Teacher Training Summit - Information (PDF)

Teacher Training Summit - Agenda (PDF)

As many of you know, our traditional annual conference has been cancelled for 2009, and we will meet again in 2010.  In spite of this, we want to keep our community engaged in moving forward. We have a time-sensitive objective that we would like to address in November, which we feel is critical to advancing the mission of our alliance. The November meeting that we are now organizing will provide us with the opportunity to focus on critical matters that require intensive concentration, thought and debate.

We will hold a ‘Pilates Teacher Training Summit’ on November 7 & 8, 2009 in Dallas. Our primary key note speaker is:

James Henderson, PhD., Psychometrician for the National Commission for Certifying Agencies (NCCA), and leader of the development of NCCA’s accreditation standards for professional certification programs. Jim has served on several committees for the development of an accreditation standard for assessment-based certificate programs, and he is Executive Vice President of CASTLE Worldwide, Inc., the PMA’s test administration company.

We've asked Jim to speak in general about the value of a ‘professional credential’ and specifically about the difference between ‘certificate’ and ‘certification’.  This presentation will be the basis for an open discussion with teacher training providers.All teacher training providers, from the largest to the smallest, are invited to participate, whether PMA members or not. The essential element is that participants are involved in Pilates teacher training. Our goal is to solve the terminology issue that has caused major confusion and upset over the past few years within our profession.  This work will entail listening to a presentation and then breaking up into small groups and working with others.  A range of other issues will be addressed which will be announced soon via an agenda.

We recognize the problem teacher training providers face when it comes to the semantics of ‘certificate’ and ‘certification’. We acknowledge the need for these companies to find a workable solution to this dilemma. Many teacher trainers have expressed the desire to find new language for marketing their training programs, but would need to have global agreement within the community in order to implement new verbiage while remaining competitive.  

This summit will be a proactive and productive process, aimed at agreeing how we can differentiate between completion of a comprehensive teacher-training program and a third-party credential. The goal is to promote education and standards that will simultaneously address everyone’s needs and benefit the industry as a whole.

To date we have attendance commitment from:

• Alan Herdman Pilates
• Balanced Body University
• Balancepoint Pilates
• BASI Pilates
• Core Pilates NYC
• Dharmaspace Pilates Center
• Fletcher Pilates, International
• Namaste Yoga & Pilates
• Oasis Mind-Body Conditioning Center
• Peak Pilates
• Personal Best Pilates
• PHI Pilates
• Pilates Center of Las Vegas
• Pilates Center of Vancouver
• Pilates for Life
• Pilates Foundation (U.K.) Ltd.
• Pilates International Network
• Pilates Lab
• Pilates Sports Center
• Pilates Therapeutics
• Polestar Pilates
• Power Pilates
• Rolates Pilates
• STOTT PILATES
• The Pilates Center, Boulder
• Tensile Strength Studio
      

At our first PMA meeting in 2000, we used a facilitator to direct discussion and guide working groups. The outcome was a consensus of what teachers wanted in a professional organization and how they wanted it to be structured. That was achieved in one day.  It is time to come together and take another giant step forward.

You have an opportunity to make a real contribution to this critically important debate. Your participation will lead to a decisive and measurable outcome that is pivotal in establishing our profession, and which will be of benefit to all.   We encourage you commit to attending, and to think of others to invite who are interested in these issues who might not be on the PMA email list.  Everyone involved with teacher training is invited, whether one is from a large international company or a small private studio.  The whole Pilates community is welcome and encouraged to attend and participate fully.

We are negotiating with the Sheraton Dallas to hold this meeting in the location we’d planned for the conference.  However, we may need to secure a different venue.  The important thing now is for you to commit to attending and participating.  We need you and want you to be there. 

Please contact Maly De Jesus at the PMA, maly@pilatesmethodalliance.org (305 573 4946 x 201) and let her know that we can count you in.

Teacher Training Summit - Information (PDF)

Teacher Training Summit - Agenda (PDF)

I look forward to working with you,

Deborah Lessen
Chair, PMA Certification Steering Committee