Teacher Training Course

The teacher Training program offered by the school of Alexander Technique Berlin is an internationally recognised course designed to meet the standards met by the guidelines as set by ATVD and the international affiliated societies of the Alexander Technique. Each successful graduate receives a certificate of qualification, authorising the professional title ‘Teacher of the F.M. Alexander Technique’ and is eligible to become a certified member of any of the affiliated societies around the world.

The program comprises of 1600 hours of study over a period of 3, alternatively 3 ½ years. It is possible to enter the program at any time. Classes are held from Monday to Friday, 9:00 AM to 12:30 PM at: Arndtstrasse 21, 10965 Berlin, Germany. It uses a three-semester structure of around 29 weeks a year. For the precise Semester dates please see below.

The Teacher Training Course offers a unique opportunity for an enriching personal development while at the same time acquiring the vocational skills particular to the Alexander Technique Teacher. At least 80% of the course is practical work. Students are encouraged to explore and apply the principles of the Alexander Technique in practical every day activities, such as sitting, standing, simple movements and interaction, gradually acquiring a deep understanding of the principles underlying the technique: inhibition and direction, the unity of mind and body, faulty sensory appreciation and its role in interaction, the primary control of the human organism, conscious constructive guidance and control, coordination and communication, doing and non-doing and the force of habit. Much of the time is devoted to a continuous heightening of one’s own sensory appreciation in the experience and practice of hands-on work. Particular attention is given to developing and refining the sensitivity and flexibility required in hands-on communication skills – a hallmark of the Alexander Technique teaching – and adapting verbal aptitudes, which support it.

A daily communal tea break for a little more than half an hour, gives us the opportunity to discuss issues arising during the practical work, or delving more acutely into a theoretical understanding of the Technique. An hour and half per week is dedicated to studying the texts of Alexander’s 4 Books.

Students learn to teach in all situations, in simple every-day settings such as sitting, standing, walking and lying down etc, but also in specialised activities such as playing an instrument, singing, rehearsing for a role or simply cutting bread. The program also explores the various traditional procedures rooted in the Alexander Technique teaching, such as ‘hands on the back of the chair’, ‘the whispered A’, ‘the position of mechanical advantage’, ‘the Lunge’, ‘using the wall’.

A basic, practical understanding of anatomy, psychology, and pathology, enhancing the trainees’ understanding of how we use ourselves, is also part of the curriculum. Visiting teachers or members of the faculty with an expertise in these areas are invited to the program to give workshops and seminars.

Each summer the Teacher Training Course takes off to a large countryside residency outside of Berlin for its yearly 4 day intensive. We are joined by a number of other schools and senior teachers from various cities in and around Europe. Traditionally, this meeting numbers around 80 – 90 people with varying interests and degrees of experience in the Work and proves to be the inspirational highlight of the year.

In their final year, advanced students are encouraged to find their first ‘pupils’, working with members of the public under a supervised teaching scheme. Third year students gradually develop a proficiency in communicating the Alexander Technique, taking them towards full graduation and professional life.