Teacher Re-Certification

Many forms of movement require instructors to be re-certified every three to five years, or at least to earn Continuing Education Units (CEUs) each year. Have you wondered why this is not the case with T’ai Chi Chih?

It comes from the originator of TCC. Justin Stone was strongly against requiring re-certification. That doesn’t mean he thought continuing education was not important. He certainly encouraged teachers to attend the teacher conference and to audit accreditations.

Rather than mandating it, he relied on the teh (inner sincerity) of teachers to renew our practice and teaching skills regularly – of our own volition.

That puts the responsibility on each of us to design our own continuing education program. After being accredited in 1984, I decided to attend the annual teacher conference and audit one accreditation course annually. I did that until appointed as a teacher trainer in 2001.

Realizing that I hadn’t attended an accreditation course since then, I audited one in Denver this June. I’m so glad I did. It was wonderful to be a student again and focus on refining my own movements, instead of my students’. This led to a deeper understanding of the hip swivel Justin talked about.

Auditing also provided me with new ways of getting things across to students and great teaching tips. It was a joy getting to know the candidates; their presentations were awesome. The nicest people are attracted to TCC and I made new friends as well as re-connected with others. Doing more TCC practice than usual brought increased health and strength. An added benefit was being away from home and day-to-day chores. It provided nurturing self-care time to renew body, mind and spirit.

Whether you are a new teacher or have been teaching for decades, I invite you to design your own re-certification program. In addition to conference and accreditations, there are intensives (focused on how to move), teacher symposiums (focused on how to teach) and regional retreats.

If your employer requires CEUs, trainers can provide a certificate of hours attended for an intensive or auditing an accreditation. Scholarships are available to help get to conference, an intensive or accreditation. What will you do in the next year to renew your practice and teaching?