Boston Conservatory at Berklee Alexander Technique Teacher Training Course

Background:

Since fall 2012, Boston Conservatory at Berklee has offered an Alexander Technique Teacher Certificate Program.

Boston Conservatory at Berklee’s full Alexander Technique Teacher Certification requires a three-year, 1600-hour program commitment.

Participants who complete this 1600-hour program have the option of joining Alexander Technique International (ATI) as a teaching member and becoming eligible to receive ATI’s professional certification, in addition to the certificate from Boston Conservatory at Berklee.

The Technique:

Alexander Technique enables students to become aware of their habitual tendencies. Students who study the Alexander Technique learn how to apply its principles to all the activities of daily living. They learn how to make new choices that often result in easier, freer movement, less pain, and improved activity. They recognize that choices outside of their habitual ones often serve them better in life. It is this exciting aspect of the Technique that attracts students to the teacher-training course. The need for this work in the world is great, and Boston Conservatory is poised to train great teachers who will take the work where it is needed most.

Scholarship Goals: 

Limited diversity in training courses limits the spread of the Alexander Technique to new and diverse users. By diversifying training, we hope to reach communities who have not previously had access. The purpose of this scholarship is to provide funds to Alexander Technique teacher-trainees who will bring the technique to members of the global majority. 

Scholarship Awards: 

• Scholarships will be awarded annually to one or more candidates (as funding allows) to support program costs, including but not limited to tuition costs and other expenses. 
• All Awardees will provide an end of year report, including a self-assessment, by June 15 of the academic year that the award covers. 

Scholarship Location: 

Boston Area, In-Person Training

Eligibility Requirements:

Scholarship candidates must meet the following eligibility requirements:

1. Must be at least 18 years of age or the age of majority in the jurisdiction of residence at the time of application.

2. Must be able to demonstrate a financial need.

3. Must be committed to and have the access to bring this work to communities who have not typically received it. 

Application Process:

1. Complete full application

2. Provide two (2) letters of recommendation as requested

3. Interview with one or more Committee members

Applications can be in any medium (written, video, audio, portfolio/presentation, etc), as long as all application questions are clearly answered. Written submissions are preferred in type, rather than handwriting, so as to avoid difficulty in understanding.

This scholarship requires two letters of reference: 

• One professional/academic reference that speaks to the candidate’s commitment, work ethic, reliability and follow through, and experience and, if applicable, commitment to Alexander Technique.
• One personal reference that speaks to the candidate’s character, open mindedness, willingness to grow, and specific traits that will enable the candidate to share the Alexander Technique with others.

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AT Training Core (I, II, III, Summer)

Activities in the primary class are the same for all three years, though the emphasis and expectations are different for each year of training. Students are not separated by training year. This allows for the same material to be revisited with new perspective and understanding each year. Trainees learn the procedures of tablework (working with students on a bodywork table), chair work (guiding a student to sitting and standing from a chair), and activity work (helping students with various activities e.g. playing a musical instrument). Bodymapping (studying basic anatomy from a personal and experiential perspective) is studied each year. Alexander Procedures (whispered ah, hands on the back of the chair, monkey) are explored each year.

AT Training Core I

Trainees learn about their own use and how this affects their contact with their students. Learning to receive information via hands-on contact is an important first step to working with and directing students. By the end of the first year, it is expected that trainees can make hands-on contact with students without compromising their own use. First year students are expected to give an “entrance report” describing their goals and expectations for this work.  They provide some details about what led them to train. Becoming aware of their use while speaking is an important part of training.

AT Training Core II

Trainees learn how to guide students into movement. They combine their kinesthetic listening skills with a more directed approach to guiding students into movement. By the end of the second year, trainees can guide students in various activities without compromising their own use. They are beginning to use more language in conjunction with their hands-on teaching. Self awareness while speaking to a group becomes more natural to second year trainees.

AT Training Core III

Trainees combine language and hands-on instruction equally. They become the teachers of the group. Their ability to teach to the group and articulate their intentions should be clear and comfortable. Third year students are expected to give an “exit report” describing their perspective on their goals, achievements and expectations. By the third year, the activity of public speaking will be quite comfortable.

AT Summer Core

This course will offer similar curricula to the academic year course. Expectations will depend on the level of training each trainee brings to the course. The Summer Core will be open to the public, including students from other AT training courses who may wish to attend. It will expose trainees to the workshop setting with an emphasis placed on this type of teaching.

AT Reading

Trainees will read all 4 books written by F.M. Alexander as well as seven books written about the technique written by others. A list of books will be given to trainees in the first semester. The sequence listed below is subject to change.

AT Reading I a

Freedom to Change, Frank Pierce Jones
One book not written by F.M. Alexander (chosen from a booklist)

AT Reading I b

The Use of the Self, F.M. Alexander
One book not written by F.M. Alexander (chosen from a booklist)

AT Reading II a

The Universal Constant in Living, F.M. Alexander
What is the Mechanism and Experimental Studies from Freedom to Change, F.P. Jones
One book not written by F.M. Alexander (chosen from a booklist)

AT Reading II b

The Bedford Lecture
Tinbergen Speech
Dunster Lecture
Barlow Memorial Lecture 1965
One book not written by F.M. Alexander (chosen from a booklist)

AT Reading III a

Constructive Conscious Control of the Individual, F.M. Alexander
Notes on Teaching from Freedom To Change, F.P. Jones
One book not written by F.M. Alexander (chosen from a booklist)

AT Reading III b

Man’s Supreme Inheritance, F.M. Alexander
One book not written by F.M. Alexander (chosen from a booklist)

Third-year Seminar Course (I and II)

This course explores practical issues around running a practice as an Alexander Technique Teacher.

AT Seminar I

This course will explore issues around boundaries and ethics as well as basic business practices. We will also look at several case studies (particular injuries and trauma) to help prepare trainees for the “real world” of teaching.

AT Seminar II

This course continues with issues surrounding running an AT practice. In addition to case studies and ethical issues, trainees will develop promotional material (e.g. brochure, business card, website) and an informational sheet suitable for new clients. (This informational sheet will satisfy the requirements set by ATI’s Ethics Committee.)

AT Internship I & II

Third year trainees will participate as interns in the Alexander Technique for Musicians course at Boston Conservatory at Berklee. They will attend one section of the course each semester to assist the primary teacher. This provides training in group-teaching techniques.

Approved Workshops

Trainees are expected to attend a total of 4 workshops at the Alexander Technique Training Center in Cambridge by the end of their third year. A signed letter from ATCC is necessary to receive credit for these hours. Other workshops may be substituted with the approval of the director of the Conservatory teacher-training program.

Practicum Teaching I, II, III

Third-year trainees will offer private lessons at no charge to Conservatory and Berklee College of Music students, faculty, and staff. Other students outside of this community may be used as well. Trainees are required to accumulate a total of 150 hours of teaching beginning in the summer before the third year of training. Practicum students must include those outside of the music community. Some of the Practicum hours may include online teaching. The Third-Year Seminar class includes supervised teaching.

Approved Electives come from a multitude of disciplines. The list below is merely an example of the types of elective credit that is acceptable. Approval from the training course director is required for all electives.

The Musician as Educator
All Instrumental Pedagogy Courses
Dalcroze Eurhythmics
Linklater
Psychology Courses
Arts and the New Neuroscience
The Creative Musician
Kinesiology and Anatomy
Child and Human Development
Feldenkrais Courses
Body Mapping