Continuing Education for Teachers

Frequently a question arises: Why isn’t re-certification required for T’ai Chi Chih teachers? It is common for teachers in many fields to have to take a re-certification exam periodically or earn a certain number of Continuing Education Units (CEU’s) by taking relevant classes every year to update their skills.

Over the years, Justin has been approached many times by teachers requesting a re-certification process. He has emphatically said, “No.” So TCC teachers have never had such a formal requirement because Justin has always relied on our integrity to renew our own practice and teaching skills as part of being a sincere TCC teacher. He has often spoken of the teh, or inner sincerity, of TCC teachers, and he has expressed great faith in us to teach TCC well and to share this gift with the world.

There are many ways we can check our practice, expand our teaching skills and get input from other teachers. The most important way is to attend the annual teacher conference. Since the first conference in 1985, this has been a wonderful Chi-ful gathering of teachers. We do lots of TCC practice over four days, refining our movements, connecting with other teachers and learning what is happening in the larger TCC community. If you can’t make it to Nebraska this August, plan ahead to come to Ohio next July.

Have you noticed how easy it is for interesting variations to creep into your movements when you don’t practice with other teachers for a while? We can even pick up bad habits from our students. Auditing a teacher accreditation course provides not only a review of the movements and how to teach them, but it offers an opportunity to give back to TCC by working with the candidates.

An intensive focuses on the movements and “how to move the TCC way,” while deepening one’s understanding and appreciation of the practice. For teachers it also provides clarity on how to better prepare your students for accreditation. The new teacher symposium offers teachers a place to share teaching techniques and what they have found works (or doesn’t) for setting up classes, getting across the principles of how to move, and anything else you want to know about teaching. As part of your ongoing professional education in teaching TCC, I invite every teacher to check the TCC Calendar, and plan now to attend one or more TCC event in the next year.