Clarifications & Radical Transparency

Responsive to the community

When community issues are brought to my attention, I consult with other teachers and take corrective action if needed. This has always been true and remains true. Please explain and be part of the solution; don’t complain.

Genesis of the teacher listing pages

Teachers currently listed on taichichih.org are actively teaching and want to be discovered (or, as is true in a some cases, just want their TCC teacher friends to find them or to support the website)

A few months into COVID-19, I canvassed teachers about creating teacher listing pages. The main reasons for the pages? 1.) To help active teachers; 2.) To offer a simple web presence (within the imprimatur of taichichih.org); and 3.) To show that we had an active teacher base, to see if we could “position TCC as a major player,” if you will.

I spent 250 hours over 12 weeks (about 21 hours per week) contacting every single teacher from the most recent PDF of 1500 teachers. I contacted each multiple times via email, voice mail, and text. About 400 teachers signed up for teacher pages.

The others did not respond, did not teach, or did not want to be listed. Everyone had (and continues to have) equal opportunity. I offered (and continue to offer) a free page to those who indicated that they could not afford the $10 or $40 pages. The current active teacher count has dropped to 335. Every month teachers email saying they do not wish to renew because they have stopped teaching or do not want/need new students.

A word about the PDF directory

In 2015, many teachers volunteered to update the database, as it was terribly out-of-date. Students complained that emails bounced, phone numbers were disconnected, and teachers did not respond to their inquiries. It was not a good look. So, the PDF was updated; and it was out-of-date immediately.

The PDF had a clear directive at the bottom of each page: “This teacher directory is the property of ‘The Vital Force, Inc.’ and contact information is not to be culled for any use.”

Justin never wanted to share the list publicly. No national association I am affiliated with shares their lists publicly; none have an “open access directory.” The Vital Force does not collect or use teacher information for any public or private purpose. A list of teachers exists, with their last known contact information. The Vital Force maintains it.

Website changes

“All teachers (who are teaching) need to be easily found by anyone.” Upon hearing feedback in October, I conducted User Experience sessions with other teachers and the site’s web developer to implement changes within the realm of the possible and within a reasonable budget. See screenshots, includon page 2. I welcome constructive feedback, as always.

The ‘Find a Teacher’ dropdown has been reconfigured.

Users can now search by map and hit ‘+’ to enlarge the map and zero in on a location.

The map page (taichichih.org/map-search) takes a long time to load because every teacher is listed in two places on this page: as a distinct map pin and as a listing (in random order) on 14 pages.

Every single teacher on the website now also displays on taichichih.org/search-tai-chi-chih-teacher/. Again, the page takes too long to load, IMO, but it addresses the ‘problem’ of teachers not being able to be searched in one place.