Getting certified as a pole instructor..?
Replies page 3 of 4. Back to the start of the discussion
77 replies · page 3 of 4
Sign in or create a free account to reply.
Replies page 3 of 4. Back to the start of the discussion
Sign in or create a free account to reply.
↑ Show earlier replies (page 2)
At this time I still do not want to get ACE approved. ACE requires that you cannot offer a certification in order to award CEUs...therefore you can only offer a "certificate of completion". I strongly believe my program is worthy of being defined as a certification program. ACE only currently recognizes XPert as an actual certification. To my understanding you must also go through NCAA or ANSI for approval before ACE will grant you permission to call a program a certification.
Wow I forgot all about this forum haha. Thanks everyone for replying. I'm not really looking into teaching anymore. I love my pole just to enjoy myself and get in shape... maybe compete if I ever get there one day. :)
Empy, It sounds like you have really done your research with ACE. I have had alot of discussion with ACE over the past few years about "certification" and we represented Pole Fitness at the ACE symposium this last year. I also just called them (to make sure that I am stating this correctly). The American Council on Exercise does NOT recognize the Xpert Certification as a certification...it is ONLY a "certificate of completion" that provides continuing education credits for ACE/AFAA...just like every other pole company that provides teacher trainings/certifications and is a continuing education provider. Also, AFAA is totally fine with the term "Certification" but ACE wants Certifications to be called "Teacher Trainings" or "Certificates of Completion." The American Council on Exercise does not even recognize most of the other fitness company's Group Fitness Certifications or Personal Training Certifications as "Certifications" ...including AFAA. That being said I love ACE and have been certified through them for 17 years. I personally love to attend Pole teacher trainings so that I can get continuing education credits for ACE and AFAA ... I am definitely not going to sit through another step or kickboxing training for credits!
Empy, It sounds like you have really done your research with ACE. Yes, in order to call your training a "certification" on their site you have to go through NCAA/ANS. I have had alot of conversations with ACE over the past few years about "certification" and we represented Pole Fitness at the ACE symposium this last year. I also just called them (to make sure that I am stating this correctly). The American Council on Exercise does NOT recognize the Xpert Certification as a certification...it is ONLY a "certificate of completion" that provides continuing education credits for ACE/AFAA...just like every other pole company that provides teacher trainings/certifications and is a continuing education provider. Also, AFAA is totally fine with the term "Certification" but ACE wants Certifications to be called "Teacher Trainings" or "Certificates of Completion." The American Council on Exercise does not even recognize most of the other fitness company's Group Fitness Certifications or Personal Training Certifications as "Certifications" ...including AFAA. That being said I love ACE and have been certified through them for 17 years. I personally love to attend Pole teacher trainings so that I can get continuing education credits for ACE and AFAA ... I am definitely not going to sit through another step or kickboxing training for credits!
Sorry about sending that twice...I am not sure how I managed that.
Hey girls, just want to give a lil input about my experience as a pole instructor. I actually taught myself how to pole dance b4 i began dancing I'n a club. I knew i had a natural talent 4 it. When i taught myself most of the advanced moves i knew I'd be a great teacher. I took a chance & auditioned at my 1st studio & got hired on the spot. The same took place at the 2nd studio i took a position at. I had never gotten a certification as an instructor. My talent & passion spoke volumes, more than a piece of paper could. So i taught 4 more than 8 months w/no cert. I was an athlete from age 7 thru college & had also worked out throughout my life so that was as close to a professional fitness instructor as i got. In conclusion, u may not need to be certified to teach at a dance studio, as long as u have exceptional pole skills & can relay each pole trick step by step to Ur students
Knowing how to do a move, even teaching yourself doesn't mean you know how to teach others. Many people are naturals...at both performing and instructing. However there is always something to be learned from others and there are so many great resources available to all of us that we can take advantage of. Why WOULDN'T someone get certified or take any sort of ongoing training to improve both their ability to pole dance and their ability to teach pole dancing? I've taken two other certification programs and intend to take more - just as I've taken literally dozens of workshop and intend to continue.
