The Alliance for Massage Therapy Education (AFMTE) announced recently that it will begin to develop a National Teacher Education Standards Project in order to create competency standards for teachers across the continuum of entry-level, continuing education and advanced training programs.
The AFMTE is an independent voice, advocate and resource for the community of massage therapy schools and educators.
According to an AFMTE press release, a national survey conducted in November by the AFMTE indicated strong support within the educational community for this initiative, with 80.4 percent of respondents agreeing that competency-based national teacher training standards are needed, while 6.8 percent disagreed.
The project will be carried out through a series of five phases:
1. The AFMTE Professional Standards Committee will continue working on identification of the core competencies of effective and successful teaching.
2. Once the knowledge, skills and abilities are defined, a baseline teacher-training curriculum will be created.
3. Training resources will be identified and developed.
4. To ensure that teachers have achieved the competencies, a certification program will be established.
5. The final step will involve working with national accrediting commissions and state regulatory agencies to incorporate these teacher education standards.
The AFMTE’s leaders estimate this project with take between five and 10 years to complete.
Read the press release, “Alliance for Massage Therapy Education to Lead Development of National Standards for Teachers,” here.
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