massage and bodywork professionals
a community of practitioners
Is our teachings in conflicts ?
Is our teachings in conflicts ?
On this question my answer is: if somebody teaching to apply excessive pressure that inflicting injury and /or teaching against general rules of
contraindication to massage therapy then my teaching will be in conflict with
this particular educator .but in most cases by teaching different methodologies
and approaches of massage therapy we enriching our students practical knowledge /capabilities to deliver
results , raising standards of education and more.for last almost 20 years I am
teaching and practicing in United States of America but somehow wasn't deeply involved in industry and mostly was teaching in California and Nevada .like a
month ago have” discovered “ for myself
social media including massage professionals.com honestly during this month I learn more on our
industry including educational standards than during all my years in America .recently
crossed my eyes post about some lady educator proposing classes on particular modality .I wrote to her and as the way to introduce myself informed her that for many years I'm practicing and teaching Russian medical and sports
massage and would love to have an opportunity to present to this group including
sharing the profits from my seminars .I was totally surprised to receive back following :BTW.at a time when I wrote to her I
didn't know that she also Dir. of education in massage school.
As for your workshops, since I am the Director of Education at ……………I would
feel uncomfortable recruiting students for workshops outside our school that
conflicts with our own classes.
>>>>>>>>>>>
my reply was that I'm assuming that school teaching good stuff and my teaching in no case will be
in conflicts of what school teaching but
will introduce not well known in America
Russian medical and sports massage which in my view will be beneficial for students to get familiar .the
reply was surprise to me .
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Hi Boris... My apologies for not being more clear. I would be going against school policy if I were to recruit for classes other than our school. Sorry for the confusion
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
I wrote back :
In such a case policies of your school is very wrong. It could be prejudiced, could be because faculty is not sure about standards of education that your school
providing. In any case it is wrong and damaging to the educational standards. Right now I don't
want to talk on continued education.
but my understanding that you even blocking guest speakers.guest
speakers is actually the same way to present different approaches to
massage therapy than school teaching.Guest speakers who presenting different methodology, please do
not confuse with controversial teaching, is of huge effort to advance education
in your and any other school.Honestly I'm really surprised to hear about such a
policy.
Wish you luck, and feel sorry for graduates who probably getting enough education but could be much benefit if you will cancel this nonsense policy.my
advise is talk to your administration. My hope is that this is not policies in
many others massage schools. You will not find medical school where is no guest
speaker program and of course other professional schools .
Best wishes.
Boris
Dear educators .would love to hear from you what is your view on this school policies .also will
appreciate any explanation why this
policy took place in this educational institution. Up front thank you for
participating in the discussion.
Views: 44
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Kelly Grounds on
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Unfortunately, I am in the same boat as this lady you wrote. I have been encouraged to recruit outside teachers, and indeed set up a class for our students and graduates using a teacher outside our program. Soon after, the owner changed her mind and decided we should no longer do this. Why? It wasn't profitable TO HER. Most of the instructors I was trying to recruit already charged $500-$700 for their program. She wanted to tack an additional $200-$300. None of our students in my area could afford these prices, no matter who was teaching! So now it is against policy to use outside instructors. If I want to teach a master class myself, I have to pay her $200-$500 to use the space for a day. Don't be angry at this Director, Boris. Many of us work for owners who know nothing about massage and have added it to their schools to increase the bottom line.
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Oh and the only time guest speakers are allowed in my classroom is when there are no classes. They cannot come during class time to speak because our company has created a very set curriculum for massage and we are not to veer from it at all. The one time I had a guest speaker come, only three students attended. Why? Because most of them work. They are sacrificing their free time to go to school and try to create better lives for themselves. They can't come back to hear guest speakers because they have to work or take care of family. It makes me want to bang my head against a brick wall.
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Permalink Reply by Boris Prilutsky on
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Dear Kelly.
Thank you for your post. Actually you described financial arrangement that I can understand. I mean business agreement/deal can be acceptable on parties or not. The program director was talking to me on policies not to have presenters out of school . Honestly I believe that you somehow will find some financial arrangements that will allow you to teach your classes as well to invite presenters.in my opinion, with this school if policies will be not change there is no hope of educational standards improvement.thanks again for replying to my post.
Best wishes.
Bopris -
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Permalink Reply by Jason Erickson on
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Boris - I understand your frustration, but you need to accept some responsibility for not succeeding in this attempt. Complaining about school policies and telling them to change those policies won't help you. Take some time to consider why those policies are in place.
While it can be very beneficial for students to be exposed to outsider presenters/instructors, there is also a great risk that those people may be unqualified, unethical, or simply incompetent. The potential harm is as great as the potential benefit. Therefore many massage schools in America will probably not bring in outside instructors/presenters without good reason.
