit hours at the local community college.

I'm inclined to think that like any other endeavor, there must be talent first if you're going to be anything more than mediocre. Sure, teaching courses can help, and it's always a good idea to learn as much as you can technically if you teach a certain style, but I'm not going to get too wrapped up in the idea of certification in martial arts instructors. I'd hire more people like this lady any day of the week.

This is an interesting subject to me. I'm currently reading "Talent is Overrated." It's a book about what makes great performers in any field, including teaching. It basically denies the 'natural talent' theory. It asserts that great performers in any field are indeed different from average performers, but that it's primarily because of the work they have put in. It often seems to be natural ability, but usually there is another explanation.

Your stay at home mom teaches under you, and you obviously think she is qualified, and that would be good enough for me, too, though I'd still encourage further training and education, if possible. I think it's good for people to get out of their own backyard and see the bigger world. It's really quite eye opening.

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granfire

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I used to belong to an org that was an ATA offshoot. Red collars denoted an instructor trainee, a thin black collar indicated a certified instructor, and a wider black collar was for school/club owners/head instructors.

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Sounds like the Organization formerly known as....many years ago...
 
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Jaeimseu

Jaeimseu

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Sounds like the Organization formerly known as....many years ago...

Haha, it wasn't USTA/ITA or Ho Am or Tiger Rock or whatever it's called now, but similar in many ways, I imagine. We had some instructors who were former USTAers, though. There were quite a few people who were bitter about USTA's non-compete clause back in the day.

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granfire

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Haha, it wasn't USTA/ITA or Ho Am or Tiger Rock or whatever it's called now, but similar in many ways, I imagine. We had some instructors who were former USTAers, though. There were quite a few people who were bitter about USTA's non-compete clause back in the day.

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They have left a few more bitter people in their wake....and the fine print in the contracts did make quiet a few run the other way...
 

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