The Pilates Apprenticeship Model of Teacher Training By Joan Breibart
Is this the right time to bring back the apprenticeship model? Before answering, let's review how Pilates teachers were trained before 1992, when the PhysicalMind Institute established the first Professional Teacher Training Program.
Before 1992, Pilates teacher training was almost entirely based on apprenticeship. As a result, very few people were trained. Eve Gentry trained just three teachers in 25 years. Ron Fletcher probably trained twice that number. Romana Kryzanowska trained the most. At the original Pilates Studio, many dancers wanted to study Pilates but couldn't afford private lessons. So they participated in a kind of work-study arrangement, spending countless hours in the studio, helping, watching, practicing, assisting, and eventually learning to teach.
Just this week, a well-known teacher who identifies as Classical announced that students should complete 100 private lessons BEFORE even beginning a certification program! That could take a year and cost $15,000!
Seriously? Not only is this financially unrealistic, but is it even necessary when the eventual job may consist of standing in front of 12 to 20 Reformers and leading the public through a choreographed routine while everyone listens to Taylor Swift.
Recently, Joy Puleo, who is PhysicalMind Certified, talked about how much she enjoyed learning through the apprenticeship model. Today she oversees a modular training program offered by companies like Balanced Body. And that got me thinking.
What PhysicalMind Changed in 1992
When we established the first Professional Teacher Training Program, we didn't eliminate the in-studio experience. We organized it.
We supplemented studio learning with Teacher and Student Manuals, Exercise Manuals, and instructional videos. But more importantly, we created a structured curriculum with lesson plans, examinations, and specific hourly requirements for self-practice, observation, and student teaching.
And what was the primary focus?
LEARNING THE EXERCISES!
Yes, of course, we covered the Pilates principles—flow, focus, control, concentration, and all the other concepts we've now heard repeated about a million times.
But every session was devoted primarily to learning a specific set of exercises on the various apparatus. Students needed to understand, for example, that Swan on the Mat, Swan on the Reformer Box, Swan on the Cadillac, and Swan on the Chair were variations of essentially the same movement. The apparatus changed. The spring resistance changed. The relationship of the body to gravity changed. But the fundamental exercise remained recognizable. Students had to understand these connections, not simply memorize hundreds of exercises as though each were an entirely different invention.
Every lesson also included relevant anatomy, biomechanics, and Pilates principles. In other words, we had a curriculum, just as you would expect in any serious educational program. There were examinations and required hours for observation, self-practice, and student teaching.
And observation was a major part of the education. Apprentices watched experienced teachers work with actual clients. They listened, asked questions, and absorbed the practical knowledge that simply cannot be learned from a manual.
Teaching was only one part of the process—not the entire process.
But we faced another problem in 1992. People wanted to become certified Pilates teachers who had never even been in a room with a Reformer!
That was one of the reasons I invented the Mini-Reformer, making it possible for students to learn and practice the exercises outside a fully equipped studio.
I don’t know what people are doing today in teacher training programs where everyone already knows the exercises. And the free resources are beyond comprehension Pilatesology https://pilatesology.com has every Matwork and Apparatus Exercise in video with detailed instructions. The Pilates Matwork is free on YouTube and all the videos are excellent. Plus, for a small monthly fee you can watch 3000 + videos on PilatesAnytime https://www.pilatesanytime.com
Where we are today. There’s a Spring Formula and another one to Modify Exercises —or VARY—they are different— with specific actions. And the human body has only TEN spinal positions. Exercises are just choreography. Certified Pilates Teachers with a STUDIO who want to deliver an Apprentice Program to train individually should email info@pmiemail.com to learn more. The fee is $500 for the first Student. And $250.00 thereafter.