I set my expectation low on the first training since I got such unprofessional manner from the person who will be our teacher. I felt that and my subjective judgement to him came from the last minute announcement of our training schedule that will last for a month and a half and some information were unclear, no specific description whether the food is included and the teaching module. On that day, I don't want to think much, I already paid for it already and hope for the best outcome from this training.
Some of you might be confused with my decision if the pre-experience you feel not alright then why I drop the decision on this teacher? Well, I have been done a research, to select the right course of my yoga teacher training and my judgement mostly based on the graduates teaching experience, I knew three of the graduates teach well in class and we also develop a friendship by sharing information about yoga and its technique. Two of them recommend me to take a teaching training to study deeper about yoga foundation of teaching and philosophy.
Later from that, another yoga teacher whom I met also recommend me to take teacher training at their previous place. I understand there are many yoga schools and thanks to them, it shorten my research time since qualitative data is harder to get. Later I do a background checking of the founder, stalking their information through social media and watch their words in it, to see if they really have a heart for teaching or just for generating money. Don't get me wrong, even in this health and green business, there is always a way to monetize it.
I am not saying monetize health based product or service is bad, but some people did it without consideration. Just imagine a greedy public religious image have a business and do politics, which is possible but far from what it called "enough". Well, what is that idealistic thinking by the way since the concept still alive but people abandoned it. Everyone need to eat and live up and that is their own choice but still, I just feel bad for a person who become a yoga teacher just for getting money, do they still care with the purpose of teaching? I don't know.
So we back to the discussion of why I choose this teacher. Well I have answered point number one, his personal background, what makes him a teacher, what is his teaching experience, how long he has been teaching yoga, how about his alumni, and if it possible, do they provide the teaching curriculum so we know what we will cover (some place kept the secret of their curriculum). Point number two, I also have talked on above, how he create a teacher from his teaching, do the student know the correct alignment, how to adjust correctly, how to survive and win in this industry? All of this information is important to keep a teacher updated and sustain to the new change.
Point number three, somehow I want to put this to point number one. The place, price, time, availability and limited seats per alumni. Yoga teacher training takes time so I don't want to take it out of my city, and it is not fun to have a huge debt in renting a place. Price not so important here, most training cost similarly same, but the price can be doubled up if the teacher is a foreigner. Since my work can be done in off-hour, time does not play a big part but some office worker considers this the most important decision point to decide their training. Availability also important, some training only opens twice a year and I don't want to lose my vibe and time just for waiting. In this point, I take serious consideration on seats, as I understand of how the class filled with 50 students and 15 students. It has huge differences in learning as more private is better.
Everyone should understand that there is no guaranteed job after teacher training, one should seek his own way to teach, either voluntarily teach in the local community, charity event, yoga studio, gym, doing a private class or open their own studio. There is the way to at least increase your credibility of your training certificate by choosing a programme which already registered globally under certified yoga certification standard. Some YTT does not provide with the international standard and this may bring a hard time for graduates find his first teaching job as their certification doesn't recognise. Even some gym (mega gym) asking for actual teaching experience or I called that voluntarily teach somewhere to have a teaching experience.
Point number five relate to the curriculum itself and if I could not find it on the internet, I will gather the information from the alumni. What is the curriculum will heavily on? Is it poses, alignment, theory, practice, or teaching? This is so important because what they learn makes them as their teaching character. I experienced not all teacher can teach correctly. I am not a hard fan's of alignment but bad alignment reducing the effectivity of training, even lead to injury. Some teacher is so detailed to one pose, can lead a class bored. I even found a teacher training that has mantra practice and game with other participants, which I look down to it. The reason is simple, we are paid to learn not having fun. What important for me is after graduation, whether the graduate will be teaching or not, they are ready to teach.
In the end, there is some process to choose the right program and I felt my approach already enough to give me the best program, which enables me to be a good teacher afterwards. If it not, there is room to learn as the learning process never stop, finishing a teacher training program is just another step of learning and it doesn't mean my yoga journey is over, there is always a new thing to learn in this field.
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