Boston Conservatory at Berklee Alexander Technique Teacher Training Course

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
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

The Musician as Educator
All Instrumental Pedagogy Courses
Dalcroze Eurhythmics
Performance Seminar, Linklater/Bodywork
The Creative Musician
The Arts and the New Neuroscience
Kinesiology and Anatomy
Child and Human Development
Career Skills for Musicians

Courses available to students through the Pro Arts Consortium and other schools will be considered on an individual basis.  The Conservatory AT Teacher Training Director will need to approve these courses.