Online Training Research

We asked our trainer members about their thoughts on online training courses. There was a real divide.

• 57% said they are happy to teach online under the new suggested terms.
• Out of the remaining 43%, a further 27% were happy to teach online but opposed to the new requirements.

Moving forward for the immediate future we have introduced some changes that we believe improve the best chances of producing great yoga teachers. We will continue to monitor the outcomes moving forward.

Overview

There has been a lot of talk about the delivery method, i.e. In Person 'v' Online but less focus on the 'desired outcome' and 'standards'.

The 'desired outcome' and 'standards' have not changed.

The introduction of a new delivery method (online or hybrid) potentially increases the risk of not achieving the 'desired outcome'. As a result, we have introduced:

• Additional requirements and best practices
• A simple survey call to all graduates

Also, to re-emphasise that the bulk of the contact hours should focus on teaching skills, we have updated the standards for Foundation and Training.

Clarifying Teacher Training

There are three main elements to each Training course:

1. Desired Outcome
2. Standards
3. Delivery Method

Desired Outcome

The desired outcome is what we are all looking to achieve from running Teacher Training courses. Namely, to produce competent yoga teachers that feel confident to start teaching and are keen to continue to develop and grow.

Standards

The standards are a set of bare minimums to which each Training Course adheres to facilitate the best chance of achieving the desired outcome above.

• Foundation Training Courses

A minimum of 180 contact hours and a Senior Yoga Teacher (who has a minimum of 8 years teaching and 4000 teaching hours experience) teaches a minimum of 70% of the course.

(It means each participant receives a minimum of 180 contact hours).

• Vocational Training Courses

A minimum of 28 contact hours and a Senior Yoga Teacher (who has a minimum of 8 years teaching and 4000 teaching hours experience) teaches the entire course.

• Further Approved CPD Training

Minimum 28 contact hours, minimum 40 total hours. A Senior Yoga Teacher (who has a minimum of 8 years teaching and 4000 teaching hours experience) OR an Experienced Yoga Teacher (who has a minimum of 4 years teaching and 2000 teaching hours experience) teaches the entire course.

Delivery Method

There are currently three possible delivery methods:

• In-Person
• Online
• Hybrid (both the above)

We recognise that both online and hybrid Training potentially increase the risk of NOT delivering the desired outcome. That is to produce competent yoga teachers that feel confident to start teaching and are keen to continue to develop and grow.

As a result, we have introduced new requirements and best practices for Online Training. You can find links to these below:

Guidelines for Online Teacher Training - Foundation Courses

We have also implemented a simple Success Survey Call to all Graduates.

Graduate Success Survey Call

All graduates will receive a short phone call from a Yoga Alliance Professionals specialist to ask two simple questions:

• Do you feel confident to Teach?
• Would you Recommend your Training Course?

We shall feed the results back directly to the Trainer on an anonymous basis.

We shall also collate and publish generic/ summarised results which are also completely anonymous.

It requires Trainers to submit all Trainee and Graduate lists with:

• Full Name
• Email
• Phone Number