Rebekah...I had a very interesting...actually confusing....conversation with Robin from ACE today. She approves the certification programs. I spoke with someone before (I swore it was her but I may be wrong) who explained to me (in addition to the info I found on the FAQ of the ACE website) how programs cannot be certifications unless approved by NCCA. That was when I was told by the person I spoke to that XPert was the only program approved as a certification. Today I was told that is NOT true and that all of our programs can be approved to be certifications through ACE!! I even asked if they had changed their rules and she insisted they had always approved certifications. I asked about NCCA and she said that because ACE is an NCCA approved provider that ACE has the authority to approve certifications if it meets their criteria! I found this very confusing and tried to clarify that I understood correclty several times but just felt awkward asking many more questions because she was insistent I was wrong!!! It's all very confusing!
I'm seeing a trend of pole studios requiring instructors be certified through certain certification programs. This isn't anything different than any other fitness establishment having their trainers required to be certified. I think it's a good idea to be certified. It's a formalized education specific to pole dancing and the curriculum you're teaching others. No matter how much experience you have, I think it's always important to enrich your knowledge base on a formal level. It's not just a piece of paper. It's a program you participate in and with many do the work that shows you understand the material that you learned in order to become certified. I view certifications in the same aspect as I view my professional stance in the health care industry. You wouldn't want someone practicing medicine without educational back ground, so why should someone teach movement classified as fitness without the essential knowledge base? Experience is a great thing to have but when molded with education, it can be beneficial to both instructors and the students they are teaching.
Kobajo, while I agree with you there are also a bunch of "certifications" that are a joke; this is rampant in the fitness industry. I do not know all of the certification programs that are available in pole so I cannot comment on if there are joke cert programs creeping in. Taking a 4 hour "workshop" in my mind does not make you certified, and there are a TON of those in fitness. There are also a TON of online programs where you just need to test. Just because you can answer questions correctly on a test does not mean that you can teach. Hell, even Pantera gives you a certificate of participation when you take her workshops....so does this make me certified by Pantera? (Not knocking Pantera...if you read what the cert says it is pretty funny) Just because you hold a piece of paper in my mind tells me nothing. But I am also one who researches the hell out of things. I think this is what Empy was getting at. You really need to do your research before you buy. And if a certification is so important to you as a student then research the organization that certified your instructor.
The certification I did required a lot of post training work which I found to be really helpful in assisting the learning process. I had 6 activities to complete on my own. I really enjoyed the activities and submitted mine with videos in addition to using a picture and taking a test. It gave me an opportunity to be creative and to get me thinking creatively in how I would utilize the training to benefit myself in my teaching and my students. (I'm certified through Discoveries Dance). I really enjoyed the curriculum- this was really important to me as a health care provider- the certification had a strong emphasis on injury prevention and anatomy of common pole injury areas. I've had to teach students in the area that have acquired injuries from past experiences in pole and this training really opened my eyes to key elements that I feel are a must for instructors. The overall training really put things into perspective for me which is why I have such a strong advocacy for certification programs for pole dancing. I would like to see the State have a legal regulation on this matter just as they do for other areas of fitness. I think that would take a long time for legislation to actually acknowledge pole as a fitness category and as a profession in the fitness industry.
Kobajo...what are the laws governing fitness certification in Indiana for other fields that you refer to?
I was going to ask the same thing. There is no requirement by the state here in Ohio to have any type of certification in fitness to teach or own a studio. At elast none that I know of.
I don't think there is a requirment here either. IMO, it doesn't do much for the industry to have certifications required by the state. All that means is that they get money from you every year to renew your license. You do have to do ongoing education, but we do that anyways with the ACE, AFAA, etc. The state's only role is to take your money and renew the state license. That is one reason I didn't get take my national phlebotomy exam. I wasn't positive I wanted to be a phlebotomist, and you have to pay the STATE every year to renew your license. Even in phlebotomy, not all states require a license. CA does, but OR does not. I think it is better for the industry to regulate itself, not the state. The PFA seems to be doing a decent job in approving education courses. If the course isn't PFA approved, it's probably not worth taking it. Just my opinion though...
The Pole Dance Community is also very thorough in approving certification programs. I agree I would not want the state/government involved in this and to the best of my knowledge there is no state which regulates fitness of any type at this time.
I've taken one pole cert program and thought it was awesome. I also research the hell out of things, and the one I took is approved by the PDC. I plan to also get ACE certified or similar, and the studio where I teach is making a pole cert. (choosing from one of several) a req'ment to teach pole, or a group fitness or personal trainer cert a req'ment to teach the dance classes. I think that's excellent. I will take any workshops or certifications or whatever that I can. On a related note, I researched the hell out of instructor insurance, and when you do that you find that MOST don't even cover pole which is very scary since many teachers and studios think they're covered but they're not.