If I ran a massage school, I would be very selective about who was permitted to be a guest speaker or workshop/seminar presenter at my facility. I would require a good amount of information about the outside instructor and a lengthy conversation (preferably face-to-face).
Some instructors (Erik Dalton, James Waslaski, etc.) are very well known and have reputations built upon years of teaching seminars and workshops, plus published books, DVDs, etc. that can be viewed to see what/how they teach. Approving someone like that would be relatively easy.
On the other hand, if an unknown person contacted me via e-mail, asking to present unknown information on an unfamiliar modality, I'd have to refuse... at least until I was comfortable with what I subsequently learned about the presenter, their background and reputation, their teaching ability and method of instruction, their ethics and organization, etc.
It would help if you put together a CE workshop/seminar and went through the NCBTMB provider approval process. In completing this process, you would learn much more about how to design and present classes so that massage schools may become willing to host you. NCBTMB approved provider status is a great door-opener for would-be instructors.
I also suggest getting help with putting together professional marketing materials to help you introduce yourself and the material you wish to teach. Poor marketing and/or communications are a huge barrier to starting a seminar teaching career, as people who don't know you will tend to judge your expertise and professionalism by the quality and manner of your communication style and materials. -
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Dear Jason.
First of all thank you very much for your post.feels like you are person who loves to help and this is nice of you. Thanks again.I agree with you on necessity to check out presenter's professional capabilities and other backgrounds before to allow to teach class. If you careful review my correspondence with this lady, issue of checking background est. wasn't even discussed.
it sounds like on" stone writing" policies not to have nobody( doesn't matter what is the professional capability) to teach at school.and this is completely wrong . In my case I'm approved by NCBTMB as a continued education approved provider.Have produced 20 educational DVDs and wrote part one book :" Simple approach to medical massage".
Using the opportunity would like to invite you to join my group "Medical and sports massage free lessons with Boris Prilutsky"after joining please click on website. You'll be able to see me explaining and performing hands-on Russian medical and sports.also and additional to free lessonsyou will be able to view many video clips . Links will be found on my page. This methodology of treatment not well known at US and I hope you will be able to learn some of approaches. Again thank you very much for your post.
Best wishes.
Boris -
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Permalink Reply by Kim Bivens on
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Hello, Boris. I am thankful to teach at a career college that encourages guest speakers. In fact, we are required to have atleast one guest speaker per quarter. We are looking into offering CE's in massage therapy for the professionals in our community.
Your Medical Massage course has greatly influenced the way I teach. In my opinion, any school or massage community would greatly benefit from the wisdom and insight you bring to our profession.
Jason Erickson said:Boris - I understand your frustration, but you need to accept some responsibility for not succeeding in this attempt. Complaining about school policies and telling them to change those policies won't help you. Take some time to consider why those policies are in place.
While it can be very beneficial for students to be exposed to outsider presenters/instructors, there is also a great risk that those people may be unqualified, unethical, or simply incompetent. The potential harm is as great as the potential benefit. Therefore many massage schools in America will probably not bring in outside instructors/presenters without good reason.
If I ran a massage school, I would be very selective about who was permitted to be a guest speaker or workshop/seminar presenter at my facility. I would require a good amount of information about the outside instructor and a lengthy conversation (preferably face-to-face).
Some instructors (Erik Dalton, James Waslaski, etc.) are very well known and have reputations built upon years of teaching seminars and workshops, plus published books, DVDs, etc. that can be viewed to see what/how they teach. Approving someone like that would be relatively easy.
On the other hand, if an unknown person contacted me via e-mail, asking to present unknown information on an unfamiliar modality, I'd have to refuse... at least until I was comfortable with what I subsequently learned about the presenter, their background and reputation, their teaching ability and method of instruction, their ethics and organization, etc.
It would help if you put together a CE workshop/seminar and went through the NCBTMB provider approval process. In completing this process, you would learn much more about how to design and present classes so that massage schools may become willing to host you. NCBTMB approved provider status is a great door-opener for would-be instructors.
I also suggest getting help with putting together professional marketing materials to help you introduce yourself and the material you wish to teach. Poor marketing and/or communications are a huge barrier to starting a seminar teaching career, as people who don't know you will tend to judge your expertise and professionalism by the quality and manner of your communication style and materials. -
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Dear Kim.
It was very kind of you to post comment like this. Thank you very much. For me it is very important to know that my work has some positive influence and your graduates will not only earn(paper) associate degree diploma but most important will be great hands-on practitioners. Say hi to all guys.
Best wishes.
Boris -
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