I was thinking as in physical/occupational therapy and sports medicine practice and the exercise sciences. Currently there is some type of regulation in the fitness degree of exercise science- I don't know exactly what the regulations are but I know I can't teach certain fitness classes at my studio becaue I don't have a specific degree/approved group fitness certifications. This could be an insurance thing, not really sure nor do I really care at this point. It would be nice if there was an actual process assuring people get appropriate education for injury prevention. Teaching is a serious responsibility. I'm just saying that there are too many people out there teaching their students into injuries and don't know any better because of their lack of knowledge base. I think there should be some type of process set in motion to assure facilities specific to pole have a more formal process for hiring instructors with the intent to teach pole dancing. Most likely it is purely insurance as insurance companies have a tendency to regulate everything.
This is what I found from a search: What states are requiring personal trainers to be certified? As far as we know, no states currently require a license to practice personal training. Several are trying. -http://www.nbfe.org/faq/#13 http://www.nbfe.org/news/press_releases/stateLicensing_122008.cfm Currently 3 states have proposed legislation for licensing of personal trainers. Personal trainers is such a broad terminology or umbrella term- I'm wondering if pole fitness instructor would fall under this category? This answers my question as to the currnent regulations on a state level. Insurance must be setting the regulation standards for fitness facilities.
There is no state regulations about teaching fitness...be it yoga, personal trainers, group fitness, pilates, etc. Certification is voluntary but your employer may have their own requirements. There are no insurance companies which REQUIRE certification. However, some offer discounts in recognition of certification for individual instructor policies. Insurance 4 Pole Dancers (http://www.Insurance4PoleDancers.com) is one of these. Their form is supposedly being updated soon as I believe there are several more certification programs approved now for discounts. Sparrow you are very correct....our insurance agent has found many policies do not provide effective coverage. We've had people insist their plan is full coverage when they come to us for certification and my husband and/or our agent reviews the policy or contacts their agent and upon asking the "right" questions finds that no, they are not covered. Policies need to be reviewed.....some do not use the word "Pole" and only say "dance studio" ...some say "no gymnastic activities" ...and other little things that can invalidate your policy if there isn't anything specified that pole is covered. Here is an article our agent wrote about his work in developing our policy which eventually turned into a nation wide plan: http://www.poledancecommunity.co.uk/magazine/articles/pole-dancing-instructors-insurance-usa.html
Let me clarify something I posted: There are no insurance companies which cover pole and require other fitness certifications. None REQUIRE pole certifications and to my knowledge the only one that currently recognizes discounts for pole certifications is Insurance 4 Pole Dancers. there are group insurance plans which are provided only for certified fitness instructors (yoga, CPTs, Group, Pilates, etc) but it is not a definite that all insurance agents require this. If your studio's insurance plan requires certification it is only that company ...not all insurance companies.
Empyrean, By the way, thanks so much for all your work advancing pole fitness/pole dancing! I know we all benefit greatly from your work! We are pleased to be one of the certification companies that Insurance 4 Poledancers offers a discount for. Thank you for your insight and foresight. Back to the ACE phone call you had, you are right they can be confusing. It sounds like the person that you spoke with on the phone was confused herself.
Thank you Rebekah! It sounds like she was but she stated SHE is the person in charge of appoving certifications! Her name is Robin Floyd...are you familiar with her?
Hi all I'm new here so sorry for the late post on this topic! I'm from Sydney, Australia and train at Bobbi's and would LOVE to become a pole / flexibility instructor. I have Cert IV Training but have never done any fitness or dance accreditation training. Being so far away from the rest of the world, I'm wondering if anyone knows or can recommend pole accreditation courses in Australia?
Hey Ebonyqueen, I know this is an old post! But I am a Pole Moves Master Trainer in Auckland, NZ. X-pert is going to run some trainings in Sydney beginning of November, but should you like to connect, I'm here! pole hugs! www.zenfit.net
Here are the current ACE Pole Certifications/Trainings approved. I also did notice that Discoveries Dance was available if I searched the site...but wasn't on this list. I also did search for Xpert but I couldn't find them anywhere on the ACE site.
